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Sudwala Caves

South Africa South Africa Cave

Sudwala Caves

19 °C inside, all year.

Show caveStalactites

See the descentHow to visit

Burkhard.Reutzel · Public domain

The descent

The entrance, at 1,031 m.

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

depth not publishedEntrance1,266 m1.0 kmvertical × 5.5depth not publishedEntrance1,266 m1.0 kmvertical × 11.9

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.

1,031m

Entrance altitude

published (Wikidata)

19°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

215m

Rock above

the highest point within 1.5 km

Inside and outside

19 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 19 °C here, in January and in August. In October the afternoon reaches 29 °C at the entrance, 10 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from September to March.

outside, at the entrance (1,031 m)inside
  1. 28°16°Jan
  2. 28°16°Feb
  3. 27°15°Mar
  4. 25°13°Apr
  5. 24°10°May
  6. 21°7°Jun
  7. 21°7°Jul
  8. 25°9°Aug
  9. 28°12°Sep
  10. 29°13°Oct
  11. 29°15°Nov
  12. 29°16°Dec
Inside: 19 °C all yearEscape the heat: Sep–MarWettest: Nov–Mar

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 in Mpumalanga, South Africa

Sudwala Caves is a cave in South Africa. The entrance is at 1,031 m. It has stalactites and stalagmites. It is open to visitors.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

Plan the visit

Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at MQP airport (Mbombela)Discover CarsSee prices 

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 Sudwala Caves (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.

  • 1other cave entrances within 3 kmSudwala Caves
  • 3campsites within 8 kmRiver Wild, River's Edge, Mankele
  • 2restaurants 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
  • car parks within 2 km
  • information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • bus stops within 2 km
  • hotels and guesthouses 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

  • Elandshoek14 km in a straight line
  • Ngodwana22 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Sudwala Caves.

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

Peakyas1 mountains within 10 km
Mount Carmel · 6.6 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
Afternoon282827252421212528292929
Afternoon282827252421212528292929
Night161615131077912131516
Rain (mm)16311294561489102569110146
Rainy days2218171042225142023
Sun hours/day7.47.77.67.48.88.99.39.39.17.77.37.2
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan2828161637.4
Feb2828161127.7
Mar272715947.6
Apr252513567.4
May242410148.8
Jun2121788.9
Jul2121799.3
Aug25259109.3
Sep282812259.1
Oct292913697.7
Nov2929151107.3
Dec2929161467.2

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (1,031 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Inside and around.

Nostoc Vaucher ex Bornet & Flahault 605568
This image was created by user Liz Popich (Lizzie) at Mushroom Observer , a source for myc · CC BY-SA 3.0
Nostoc Vaucher ex Bornet & Flahault 605569
This image was created by user Liz Popich (Lizzie) at Mushroom Observer , a source for myc · CC BY-SA 3.0

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
2020101%137%93%172%16%138%124%48%66%100%63%96%
2021132%253%71%23%80%173%146%77%89%86%89%121%
2022129%76%159%218%591%477%189%32%72%67%130%130%
202361%365%52%55%771%104%246%48%198%90%77%194%
202489%76%132%191%38%192%3%106%94%106%84%89%
2025171%157%90%161%49%81%61%29%178%91%190%141%

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

Caves nearby.

Sudwala Caves

South Africa

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 1,031 mEntrance altitude
  • 19 °CInside, all year

Sterkfontein

South Africa · 306 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 1,481 mEntrance altitude
  • 18 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Malapa Fossil Site, Cradle of Humankind

South Africa · 296 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 1,442 mEntrance altitude
  • 18 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Wonder Cave

South Africa · 301 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 1,508 mEntrance altitude
  • 18 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q1686963) · 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