Kelly Hill Caves

Ready to step back in time? Kel­ly Hill Caves has reopened with a brand-new vis­i­tor expe­ri­ence. An audio-visu­al tour fea­tur­ing nar­ra­tion and a dynam­ic light dis­play will pro­vide vis­i­tors with an immer­sive expe­ri­ence through the his­to­ry of the caves. The expe­ri­ence starts with a guid­ed above-ground walk. Here, you learn about the caves’ his­to­ry and view new inter­pre­tive sig­nage, set­ting the stage for the under­ground adven­ture. Vis­it­ed before? The tour offers fresh insights for both new and return­ing visitors. About Kel­ly Hill Caves Around two mil­lion years ago the sea was con­stant­ly chang­ing between its present lev­el and 125 metres low­er, inter­mit­tent­ly expos­ing the con­ti­nen­tal shelf. It was at this time that the dunes of Kel­ly Hill were formed as cal­care­ous shell frag­ments from the exposed sea bed were wind­blown and deposit­ed on the island’s south and west coast. Over a long peri­od of time these dunes hard­ened into a porous lime­stone that is shaped by the action of per­co­lat­ing rainwater. At Kel­ly Hill this has giv­en rise to an under­ground labyrinth of sink­holes and cav­erns thought to extend for kilo­me­tres. Nature has again cre­at­ed some of its finest work here, with caves full of beau­ti­ful yet frag­ile sta­lag­mites, sta­lac­tites, helic­tites and tow­er­ing columns that trans­port vis­i­tors to anoth­er world.