cavers guide to caves of lanzarote
DESCRIPTION
Catalogue of the finest Lava Tubes lanzarote has to offer. Includes colour photos, descriptions and maps. Gps coordinates also provided.TRANSCRIPT
A Cavers Guide to
Lava Tubes of Lanzarote
Compiled by Carmen Smith
Artwork courtesy Pete Martin. Lava Benches on the Gentes to Puerta Falsa through trip.
Cavers Guide to Lava Tubes of Lanzarote
Front Cover Cueva de los Verdes show cave.
Back Page Lava formations of Lanzarote
Insert Carmen in the Covon /Chifletera connection squeeze
Above Lakes of Los Lagos
Introduction
Having family who live in Lanzarote, I've always been a regular traveller to the Island.
Several years ago I started caving there, initially inspired by information from Ed Waters and later
Javier Trujillo — one of the local cavers.
Chris and I often get requests from UK cavers going to Lanzarote, for the information to
go caving.
Thus the inspiration for this guide was born.
We hope you enjoy it, please spread the word, it is free to download
Carmen and Chris
Credits.
Designed by Carmen Smith
Photography Carmen Smith
Chris Binding
Other Javier Trujillo
Joyce Norton
Hayley Clark
Pete Martin
Hugh Penney
Paul Stilman
Pete Martin
Las Breñas GPS Coordinates UTM/UPS WGS84 0616113 3200535
Follow the string to guide you
through this network of less than
generous sized passages.
Its finest features are its variety of
passage morphology as seen from
the pictures.
Cueva Las Cueva Las BreñasBreñas
Cueva las Breñas is situated on the
outskirts of the village of Las
Breñas on the west of the Island.
It consists of 950m of small, stoop-
ing, flat out, thrutching lava tube.
Knee and elbow pads, helmets and
plenty of water are recommended.
Cueva Los Naturalistas (Las Palomas) GPS UTM/UPS WGS 84 0630552 3209974 (exit)
More easy walking passage ,followed by a series of roof col-
lapses leaves you clambering over boulders for a short distance,
before returning to easy walking passage.
Another large pillar gives the cave the effect of having a large
roundabout with many ways off. There is only one genuine con-
tinuation.
Continue ahead, you will see the daylight from the exit, however
shortly before this behind the boulder collapse, there is an easy
to miss right hand branch taking you to some more spectacular
easy walking passage.
Las Palomas is situated between the villages of
Masdache and La Vaguetta,
It is approx 1640m long with 2 entrances.
Many interesting lava formations exist in this cave,
including helictites. It is also a through trip.
As you enter the cave,go downslope and to the right
(or far side)At ground level, you are immediately
greeted with a left or right option.
Continue as far as you are comfortable along this
passage and look out for many of the lava drips,
helictities and calcium sulphate formations on the
way.
Also take time to look at some of the patterns in
the roof and floor, they are really quite stunning.
When you’ve had enough the way out is back to
the daylight exit you passed earlier.
An easy clamber out of the jameos, and a quick
look around to get your bearings, walk back across
the lava field to the road, and your car.
Turn left into a a perfectly formed circular tube,
and easy walking passage. The cave opens up
ahead ,with a daylight window on your left.
Almost immediately after you come across the
first Interesting lava tube formation. A pillar re-
mains in the middle of the passage giving the ef-
fect of two huge cats eyes seen in the photo here.
Keep an eye out for the stunning helictites in the
ceiling.
Covón/ChifleteraCovón/Chifletera Cueva Covón is Located on the west side of the island ,30
minutes walk along the coast path from the old fishing village
of El Golfo.
It is accessed from the sea cliffs and lies 300m within the
national park boundary.
Covón can be done as a through trip to Chifletera which lies
approx 350m inland, however the connection squeeze makes it
an impossibility for all but the slighter cavers out there.
The Chifletera section of the cave is so short, its not considered
worth doing as a trip in its own right, hence the more popular
Covón is generally done as a 2 way journey.
Description
Leaving the sun-lit main entrance
chamber, into some sizeable walking pas-
sage, you soon meet a large scale boulder
choke. Stick to the left.
Continue to follow the obvious way on.
Eventually the passage drops to a low flat out
sandy crawl.
Either continue along the crawl, (approx
30m) keeping an eye out above you until you
can stand and find yourself in a trench in a
chamber, or just before the sandy crawl, to
your left , is a man made boulder pile allow-
ing you access through a high level window
into same passage above.
Both routes eventually join. It is worth the journey up these
“awkward to negotiate passages” as the features in the chambers
above are quite stunning.
The way through to Chifletera is back into the trench, at the end
of the crawl, following the draft into the 2ft long restriction.
A further 20m of low crawly passage after this obstacle
eventually brings you out into the more roomier passages of
Chifletera and 40m from daylight.
Alternatively, if you wish to avoid the squeeze and flat out
crawls, the way out is back the way you came.
