Cueva de Santo Tomas

The Largest Cave System In Cuba, With More Than Forty Kilometres Of Surveyed Galleries On Eight Levels, Visited With A Helmet And A Lamp Rather Than As A Lit Show Cave · El Moncada, Pinar del Rio

Under the limestone hills west of Vinales runs the largest cave system in Cuba: more than forty kilometres of surveyed galleries stacked on eight distinct levels, with an underground river at the bottom of it. It is not a show cave. There is no installed lighting, no handrail and no walkway - you are given a helmet and a lamp at the village of El Moncada, where the national speleology school is based, and a local guide walks you about a kilometre and a half into the system over ninety minutes, over uneven floors and up the occasional ladder. What you see by lamplight is formations, bats, the stratigraphy of eight levels cut one below another, and a reproduction of the indigenous wall drawings found inside. It is warm rather than cold, and humid, which surprises people who know European caves and arrive carrying a fleece. It is the serious counterpart to Cueva del Indio at Vinales, which is lit, level and done partly by boat - choose deliberately between them.

El Moncada, Sierra de Quemado, Vinales, Pinar del Rio, El Moncada, Pinar del Rio, Cuba

Guided visits run in daylight hours from the village of El Moncada, about twenty-five kilometres west of Vinales. A HELMET, A LAMP AND A LOCAL GUIDE ARE COMPULSORY and are included in the charge; there is no unaccompanied entry and no installed lighting. The standard route takes about ninety minutes. Heavy rain can close sections. Whether guides are working depends on staffing.

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