Crow Kruber cave is the deepest in the world 2140 m. The deepest cave in the world ... (36 photos). Other major halls
Under the name Voronya (2190 m), located in the Arabica mountain range in Abkhazia.
The entrance to the cave is located at an altitude of about 2250 m above sea level. Karst a sub-vertical type cave, which is a series of wells connected by stiles and galleries. Starting from a depth of 1300 m, the main branch branches into many other branches. The waters of the Krubera-Voronya cave are fed by the most short river in the world - Reprua, whose length is only 18 meters, after which it flows into the Black Sea.
The cave was discovered and explored for the first time to a depth of 95 m by Georgian speleologists in 1960. Then it got its first name: Krubera Cave, in honor of the father of Russian karstology A.A. Kruber.
The forgotten cave was re-explored (already to a depth of 210 m) by Krasnoyarsk speleologists in 1968. They used the name of the cave: Sibirskaya.
In 1982-1987, the cave was again remembered. This time it was explored Kyiv speleologists to a depth of 340 m. A third name appeared: Voronya cave. After the Abkhaz-Georgian war of 1992-1993the republic was cut off from free visits by speleologists. Work resumed in August 1999, when the people of Kiev reached a depth of 700 m in one expedition. In August-September 2000, the same team reached a depth of 1410 m.
In January 2001, an expedition of the Ukrainian Speleological Association, with the participation of Moscow cavers, set a world record, reaching a mark of 1710 m. At this point, the branch was shut up by an impenetrable blockage. In August 2003, the Cavex team dived fourth siphon in the side branch and stopped at a depth of 1680 m with a free continuation.
In July 2004, the same team in the same branch set a new world record - 1775 m. In August of the same year, the USA expedition explored another branch. And again the world record is 1840 m. Two months later, in October 2004, the UCA organized a new expedition. On October 19, for the first time in the history of speleology, a 2-kilometer barrier was overcome - 2080 m.
The current record (2191 m, August 2007) belongs to speleologist Gennady Samokhin (USA).
Saule Pankene from Lithuania.
And all these wonderful photos were taken by photographer Steven Alvarez. He shoots series of photographs on cultural, religious and research topics, contributing to such magazines as National Geographic Magazine, Time, Adventure, Delta Sky and Travel Holiday. But his main specialization, as well as his personal passion, is shooting caves. He was first commissioned to photograph Mammoth Cave in 1991 for Time Magazine and then continued to photograph underground treasures Lands for National Geographic.
Caves are called the cradle of mankind: ancient people took refuge in them from wild animals, buried the dead and even used them as a dwelling. Many secrets are hidden in their depths, but not everyone will dare to descend into the underworld.
For the most courageous, we have prepared a selection of the most impressive caves of our planet.
Mammoth Cave. State of Kentucky, USA
According to scientists, Mammoth Cave was formed ten million years ago. Since then, she had to go through a lot - Native Americans used it as a burial place for the dead, in the 19th century potassium nitrate was mined here, and even wanted to open a tuberculosis sanatorium. Now Mammoth Cave is a favorite place for lovers of active tourism.
On this topic:
To visitors who are not chasing thrills, the cave offers safe routes through equipped and illuminated areas. Tourists will visit the local "Broadway" - a corridor that leads to a round amphitheater with stepped floors, the Church Hall and observation deck in the River Gallery, from where a unique view of the Dead Sea Lake opens. They will also listen to live violin music in Concert Hall by the Echo River.
A more interesting program has been prepared for extreme lovers - to try yourself as a speleologist. Mammoth Cave is the longest cave in the world. Its length is more than 587 kilometers; it has not yet been fully explored. If desired and with due perseverance, you can open new passages or explore hard-to-reach mines, as well as get acquainted with unique fauna caves - albino shrimp and blind crayfish.
How to get there
The cave is located in Mammoth Cave National Park, 20 minutes from Brownsville. Brownsville can be reached from Louisville and the state capital of Frankfort.
From Louisville, you need to drive 143 kilometers along I-65S towards Bowling Green. From Frankfort, drive to Elizabethtown on KY-9002 W, then turn onto I-65S.
Tours can be booked in the park, which last from one to six hours and cost from $5 to $55. Behind self-examination caves do not need to pay.