GPS UTM/UPS WGS 84 Covón 0613960 3208133 Chifletera 0614207 3208037
Paso/EsqueletoPaso/Esqueleto Cueva del Paso is located on the west side
of the island , 30 minutes walk along the
coast path from the old fishing village of El
Golfo. You enter here to do the through trip
to Esqueleto.
It lies approx 100m inside the national park
boundary and is accessed from a non de-
script, impossible to locate, depression,
about 300m inland from the cliffs. GPS is
thoroughly recommended.
Eventually, after negotiating some low stoops and small boulder
crawl, you will pop out into a stunning daylight passage that exits
about 10m up a cliff face with views of the sea.
Confident climbers could free climb out to the coast,
alternatively 3 rusting bolts could give you the option to pull
through abseil down the cliff.
The easiest option as ever is to just reverse your steps back out the
cave.
Description
The low stooping entrance,
quickly opens out to steeply
descending passage that spiral
down with a few tricky climbs,
before the final 10ft drop into
the top of some fine smooth
walled lava flow passage.
Follow the obvious way on.
Little help is needed with this
cave as a very noticeable draft
accompanies you through the
cave.
GPS UTM/UPS WGS 84 Esqueleto 0614258 3207919 (Via Cueva del Paso)
Monte Corona lava Tube System
Below is an Extract taken from “Caving on The Holiday Isle Of Lanzarote” by Hayley Clark and Ed Waters
The Monte Corona Lava Tube System This system surely ranks as one of the world’s clas-sic volcanic cave systems. It is nearly unique in providing an almost uninterrupted underground route right from the vent to the end of the lava flow. The tube is formed in the flows originating from an eruption of Monte Corona (“Crown Mountain”) some 3,000-4,500 years ago.
The system is made up of large to enormous passages, liberally scattered with boulders and a ubiquitous coating of white dust that seems to get thicker the further down flow one goes. Exploration is relatively easy, the only major obstacles being the pitches in Jameo los Prendes and Cueva los Lagos and the boulder choke between Jameo Gente and Jameo Puerta Falsa.
Monte Corona lava Tube System
Below is an Extract taken from “Caving on The Holiday Isle Of Lanzarote by Hayley Clark and Ed Waters
However, it should be noted that the cave temperature lies around 20°C, and the atmosphere is very humid. Though the passages are large, much of the system is floored by boulder ensuring strenuous boulder hopping progress Therefore fluid loss is an issue and plenty of water should be taken underground.
Though the cave is essentially linear with no side passages of note, in many parts there are mul-tiple levels present. Though not providing any special route finding problems, this should be borne in mind when planning a visit. It is also unknown whether all of the upper level sections have been fully explored, as they would re-quire scaling or aid climbing equipment to reach in places.
In many places there are notable small white formations. These can either appear crystalline or as “cotton wool”. The exact na-ture of this secondary mineralisa-tion is unknown, but it is likely to be gypsum based and may be at least partially formed by microbial action. End extract
There are 4 main trips of Interest to Cavers these are.
1. Jameos Prendes (Arriba) to Jameo de la Gente.
2. Jameo de la Gente to Puerta Falsa.
3. Puerta Falsa to the back of Los Verdes Show cave.
4. Los Lagos.
As a through trip Length 1170m
Starting at the top of the Monte Corona
lava tube system, pre rig the exit climb
from the Prendes entrance with a 10m
ladder, and 25m rope. (which will serve
as a long belay for the ladder and as a
lifeline.)
Then enter at the Gentes entrance and
continue up flow until at the top of a
30ft scramble you reach the 7m pitch
rigged for pull-through. Take a 20m
rope.
Pull through the rope, and after about
50m of further caving you will reach the
bottom of the ladder in the Prendes
entrance.
Prendes To Gentes
As a two way trip
No tackle required.
Start at the Gentes entrance and head up flow (left) .
Descend down the fixed wooden ladder with missing rungs.
Continue up flow until you reach the top of thepull through
pitch.
Turn around and head back the way you came.
GPS UTM/UPS WGS 84 Jameos Prendes 0649259 3228427
Gentes to Puerta Falsa As a through trip Length 1165m
Enter the jameo de la Gentes and head
down flow. (to the right)
Follow the main passage down until you
reach a boulder collapse.
At the first boulder collapse take the small
stooping tunnel around the collapse to the
left hand side.
Continue on, and at the 2nd collapse take
the small hole in the floor on the right
hand side, to bypass this obstruction.
On exiting the bypass look to your left as
you regain larger passage, and sign the log
book left for visitors to the cave.
Continue down flow until you reach the
exit of Puerta Falsa.
The walk back to collect your car is just over 1 mile if you
use the roads.
An alternative, should you have GPS, is to walk in a direct
line back to the Gentes entrance, passing the 3 impressive
jameos which make up the Jameos Cumplidos.
GPS UTM/UPS WGS 84 Jameo de la Gente 0649671 3227528
Puerta Falsa / Verdes
After approx 400m the passage is
fenced signifying the start of the Las
Verdes Show cave.
As a two way trip Length 800m
Enter at Puerta Falsa and go down-
flow. (to the right)
The passage starts as double level
before rejoining back to a single
level.
