Nonsuch Caves

Athenry Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Port Antonio, Portland. About 5 km south east of Port Antonio. From Port Antonio follow Red Hassel Road, after 1.5 km at Breastworks community at Y-fork, turn left, cross a narrow bridge, and left again. 6 km towards Nonsuch.
Open:	closed. [2011]
Fee:	closed. [2011]
Classification:	Karst cave
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	A=180 m, L=76 m.
Guided tours:	D=30 min.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:	Alan G. Fincham, Grenville Draper, Ross Macphee, Donald McFarlane, Stewart Peck, Ronald Read, Trevor Shaw, Geoffrey Wadge (1977): Jamaica Underground: The Caves, Sinkholes and Underground Rivers of the Island, University Press of the West Indies, ISBN: 9766400369 Paperback, 465 pages, reprint 1998, p 273. amazon.com (paperback) amazon.com (hardcover).
Address:	Athenry Gardens, Nonsuch, Jamaica, Tel: 876-779-7144, Tel: 876-919-6656.
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

1957	discovered by a goat that had lost its way.
2005	closed.

Description

Athenry Gardens is a former coconut plantation and agricultural research center, located south east of Port Antonio. High on the hills it offers a breathtaking view on the coastline and the sea. The plantation was transformed into a botanical garden which is open for the public.

Beneath the botanical garden lies a cave, named Nonsuch Cave after the nearby village. This cave offers bizarre rock formations, speleothems and Arawak Indian drawings and other archaeological remains. A series of 14 decorated chambers leads to a second, artificial entrance.

The cave is home to a bat colony, which lives in the Cathedral Chamber in 13 m height at the gothic shaped ceiling.

According to the current owner, the gardens and the cave are closed at the moment and are likely to remain so for the for quite an extended period. As there are still many websites and guidebooks listing the place we will leave this page to inform you of the closure.