This is a list of caves of the world that have articles or that are properly cited. They are sorted by continent and then country. Caves which are in overseas territories on a different continent than the home country are sorted by the territory's continent and name.
As of 2007 [update] seven putative cave entrances have been identified in satellite imagery of the planet Mars, all so far located on the flanks of Arsia Mons. [55] A more recent photograph of one of the features shows sunlight illuminating a side wall, suggesting that it may simply be a vertical pit rather than an entrance to a larger underground space. [56]
A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word cave can refer to smaller openings such as sea caves, rock shelters, and grottos, that extend a relatively short distance into the rock and they are called exogene caves. Caves which extend further underground than the opening is wide are called endogene caves.
A show cave—also called tourist cave, public cave, and, in the United States, commercial cave—is a cave which has been made accessible to the public for guided visits.
Crystal Cave may refer to:
An ice cave is any type of natural cave that contains significant amounts of perennial (year-round) ice. At least a portion of the cave must have a temperature below 0 °C (32 °F) all year round, and water must have traveled into the cave’s cold zone.
A Grotto is an internal organization of the National Speleological Society (NSS). They generally function as the local NSS chapter/club. Many Grottos however, operate in areas outside of their local area, with many operating in several states. Most Grottos also participate in Regions which are loose associations of Grottos. Regions are also an internal organization of the National Speleological Society.
Neptune's Grotto is a stalactite cave near the town of Alghero on the island of Sardinia, Italy. The cave was discovered by local fishermen in the 18th century and has since developed into a popular tourist attraction. The grotto gets its name from the Roman god of the sea, Neptune.
The Castellana Caves are a karst cave system located in the municipality of Castellana Grotte, in the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy.
The Frasassi Caves are a karst cave system in the municipality of Genga, Italy, in the province of Ancona, Marche. They are among the most famous show caves in Italy.
The Parque Nacional de las Cavernas del Río Camuy is a cave system in Puerto Rico. It is located between the municipalities of Camuy, Hatillo, and Lares in northwestern Puerto Rico, but the main entrance to the park is located in Quebrada, Camuy. The caverns are part of a large network of natural limestone caves and underground waterways carved out by the third-largest underground river in the world, the Río Camuy. The cave system was "discovered" in 1958 and was first documented in the 1973 book Discovery at the Río Camuy (ISBN 0-517-50594-0) by Russell and Jeanne Gurnee, but there is archaeological evidence that these caves were explored hundreds of years ago by the Taíno Indians, Puerto Rico's first inhabitants. Over 10 miles of caverns, 220 caves and 17 entrances to the Camuy cave system have been mapped so far. This, however, is only a fraction of the entire system which many experts believe still holds another 800 caves. Only a small part of the complex is open to the public. The 268-acre park built around the cave system features tours of some of the caves and sinkholes, and is one of the most popular natural attractions in Puerto Rico. After restorations necessitated by Hurricane Maria, a destructive storm that struck Puerto Rico in 2017, the park re-opened on March 24, 2021. It then closed again from September, 2022 until February, 2023 due to Hurricane Fiona.
Gruta de Maquiné (MG-0243), also Lapa Nova de Maquiné, is the oldest and one of the most commercially visited caves in Brazil. It is located about 5 km (3.1 mi) from Cordisburgo and 143 km (88.9 mi) northwest of Belo Horizonte, in the State of Minas Gerais. The cave has seven huge chambers explored, amounting to 650 m (2,130 ft) (linear) and unevenness of the ground of only 18 m (59 ft). Safety measures like lighting, walkways and handrails allow a multitude of visitors to enjoy safely the wonders of the grotto where the whole journey is accompanied by an experienced local guide.
Cavernas de Repechón, or Cuevas De Los Pajaros Nocturnos, is a karst cave system located in Carrasco National Park, Chapare Province, Bolivia. The park is home to a population of oilbirds, and is rarely visited as it very difficult to approach, and very remote.
Nombre de Dios Grottoes is a cave system in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. The main entrance of the cavern is located in the middle of the Cerro del Caballo of the Sierra de Nombre de Dios, approximately 200 m (660 ft)) from the Sacramento River, northeast of the state capital Chihuahua City. This elaborate cave system came to official attention during the sixteenth century. The location might have previously been used for ceremonial purposes by Apache, Comanche and others of the many local indigenous people.
The Aguas Buenas Cave System is a cave system located in the municipality of Aguas Buenas. The caves and their surrounding forest area are protected by the almost 1,800-acre Aguas Buenas Cave and Caverns System Nature Reserve since 2002, which also extends to the municipalities of Caguas and Cidra. The reserve is important for the number of bat species found in the system, some of which are endangered. In addition to being an important bat preserve, the nature reserve protects an important hydrological basin which is the source of a number of rivers and creeks that form part of the Loíza River basin.