Beware: You should never explore wild caves alone or without proper gear. Consider getting in touch with a Grotto of the National Speleological Society at www.caves.org or a qualified cave club. These groups are skilled and will train you. Without sufficient knowledge, preparation, and equipment, cave exploring can lead to serious injury or death.
Caving, also known as spelunking and/or potholing, is the exciting activity of exploring natural cave systems. Planet Earth has many incredible caves for you and your friends or family to explore. With tour caves, wild caves, underwater caves, and more, this hobby is fantastic, though sometimes dangerous, and will give you the experience of a lifetime.
We often feel like chasing the exhilarating feeling of adrenaline through adventures. But simply traversing caves may not be enough for everyone. You might consider trying another caving activity when you are outdoors or at a hot tourist destination, so if you need ideas, you’re in luck. Below, we’ve listed some great ones that you can do either with a group or on your own. You can participate in these fun activities to give you an extra sense of accomplishment and get more out of your caving trip.
Adventure Trekking
This is a soft adventure sport which takes place in areas of unspoiled wilderness. You can think of it as more challenging walking or hiking, with the specific intention of exploring and experiencing nature. Sometimes the places can be distant and difficult to get to, and the only option you have is to see them on foot. Adventure trekking can turn into cultural trekking too, depending on the location, in which you not only enjoy the magnificent panoramas but also cultures and traditions of the people of the mountains or people who live near the caves.
You often go for adventure trekking with an experienced guide. He will know the landscapes very well and also tells you about the history so you get the chance to learn something new.
Particularly, for children and teenagers, this can be educational and immensely entertaining. They learn a lot and see the types of landscapes they had not even imagined before. In addition, this activity doesn’t require any previous experience.
Keep in mind, adventure trekking isn’t free. It costs around $60 per person. The caving groups or the trekking company provide you a professional guide who is with you for a half-day and teaches you how to use the equipment, if any.
The minimum recommended age for adventure trekking is 8 years.
Team Building
Team building is used for almost all kinds of outdoor activities/sports. It is also designed to get caving groups working together. Professional guides give children and young people a chance to tackle challenging goals with evaluation and planning.
It is also great for those parents who want to develop a ‘can do’ approach and mindset in their kid’s life, so that they can overcome their fears and get a better different understanding of different situations.
Team building is great especially if you are with other new cavers.
You learn how to use the caving equipment together, learn to read and use sign language inside a water-filled cave, climb on a vertical wall, and pass through the tight pockets and passages that require special care.
Usually, this training happens in an open space. They have poles to run around, puzzle for aiding concentration, blocks for developing control and balance, etc. All in all, teams take part in both physical education and mental training exercises.
Ziplining
Ziplining is fun and immensely popular among kids and teenagers.
Caving groups try to offer this activity to their guests since they know it is a thrill that people seek in a one-day adventure and remember forever.
The variety in this activity is astounding.
In the basic form, the pulley is suspended on cable fixed on a slope. You have to move from one point to another with the help of the attached rope. The speed of your move depends on your strength and agility and the height of the first point as well. You are typically hanging onto a handgrip, but if the zip line is for children or teenagers specifically, they try to keep the speed very low for security. Furthermore, it occasionally includes a seat, especially in larger lines.
Even in this activity, there is competition. Mostly, there are two ziplines side by side. You race with each other along mile-long lines. The high speed immerses you in the spirit of the place and thrills your soul with enthusiasm and excitement.
In case you are thinking about how fast you can go on a zip line, the typical speed is around 35 mph. But some extreme lines cross the 100 mph speed too. These are best left to the veterans, though.
Exotic Local Cuisine
With the growth of caving, new activities for food tourism are emerging.
The group offers all types of exotic local cuisine tours that happen in local restaurants, food festivals, and private cooking demonstrations. The local people or professional chefs display their best local cuisines for the caver community to sample. This activity aims to connect you with the local culture and the biodiversity of the caving destination.
We love local cuisine tours the most among all other activities. It opens doors for new learning and new relationships. You make friends while relishing delicious food and talk about a million interesting things.
Some groups make you visit farms and food markets also, especially if they are near the caving destination. In this tour, you learn about local delicacies in an educative, safe, and relaxed manner.
Besides that, there can be cooking classes to create a sociable and entertaining environment.
The audience gets to participate in the cooking class and learns new dishes. There can be a tasting session option too, where different samples are presented. Then, you will have something new to try and cook when you are looking to break the monotony during a typical work week.
Horse Riding
This is a great recreational caving activity.
The horses available during these trips are trained and perform in a wide variety of disciplines. The trainer offers both guided and independent riding. Once you are on the horse, you can feel disconnected from the world, in a good way. Your perception completely changes when you ride on different trails and take in the breathtaking landscape.
If you are caving with your significant other, you will love this activity the most. It will be like you are on an adventurous date.
For a senior or new rider, who is riding a horse first time independently, it is imperative to make sure the surface is smooth and the horse moves horizontally. If you ride a horse on an uneven surface, which is quite common around caving areas, you will have to endure some uncomfortable moments.
Horse riding has many other benefits also. It improves coordination because of various movements simultaneously. This activity targets your abdominal and lower back muscles for posture and balance, relieves stress due to the gentle bouncing motion of the horse, and even releases the mood-enhancing hormone, serotonin, which will make you enjoy your trip even more.
Conclusion
Don’t think caving stops with exploring on your own; experience the numerous other fun activities that come with caving. You can also consider meditation and yoga, which some people find to be quite powerful in the more secluded areas that caving provides access to.
Taking part in more than one caving activity is great for both the mind and body. You not only discover what exists right under your feet but also get to overcome your fears by trying different things.
If you’re looking for some great caving locations to start with, check out our other articles like our Top 4 Caving Destinations, and Most Famous Underwater Caving Spots. Before you plan a trip, inquire about whether they offer any other caving activity like ziplining or horseback riding that you might find interesting to try out while you’re there.