Cuevas las Cabachuelas

Useful Information

Location:	Meeting point: Centro Cultural de Morovis, Calle Baldorioty, Morovis (18.349119, -66.450097)
Open:	One or two weekends per month, published on website. Online booking necessary. [2020]
Fee:	Adults USD 45, Children (8-12) USD 35, Children (0-7) not allowed, Seniors (60+) USD 35. [2020]
Classification:	Karst cave
Light:	helmets with headlamp provided
Dimension:
Guided tours:	D=3-4 h.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Proyecto Cabachuelas, Tel: +1-939-450-1295. E-mail: Centro Cultural de Morovis, Calle Baldorioty, Morovis 00687, Tel: +1-787-862-2400. 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

~1900	the famous French naturalist Alphone Pinart visits the caves,
29-FEB-2012	Cabachuelas Natural Reserve established
28-FEB-2019	cave opened to the public.

Description

The Cuevas las Cabachuelas is a large cave system located between the municipalities of Morovis and Ciales. The cave is of great importance and protected by a nature park, which will be transformed into a National Park named Parque Nacional Las Cabachuelas in the future. The park is not yet established as it requires the purchase of various private properties. And such negotiations take some time. Still the cave is both protected and accessible on guided tours. The tours are organized by the Proyecto Cabachuelas which is a community-based education and ecotourism project located at the Centro Cultural de Morovis. They organize recreational, educational and research programs. They offer various other cave related tours despite the Cuevas las Cabachuelas.

The tour through Cuevas las Cabachuelas includes many aspects, petroglyphs and pictographs are remains of the Taino and part of the archaeologic heritage. Then there are paleontological remains, like the fossils of the sloth bear and the guabá. The speleothems are impressive too. The cave is horizontal, and although it is not developed, the cave floor is mostly easy to walk. The tour requires no special equipment, but visitors are equipped with helmets and headlamps. The cave is spacious and has a high ceiling, we guess the helmet is intended to have a place for the lamp. Nevertheless, the tours are up to four hours long and full of information, which makes them quite strenuous.