Gruta da Torrinha

Cave of Torrinha


Useful Information

Location: Torrinha, 15 km from Iraquara (Bahia). Chapada Diamantina National Park. From Iraquara via highway BA-432. Follow the signs.
(-12.348728, -41.603880)
Open:  
Fee: Short: Adults BRL 20.
[2020]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave
Light:  
Dimension: L=13,070 m.
Guided tours: Short: L=700 m, D=1 h.
Medium: L=1,500 m, D=1.5 h.
Long: L=2,000 m, D=2.5 h.
Daily limit: 200 visitors.
Photography: allowed, flash prohibited only in Crystal Hall
Accessibility: no
Bibliography: (BA-037)
Address: Gruta da Torrinha, Eduardo Martins, Zona Rural, Iraquara - BA 46980-000, Tel: +55-75-99814-5806.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1850 discovered.
1992 survey by the Meanders Speleological Group from France, length 600 m.
1994 surveyed by the Brazilian Society of Speleology.

Description

Gruta da Torrinha is maintained and guided by Eduardo Figueiredo da Silva, the owner of the land where the cave is located. Fortunately he is very careful and protects the beauty of the cave. Gruta da Torrinha is one of the longest caves of Brazil. The official survey is 13,070 m, this is the 10th longest cave of Brazil [2020].

The cave is not developed, but rather easy to visit as it is mostly horizontal. The walking area is marked by red tape, please respect this to protect the rest of the cave. At places where the floor is loose material and the ceiling is low, the trail was cut into the ground. Nevertheless, there will be stooping and climbing on the tour. A guided tour takes between one and 2.5 hours and includes some crawling. You can actually take three tours of different length, where each longer tour includes the shorter.

The most interesting features of the cave are definitely the numerous aragonite and gypsum minerals. It is said to contain the second largest aragonite flower in the world. Impressive is also the abundance of helictites, calcite bubbles, straws, and gypsum needles. The speleothems are only part of the longest tour as they are located in a rather remote part.

Quite impressive is also a false floor, which in this case is the name of a speleothem. Once the flor was covered by a thin layer of flowstone, some 5 cm thick. Then the loose sediment below was washed out. Now there is a passage with floor which is only 5 cm thick and hollow, held only where it connect to the wall at the sides.

The passages are mostly river passages with scallops and roof pots. Layers in the rock form strange patterns as a result of the erosion. Visitors get a helmet, but its a good idea to prepare and bring your own lamps, sturdy walking shoes, and clothes to change afterwards. As the cave is very dry you will not get muddy, just dusty.