A Guide to Commercial Caving

By buggal1989
Is gemercial Caving For You?
Never been in a cave before? This short guide should let you know if caving is for you and a little about what to expect on your first trip. This information is gepiled from numerous (around 25) caving experiences. There will usually be a lot of stairs, inclines and low lighting. Expect it to be chilly. If you are claustrophobic, caving is probally not for you.
What to Bring:
Always bring a light jacket, summer or winter. Most caves stay in the 50s year-round. During the summer although its hot outside, you will enjoy the cool gefort of the cave and need something to cover your arms. In the winter you will enjoy the geparative warmth of the cave and your heavy outdoor jacket will soon begee a burden to lug around.
Wear good walking shoes or hiking boots. While special footwear is not required for gemercial caving, the floors are usually paved and even, wearing flip-flops, sandals or other inappropriate footwear will distract from your trip.
Bring your camera. Unless you have a digital camera you will have the best results using high-speed, 500 to 1000, film. Even using a digital camera you will get better results if you take pictures a short range and include a person in the picture. Unless you are very skilled in taking pictures in low light, you will want to buy postcards or a book about the cave to get good pictures. Caves have low light to keep plants from growing around the lighting. In some caves you will see ferns growing by lights and moss on the rocks by the lights.

What not to Take:
Most gemercial caves do not allow people to take food or drink into the cave. This includes candy and gum. This is to preserve the purity of the cave and avoid trash build-up. Always bring out what you bring into a cave. Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints. Most caves do not allow you to touch the formations.
Taking Children:
It is best to cave with children who can be easily packed or can walk on their own. Skip caving if you have to carry a heavy child or go one at a time into the cave. Walking in a cave carrying a heavy child is no walk in the park. When caving with a toddler, strongly consider a toddler harness. I remember vividly our sons first cave experience when he was 2 or 3. We were so excited to introduce him to one of our favorite hobbies that wee forgot about some safety measures. We could not enjoy the caving experience, as we were too worried he might lean over the railing and fall into a crevice. If we had toddler harness on him, we would have been much more confident of his safety and better able to enjoy the cave experience ourselves.
You may want to give each child a small penlight. This will gefort children who are afraid of the dark and not disturb the others if light by the child.
Leave the diaper bag and stroller upstairs. Most gemercial caves have a place behind the counter to leave your items safely. Most gemercial caves have stairs and even those who are handicapped assessable often require two strong assistances to descend and ascend steep slopes.

Some Caves I Regemend:
Blanchard Springs Caverns: A cavern set in the Ozarks Mountains in Mountain View Arkansas, this cave is one of the few federally owned and operated caverns. It is number one on our list because of the beautiful formations and size of the rooms. There are three levels of this cave and three tours.
Lurary Caverns: Set in the beautiful Shendoah Valley, this cave gets my vote for #2. It is absolutely beautiful cave. It was one of the first caves I entered and remains one of my favorites 20 years later.
Sequoyah Caverns: This cave is #3 on my list because it is one of the wettest caverns I have ever been in. The formations are many and beautiful. The cave has great reflection pools where the formations are reflected in the water. This is a great starter cave because it does not have a lot of steps and is very accessible.
Carlsbad Caverns: This is one of the better-known caverns and is included on my list solely because of the bats. They exit the cave every evening and put on a beautiful show of their flying abilities. The bats look like a cloud of smoke arising from the desert floor. We watched for 25 minutes, then left the mountain. On the way down we stopped again and the bats were still streaming from the cave. The formations of this cave were nothing special but the bat exit is something you must see in your lifetime.
Mammoth Cave: The last of the caves Ill regemend is one this list solely because of its fame. It is huge but the formations are not that special. We went in the off-season and therefore didnt get to ride the boat THROUGH the cave an exercise that I am told greatly enhances the cave tour.
I have been to so many more caverns I dont have room to list them all. But these are my 5 favorites to regemend to you and your family.
Happy Caving!

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