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
38 countries and 540 locations (399 natural in 32 countries and 142 man-made in 22 countries) and has written about 66 other places. You can also click on the map
on the left to see where in the world they took place.
Mongolia 100 monks in a cave Mongolia caving, yay! Freezing temperatures and beautiful red granite rock of the Terelj national park near Ulaanbaatar, what's not to like? On my way to Mongolia I run into to other travelers from Finland, and they were able to join me on the Sunday excursion to Terelj. Together with a guide we headed to the 100 ламын агуй, or the 100 Monk Cave. Besides caves, we also looked at turtle-shaped massive rocks, world's largest horse rider statue, local population's ger (yurt) tents, and snowy mountains. The only question is if the cave will fit 100 monks as advertised ... Full story
Terelj's Crystal Cave(s) I tried hard. Very hard. To find more caves than the 100 Monks Cave... but it was difficult. After long period of Internet searching, I settled on visiting the Crystal "cave", even if it was just an abandoned man-made mine. It was nearby though, also in Terelj, and not 17 hour drive away so that's a positive :-) But my first guide was unable to take me to this place, so I looked for another guide company. A got the whole deal, the driver, the guy who speaks English to me, and the local guide who knows where the mine is :-) Full story
February 2025, East Crystal Cave, Terelj, Mongolia; West Crystal Cave, Terelj, Mongolia; Tiny roof cave among boulders, Terelj, Mongolia; A crack in a cliff, Terelj, Mongolia; Cow shed roof cave, Terelj, Mongolia Urban-Exploration (Mines); Caving (Basic, Man-Made); Hiking; Urban-Exploration (None, Mines); Caving (None, Man-Made); Caving (Basic, Rock); Hiking; Hiking
Mongolian caves I visited Mongolia in February 2025, and of course wanted to visit some caves. It turned out to be a bit challenging, it is a large country with some of the potential caves too far away from Ulaanbaatar where I stayed, some caves would not be possible to visit in the winter, couldn't connect to the local caving association, etc. But I managed to visit one good cave and some tiny holes maybe not classified as caves, and one mine. But in this article I wanted to outline all the Mongolian caves I found out about, for others to explore if you happen to be traveling to Mongolia. Full story
Bogovina Cave The Bogovina cave is a karst/river cave in the village of Bogovina in eastern Serbia. In local alphabet the name of the cave is Боговинска пећина. The cave is (depending on source) 5020 or 5892 meters long, up until few years ago it was Serbia's longest cave. It is a show cave, that is you can't enter on your own but need to arrange the local tourist office to give you a tour. The show cave part is half a kilometer long, consisting first from an excavated tunnel and then the cave proper. The stalactite formations in the cave are wonderful, but at the end in the Hajduk hall they are especially spectacular. Full story
December 2024, Bogovina Cave, Bogovina, Serbia Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Showtour); Swimming (Indoor)
La Canya dels Pujols Caves + 1, Andorra. La Canya dels Pujols, a hundred-meter cave about 80 meters above the riverbed below. Full story
December 2024, La Canya dels Pujols, Margineda, Andorra; La Canya dels Pujols side cave, Margineda, Andorra; La Balma de la Margineda, Margineda, Andorra Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Unknown, Surveying); Urban-Exploration (Historic-Sites); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Unknown); Urban-Exploration (Historic-Sites)
Dublin caving Portrane caves I was visiting Dublin for a conference, but managed to sneak out for an early morning exploration on one of the days. I had already skied in Dublin eleven years ago. But I had not been to a cave in Ireland! Are there any around? I found an article from the award-winning local cave photographer and author Robert Mulraney which said, "The first thing that can be said of the caves of Dublin is that, there are no caves in Dublin". However, it turns out there are some, and Robert goes through these in his article. The caves are not big.. but very interesting. And actually, they *are* big for someone coming from the land of thousands lakes and mini caves :-) Full story
Caver's X-Mas Party with Dresses I hosted the fall meeting and Christmas party for the caver's association in Kauniainen. The theme was vintage clothing... I was maybe more vintage, clothing and otherwise than the others... Full story
November 2024, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None, Social)
Latokaski mini-caves I was walking back from my car repair shop, having returned by loaner car... and they are working on my Volvo. Let's see if they can fix it. It's been there six months soon, and even under work for more than a month. But on the way back I run into small holes in a rock outcrop in Latokaski. Too small maybe to call a proper cave. But certain space where you can go under a rock. Full story
October 2024, Latokasken kallionkolo, Espoo, Finland; Autofit Latokaski, Espoo, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Morphology-Crack); Car
The Pitsusköngäs waterfall cave Last month Duncan, Jarmo, Kimmo and me did a cave exploration trip to the Käsivarsi wilderness area. Peeking into every hole we could see, combing through areas of limestone, etc. The most memorable for me was the Pitsusköngäs (Bihčosgorži) waterfalls, highest in Finland at 17m free fall. And there was some space underneath, maybe 10x6-8x8m. Can we classify that as a cave? Full story
August 2024, Pitsusköngäs cave, Enontekiö, Finland; Pitsusköngäs west side cave, Enontekiö, Finland; Pitsusköngäs east side cave, Enontekiö, Finland; Pitsusköngäs, Enontekiö, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Unknown, Morphology-Erosion, Morphology-Crack); Caving (None, Rock, Rock-Unknown, Morphology-Erosion, Morphology-Crack); Hiking; Flying
