Welcome to the Planetcaver blog, featuring stories from caves and
underground explorations around the world, from the point of view of a
beginner caver. The Planetcaver has explored underground places in
42 countries and 574 locations (428 natural in 35 countries and 147 man-made in 24 countries) and has written about 80 other places. You can also click on the map
on the left to see where in the world they took place.
There's also a "map of maps" -- a map of caves that I have drawn a cave map on on the right (181 maps). There's also a long list of those maps as well as a list of 3D models that I have created. The Planetcaver articles appeared originally in the Blogspot Planetskier series, at TGR posts, or at the Relaa website. See also the articles about skiing, urban exploration, climbing, cycling, flying, swimming, and saunas.
All caving-related articles:
![]() | Ivanovići Pećina in Bečići, Montenegro The Ivanovići Pećina is a small, 18-meter cave located east of the town of Budva on the Adriatic Coast of Montenegro. The drive to access the cave is a long one up the hills on narrow roads, then there's a well-marked half a kilometer hike down a small valley and then up to the cave. But it is well worth the trip! The cave is nicely shaped, and the hike offers wonderful views. Indeed, even from the cave entrance you can see the green hills sloping down to the sea, and the coast. Recommended. Full story September 2025, Ivanovići Pećina, Bečići, Montenegro Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Surveying) | |
![]() | Sopot, Montenegro This was the backup cave after the failed trip (alt. link) to find the first one. But what a cave! Sometimes it is a raging tube shooting water at 50 m3 per second out to a waterfall and then free falling tens of meters to the lake. And sometimes it is a dry cave that you can explore. Very interesting! Just make sure you choose the latter time when you go caving :-) Full story September 2025, Sopot Pećina, Risan, Montenegro Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Surveying) | |
![]() | Soidenkallion onkalot - swamp cliff holes On the way back from the Lahti swimming pool visit, I stopped in Lapinjärvi to look at a cave that I had not previously been to, the Soidenkallion onkalot (or "swamp cliff holes" in rough English translation). This is a shelter cave formed through a horizontal crack and erosion at the bottom of a cliff. Full story September 2025, Soidenkallion onkalot, Lapinjärvi, Finland; Soidenkallion onkalot sivuluola 1, Lapinjärvi, Finland; Soidenkallion onkalot sivuluola 2, Lapinjärvi, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock-Gneiss, Rock, Morphology-Crack, Morphology-Erosion, Surveying); Caving (Basic, Rock-Gneiss, Rock, Morphology-Crack, Morphology-Erosion) | |
![]() | Vilina Pećina or the Fairy Cave Fail. I drove a long way to see this cave, but ... the coordinates are a bit uncertain and I can't find a safe way to climb the cliff on top of which the cave likely is at. The forest is also almost impassable. And I can't find a path that would take me through. Full story September 2025, Vilina Pećina, Dragalj, Montenegro Caving (None, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst) | |
![]() | Gaura cu Muscă cave in Romania I had two choices for visiting a cave. One was reportedly larger, but also came with a river crossing on foot, hiking through bushes known to have venomous snakes, and a 10-meter vertical cliff climb without protection. I chose the other one, Gaura cu Muscă, or the "Cave of the Flies". This cave was supposed have an easy path to follow from the road. Yet, that easy path turned out to be not so obvious, so after hiking 50 meters up and gotten to an increasingly unstable and sketchy mountainside path, I gave up. But on the way back I realized there were alternate paths, and one of them lead to the actual cave. The views from inside this cave's oval-shaped entrance holes, over the Danube were nothing short of stunning! Full story August 2025, Gaura cu Muscă mai jos, Coronini, Romania; Gaura cu Muscă de sus, Coronini, Romania; Golubac fortress, Golubac, Serbia; St. Laszlo Fortress, Coronini, Romania Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Karst, Swimming, Surveying); Urban-Exploration (Ruins, Castles, Historic); Urban-Exploration (None, Ruins, Castles, Historic) | |
![]() | Ozidana Pecina cave in the Krka National Park The Krka National Park is one of the most popular parks in Croatia. It runs along the river Krka, and is reachable by about an hour's drive from Split or Zadar. The park is centered around the river and lakes on it, with incredibly beautiful gorges and waterfalls. There are many cruises, excursions, restaurants, one beach, and ... a large number of caves :-) I visited the main tourist-accessible cave, Ozidana Pecina along with some smaller caves in the area. Full story August 2025, Ozidana Pecina, Krka, Bogatić, Croatia; A-Frame cave, Krka, Bogatić, Croatia; High shelter cave, Krka, Bogatić, Croatia; Shelter cave by the raised path, Krka, Bogatić, Croatia; Shelter cave behind bushes, Krka, Bogatić, Croatia; Krka beach, Krka, Bogatić, Croatia Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Surveying); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Surveying); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Lake, Beach) | |
![]() | Green Cave A hole in the sky. Or in the roof, rather. This is what has given this cave its name, Zelena Špilja or in English the Green Cave. At noon, sun will shine through this small hole down to the water in the sea cave, and combined with the sea weed at the bottom of the water, a green light is created. I'm here though in the evening, but the cave is still spectacular! Full story August 2025, Zelena Špilja, Griže, Ravnik, Croatia; Unnamed beach cave 1, Podhumlje, Vis, Croatia; Unnamed beach cave 2, Podhumlje, Vis, Croatia; Zaglav, Vis, Croatia; Milna, Vis, Croatia; Budikovac beach, Podstražje, Otok Veli Budikovac, Croatia Caving (Rock, Swimming, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (Waterbody-Sea); Caving (Rock, Boating, Morphology-Erosion); Caving (None, Rock, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (Waterbody-Sea, Beach); Swimming (None, Waterbody-Sea, Beach) | |
