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Caverna de Santo Tomás 04

Cuba Cuba Cave

Santo Tomás Cave

25 km of galleries.

Underground riverCave system

See the descentHow to visit

Z thomas · CC BY-SA 4.0

The descent

The entrance, at 142 m.

The real relief above Santo Tomás Cave, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.

depth not publishedEntrance384 m1.0 kmvertical × 9.1depth not publishedEntrance384 m1.0 kmvertical × 19.8

The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.

25km

Galleries

surveyed length (Wikidata)

142m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

26°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

247m

Rock above

the highest point within 1.5 km

Inside and outside

26 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 26 °C here, in January and in August. In July the afternoon reaches 32 °C at the entrance, 6 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from February to November. The wettest months are from June to October: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.

outside, at the entrance (142 m)inside
  1. 26°18°Jan
  2. 27°18°Feb
  3. 29°19°Mar
  4. 31°21°Apr
  5. 32°23°May
  6. 31°24°Jun
  7. 32°25°Jul
  8. 32°25°Aug
  9. 31°24°Sep
  10. 30°23°Oct
  11. 28°20°Nov
  12. 27°19°Dec
Inside: 26 °C all yearEscape the heat: Feb–NovWettest: Jun–Oct

Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.

Cave

Santo Tomás Cave is a cave in Cuba. It has 25 km of surveyed galleries. The entrance is at 142 m. It has an underground river and several entrances and long galleries.

Getting there.

  • Wild cave: only with caving equipmentNo paths or lights inside. Go only with a caving club or a qualified guide.
  • Minas de Matahambrenearest town · 12 km in a straight line
  • Rafael Cabrera Airport (GER)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 134 km in a straight line

Plan the visit

Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above.

The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.

The ground above Santo Tomás Cave (Sentinel-2) N 1.5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the entrance.

  • 3other cave entrances within 3 kmCaverna de Santo Tomás
  • 1car parks within 2 km
  • 1bus stops within 2 km
  • 5hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmDon damaso, Casa Racher La Estomatolaga., Los naranjos casa neri and 2 more
  • 1restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • springs within 2 km
  • sinkholes within 3 km
  • caving clubs and spots within 15 km
  • viewpoints within 3 km
  • marked hiking routes within 3 km
  • climbing crags within 3 km
  • named waterfalls within 4 km
  • information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • campsites within 8 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

  • Minas de Matahambre12 km in a straight line
  • Viñales16 km in a straight line
  • Pinar del Río21 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Santo Tomás Cave.

The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.

Peakyas6 mountains within 10 km
Sierra Quemado · 2.9 kmSierra Pan de Azúcar · 4.8 kmSierra Chichones · 5.4 kmSierra del Medio · 6.5 kmEl Cayo de las Damas · 8.6 kmMogote de Pan de Azúcar · 9.2 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather outside, at the entrance.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon262729313231323231302827
Afternoon262729313231323231302827
Night181819212324252524232019
Rain (mm)352825357612495120119933824
Rainy days644511141316161374
Sun hours/day6.87.78.69.28.36.98.17.77.06.97.06.8
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan262618356.8
Feb272718287.7
Mar292919258.6
Apr313121359.2
May323223768.3
Jun3131241246.9
Jul323225958.1
Aug3232251207.7
Sep3131241197.0
Oct303023936.9
Nov282820387.0
Dec272719246.8

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (142 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
202014%53%5%50%247%164%201%86%191%187%282%91%
202127%30%1%3%6%191%134%90%226%118%82%175%
2022166%105%222%349%345%167%187%295%375%29%194%112%
20238%48%454%321%159%86%130%62%9%43%363%566%
2024237%457%331%172%183%516%242%414%53%33%30%22%
20258%36%32%8%6%15%13%16%10%25%23%27%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Caves nearby.

Santo Tomás Cave

Cuba

  • —Depth
  • 25 kmGalleries
  • 142 mEntrance altitude
  • 26 °CInside, all year

Bellamar Caves (Matanzas)

Cuba · 241 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 60 mEntrance altitude
  • 26 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Cueva de Saturno

Cuba · 253 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 23 mEntrance altitude
  • 27 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q1051870) · CC0
The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit
cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.You are here
dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Coming soonVisit
forestsForestyaEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit