Most Incredible Caves of the Planet

THE BLUE GROTTO IN CAPRI, ITALY

This cave became a symbol of Italian island Capri, and many tourists visit it when arriving on the island. There’s an amazing combo of two shines brilliant and blue. The one source is the huge hole underwater which is collaborating with the brilliant shine of the outside passing through the entrance.

CAVE OF THE CRYSTALS IN CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO

Here’re two neighboring caves discovered 90 years apart. The first cave found was The Cave of Swords situated a bit above the more popular Cave of the Crystals discovered in 2000. They’re totally different in temperature, humidity, and size of the crystals. Marvelous crystals of the Cave of the Crystals are 12m height while the neighbor’s ones are only 2m height. The temperature of the first cave is usually around 60 degrees Celsius, and humidity is almost 100%, so an ordinary human can stay inside on average for 10 minutes without special equipment. The history of this cave is exciting started from groundwater rich in gypsum that was filling the cave for 500 thousand years staying hot thanks to magma masses. All this allowed creating natural crystal masterpieces.

KRUBERA CAVE IN ABKHAZIA, GEORGIA

The deepest cave on the Earth is situated in the Republic of Abkhazia and has a total depth of around 2200m. Krubera Cave was named after Russian geographer Alexander Kruber. It has another more familiar name translated from Russian like “cave of the crows” because of a big concentration of crows’ nests near the cave’s entrance. In fact, the cave HAD BEEN the deepest one in the world until Veryovkina Cave was discovered in 2001 with depth 2212m.

FINGAL’S CAVE IN STAFFA, SCOTLAND

A Scottish desert island called Staffa has its own incredible cave which is a result of volcanic activity that created amazing huge basalt columns of a unique shape. Inside the cave, visitors will feel like in the catholic cathedral thanks to the acoustic and shape of the interior. The Fingal’ Cave was called so after the main character of a book Fingal (known as “white stranger”) written by J. Macpherson. By the way, the composer created the most popular march of the world was so impressed by the cave that wrote an overture dedicated to it.

EISRIESENWELT ICE CAVE IN WERFEN, AUSTRIA

The icy limestone cave is a business card of Austrian Werfen passing through itself 200 thousand visitors annually. One kilometer of 42 of the cave which name is translated from German as “World of the Ice Giants” is covered with ice and attracts travelers of the world. The ice layer was first formed a thousand years ago thanks to the Salzach river forming passageways and snow previously melted and then frozen inside the cave. An ideal atmosphere of the incredible cave keeps the icy alive, and new layers of it are added every spring.

PUERTO PRINCESA SUBTERRANEAN RIVER IN PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES

This destination is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and also officially known as a modern Wonder of Nature. Puerto Princesa Subterranean River is a developed network of caves, waterfalls, and chambers. Once found by geologists ten years ago the cave became one of the most spectacular places of the Earth. Sea animals, huge bats, and the two-level river is not the whole list of admirable objects of the incredible cave. Four kilometers down the river by boat are an unforgettable voyage straight to the ancient natural hideaways.

MAMMOTH CAVE NATIONAL PARK IN KENTUCKY, USA

We’ve already told you about the deepest cave, so here’s the longest cave system on the planet. Mammoth Cave National Park is located on the space of 528.3 sq.km and has various tour options for tourists. You’ll see the Grand Avenue or the Frozen Niagara inside the network. It’s also possible to pass through extreme and less developed parts of the caves if you’re a brave soul. The most popular route until 1990 was the Echo River Tour which was closed because of a huge number of people choosing it and frightening the fauna of the caves.

ŠKOCJAN CAVE IN DIVAČA, SLOVENIA

Slovenian Škocjan Cave is a member of UNESCO World Heritage Sites for some reason. This area was inhabited during prehistoric times, and now the incredible cave is a habitat for many species of wildlife. It’s also claimed to be the biggest underground cave systems in the world, very beautiful, and a great sample of contact karst.

CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK IN NEW MEXICO, USA

One of the most popular destinations among caves of the USA is Carlsbad Caverns National Park reached a point of 41 000 000 visitors in 2011. You can be another one every day of the year except Christmas. One of the main attractions of the park is the seventh hugest chamber in the world called “The Big Room” (4000 ft long, 250 ft high, 620 ft wide). If you are a fan of bats, try the Bat Flight Program allowing meeting these animals. You can stay there for more than one night because camping is available in the park. One of the recently found elements is the bottomless pit which makes no sound when throwing stones into it. It’s proved that it has a bottom but full of soft dirt absorbing everything reaching it.

WAITOMO GLOWWORM CAVES IN WAITOMO, NEW ZEALAND

The biggest colony of glowworms protected by people is here in Waitomo. Millions of these tiny insects are living inside the cave and attract millions of people every year to admire such a spectacular picture. Professional staff is controlling everything happening around the cave including crowds of entering people and the atmosphere in the cave.