Cueva de Villa Luz

Cave of the Lighted House - Cueva de las Sardinas - Cueva de la Sardina - Azufre


Useful Information

Location: Near the town Tapijulapa in southern México, District of Tabasco.
(17.442683, -92.773543)
Open: Not restricted, but very dangerous.
[2024]
Fee: free.
[2024]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst Cave
Dimension: L=1,900 m, VR=25 m.
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography: Louise D. Hose (1999): Cave of the Sulfur Eaters, Natural History (April 1999), 54-61.
Louise D. Hose, James A. Pisarowicz (1999): Cueva de Villa Luz, Tabasco, Mexico: Reconnaissance Study of an Active Sulfur Spring Cave and Ecosystem Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 61(1): 13-21. A scientific paper about the cave in pdf format. pdf.
Roger Tory Peterson Edward L. Chalif (1973): A Field Guide to Mexican Birds, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1973
Louise D. Hose James A. Pisarowicz (1999): Cueva de Villa Luz, Tabasco, Mexico: Reconnaissance Study of an Active Sulfur Spring Cave and Ecosystem, Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 61(1): 13-21.
Address: Cueva de las sardinas ciegas, Tabasco, Tel: +52-919-128-2468.
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

1962 first systematic investigation of the cave by biologists Gordon and Rosen.
FEB-1987 found by Jim Pisarowicz and Warren Netherton.
1988 a larger expedition made a preliminary map of Cueva de Villa Luz.
1996-97 expedition into the cave collected for the first time snottites and other sediments.
1998 expedition into the cave, new high definition map.

Description

The Cueva de Villa Luz is as famous for its unique environment as it is hazardous for its visitors. Thermal sulphur springs inside the cave feed enormous amounts of sulfur loving cave life. But the hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S) has the smell of rotten eggs and is toxic. So entering the cave without appropriate equipment is a deadly danger. Most important are oxygene masks. Simple gas masks do not work very well, as the cave air may contain very little oxygene, so filtering the hydrogen sulfide is not enough, it is necessary to take enough oxygene with you.

The cave is a river cave with some side passages and numerous openings in the roof, at least 24, which is the reason for the name Villa Luz, house of the light. There is pretty much light and fresh air in many parts of the cave. The cave river contains many cave fish, which is extraordinary, as they have to live on very little food in normal caves, and are typically very rare. In this cave, huge numbers of sulfur loving microorganisms can be found, and so there are big numbers of those fish.

Until the 1940s, the local Zoque aka Soque people entered the cave, but only the light parts, once a year at the end of the dry season for the Ceremonia de la Pesca. Zoque elders offered prayers and requested permission to enter the cave and harvest fish. They went about 100 m upstream and fished a certain amount of cave fish. It is easy to understand why the cave is also called Cueva de las Sardinas or even Cueva de las sardinas ciegas (Cave of the blind sardines).

One of the strange features in this cave is the existence of dripstone-like snottites. These stalactites are living, they consist of bacteria which produce a highly concentrated sulphuric acid, similar to battery acid. So it is not a good idea to touch them.

In the 1990s, numerous expeditions and subsequent publications by various people, but namely by Louise Hose, Department of Environmental Studies, Westminster College in Missouri and Jim Pisarowicz, park ranger at ShowcaveWind Cave National Park in South Dakota, increased our knowledge about this strange environment. A lot of information and several papers can be found on the net.

Cueva de Villa Luz is unique, at least as far as we know. There is only one similar cave in the world, but with much less sulfur and much smaller, CaveMovile Cave in Romania, which also has its own ecosystem.

This cave is not exactly a show cave, as it is extremely dangerous, although there are some rather harmless parts. We created this page to warn about the dangers and to inform about a unique site. Nevertheless, the locals have changed the situation in the last decades, as they realized how interesting this cave actually is. They installed some infrastructure and also sites of touristic interest. A visit to the sulfur springs is of touristic value even if you do not enter the cave. The whole area of the sulfur springs and the tributary which flows into the Río Oxolotán is protected by the Reserva de la Biosfera Cascadas Sulfurosas (Cascadas Sulfurosas Biosphere Reserve). The cave itself has its own Parque Natural Villa Luz.

The site is located about two km from Tapijulapa, a small town on Río Oxolotán. This town has an exceptional colonial architecture, with every building painted in white and red, which is the reason why it is listed as Pueblo Mágico (Magical Village). The area in the south of the state of Tabasco is characterized by a warm, humid rainforest environment. There are actually two ways to get there, one is to driver there by car about 2 km on the road along the river to Arroyo Chispa, a small hamlet. The other is to take a boat on Río Oxolotán from Tapijulapa. From here a single lane paved road leads down to the river, which is crossed on a footbridge. On the other side, a long staircase leads up to the Tomas Garrido Canabal, a local history museum, then to the Anfiteatro, a sort of open air theatre built of stone. Here is the cave entrance, which is signposted Cueva de las Sardinas. The cave has no light but stone staircases and trails in the entrance section. There is also a 12 m high waterfall in the sulfur tributary, which is called Cascada Villa Luz (Villa Luz Waterfalls) or sometimes Cascada Villa Hermosa. It is located where the tributary flows into Río Oxolotán, there are wooden trails and bridges, infrastructure like toilets and showers, a zip line, and even a hotel nearby. The site is used for bathing in the sulphur water, which is said to have healing properties, and for abseiling down the cascade. The cascade is actually a deposit of minerals from the water, which forms deposits of limestone and even rimstone pools.

As you can see, this is more or less a day trip, and requires a bathing suit, towel and clothes to change. There are cave tours and helmets are provided. As far as we understand, there is an entrance fee for the park, and a fee for the guide, if you take the boat there is obviously another fee. Nevertheless, we were not able to determine exact prices or open hours. And as far as we understand, the site is freely accessible, the cave is not gated, and there are no fences, so it is possible to visit the site without restrictions. We strongly recommend a guided tour thought, not only to support the locals, but also for your own safety.

The locals also reactivated the Pesca de la Sardina festival, which is celebrated every year in April. However, it’s more or less a theatrical performance, not a religious event. It includes some religious ceremonies and a visit of the cave with candles and baskets with flowers. As far as we understand, no fish are caught as the site is under nature protection.

This is where the Domingo de Ramos, (Glorious Saturday) takes place, a prehispanic ritual of Zoque origin. It is called The Ritual of Fishing the Blind Sardine. It is thought that this tradition connects the individuals to nature.

The inhabitants of Tapijulapa and surrounding countryside come to the cave to capture the fish and to share them at the table during that day and the following one. As many as 200 people meet in this small cave. First the patriarch, the priestess and the town in general will carry an offering to all four points of the town before beginning the procession to the cave. At the cave entrance, the elders of the town request permission to fish in the Zoque language. They then leave their offerings, such as flowers, candles, and incense at the entrance of the cave and then they begin fishing with the specially made baskets. When they have finished fishing, the assistants give thanks for the food in the entrance of the cave saying goodbye to the sacred place and retiring the procession.


Text by Tony Oldham (2004). With kind permission.