Cave Krubera-Voronya. Mountain range Arabica, Abkhazia
Krubera-Crow - the most deep cave in the world. To realize its depth - 2199 meters - you need to imagine four Ostankino TV towers standing on top of each other. However, scientists believe that this is not the limit - the cave can be much deeper.
In addition to new records, researchers are attracted by amazing plant and animal world dungeons - the Reprua River, only 18 meters long, cave waterfalls and new species of insects and bats.
paved tourist routes not in the cave. You can go down to the bottom only in a group and if you have climbing skills. The entrance to Krubera-Voronya is located in the Orto-Balagan tract at an altitude of 2250 meters above sea level. On the way to the bowels of the cave, speleologists expect many obstacles: descent along the rope, immersion in cold The groundwater, narrow passages and dangerous mines, but the secrets of Kruber-Crow are worth the effort.
Cave Krubera-Voronya 
Cave Krubera-Voronya 
Cave Krubera-Voronya 
Cave Krubera-Voronya 
Cave Krubera-Voronya How to get there
The descent starts from the village of Tsandrypsh. Nearest Big City- Sukhum, the capital of Abkhazia. From there, you can reach the E60 by car or bus in an hour and a half.
Sondong cave. Quang Binh Province, Vietnam
Son Doong Cave was accidentally discovered by Ho Han, a resident of Quang Binh province, in 1991 while looking for shelter from the rain. Then he was very scared - a terrible rumble and whistle were heard from the depths of the cave, but after 18 years he returned to the cave as a guide for the British expedition of speleologists. After a year of research, British scientists announced that they had discovered a real "underground city".
The length of the cave reaches nine kilometers, and the height is more than 200 meters - in its halls a whole block of New York could fit along with skyscrapers. But the gigantic size is not the only thing that Shondong can surprise you with.
Inside the cave grow thick rainforests and the cave river flows, which was the source of terrible sounds that once frightened Ho-Han. In this ecosystem, there are unusual representatives of the cave fauna - hornbills and small monkeys. Due to the mixing of air masses different temperatures clouds form here, and because of the calcite content in the walls, you can find real pearls.
Research is still being done in Son Doong, so tourist expeditions are organized once a year and they are not cheap - 3 thousand dollars per week tour. Enthusiasts can make their way into the cave on their own, but it is not easy to do so. You will have to go down to a depth of 150 meters on a rope, go through the difficult jungle for more than a day and take care of accommodation and food.
Shondong Cave 
Shondong Cave 
Shondong Cave 
Shondong Cave 
Shondong Cave 
Shondong Cave How to get there
The cave is located in Phong Nha Kebang National Park in Quang Binh province. The nearest airport is located in Hue city. From there, the cave can be reached by bus or by car along Route 1A. You need to go to Dong Hoi city and turn left towards national park Phong Nha Kebang.
Jewel Cave. South Dakota, USA
In 1900, explorer brothers Frank and Albert Michaud discovered a small hole in the canyon walls in the southern Black Hills. When they got inside, an amazing picture appeared before him - huge cave, completely covered with calcite crystals of various shapes and sizes. The brothers did not think long about the name - Jewel (Jewel) is translated from English as "precious stone".
In addition to calcite crystals, whose dimensions reach 17 centimeters in diameter, the cave is striking in its length - its length reaches 257 kilometers. The extraordinary beauty and the third place in the ranking of the longest caves in the world turned Jewel into a popular tourist centre. Excursions are held in its halls: for those who want to learn about the origin and development of the cave - a historical tour, for romantics - a tour by candlelight.
Fans of active tourism can walk through dangerous corridors and narrow mines accompanied by a guide, and if they have experience and good physical fitness, they can join the exploration of unexploited sections of the cave as a volunteer.
How to get there
Jewel Cave is located 360 kilometers from the city of Pyrrhus, the capital South Dakota. From there you need to go to the SD-34W highway. After 60 kilometers, turn left onto US-14 W and go straight. There will be signs to the cave along the way.
Cueva de Los Verdes. Lanzarote Island, Spain
The Cueva de Los Verdes cave owes its origin to the Monte Corona volcano. Almost 5 thousand years ago, its red-hot lava burned an oblong depression in the rocks, which after a while turned into spacious halls, narrow passages and curved corridors of Cueva de Los Verdes.
