This list of deepest caves includes the deepest known natural caves according to maximum surveyed depth as of 2024 [update] . The depth value is measured from the highest to the lowest accessible cave point.
Gouffre Jean-Bernard or Réseau Jean Bernard, sometimes known simply as Jean Bernard, is the seventh deepest cave in the world, and the third deepest one in Europe. It is in the Alps in Samoëns, France. The first entrance to the cave was found by the French caving group Groupe Vulcain in 1963. More entrances have been found over the years since, and currently at least thirteen are known. The highest entrance, known as C37, is at 2,333 m (7,654 ft) above sea level. The cave is named after Jean Dupont and Bernard Raffy, two Groupe Vulcain members who died in 1963 in an unrelated expedition in Goule de Foussoubie Cave.
Trou du Diable is a cave situated in Portneuf Regional Natural Park, St-Casimir Municipality, Portneuf RCM, Capital Nationale, Quebec, Canada.
EGMA Sinkhole, a.k.a. Peynirlikönü Sinkhole, is a sinkhole and the deepest cave in Turkey. It is located at Sugözü village of Anamur, Mersin. The sinkhole is 1,429 m (4,688 ft) deep and 3,118 m (10,230 ft) long. EGMA is an acronym that stands for Evren Günay - Mehmet Ali Özel.
The Gouffre Berger is a cave in the French alps within the commune of Engins high on the Vercors Plateau. It was discovered on 24 May 1953 by Joseph Berger, Georges Bouvet, Ruiz de Arcaute and Marc Jouffrey. From 1953 to 1963, it was regarded as the deepest cave in the world at −1,122 metres (−3,681 ft), relinquishing this title to the previous contender, Pierre Saint Martin, in 1964, after further exploration. The Gouffre Berger is now ranked 39th deepest cave in the world, and the 4th in France.
Charles William (Bill) Steele, Jr. is a cave explorer and speleologist who has led and participated in expeditions to many of the longest and deepest caves in the USA, Mexico, and China. He has explored hundreds of caves across North America and Asia and has written two books chronicling his expeditions: Yochib: The River Cave, and Huautla: Thirty Years in One of the World's Deepest Caves. TV shows such as National Geographic Explorer, NOVA and How’d They Do That? have aired programs on his expeditions.
La Verna is a show cave in the commune of Sainte-Engrâce in the department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques in France. 660 metres (2,170 ft) of mined tunnel leads into the Salle de la Verna, the largest chamber in a show cave in the world. It has a diameter of 250 metres (820 ft), a height of 194 metres (636 ft), a surface area of 5 hectares and a volume of 3.6 million cubic metres (130,000,000 cu ft). A river cascades into the chamber from halfway up the east wall, and sinks into boulders near the base of the chamber.
Sistema Huautla is a cave system in the Sierra Mazateca mountains of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. As of May 2024 it is the deepest cave system in the Western Hemisphere, 1,560 metres (5,120 ft) from the highest entrance to the lowest reached point in the cave system, with over 62 miles of mapped passageways. It is the ninth deepest cave in the world. It is also the 29th longest cave system with over 100 km length. Sistema Huautla has 30 entrances.
Veryovkina Cave is a cave in Abkhazia, a disputed region of Georgia. At 2,209 meters (7,247 ft) deep, it is the second deepest-known cave on Earth. Veryovkina is in the Arabika Massif, in the Gagra mountain range of the Western Caucasus, on the pass between the Krepost and Zont mountains, close to the slopes of Mount Krepost. Its entrance is 2,285 meters (7,497 ft) above sea level. The entrance of the cave has a cross section of 3 m × 4 m, and the depth of the entrance shaft is 32 m (105 ft). The confirmed depth of the cave is 2,209 m (7,247 ft).
Boybuloq is a limestone cave in Uzbekistan, the deepest cave in Central Asia and all Asia except its western part. The cave is 1,517 metres (4,977 ft) deep and 18,400 metres (60,400 ft) long with the main entrance at an elevation of 2,647 metres (8,684 ft). It is situated at the edge of Baysun-Tau mountain ridge, the southern spur of the Gissar Range, in the southeast of the country. The nearest village is Dehibolo, to the northeast of Boysun.
Yuriy Mykhailovych Kasyan is a Ukrainian speleologist, most known for his work in cave exploration, especially as the Call of the Abyss research project coordinator. He was heading the speleological expeditions to caves of the Arabika massif in Abkhazia and, with Aleksandr Klimčuk, to Aladaglar massif in Turkey. Some of the world's deepest caves were explored, including the first cave, deeper than 2,000 m, the Krubera-Voronja Cave.
Gouffre Mirolda is a karstic cave located in the Haut-Giffre mountain range, in the commune of Samoëns, Haute-Savoie, France. It is connected to the Lucien Bouclier cave system, and has a depth of −1,661 m (−5,449 ft). It is the sixth deepest cave in the world.
Aleksandr Sergeyevich Vishnevsky was a Russian speleologist, most known for his cave exploration work in the Urals and in Uzbekistan. After 2000 the latter area of his work became one of the speleology hotspots as it includes the Boybuloq, the deepest cave in Central and East Asia, and one of the deepest caves in the world.
Pavel Yevgenyevich Demidov was a Russian speleologist, most known for his work in extreme cave exploration, especially as the leader of the Perovo-speleo team expeditions to Veryovkina Cave on Arabika massif in Abkhazia, from 2017 the deepest cave in the world.
Ekaterinburg Speleo Club (SGS) (from Sverdlovskaja Gorodskaja Speleosekcija; Свердловская Городская Спелеосекция – СГС), founded in 1961, is a Russian, non-profit speleological organization dedicated to the exploration, research, and conservation of caves. It is based in Ekaterinburg (named Sverdlovsk from 1924 to 1991), the fourth largest city of Russia, in the Middle Urals and on the western edge of Siberia. SGS is most known for the exploration of caves in the northern Sverdlovsk Oblast and high-mountain karst areas of Surxondaryo Region in Uzbekistan, including Boybuloq, the deepest cave in Central Asia and one of the deepest caves in the world.
The Morca Cave is located on the Taşeli plateau of the Taurus Mountains in the south of Turkey. Discovered in 1996, it had reached an explored depth of 1,276 meters and a length of 5,714 meters at the end of 2020. By then, Morca was Turkey's third deepest and eighth longest known cave. It has not been fully explored.
The Gouffre de la Pierre Saint-Martin, also called Gouffre Lépineux, is the original entrance to a major cave system located in the massif of La Pierre Saint-Martin, in the immediate vicinity of the Franco-Spanish border and the French commune of Arette, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, under which lies part of the cave network.