Cueva de la Muerte

Useful Information

Location:	Recreo Verde, Alajuela, San Carlos. 2 km Sureste de la Escuela de Masella, Alajuela Province, Venecia, Costa Rica. (10.32122, -84.24388)
Open:	All year daily 7-21. [2024]
Fee:	Day Pass: Adults CRC 6,000, Children (3-10) CRC 3,000, Students CRC 5,000, Seniors CRC 5,000. [2024]
Classification:	lava cave Dog's Cave
Light:	n/a
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Cueva de la Muerte, Recreo Verde, Alajuela, San Carlos, Tel: +506-4070-1611.
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

Cueva de la Muerte (Cave of Death) is not more than a narrow cleft, not really an impressive cave. But there are wooden signs with the name and a skull with crossed bones, and the owner shows a spectacular experiment: he pushes a burning torch into the cleft, and the fire stops. The smoke from the exhausted torch flows down the hill in front of the cave, like water. The explanation is simple: carbon dioxide. This gas is quite common, and it exists in the atmosphere, and it is not poisonous. But it is heavier than air, and so it forms pools in depressions, and as there is not enough oxygene, only carbon dioxide, it's possible to breath, but get no oxygene. In other words, it will kill you, you will suffocate while breathing normally. Hence, the name Cave of Death.

This is a special kind of cave we named Speleology Dog's Cave. Most of them are actually mines, but this one is a natural cave of volcanic origin. It is quite small, only about 3 m long and one m high, and it's deadly to enter. The carbon dioxide with purity of some 80 % is heavy and forms a pool inside the cave, but it flows out of the cave with a speed of 20 cm/s. After a few meters the gas is dispersed by the wind. The cave produces about 30 kg of carbon dioxide per hour, which is about the amount an average car produces for a distance of 250 km.

The cave is located on the grounds of the hotel or resort Recreo Verde, which has several volcanic attractions. It is famous for the hot springs, which are part of the wellness section of the hotel. The cave is not even mentioned on their website, there is only a single picture, but it has some local fame. As those dog caves are extremely rare, that's actually a pity.