For many years the cave served local residents refuge from the Spanish conquerors, pirates and slave owners. And today, in its depths, lovers of speleotourism find salvation from the gray everyday life.
For fans comfortable rest the organizers offer a tour of the illuminated passages and dinner in a mini-restaurant at underground lake to the accompaniment of live violin music. And thrill-seekers are expected to explore undeveloped halls and hard-to-reach mines, walk along the edge of a cliff along a path without fences and handrails, as well as hunt albino crab, which can only be found deep underground.
A nice bonus: the temperature in Cueva de los Verdes remains the same all year round - 20 degrees Celsius.
How to get there
The easiest way to get to Lanzarote is by plane from Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Asturias, Tenerife, Bilbao and Norta. Tickets cost 55-80 dollars. From Arrecife airport to Cueva de los Verdes can be reached in half an hour by bus.
Entrance to the park is paid - $ 10 per person.
Cave Sak-Aktun. Quintana Roo, Mexico
In the jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula, there is the most amazing attraction in Mexico - the underwater cave of Sac Actun. The ancient Indians considered the cave sacred and called it "Xibalba" - the place where souls go after death. Now the "kingdom of the dead" is a favorite attraction of adrenaline hunters.
In Sak-Aktun, anyone can feel like a discoverer - more than 98% of the cave is still unexplored. Underwater landscapes stagger the imagination - high vaults, stalactites of the most bizarre shapes and crystal clear mineral water. But it is dangerous to be distracted by the surrounding beauty - despite the reigning silence, the cave is not at all lifeless. It is home to piranhas, goliath spiders and five species of bats.
To dive into the underworld, you will need not only scuba gear, but also strong nerves - the cave really resembles the other world, and some travelers claim to have heard mysterious voices here.
How to get there
The cave of Sak-Aktun is located seven kilometers from the city of Tulum. From Tulum, the cave can be reached by car or bus along the QROO highway towards the city of Macario Gomez in 20 minutes.
You can visit the cave as part of excursion group or accompanied by a guide. Some tourists prefer to explore the cave on their own, in which case you should not go down alone.
Helloch Cave. Muota Valley, Switzerland
Switzerland was created for active tourism: here you can conquer mountain peak or skiing or snowboarding down the steep slopes. And if traditional entertainment is boring, then you can try something new and explore the underworld. In Switzerland, there is the longest cave in Europe - Helloch.
"It's a crazy maze!" - these are the words in their reviews, visitors describe the Helloch cave. It's hard to argue with them: Helloh is a 157-kilometer multi-storey dungeon with many halls, dead-end corridors and complex passages. There are no beaten paths and no lighting. It is almost impossible to get out of its bowels without the accompaniment of professional guides. No wonder, according to one version, the name of the cave means "hell pit".
During the flood season, the Helloch tunnels are completely flooded with water. During this period, visiting the cave is extremely dangerous, but extreme hunters make independent dives to admire the underwater scenery and get an unforgettable experience.
How to get there
The nearest major city to the Muota Valley is Schwyz. From there you can take bus number 1 (get off at the end) or by car along the Laburgstrasse road towards Ilgau.
Entrance to the cave is $10.
Ervandun cave. Chongqing, PRC
Ervandun Cave can be called without exaggeration underworld. Its own microclimate has formed here, forests grow, rivers flow, hitherto unseen animals live. The only thing missing is the sun. It seems that Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" is not such a fantasy.
Ervandun is a system of caves. To get into them, you need to either swim a couple of kilometers under water, or go down the rope through a narrow descent with sheer walls. There is another entrance, the safest, but it is not easy to find it without a guide - it is hidden in the forests.
The cave was discovered relatively recently - in 2013, so there are no tourist routes here. However, this only inspires enthusiasts - there is an opportunity to independently explore the giant calcite stalagmites, an underground waterfall and mineral lakes inhabited by colorless fish, and even open new cave halls.
How to get there
The cave is located in Wulong County, Chongqing Province. From Chongqing, you can get to Wulong by car or bus along the G65 highway in two and a half hours. Distance - 170 kilometers.
