Viimsi Koobas, or the caves of Viimsi, are a man-made set of tunnels on a cliff face rising near the Vimka - Viimsi Mäepark ski hill. There may be more than one tunnel and the tunnels are supposed to be longer, but I think they have been filled with sand or collapsed, as I was able to find only one about 13 meter long tunnel. Nice visit still, though.
Full story
Alternate link
January 2026, Viimsi Koobas, Lubja, Viimsi, Estonia
Caving (Basic, Rock, Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Tunnels)
I'm collecting things. Or rather experiences. Or visits to places. Ski resorts, swimming halls, caves... preferably as many as possible. Could I do a one day trip to Tallinn for some of the closest ski hills, caves, and spas that I had not yet visited? How many could I do in one day?
Full story
Alternate link
January 2026, Vimka - Viimsi Mäepark, Lubja, Viimsi, Estonia; Nõmme Lumepark, Mustamäe, Tallinn, Estonia; Viimsi Koobas, Lubja, Viimsi, Estonia; Naage Koopad, Naage, Estonia; Elamus Spa, Tallinn, Estonia
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Caving (Basic, Man-Made, Rock, Surveying); Urban-Exploration (Tunnels); Caving (Basic, Rock, Surveying); Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Pool, Indoor); Sauna (Normal, Steam)
The official year-end meeting of the Finnish Caving Association was in December, combined with the pre-Xmas party of the club. Very nice; lots to discuss, videos and photos to share. And new people to meet!
Full story
Alternate link
December 2025, Pukinmäki, Helsinki, Finland; Högberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Caving (None, Social, Media); Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Erosion, Basic)
The Portneuf municipality is half way between Trois-Rivières and Quebec cities, on the north side of the St. Lawrence river. A bit north of them lies the Saint-Alban village and there is the natural park, Parc Naturel de Portneuf. And two wonderful caves, the Grotte le Trou du Diable and Grotte aux Cascatelles. The first one is a Quebec speleological society's organized touring cave, a wet wading cave. I was not able to do this tour, since it was out of the season. In any case, summer would probably be a nicer time to be deep in the water. The second one is cave by the gorge-like river Sainte-Anne, where a small stream has carved a cave to short-cut the gorge walls.
Full story
Alternate link
November 2025, Grotte le Trou de Diable, Saint-Marc-des-Carrières, Quebec, Canada; Grotte aux Cascatelles, Saint-Alban, Quebec, Canada
Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Morphology-Erosion)
One would expect there to be plenty of caves in mountainous Greek islands, but it didn't seem to be the case for Idea. There are some beach caves, however, the easiest to access being right in the main village, Hydra, at the "Spilia Beach Bar". That, is the cave beach bar.
Full story
Alternate link
October 2025, Spilia Beach Bar cave, Hydra, Greece
Caving (Basic, Swimming, Rock, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach)
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
Alternate link
September 2025, Sopot Pećina, Risan, Montenegro
Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Surveying)
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
Alternate link
September 2025, Ivanovići Pećina, Bečići, Montenegro
Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Surveying)
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
Alternate link
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)
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
Alternate link
September 2025, Vilina Pećina, Dragalj, Montenegro
Caving (None, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst)
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
Alternate link
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)
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
Alternate link
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)
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
Alternate link
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)
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
Alternate link
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)
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
Alternate link
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)
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
Alternate link
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)
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
Alternate link
June 2025, Grottefossen-Høgabru, Flåm, Norway; Kjosfossen station, Flåm, Norway
Travel; Urban-Exploration (Tunnels, Railways); Caving (Man-Made, None)