The Traveller's Magazine
Cold, dark, wet… kudos for whoever discovered these ginormous and remote caves around the world. You wouldn’t catch up venturing into the depths of the Earth without a proper guide but wow, these places are pretty impressive and incredible!
Son Doong Cave – Vietnam
Son Doong Cave is the largest cave currently known in the world. There very may well be biggest but this is the largest that has been discovered so far. It’s an incredible space with some very isolated ecosystems and very unique geological formations. The cave is only accessible by guided tour, which will set you back a pretty penny, but they’re totally worth it.
Want to visit Son Doong Cave? Check out this post, World’s largest cave to welcome first visitors, for more info.
Mutnovsky Ice Cave – Russia
You can bet there are some cool things to see in Russia, including this cave near the Mutnovsky Volcano, on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The caves in this area are formed by the glaciers around the volcano that are formed by vents that release volcanic heat and gases from the volcano called fumaroles. The heat melts the ice into the most incredible forms.
Naica Mine – Mexico
We first featured this cave in Mexico in one of our #fridayfinds features. It’s located beneath Naica in Mexico’s Chihuahua province. These caves are home to the biggest crystals humans have ever seen. The Crystal Cave is closed to the public due to its depth and heat but there are plenty of photos around on the web of what you’ll find down here. Now that’s a rock!
Vatnajokull Glacier Cave – Iceland
It would be hard to write a post about caves and not include one in Iceland. This cave is located inside Vatnajokull Glacier, the largest in Europe. Caves like these form when glaciers melt (not good), but the results of the flowing and freezing ice water are pretty incredible. It’s pretty dangerous to go inside of these though, because glaciers are constantly changing and breaking, with many of these caves collapsing. Tours take visitors to these caves, but you’d better book flights to Reykjavik soon, before they’re gone!
Batu Caves – Malaysia
The Batu Caves in Malaysia have been used throughout history by both English and Chinese settlers as well as the country’s own indigenous Temuan people. Traditionally the bat guano found in the cave was mined for use in agriculture but today the cave is more of a tourist attraction, filled with statues and open to the public. As a site of Hindu importance, the festival of Thaipusam is a great time to visit to see the colourful parades.
Want to see some more caves? This one in Alaska is pretty spectacular.
