A medium sized beautiful cave with rope access by Cala Varques
Among the many rocky bays with sandy beaches on the East Coast Cala Varques is the perfect mix of rugged, easy enough to get to and romantically beautiful to be a very popular destination for tourists and locals alike. Climbers might also know it as one of the premier Deep Water Solo locations as well. Most visitors however will not know about what I came here for this time.
From the road it is a casual 15 to 20 minute walk to the Cala. Just shortly before reaching the beach a turn left leads up to a stone wall and after crossing it the entrance to the cave can be found right by a dense small area of trees and bushes. I walked past the small hole in the ground (less than a meter across) at first - so keep your eyes open!
To access the cave an about seven meter vertical drop needs to be negotiated. Right by the entrance there is a solid tree to anchor the rope to. Additionally there is a good thread at the opposing side of the hole as well. I carried the necessary gear to rappel and jug up the rope to get in and out. You might get by with less - however the rock is very slippery and just climbing in and out without gear would be difficult and dangerous.
The cave itself is fairly large (topo can be found on Mallorcaverde) but straightforward to explore. There is little chance to get lost and even if you lose orientation for a bit (which happened to me) you will find your fixed ropes again after some searching around. In total I spent a good half hour down there.
Maybe the most impressive rock feature are the thousands of needle thin stalactites that have formed in one of the larger caverns. But there are tons of other things to find as well: Snake-like rocks on the ground, massive pillars and the roots of plants that have borrowed through the rock from above among them.
PS: Like any other outdoor activity there is some danger attached to getting into a random cave. Be sure you are able to manage this aspect!
Adventurer: Bengt