Admiral's Cave


Useful Information

Location: Hamilton Parish.
(32.352057, -64.714108)
Open: no restrictions.
[2023]
Fee: free.
[2023]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave
Light: bring torch
Dimension: L=500 m, 50 m underwater.
Guided tours: self guided
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography: Bob Richards (2003): Caving in Bermuda with the BeCKIS Project, NSS News 61 (8) 212 - 218 illus.
Thomas M Iliffe (2003): Submarine Caves and Cave Biology of Bermuda, NSS News 61 (8) 217 - 224 illus.
Admiral's Cave survey, plan and section on p 219.
Address:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1819 speleothems shipped home as souvenirs by a British Admiral.
1864 David Milne Home calculated the age of a 3 m high stalagmite at 600,000 years.
1990s Smithsonian Museum discovery fossil bird bones dating back several hundred thousand years.

Description

One of the largest dry caves on the island with a large sinkhole entrance and two smaller entrances. There are still many concrete paths left in the cave from its commercial days, but they have suffered badly from vandalism. There are five small lakes which connect with the sea and show tidal action. Profusely decorated with speleothems it warrants opening up to the public again although the nearby quarry could well destroy the cave unless the authorities take quick action to preserve the cave.


Text by Tony Oldham (2003). With kind permission.

This cave was named after a British Admiral Sir David Milne, wo completed his tour of duty on Bermuda around 1819. He had troops shipping speleothems home as a souvenir, among them a nearly 4 m high stalagmite. 44 years later the son of the Admiral, David Milne Home, visited the cave also. He saw, that a few millimeters of limestone had grown on the surface of the stump and extrapolated, that it would take 600,000 years to grow it to its former glory. This was in 1864 and was most likely the first time ever that the growth rate of speleothems was estimated.

The cave is one of the bigger ones and was once full of impressive speleothems. It also once housed the only dog-tooth spar crystals in Bermuda. But since the cave was abandoned as a show cave, a century ago, it was heavily damaged by vandalism.