Gruta Manoel Iôiô

Useful Information

Location:	Iraquara BA 46980-000. (-12.335579, -41.568593)
Open:	All year daily. During the open hours of the restaurant. [2024]
Fee:	yes. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Estevan Eltink, Mariela Castro, Felipe Chinaglia Montefeltro, Mario André Trindade Dantas, Carolina Saldanha Scherer, Paulo Victor de Oliveira, Max Cardoso Langer (2020): Mammalian fossils from Gruta do Ioiô cave and past of the Chapada Diamantina, northeastern Brazil, using taphonomy, radiocarbon dating and paleoecology Journal of South American Earth Sciences (em inglês). 98. ISSN 0895-9811. online DOI pdf
Address:	Gruta Manoel Iôiô, Iraquara BA 46980-000, Tel: +55-.
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

Gruta Manoel Iôiô is one of several caves in the area near Iraquara. It was named after the owner Manoel Iôiô. Actually, the cave is visited starting at the restaurant Gruta Manoel Iôiô, while you wait for the guide you can eat local food or have a drink. The guide is obviously an employee of the restaurant.

A show cave in Brazil is often something completely different from show caves in other countries. The caves here are mostly horizontal, the floor is more or less dry, and they are spacious. As a result, there is no development inside the caves, no concrete trails, no railings, no electric light. The development is restricted to a café, ticket office, and trails to the cave entrance. Visitors get lamps and a short introduction, guided tours are optional at an additional fee. So while the outside development is almost professional, the cave itself is a semi-wild cave. There is a long list of attributes of show caves, and many do not fulfill all of them. However, the lack of development inside the cave is only possible due to the character of the caves in this karst and thus quite unique.

The cave actually has a lot of different versions of the name. This includes Gruta do Ioiô and Gruta do Manel Ioiô.