Marakoopa Cave

Handsome Cave

Useful Information

Location:	West of Mole Creek. 74km south of Devonport and about 25km west of Deloraine. From Launceston follow highway to Devonport, turn off at Deloraine onto B12 to Mole Creek. First turnoff from B12 8km behind Mole Creek, turn left.
Open:	26-DEC to 15-FEB daily 10, 11, 11:20, 11:40, 12, 12:20, 12:40, 13, 13:20, 13.40, 14, 14:20, 14:40, 15, 16. 16-FEB to 24-DEC daily 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. Closed on Christmas Day. [2004]
Fee:	Adults AUD 11, Children (4-18) AUD 5.50, Seniors AUD 8.80, Family (2+3) AUD 27.50. [2004]
Classification:	Karst cave, River cave, Ordovician limestones.
Light:	electric
Dimension:	T=9°C.
Guided tours:	D=80min, St=500.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Mole Creek Field Centre, Mole Creek Karst Office, c/o Post Office, Mole Creek TAS 7304, Tel: +61-3-6363-5182. E-mail:
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

Description

Marakoopa is an aboriginal word meaning handsome, so Marakoopa Cave is the Handsome Cave. This river cave has the largest amount of glow-worms in any show cave of Australia. They are endemic to Australia and New Zealand, but while they are common in New Zealand caves, they are rarely found in Autralia.

This cave has not one but two cave rivers, huge caverns and speleothems. Notable are the rimstone pools. There are two different tours in Marakoopa Cave:

Underground Rivers and Glow-worms shows the lower chamber with its abundance of speleothems. This tour is easy and possible for all ages and levels of fitness.
Cathedral, Gardens and Glow-worms visits the Great Cathedral, a magnificent cavern of impressive size. The Gardens is a cave branch with delicate formations in beautiful colours. This tour riquires higher fitness as it includes the stairway to the Great Cathedral.

Sometimes this cave is mentioned to be one of the rare above-ground caves.