松田鍾乳洞

Matsuda Limestone Cave - Matsuda Mega Gama Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Matsuda, Ginoza-son, Kunigami-gun 904-1301 Okinawa. (26.494415, 127.993019)
Open:	no restrictions. Cave Trekking: all year daily after appointment. [2022]
Fee:	free. Cave Trekking: Adults JPY 5,500, Gear Rent JPY 500. [2022]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided. Cave Trekking: L=1,000, D=1 h.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Matsuda Limestone Cave, 78 Kunigami, Matsuda, Ginoza-son, Kunigami-gun 904-1301 Okinawa, Tel: +81-98-989-8100. 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

2013	opened as a show cave.

Description

松田鍾乳洞 (Matsuda Limestone Cave) is located in the northern part of the village Matsuda. There is a sort of park which is actually a doline which is 60 m long and 40 m wide. At the northern side is a small parking lot and a trail which leads down into the doline. The trail is elevated and has railings, and is met in the doline by a second trail from the eastern road. The trail was built into the portal of a huge cave, and the doline and the cave can easily be visited. It’s almost like strolling through a park. Unfortunately the trail and more or less in the cave portal, so you can look, but you cannot enter.

The cave has numerous cave visitors like bats, lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus cornutus), and even turtles. True troglobionts are the endemic Kuroiwa’s ground gecko (Goniurosaurus kuroiwae) and the cave centipede (Thereuopoda clunifera).

Like many caves on the island there is a World War II story about the cave. Okinawans from surrounding villages came to Matsuda and took refuge in the Mēgā Gama Cave, to hide from the bombing and fighting. They left some remains like graffiti, empty sake bottles and even a copper pot. Historians estimate that as many as fifty to one hundred people hid in the cave for a period of several weeks during the war. There were no fights at Matsuda, so nobody was killed in a fight, but many people died of disease and starvation.

There are also cave trekking tours offered for this cave, the visitors are equipped with full caving gear. There is a guide who explains anything. Bring clothes to change, a towel, and a plastic bag for the dirty clothes. The tour path is equipped with aluminium ladders at the steep parts, so there is actually no climbing required.