CAVING TOURS AND PRICES

Updated JUNE 7 th. 2002

USE OUR DETAILED MAPS AND VISIT THE LOCAL CAVES ON YOUR OWN, OR JOIN ONE OF OUR REGULAR TREKS.

ONE DAY TREK AND CAVE: Full day walk from the Lodge through spectacular karst scenery, visiting three caves- Fossil Cave, a long dry cave with 280 million year old fossilised shells, Spirit Cave containing mysterious 1700 year old coffins and Waterfall Cave with beautiful formations and an awesome 30 metre waterfall.        COST: 450 Baht (approx $10 u.s.) includes expert guide, caving light,  helmet and lunch.

ONE DAY ADVENTURE CAVING: There are over 200 caves in the local area, 5 of which are more than 4 kilometres long with world class formations.  Let our expert guides lead you through the best of these amazing caves with minimal impact and maximum adventure.   COST: 650 Baht (approx. $15u.s.) includes transport, expert guide, caving light, helmet and lunch.

ONE DAY HILLTRIBE TREK AND CAVE: Walk from the Lodge 2 hours to a local Karen village famous for its  weaving.  Visit the nearby Chedi Cave and another easy cave with beautiful formations then take an optional ride one of the Karen people's elephants or their bamboo raft on the way home.  COST: 450 Baht (approx. $10u.s.) includes expert guide, caving light, helmet and lunch.  Elephant rides- add 200 Baht/ hour. Bamboo raft- 500 Baht for up to 4 people.

All trips depart regularly, depending on weather conditions and numbers. To book either phone or email us or just turn up and we will  get you onto the next trip.

Guides (with lanterns) for Tham Lod  are only 100 baht per group and the bamboo rafts inside the cave are 100 baht for 3 people.   It takes about 2 hours to see all the caverns.  You can watch the birds fly into the cave every evening for free.

 For group, club and specialist  rates for other caving adventures, contact us for full details.

BACKGROUND (UNDERGROUND) INFO:  There are more than 200 known caves in our district with active systems up to 12 kms long, amongst the longest in Thailand.  The deepest vertical cave is also found near the Lodge.  Some caves are huge river tunnels with passages typically 20-50 metres high and wide.  There are more than 10 caves longer than one kilometre.  One collapsed cave, the Spirit Well (check out the Nat. Geo. ultimate destination, Sept. 2001, I think) is 100m deep and 100m across, with sheer cliffs and an untouched forest at the base.  We took the first expedition to this amazing place in 1985 but unfortunately the first person to descend was struck by a weird tragedy- later that night he awoke, paralysed in half of his body.  A few of us have been down since and spent the night and the incident was a definite one-off.

  Formations in some caves are world class with massive crystal flowstones 50 metres long and 20 metres high, spectacular columns 30 metres high and delicate crystals of calcite and aragonite.  Seven caves that we have discovered are home to 2 different species of blind cave fish including one cave where the 2 types share the same stream.  One new genera, 'Cryptotora' is finger length, eyeless, colourless, without scales and uses 4 large fins to 'walk' up waterfalls.   The caves and karst in Pang Mapa District are worthy of recognition as a world heritage sites.  

Many of the caves have been discovered and explored only during the past 18 years.  We have been intimately involved and have introduced many international and Thai speleological research teams to the wonders of our area.  Much of the original underground surveys were undertaken with the help of Australian cavers, led by John Dunkley who has been at the forefront of the efforts to record the areas assets.  We, at the Lodge, have become increasingly concerned with management and conservation issues, not just individual caves but the entire catchment areas.  There are many threats to the integrity of the underground resources in the area, from cave visitors to the activities of the people living in the catchments of stream caves.  The unique resources, such as the cave fish and other sensitive troglobites, the delicate and rare formations and the archaeological remains are particularly sensitive.  

We hope that all visitors to our area will treat these irreplaceable treasures with utmost care, avoid visiting particularly sensitive areas in caves and abide by the 'soft' caving guidelines promoted by international organisations such as the American National Speleological Society http://caves.org  and the IUCN (The World Conservation Union) http://www.iucn.org.  We encourage people interested in caving as a sport to think carefully about the potential impact their activities may have on the caves they visit.  At Cave Lodge we can offer expert advice on caves suitable for adventure caving- usually big, active stream passages that flood every year.  Wherever you have caved before we are sure you will be impressed by the beauty and accessibility of the spectacular caves near Cave Lodge.  If you have the time bring your gear and a few caving friends and spend a couple of weeks exploring the best caves in Thailand.  We can get you to them and point to areas that are virtually unexplored.  Hope to see you soon..... 

E-MAIL     cavelodge@hotmail.com

 Ph(053) 617203                                           

Tourism Authority of Thailand No. 23/0369