Mention caving to a person in the street and they’ll most probably frown and say “you’d never get me in a cave.” To that I’d answer “you’re missing out.” Caving gets a bad press. In recent years there’s been a string of cave-based horror films such as The Descent and then a Thai football team trapped in a flooded cave. Every few years the media plays upon people’s already entrenched fears of the underground. There’s also a feeling that all caving is extremely tight, very wet and generally miserable.
It’s true to some extent – some caves are tight, muddy and miserable but not all of them and if you aren’t into that kind of thing then you just don’t go into those caves. The truth is that there are caves of all flavours. Some caves are very vertical and challenging, but some are horizontal – nothing more than a walk underground. Some caves are so astonishingly huge that you can spend several hours underground without ever touching the sides.
What nearly all caves have in common is that they are places of amazing natural beaty. Caves are a haven from human development and what you are looking at is a place that has been that way for tens of thousands of years, secret places full of seclusion and wonder. I’ve been involved and every outdoor activity there is over the years but it’s only caving which continues to surprise me and I still have regular genuine moments where my breath is taken away. Underground waterfalls, impossible rock formations, pristine fossils. Most importantly for me caving allows me to feel a genuine feeling of exploration – which in our small and overpopulated country, is a rare thing. We can take you to these places whatever your ability or expectation here.