Cango Caves

Just 28km from Oudtshoorn in the Klein Karoo lie the truly breathtaking Cango Caves. Nestled at the foothills of the beautiful Swartberg range, the Cango Caves are a series of immense limestone caverns that open into vast halls of towering stalagmite formations. The Cango Caves are filled with mysterious and striking dripstone formations and are open for exciting exploration of this strange and beautiful subterranean world.

The caves which took millions of years to form certainly must be considered one of the world’s great natural wonders. Not all the caves are open to visitors, however a good 1km long section is open for exciting exploration of this strange and beautiful subterranean world.

The main chambers of the Cango Caves are filled with mysterious and striking dripstone formations and the sheer size of Van Zyl’s hall (named after its first explorer) is bound to leave you awe struck. The 150,000 year old Cleopatra’s Needle and surrounding chamber with its grey roof and intricately carved out hollows are also one of the Cango Caves’ highlights.

Visitors to the Cango Caves can view all these exciting natural wonders have to offer, by taking one of the expertly led tours. Tours are conducted at regular intervals on most days - there is a Standard Tour which takes an hour and an Adventure Tour which takes an hour and a half.

The Adventure Tour involves crawling through narrow passages on all fours and climbing up steep rock formations guided by small lights. On both tours you will see spectacular halls and grand limestone formations and for those with a desire to do some real “caving” the Adventure Tour offers an interesting assault course at the end of the route that includes a steep ladder, a small hole and some crawling. The smallest passage that tourists will have to pass through on the Adventure Tour is just under 30 cm high at the exit. For those who prefer a slightly gentler pace the Standard Tour allows you to see all the glory of the Cango Caves whilst remaining upright!

OPENING HOURS:

The Cango Caves are open 364 days of the year, closed on 25th December.

Standard tours: 09h00 to 16h00 (tours depart on the hour every hour).

Adventure tours: 09h30 to 15h30 (tours depart on the half hour every hour).

PRICES:

Standard tours cost R64 per adult and R32 per child.

Adventure tours cost R80 per adult and R52 per child.

Prices are subject to change. Please check when booking.

LANGUAGES:

All tours are offered in English but an Afrikaans, German, French or other language guide may be available (please check availability when booking if you have a preference).