Amazing Caves of the World: Son Doong’s Jungle, Waitomo Glowworms and Ukraine’s Gypsum Mazes

Whole worlds hide underground: chambers big enough for a tower block, underground rivers, ice palaces and even forests. Here are caves that amaze even people who would never call themselves cavers, from Vietnam to western Ukraine.

While you travel, we deliver flowers: flower baskets and potted plants.

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Six amazing caves

• Son Doong (Vietnam). A cave with one of the largest known underground passages. Where the roof has collapsed, light pours in and a jungle grows inside. It was explored in 2009, and visitor numbers are strictly limited.
• Waitomo Caves (New Zealand). The ceilings are studded with “stars”: glowing larvae of a local fungus gnat that use light to lure prey. Visitors drift along an underground river by boat.
• Mammoth Cave (USA). The longest known cave system in the world, with more than 600 kilometres of mapped passages.

• Eisriesenwelt (Austria). The world’s largest ice cave, in the Alps, where ice sculptures and frozen waterfalls last through the summer.
• Optymistychna (Ukraine). A gypsum cave in the Ternopil region and one of the longest in the world, its passages forming a true labyrinth. Nearby, the Kryshtaleva and Verteba caves are open for tours.
• Naica Cave of the Crystals (Mexico). Gypsum crystals more than ten metres long were found by miners in 2000. It is extremely hot and humid inside, so the cave is closed to tourists.

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Do plants grow in caves?

Plants cannot live without light, so true underground life is bacteria and fungi. But ferns and mosses grow at cave entrances and under openings in the roof, and Son Doong has an entire forest. In show caves, algae and mosses sometimes appear around the lamps, known as lampenflora. It is considered a problem because it damages formations, so caves switch to cool lighting and turn it off when no one is visiting.

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For natural wonders above ground, see secluded places in Ukraine and hidden towns of the world.

FAQ

Which is the largest cave in the world?

By passage volume, Son Doong in Vietnam is among the largest; the longest system is Mammoth Cave in the USA.

Which caves can you visit in Ukraine?

In the Ternopil region, Kryshtaleva and Verteba; before the occupation, the Marble and Red caves in Crimea were popular.

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Author: Maria Svitlovir

Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.