Cave Exploration

Caves are dark rooms and tunnels found under the ground. People who explore them are called cavers or spelunkers. They crawl, climb, and sometimes swim to see what is inside. Caves can have huge rooms, shiny rocks, and strange animals. Exploring caves is exciting, but it can also be tricky. Cavers must be brave, smart, and very careful.

What Is Caving?

Caving means going inside caves to explore them. Some caves are small and easy to enter. Others are deep and hard to reach. Cavers wear helmets with lights on top. They also wear strong boots and thick clothes. They bring ropes to climb down steep drops. Many caves are cold and wet. Some caves have rivers flowing through them. Cavers must watch their step at all times.

What Is Inside a Cave?

Caves are full of cool things to see. Long, pointy rocks hang from the roof. These are called stalactites. Rocks that grow up from the floor are called stalagmites. They are made from dripping water over many years. Some caves have bats, blind fish, and tiny bugs. A few caves even have old paintings made by people long ago. Every cave is different and full of surprises.

Fun Facts

• The deepest cave in the world is Veryovkina Cave in Georgia. It goes down more than 7,000 feet.
• Some cave fish have no eyes because they live in total darkness.
• The biggest cave room is in Son Doong Cave in Vietnam. A whole skyscraper could fit inside it.

Did You Know?

Stalactites grow very slowly. Some only grow about one inch every 100 years!