![]() | Cueva de Malvecino cave in Alcalá de Henares, Madrid Flying out of Madrid now after a very nice meeting, but not before hiking to the Cueve de Malvecino cave, did a 3D scan of it. This was in the Los Cerros park, east of the city. A hot hike, despite going there in the evening. Full story July 2025, Cueva de Malvecino, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain; Cueva de los Gigantones, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain Caving (Basic, Man-Made, Rock, Surveying); Caving (None, Man-Made, Rock) | |
![]() | Altamira cave (replica) visit Madrid, Spain. There's a famous cave, the Altamira cave in Cantabria that has fabulous cave paintings. Unfortunately, it is today inaccessible to prevent visitors bringing in moisture that was slowly degrading these ancient paintings. Ancient, very ancient, the cave paintings were made between 35,000 and 13,000 years ago. The cave was closed after that period by a landslide, until it was discovered sometime in the late 19th century due to construction work. Full story July 2025, Altamira cave replica, Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid, Spain; Altamira cave replica, Museo Altamira Mitológica, Santillana del Mar, Spain; Altamira cave, Herrán, Spain Caving (Man-Made, Basic); Caving (Man-Made, None); Caving (Rock, None) | |
![]() | Unspecified hole in Norway After exploring the Mareminehollet cave in Bergen, I was more in the south of Norway, and explored another cave. I don't want to expose its location or even name/city. It was interesting, though I the promised 50 meters seemed like a stretch. But I also didn't feel like squeezing into the very low part, it is possible that something could have been found there. Full story July 2025, Undisclosed cave 1, Undisclosed city, Norway; Undisclosed cave 1 side cave, Undisclosed city, Norway Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Crack, Morphology-Erosion, Morphology-Karst, Surveying) | |
![]() | Luolavuori cave scan I went with Ralf's organized caving trip to Turku's Luolavuori (cave mountain) cave. Been there many times, it is a wonderful cave! Also fun to meet new people, perhaps there's some cave trips we can do together at some point! Also, I did a quick 3D scan of the cave with my iPhone. Full story June 2025, Luolavuoren luola, Turku, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Gneiss, Morphology-Crack, Morphology-Boulders) | |
![]() | Mareminehollet I'm in Norway, traveling between Oslo and Bergen. But are there any caves that I could visit? Turning to Google, I do find some, but they are generally too far out of my reach. The good caves appear to be much higher up north. However, just a kilometer from the city center of Bergen there's Maraminehollet. It is a city cave, with everything that comes with it. Easy to access, there's a sign, there's a bench next to it. But to enter, you must first pass the beer cans and park chemists :-) Full story June 2025, Mareminehollet, Bergen, Norway Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Unknown, Morphology-Unknow, Surveying) | |
![]() | Underground rivers of Flåm While going on the Flåm railway (see the other article), I noticed that on Google Maps there was a marking for a "cave waterfall", Grottefossen-Høgabru. I saw it briefly when the train drove by, the river entered the mountain and came out shortly thereafter on the other side. And there was an additional similar underground water flow after the Kjosfossen waterfall, under the station. These seem man-made, however, as in both cases the water is taking a different direction to bypass the station or the bank that the rails were on. Full story June 2025, Grottefossen-Høgabru, Flåm, Norway; Kjosfossen station, Flåm, Norway Travel; Urban-Exploration (Tunnels, Railways); Caving (Man-Made, None) | |
![]() | Solamäki caves update We got an update from Kim Petterson about the Solamäki caves. Full story May 2025, Solamäen luola, Siuntio, Finland Caving (None) | |
![]() | Porvoo's Näsi mini-cave Right across the river in Porvoo, there's a hill with a famous rock and an observation deck on top of it: Näsin kivi. A massive glacial boulder, moved by during the ice age. It is very interesting by itself, including some small crack canyons on its sides. But a hundred meters away is another smaller boulder, cracked open in two points. And there are two narrow tunnels in cracks, passing under the boulder. Full story May 2025, Näsin siirtolohkare, Porvoo, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Boulders, Morphology-Crack) | |
![]() | This "cave" will have to do this week Business trip to Brussels, are there caves? Sadly, there are no caves in town, and I don't have enough free time in the evenings to venture outside. However, there's an intriguing thing in town: a copy of the famous Grotte de Lourdes from France. A chapel or a place of worship. Full story April 2025, Grotte Notre-Dame Lourdes à Jette, Brussels, Belgium; Grotte de Massabielle, Lourdes, France Caving (Rock, Man-Made, Basic); Caving (None, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst) | |
This is the 1th set of articles. The next sets are set 2, set 3, set 4, set 5, set 6, set 7, set 8, set 9, set 10, set 11, set 12, set 13, set 14, set 15, set 16, set 17, set 18, set 19, set 20, set 21, set 22, set 23, and set 24.
The Planetcaver articles appeared originally in the Blogspot Planetskier series, at TGR posts, or at the Relaa website. See also the articles about skiing, urban exploration, climbing, cycling, flying, swimming, and saunas.