GPS UTM/UPS WGS 84 Puerta Falsa 0650653 3227151
Cueva Los Lagos
Continue ahead and slip through a narrowing to
reach the beginning of the 2nd,and more signifi-
cant lake.
For non swimmers, At low tide there is a ledge
that remains dry on the left hand side which can
be followed to the far corner, allowing a glimpse
of the next flooded chamber.
For the more adventurous swimmers or
soft ,inflatable boaters, there is the option to carry
on along the entire length of the lake until you can
go no further. Be on the look out for sharp under-
water rocks that may snag and burst the
unsuspecting vinyl boat!!!
Currently closed. Access through Dept of Envi-
ronment at the Cabildo in Arrecife.
Details pending
Length 791m
The cave has recently been gated (Dec2012)
Access is via a locked steel entrance ladder.
The cave immediately opens out into large canyon
style passage, the height varies between 15-20m
high and 3-8m wide. The passage undulates, with
lots of clambering up and down boulder piles.
Eventually The passage drops steeply and the 1st
swimmable lake develops on the left hand side of
the passage. (Approx 40m long)
The dry route continues by climbing up the right
hand wall and in through a boulder ruckle. be-
fore entering a perfectly circular tube that heads
down towards another traverse on the right hand
side of the passage over the far end of the 1st lake
End of First lake looking back Glimpse of the next flooded chamber
GPS UTM/UPS WGS 84 Los Lagos 0651853 3226501
Coutesy Peter Gerstbach - Wikipedia
CuevaCueva de los Verdesde los Verdes
Cueva de los Verdes (Spanish for "Greens' cave", because in the past its owners were the
"Verdes" family) is a lava tube located in the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands (Spain).
The cave is a protected area of the Canary Islands. The cave was created around 3,000 years
ago from a volcanic eruption in La Corona. An enormous lava stream flowed over the Malpaís
de la Corona. For a long time, the lava stream flowed which left the top part to become a cave.
In about 20 spots, the cover of the cave collapsed and formed. Cueva de los Verdes is formed
from parts of the volcanic soils and extends from 1 km to 6 kilometres of old lava streams. The
streams were once the second longest in the world.
In earlier centuries, inhabitants throughout Lanzarote hid in this cave to protect themselves
from pirates.
Opening Hours:
Daily from 10am to 18pm.
Last Trip: 17pm.
8 Euros P/P
Jameos Del Agua, is part of the Atlantida volcanic cave system formed by the erup-
tions of the Corona volcano about three to four thousand years ago.
The word 'Jameo' refers to a volcanic cave with a collapsed roof, of which there are
many in this part of Lanzarote.
The Lanzarote-born artist César Manrique has helped to create this spectacle, where
these natural 'jameos' have been turned into an Auditorium, Swimming pool, Gardens
and Restaurants, while still blending into the surrounding volcanic landscape. Jameos
del Agua was the first of the local government's Centres of Art, Culture and Tourism
and first opened its doors to the public in 1966, though the centre has seen near-
continuous additions and refurbishments since that time.
Opening hours:
Daytime 10:00 to 18:30 hrs.
Nights: Tuesday & Saturday
from 19:00 to 02:00 hrs.
Jameo del AguaJameo del Agua
Courtesy InsideLanzarote.com
Sima de Sima de TinguatónTinguatón ( del Diablo)( del Diablo)
Sima de Tinguatón (Cueva del Diablo) Is one of a group of
6 volcanic vent holes lying in the crater of Volcan Nuevo,
just south of route 67 between Tinguatón and Montanas del
Fuego.
Its is the deepest of the six, approx 95m in depth, and purely
an SRT trip.
Neighbours to Sima de Tinguatón, look for the arrow near the base of small cra-
ter that Sima de Tinguatón lies in.
Follow the markers and cairns, that guide you across Aa Aa lava fields to the
scar seen in the picture.
There is very little to this cave, however there are some interesting lava forma-
tion both above and below the ground
Pico Partido GPS UTM/UPS WGS 84 0624827 3209939
Cueva Canal de Pico PartidoCueva Canal de Pico Partido
Pico Partido arrow. Start of route
over malpais to entrance GPS UTM/
UPS WGS 84 0625263 3210936
Entrance
Exit
Cueva Covón
Esqueleto
Chifletera
Las Brenas
1
2
2
3
4
4
Park
Here
Las Breñas
Las Naturalistas (Las Palomas)
3
Sima Tinguatón
Paso
Park
Here
Lanzarote
Cave Locations
5
5
a
b c d
e
a
b
c
e
Park
Jameo Prende (Arriba)
Jameo de la Gente
Los Lagos
Cueva Los Verdes (Showcave)
d
Jameos Cumplidos
Puerta Falsa
Footpath To cave (at 1st car
passing point going downhill)
Monte Corona Lava Tube System
1
Lanzarote
Cave Locations
Las Naturalistas Above Helictites in Las Naturalista - Ed Waters
Inset Gypsum Rose - Ed Waters.
Inset Left Calcite formations in Esqueleto -Chris Binding