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
39 countries and 556 locations (413 natural in 33 countries and 144 man-made in 22 countries) and has written about 76 other places. You can also click on the map
on the left to see where in the world they took place.
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
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-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
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)
Swimming hall on floor -8 Hervanta, a suburb of Tampere. I was told there was a swimming hall here, an underground one. Usually there'd be some signs but now I see nothing, at least not at the parking lot. But the map points to the yard of the nearby apartment block, so after walking just 50 meters I see the entrance, a small concrete building is the only thing that sticks out above ground. Full story
April 2025, Hervannan uimahalli, Hervanta, Tampere, Finland Swimming (Waterbody-Pool, Indoor); Sauna (Normal); Caving (Man-Made, Basic, Rock); Urban-Exploration (Bunkers)
Caves around Annecy, France I had a chance to visit Lac d'Annecy and surroundings last weekend. It is a wonderful area, much closer to nature than the bustling megacity Geneve nearby. Lakes, mountains, and .. caves! Visited three very different caves, Grotte du Grand Pertuis that was only reachable by boat from the lake, Grotte de l'ermitage by high up above the lake and under a church (where the founder of the monastery and church lived for 40 years), and finally closer to Geneve and on the mountains, Grotte du Diable, a mud-infested pit of the devil. Very nice! Full story
April 2025, Grotte du Grand Pertuis, Talloires-Montmin, France; Grotte de l'ermitage, Talloires-Montmin, France; Grotte du Diable, Le Sappey, France; Roselet islet, Duingt, France; Abandoned restaurant, Le Sappey, France Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst); Urban-Exploration (Historic); Urban-Exploration (Buildings)
Caves in Thailand's Ratchaburi region A day off on a conference trip in Bangkok. I've already skied here some years ago (in an indoor ski simulator), so what's left? Caves, of course. Caves. Hours spent in front of Google Maps and DuckDuckGo reveal though that there's nothing in Bangkok or even in the outskirts. I'll have to go further. The absolutely best and most interesting caves would be out of my reach, would require driving for five hours or even flying. But, the Ratchaburi region does offer many interesting caves, and it is only a two and a half hour drive away. I hire a driver for the day and off we go! What we find, though, is quite surprising. It turns out that half of the caves are housing buddhist temples, and even the other half has a shrine or statue or a place of quieting down. Full story
March 2025, Khao Bin Cave, Hin Kong, Thailand; Chomphon Cave, Chom Bueng, Thailand; Unidentified Cave, Ko Phlappla, Thailand; Tham Cham, Ko Phlappla, Thailand; Fa Tho Cave, Ko Phlappla, Thailand; Tham Rusi Khai Ngu, Ko Phlappla, Thailand; Khao Yoi Cave, Khao Yoi, Thailand; Paradise Cave, Khao Yoi, Thailand; Phra Sri-aaraya Cave, Khao Yoi, Thailand Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Showtour); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst); Caving (None, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst)
Gagernhöhle cave in Kelkhelm (near Frankfurt) A very nice, very small cave near Frankfurt! On the way to the airport, even. I've been having layovers in Frankfurt and Munich many times, and always looked for the possibility of caves nearby, close enough to drive during the few hours. But nothing was ever close enough. But now when I was on a business trip to Frankfurt I found out that in the suburbs there's a cave, Gagernhöhle, that you can quite easily visit. Full story
March 2025, Gagernhöhle, Kelkheim, Germany Caving (Man-Made, Rock)
Grotte delle Busserailles Grotte delle Busserailles is a small show cave in Valtournenche in northern Italy, four kilometers down the road from the ski resort Cervinia. Actually, it is more of a deep gorge with the roof partially closed. The wonderful part of the cave is the waterfall falling down from the river to the deeper part of the cave. Full story
March 2025, Grotte delle Busserailles, Valtournenche, Italy Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Unknown, Morphology-Erosion, Showtour)
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
underground explorations around the world, from the point of view of a
beginner caver. The Planetcaver has explored underground places in
39 countries and 556 locations (413 natural in 33 countries and 144 man-made in 22 countries) and has written about 76 other places. You can also click on the map
on the left to see where in the world they took place.