Cave Abyss of Three Bridges. Lebanon
But for millennia the waterfall of Baatara's Throat has carved its way through rocks and thus created a bizarre cave. From the outside, the Three Bridges Abyss may seem like a setting for another fantasy film: a three-story cave, the opposite walls of which are connected by stone bridges.
It will be possible to go down to the bottom of the cave only with special equipment and certain skills - the depth of the cave is 225 meters.
But you can admire the cave and at the same time tickle your nerves without it - you just need to walk along one of the bridges. Despite the impressive appearance bridges are fragile and can collapse at any moment. Slippery edges and lack of guardrails add to the sensations.
How to get there
The Three Bridges Chasm is located near the city of Tannorin. You can get there from the capital city of Beirut. You need to go along the Jounieh Hwy highway to the city of Jabeil, then turn onto Jbail - Aannaya Rd. After 30 kilometers there will be signs to the waterfall of the Throat of Baatara.
Ordinskaya cave. Perm region, Russia
Speleologists believe that the caves are alive and some of them are not at all happy with guests. Orda cave- the longest underwater cave in Russia - clearly prefers solitude. To get into its bowels, you will have to make a lot of effort.
The cave consists of small grottoes and huge halls, which are interconnected by narrow corridors and kilometer-long tunnels. And in some areas, the vaults of the cave are almost in contact with the floor: in order to continue the path, you will have to climb through the gap formed. It's easy to get lost here. For this reason, you can only dive in a group or with a partner.
The water in the cave is very cold - the temperature rarely rises above 4-6 degrees Celsius, so without a wetsuit there is a risk of hypothermia. But even in a wetsuit, you can't relax. Sometimes large pieces of gypsum break off from the vaults and walls of the cave, "the size of a bus" - according to the words of divers, which can lead to injuries or more tragic consequences.
How to get there
The cave is located southwest of the village of Orda in Perm region. You can get there from Perm along the P242 highway towards Yekaterinburg. Distance - 116 kilometers.
Just imagine what it is like to go down into the cave, smell the clay, earth and hear the silence. And if this cave goes underground for more than a kilometer… TravelAsk will tell you where the deepest cave in the world is located.
In the bowels of the earth
The deepest cave is located in Abkhazia, in the Arabica mountain range. It is called Krubera Cave or Crow Cave. Its depth is 2199 meters. This is the only known to man cave, the depth of which exceeds 2 kilometers.
The main entrance to the cave is located in the Orto-Balagan tract at an altitude of about 2250 meters above sea level. In August 2014, the second entrance to the cave was opened: it is located 3 meters higher than the first one.
The Crow's Cave is a series of wells connected by stiles and galleries. It must be exciting to go down to the depths of such natural wells. But not everything is so simple: there are siphons here - tunnels filled with water partially or completely. Therefore, cavers have to overcome the path under water.
The wells themselves in some places are very wide that the edges are not visible even with a flashlight. How does it feel to hang in the dark, dangling in this dungeon, when even a lantern does not illuminate the walls around, and infinity under your feet? Speleologists certainly can tell a lot of interesting things. And the smell of damp underground, and the fact that even without diving into the water you are all wet, since the humidity here is very high. And the fact that this cave is not at all quiet, as it might seem: underground water drips and oozes from everywhere, and these sounds echo in the cavities of the cave.
The Krubera cave has many branches. It divides into 2 main branches at a depth of 200 meters. One of them is Nekuibyshevskaya, 1697 meters deep, the second is the Main Branch, its depth is 2196 meters. The latter, in turn, at around 1300 meters diverges into many other branches.
The cave was discovered in 1960 by Georgian speleologists who explored it to a depth of 95 meters. For almost the past 50 years, it has been regularly visited by scientists. Knowledge about the mysterious underground passages multiplied with each new descent. For several decades, each regular speleological expedition has announced reaching a new depth: 210, 340, 710, 1410, 1710 meters. Whole auction. Everyone tried to set their own record.
Research continued until 2013, when a depth of 2196 meters was reached. In 2014, scientists found a new entrance to the cave: and thus its depth increased to 2199 meters.
How to get there
Ordinary tourists will not be able to visit the cave: only as part of a speleological expedition, which come several times a year. In addition, it is not so easy: you need special equipment and climbing experience. However, you can admire the mountain ranges.