The search for Toskaljärvi area caves peek into every hole In August 2024 we explored the surroundings of the Toskaljärvi lake and Doskalharj mountain. Our mission was to find caves, perhaps a desperate mission in this landscape that is mostly marked by small, broken up rock... but there are areas of limestone, larger boulder fields, canyons and cliffs all of which we wanted to check out. The mission turned then into a "walk everywhere and peek into every hole you can see". Of course, most of those holes were rather small in closer inspection. Full story
August 2024, Kolmen miehen luola, Enontekiö, Finland; Uhriluola, Enontekiö, Finland; Kimmon luola, Enontekiö, Finland Caving (None); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone); Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Boulders, Rock-Unknown); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Unknown, Morphology-Crack)
Beach cave tunnels at the Srebrna Beach The Srebrna Beach is a popular, rocky beach in the limestone layer of on the south side of the Vis island in Croatia. Beach caves are a very frequent occurrence on Croatia's coast, but for me - coming from a cave-poor country - they are always a wonder. There's a very nice straight, tunnel-like beach cave on the left side of the Srebrna beach. Full story
August 2024, Srebrna beach mini cave, Srebrna, Croatia; Srebrna beach cave, Srebrna, Croatia; Srebrna beach, Srebrna, Croatia Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Erosion); Caving (Basic, Surveying, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (Waterbody-Sea, Beach)
Worth squeezing in We stopped on a road for taking photos of the scenery. While taking the photo, I noticed that there was a small hole by the road. It looked tight and steep, uncertain if one could go in. At the bottom of the hole there seemed to be a couple of boulders. I returned a couple of days later equipped with better clothing for exploration. It turned out to be a 30m x 18m beautiful stalactite cave! Proof that it does indeed sometimes pay off to peek into every hole! Full story
August 2024, Propod, Komiza, Croatia Caving (Basic, Surveying, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst)
Movie night geology and caves in the Vis island region Komiza is a small fishing village on the island of Vis, off the coast of Croatia. It is perhaps one of the most real feeling places that I've visited in the Croatian archipelago. The houses are old, stone-built, the streets are narrow and for walking only. The views are great. But they also have an open-air movie theater, and an information center for the UNESCO's Vis Archipelago Geopark. And I happened to hear about a movie they were premiering in the theater, about the origins of island, their caves, and geology. Including some newly published research that changes the current understanding of how the islands formed! Full story
August 2024, Mediteran Cinema Komiža, Komiza, Croatia Caving (None, Media)
The Secret Beach in Komiža I have been here before, but then the tide and my clothes were not suitable for exploring. Now they were! I also did not understand the naming the beaches I was at, but I do now. The cave I'm looking at is at the Dog Beach, literally the beach that the dogs (and people) can swim at. A bit further out from the Dog Beach there's the Kamenice Beach, also called the Camp Beach due to the nearby low-cost but forbidden accommodation option :-) Both beaches can be accessed easily with chairs, have a bar, etc. However, between them there's the Secret Beach. To get there you have to go through a cave and climb, wall across a part of the sea that is only passable easily during low tide (picture above), or straight out swim. Full story
August 2024, Dog Beach, Komiza, Croatia; Kamenice Beach, Komiza, Croatia; Secret Beach, Komiza, Croatia Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Unknown, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea, Beach); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea, Beach); Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Sea)
Ape Cave Lava Tunnel Adventure by Mount St. Helens Ape Cave. Named after the scouts helping to explore the cave, back then called the "cave apes". One of my most amazing cave experiences. This cave is easily and safely accessible by anyone -- as long as you register yourself and your vehicle for the visit at the US Forestry Service. In the cave you can do just a small peek underground or walk 1 km to the nearest end of the cave on an easy path. Someone was even pushing strollers. And then you walk back the kilometer to exit. But you can also keep walking also to the other end of the cave, and then exit from the other exit. This is what I did, and that's a whopping 5.5 km walk underground. The cave is the third longest lava tube in North America. And with such amazing sights, e.g., the one in the picture above. Much recommended! Full story
July 2024, Ape Cave, Cougar, Washington, USA; Small Ape Cave side cave, Cougar, Washington, USA Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Volcanic, Morphology-Volcanic); Caving (None, Rock-Volcanic, Morphology-Volcanic)
Chilliwack River Caves Fail. I did find a cave, a small one, but I only later learned there would have been a much bigger cave higher up. And the other cave I was searching for ... I could not find. I guess the coordinates were wrong. Oh well, it was a nice outing by the riverside. Full story
July 2024, Slesse Creek Cave, Fraser Valley, British Columbia, Canada; Chipmunk Caves, Fraser Valley, British Columbia, Canada Caving (Basic, Morphology-Unknown, Rock); Caving (Rock, Morphology-Karst, Rock-Limestone, None)
underground explorations around the world, from the point of view of a
beginner caver. The Planetcaver has explored underground places in
38 countries and 540 locations (399 natural in 32 countries and 142 man-made in 22 countries) and has written about 66 other places. You can also click on the map
on the left to see where in the world they took place.
