Nerja Caves

Five local boys hunting bats found a sinkhole above Maro in January 1959 and squeezed through into a cave system that turned out to run for nearly five kilometres, with chambers up to sixty metres high. About a third is open to visitors on a lit walkway, and its centrepiece is a column in the Cataclysm Hall formed where a stalactite and stalagmite joined, thirty-two metres tall and thirteen across at the base, listed as one of the largest known. The cave holds evidence of human use from around 40,000 years ago along with wall paintings, though the areas containing them are closed for conservation and their dating is disputed. The temperature inside stays around nineteen degrees.

What you actually see

• The great column - a joined formation thirty-two metres high.
• The lit chambers - a walkway through halls up to sixty metres tall.
• The formations - dense stalactites, curtains and flowstone.
• The archaeology displays - material from the cave's long human use.

When to go

Year-round; the constant temperature makes it a good hot-day option. Entry is by timed slot and books out in summer and at holiday weekends. Concerts are occasionally held in the largest hall.

Honest expectations

The route involves many steps and is not wheelchair accessible. The painted areas are closed to visitors and their age is contested among specialists. Coach groups arrive in blocks, and the walkway is narrow.

Nearby

Nerja and the Balcon de Europa are four kilometres west; the Maro cliffs and coves lie below.