La Réunion

Reunion

Réunion is an island in the Indian Ocean. The French overseas department and region is located approximately 950 km east of the island of Madagascar. The island is of volcanic origin, created by a hotspot which started 3 Ma ago and is still active, with more than 100 eruptions since 1640. The same hotspot is responsible for the formation of the islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues. The first volcano was the Piton des Neiges which reached the sea level about 3 Ma ago, and by the plate slowly moving across the hotspot, a chain of volcanoes was formed, with the Piton de la Fournaise the currently active end. With more than one eruption per year, it is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is therefore under permanent surveillance.

During the eruptions of the volcanoes, the Piton des Neiges in the west and the Piton de la Fournaise in the east, numerous lava tubes were formed. The oldest of them are half a million years old, the youngest was created by the 2004 eruption of the Piton de la Fournaise. About 20 of them can be visited on numerous cave trekking tours. There are probably half a dozen operators offering tours in several caves. Different operators offer tours into the same cave, so we have listed the caves and the respective operators for each cave. It seems prices and service are comparable, so it actually does not matter which one you choose. The main problem is the fact that La Réunion is part of France and so French is the main language. Most guides do not speak english, or at least do not offer English tours, which makes it tricky to find an English tour if you do not speak French. Also, all tours should be prebooked, two to three weeks in advance is recommended, so we suggest to book online before your journey.

Most lava tubes are actually freely accessible, in other words you could visit them unguided, as there are neither gates nor restrictions. Several are pretty easy, just a walk and a little climbing now and then. We strongly recommend to take a guided tour for security reasons, as the caves are not supervised, there will be no rescue if you have an accident. General security rules for caves apply.

Operator	Caves
Kokapat Rando Reunion, 109 Chem. Farjeau, Le Tampon 97430, Réunion, Tel: +262-692-699-414, Tel: +262-262-333-014. E-mail:	Tunnel de lave Bleu Tunnel de lave 2004 Caverne Gendarme	KOKAPAT RANDO REUNION
Envergure Réunion, Rue Fond Generese, St Paul 97460, Réunion, Tel: +262-693-43-23-52. E-mail:	Tunnel du Bassin Bleu Tunnel de lave 2004 Caverne Gendarme	Tunnel de lave à la Réunion
LAVE’NTURE – Visite Tunnels de Lave, Route de Vincendo, Tel: +262-692-01-59-56. E-mail:	Tunnel de lave 2004 Tunnel de lave Citron Galet Caverne Gendarme	LAVE'NTURE
Tunnels de lave Réunion : Rando-Volcan, 11TER Allée des Verveines, 97410 Saint Pierre, Tel: +262-692-301173. E-mail:	Tunnel de lave 2004 Caverne Gendarme Tunnel de lave Citron Galet Tunnel de lave coulée 1998 Tunnel de lave des lichens Tunnel de lave Bory Palace	Tunnels de lave Réunion : Rando-Volcan
Canyoning & Tunnel de lave 9728 Envergure, Tel: +262-693-43-23-52 E-mail:	Tunnel du Bassin Bleu Tunnel de lave 2004 Caverne Gendarme	Tunnel de lave à la Réunion
tunnelsdelave.fr Loisir sportif - 15 Rue De La Grande Case - 97428 ST PAUL Tel: +262-692-833-868.	Tunnel de lave 2004 Tunnel de lave coulée 1998 Tunnel de lave Citron Galet Caverne bateau Caverne Gendarme Tunnel du Bassin Bleu Tunnel de lave Bleu Tunnel de lave des lichens Tunnel de la rivières des rempart	tunnelsdelave.fr
Coeur de Lave Tel: +262-693-409977. E-mail:	Tunnel de lave 2004 Tunnel de lave coulée 1998 Tunnel de lave Citron Galet Caverne bateau Caverne Gendarme Tunnel du Bassin Bleu Tunnel de lave Bleu Tunnel de lave des lichens Tunnel de la rivières des rempart	Coeur de Lave