Tantanoola Caves Conservation Park, Limestone Coast: What can I see?
The Tantanoola Caves Conservation Park on South Australia’s Limestone Coast offers guided cave tours, showing off stalagmites, stalactites and other speleotherms in an ocean-carved cavern.
Tantanoola Caves Conservation Park is home to one of South Australia’s most impressive caves. It’s called Tantanoola Caves, but there’s basically just one main cavern, set into a cliff face. And the cave decorations are the main selling point.
Tantanoola Caves Conservation Park is on the Limestone Coast of South Australia. It’s just to the north-east of South Australia’s second-largest city, Mount Gambier. The location on the Princes Highway makes Tantanoola Caves a really handy stop on the Melbourne to Adelaide drive, too.
Limestone Coast caves: How the Tantanoola Caves were formed
Geologists believe that, although the Tantanoola Caves are no longer on the coast, they have been formed by the pounding ocean over the course of centuries. The sea level has retreated over time, leaving behind a cavern full of pebbles, seal bones and shells.
But it’s the cave decorations (or speleotherms) that you’re really here for. The dolomite base rock offers pink and brown colours, while dripping water has created sizable stalagmites and stalactites over the years. There are also shawl-like structures and columns that look like supporting pillars.
Tantanoola Caves tours
Entrance to the Tantanoola Caves Conservation Park is initially by guided tour. The guide shows off the main formations, and explains the geology behind them.
After the Tantanoola Caves guided tour, you’re free to wander the cavern and take photographs. The main cavern is wheelchair-accessible. The Tantanoola Caves tours cost $7 and last about half an hour. They can be booked online.
Also within the Tantanoola Caves Conservation Park is a picnic area and a clifftop walking trail. Plan ahead, and you can make a day of it on the Limestone Coast. You can see the Sunken Garden inside the Umpherston Sinkhole and go snorkelling in the Kilsby Sinkhole.
Top Mount Gambier accommodation choices
The best places to stay in Mount Gambier are:
- For something fun and unusual: Old Mount Gambier Gaol.
- For 19th century charm and grandeur: Colhurst House.
- For a good quality motel with low prices: Blue Lake Motel.
- For studio apartments with kitchenettes, washing machines & tumble dryers: Aloha Central Premium Studios.
More Australian caves
Capricorn Caves near Rockhampton in Queensland.
Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales.
Jewel Cave and Giants Cave near Margaret River, Western Australia.
Yarrangobilly Caves in the Snowy Mountains, New South Wales.