The Arabica mountain range is located 15 kilometers northeast of the Gagra resort. The resort is easily accessible from Adler: the distance between them is only 33 kilometers.
The Krubera-Voronya cave, located in Abkhazia, is considered the deepest cave in the world explored: the entrance to it is located at an altitude of about 2256 meters above sea level in the Orto-Balagan tract. The cave, which is part of the mountain, was discovered in 1960 by Georgian speleologists and explored to a depth of 95 meters. Expeditions carried out in the cavity karst cave over the next half century, small ramifications were found at depth.
Knowledge about the mysterious underground passages multiplied with each new descent: for several decades, each regular speleological expedition announced reaching a new depth - 210, 340, 710 meters. Research continued until 2007, when a depth of 2196 meters was reached. One of the grottoes of the cave was called the "Hall of Soviet speleologists": the discovery of the Krubera-Voronya cave is the merit of several generations of karstologists and speleologists.
Krubera-Voronya Cave is part of mountain range Arabica, Abakhzia // Stephen Alvarez, National Geographic Stock
There are no marked tourist routes in the Krubera-Voronya cave; you can go down to the bottom only as part of one of the speleological expeditions, which are held several times a year to explore the cave cavity.
How to get there
The Arabica mountain range is located 15 kilometers northeast of the resort. You can get to the depths of the Krubera-Voronya karst cave only as part of expeditions, with special speleological equipment and appropriate climbing skills.
The resort town of Gagra is located 20 km from the Russian-Abkhazian border. The most convenient way to get to Gagra from Adler is through the Psou border checkpoint. IN summer time You can get from the airport or the Adler bus station to Abkhazia by minibuses that run several times an hour. The distance from Adler to Gagra is 33 km.
Depth (meters): 2199
Stroke length (meters): 16058
Origin: Karst
The deepest explored cave in the world. Located in the Arabica massif in the Gagra Range in Abkhazia, Georgia. Depth 2199 m, length of passages 16058 m.
Entrance altitude: 2250 m above sea level Number of inputs: 5 Studying where the water is moving sometimes leads us to the most unexpected consequences. If a speleologist of the 60s were told that the caves could be deeper than 2 km and it would be possible to go down and up into them in just a couple of days, he would not only not believe it, he would laugh in your face. But the 21st century brought us not only the Internet, but also the two-kilometer Krubera-Voronya cave, the deepest abyss on planet Earth.
How to get there
The Krubera-Voronya cave is located in the Orto-Balagan valley, in the zone of alpine meadows. The transfer takes place from the Abkhazian village of Tsandripsh, a 15-minute drive from the Russia-Abkhazia border, where they get from Adler or Sochi. As a rule, this is a trip on a reliable and passable car GAZ-66, "shishige" - the roads to Orto-Balagan are repaired only by the forces of the drivers themselves and it is better not to look at them for the faint of heart. 5-6 hours of shaking on huge stones and the car is unloaded at the summerhouse of a faithful friend of Arabica speleologists, the shepherd Avanes - he lives here with his family from May to the end of September and knows all the experienced speleologists by name. A little to Voronya more than an hour walking uphill on a winding path.
Description
The entrance is modest - a small funnel in mugs, a hinge from the entrance. Expeditions to the cave are made regularly several times a year, so the weight is stationary, it is monitored, but due to high traffic, sometimes its quality may not always be at its best. The cave is purely vertical - a series of wells and ledges is interrupted by transitions and then continues. At a depth of 200 meters, the so-called Main Branch (-2196 meters) and the Nekuybyshevskaya Branch (-1700 meters) separate. There are several permanent underground camps in the cave - at a depth of -1200 meters, -1640 meters and a number of others. Up to -1400 meters can be reached by land without a wetsuit, this is if there is no flood. After - you need to put on a hydra. Next, you need to overcome the siphon by holding your breath. There are eight siphons in Krubera, but the rest are not so harmless. Donny (-2145 m) is called “Two Captains” - the Crimean cave diver Gennady Samokhin, who, as part of the expedition of the Ukrainian Speleological Association, dived 50.5 meters on August 10, 2013, deepening the cave to 2196 meters. Since 1999, the cave has been regularly explored by two teams - UCA under the leadership of Yuri Kasyan as part of the Call of the Abyss project and CAVEX, Moscow. However, the composition of their expeditions is almost always international - speleologists from more than 10 countries of the world work in Krubera, including Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania, Israel, Iran, the USA, England, etc. Relations between the two competing teams are complex and ambiguous, giving rise to a lot of legends among the speleomir of the former CIS. 
