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All Malaysia Kuala Penyu Snake Island of Borneo

Snake Island of Borneo

This tiny island in the South China Sea is crawling with venomous sea snakes.

Kuala Penyu, Malaysia

Added By
Sacha Wynne
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Dock and shelter — the only structures on Snake Island   Sachaw / Atlas Obscura User
Dock and shelter — the only structures on Snake Island   Sachaw / Atlas Obscura User
Beautiful water, island full of snakes   Sachaw / Atlas Obscura User
How many snakes are hiding in this picture?   Sachaw / Atlas Obscura User
Lots of good snake spots   sunriseOdyssey
Snake hole   sunriseOdyssey
Laticauda colubrina, a.k.a. the yellow-lipped sea krait, banded sea krait, or colubrine sea krait (head bottom right, with yellow “lips”)   Bernard DUPONT
Good look at the face   Bernard DUPONT
Heading out to sea   Bernard DUPONT
Warning sign   sunriseOdyssey
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About

Pulau Tiga Park encompasses 158 square kilometers of open ocean containing three islands that were formed by mud volcano eruptions in the late 19th century. While the largest island (Tiga) is known for its natural volcanic mud baths, the smallest island (Kalampunian Damit) boasts an attraction that is far less relaxing but perhaps a bit more fascinating: lots and lots of deadly snakes.

An isolated rock covered with tall silver Pisonia trees, the calm pale surroundings of Kalampunian Damit — also known as Snake Island — stand in stark contrast to the community of wild serpents that call the island home. Known as yellow-lipped sea kraits or banded sea kraits, the venomous sea snakes spend their nights hunting deep waters for eels and small fish, returning to land by day to digest and get some sleep. Individual kraits tend to have one specific home island to which they return, forming a constant and fairly stable population. They also use their home base as a breeding ground, meaning Kalampunian Damit tends to be particularly snakey during mating season.

While banded sea kraits are considerably more poisonous than cobras, they are also fairly reclusive and non-aggressive and bite humans only in rare occasions where they are harassed or trod upon — which can admittedly be easy to do on a tiny island full of snakes, but as long as visitors watch their step they are in little danger.

Being somewhat off the beaten path, Pulau Tiga Park sees few visitors, and is most famous for being the shooting location of the first season of Survivor.

Related Tags

Snakes Islands Parks

Know Before You Go

Getting to the island is easy and just requires a booking set with an agent who will take you to Kuala Penyu Town, where a direct boat will leave from the jetty.

Atlas Obscura Adventures

Wild Borneo: Secrets of an Ancient Rainforest

Orangutans, fishing villages & untouched beauty in the Borneo Rainforest.

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Community Contributors

Added By

Sachaw

Edited By

RHyzer

  • RHyzer

Published

August 24, 2016

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Sources
  • http://borneoadventure.com/destinations/pulau-tiga/
  • http://sabah.emseed.com/tiga.html
  • http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2012/11/27/rapt-isles-the-worlds-7-most-amazing-snake-islands/
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiga_Island_National_Park
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalampunian_Damit_Island
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laticauda_colubrina
Snake Island of Borneo
Pulau Tiga Park
Kuala Penyu
Malaysia
5.759037, 115.677908
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