Wadi Rahabah Cave

Useful Information

photography — Wadi Rahabah, United Arab Emirates. Public Domain.

Location:	Al Rahabah - Ras Al Khaimah. From the coast road E18 turn off towards mountains to Rabah. From here gravel road into the wadi, keep left at the dam. (25.9259310, 56.0913405)
Open:	no restrictions. [2024]
Fee:	free. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Wadi Rahabah Cave
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

Description

The كهف وادي رحابة (Wadi Rahabah Cave) is named after the gorge where it is located, the وادي رحبة (Wadi Rahabah). Located on the northern end of the country the cave is located 14 km south of the border to the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, which belongs to Oman. It is only 5 km from the coast. The wadi is dry most of the year but reactivated every year during the rainy season, so its actually not possible to visit the cave at this time. One wall in the wadi is a well-known climbing location named Stardust, a tribute to David Bowie. Some say it’s the most famous climbing wall in the UAE.

The cave of Wadi Rahabah is also known as Ras Al Khaimah Cave or short RAK Cave because it is located right north of Ras Al Khaimah city. It is located a little further up the road from the climbing location, easy to find because of the gazebo, toilets and a long staircase to the cave entrance. The staircase leads straight up a ramp of loose gravel and huge blocks. It seems the ramp is actually a hard layer of limestone, and the cave at the upper end is the source of all the gravel, which was flushed out of the cave. The cave formed along a strata joint which has the same inclination. The cave has a rather big portal, which is about 10 m wide and 3 to 4 m high. Inside the portal there is a concrete platform, inside the staircase continues uphill, but on the other side of the cave. But the cave is not very long, and so the cave and staircase end pretty soon. Its unclear why there is such a massive infrastructure for this rather harmless and small cave. We assume that the place is well frequented due to the many people who live in the nearby towns.

We recommend using a 4WD to get there, the 4WD is not needed, it’s a rather good gravel road, but the high clearance is required for the bumps in the road. The beginning of the road is hard to find, as it looks like a private property between two houses, see the blog by Iwona below for exact coordinates. If you decide to walk instead, its 3 km easy hike, about 45 minutes, to reach the cave.