In 2014, speleologists from the expedition of Andrey Shuvalov (CS MGU) discovered the Arbaik entrance, the funnel of which is 3 meters higher up the slope from Kruber, which made Voronya a cave system with two entrances. In the same year, Gennady Samokhin (USA) dived the Amber Siphon, but found that it connected with the well-known land part of the cave not far from the Big Fork (-1790 meters). The USA also began to study the "historical" bottom of Kruber at -340 meters, where a continuation is guessed behind the impenetrable narrowness. In 2015, members of the MSU-Cavex CS expedition led by A. Shuvalov finally connected Kruber with the Kuibyshevskaya cave - a long-awaited event in the speleo world. The passage was predicted even before the start of the expedition, by comparing the topographic survey of the Svetlanka Gallery of the MGU CS club (-350 meters) and the topographic survey of the Kuibyshevskaya cave of the Samara speleological section of the SSAU. Andrey Shuvalov: “From the end of our survey to end point Samara ascent of benchmark 40 remained approximately 180 meters in plan and 85 meters vertically. The pioneers managed to descend next to the Samara ascent, finding themselves at river 40. In 2015, the UCA expedition led by Yuri Kasyan, consisting of 15 people, was the last to work in the cave. Their work proceeded mainly in the Nekuibyshevskaya branch. Gennady Samokhin: “4 people worked underground for 2 weeks. They lived in the Creme Brulee camp at a depth of more than 2000 meters, they were assisted by a group located in the camp at 1250 meters. The work was carried out in the Nekuibyshevskaya branch (-1700 meters) in three ascending windows, but they were not crowned with particular success ... There was only one idea left - there is a sand pipe about 50 meters long vertically from the camp, where in 2014 they tried to work with sledgehammers . It ends with an inflection big amount sand, behind which there is a narrowing. Behind it you can see the move and hear the echo, but the air at the bend is very stagnant (at such depths there is no draft at all) and for 2 hours of work you already start to suffocate there ... But the work was carried out - you could already see 4-5 meters of the passage ahead and then the hall with leaks but unfortunately not with us little man and there was not enough effort to expand - they could only stick out into the passage up to the chest. Another object of study in 2015 was the far part of the USA Gallery - 1.5 hours walk from the camp -1200 meters. According to superimposed topographical surveys, it practically coincides with the bottom hall of the Kuibyshevskaya cave vertically, and in terms of it, 100 meters are missing. In the face of the UCA Gallery, there is good air draft and a lot of run-in pebbles of various calibers, it deepens in this blockage by 2 meters. According to Samokhin, this fact can serve as evidence that during catastrophic floods of the distant past, an ascending siphon worked here, pulling pebbles. This is typical only for this place, there is nowhere else like it. As conceived by the researchers, they will strive to bypass the bottom blockage in the Kuibyshevskaya village and reach the next big water. In addition to work in the Krubera cave itself, other potential entrances to the Orto-Balagan hydrosystem are being actively developed - the Martel and Berchilska caves. 
The Krubera Cave is the dream of almost every caver in Russia and the CIS, but technically it is far from simple. First of all, it is necessary to master the SRT technique perfectly, and not be afraid of large wells. In addition, as a rule, they go to work there for 7-20 hours and, accordingly, you need to carry a lot of cargo with you, which means that the norm here is that one speleologist has at least 2-3 transport bags weighing 10-14 kg. From -1300 meters, the set of obstacles is complicated by the watercourse, that is, a wetsuit is required. The temperature in the cave is +3-+6 degrees, the deeper it gets, the temperature rises. Last years due to the impossibility of helicopter transfers in the winter months, work in the cave is carried out in the summer in July-August. You can visit Krubera-Voronya only by becoming a member of one of the regular expeditions, fully accepting its conditions. 
