Takkatan Cave

This is quite an adventurous cave to find and explore.

There are no tour guides and cave is very poorly lit from enterance light.

On a professional cave exploration website it states this cave can suffer from HIGH C02 LEVELS, there is no breeze through the cave so be very careful and always carry the right equipment and explore in groups.

There are many types of caves. Like landscapes, some visitors enjoy beaches, others climb mountains, traverse deserts or roam shopping malls. Research your cave, then there won’t be disappointment. Personally, I prefer caves unspoilt by human intervention, retaining biodiversity with troglofauna. Takkatan cave seemed ideal.

A 2019 survey map estimated a length of 1,200 metres with many unexplored passages. Next, a 2021 expedition put the length as 3,160 metres (under ‘Tham Tukkatan’). This implied a cave being extended with more potential.

I walked the 6.5 km from Phu Jaya Mini Resort to the cave. The village shop near the cave has various snacks. It closes after 7 pm, allowing refreshments on one’s return.

Apart from the entrance having a teeny religious shrine, the cave isn’t colonised by artefacts, such as lights, and graffiti is really minimal. The main passageway is easy to traverse. A steeper ascent leads to a huge cavern where there are some bats. Here, the bat guano supports the largest concentration of tiny flying bugs, which are attracted by light. If you stand still using a head torch, you risk a bug in the eye. I take a mirror and clean tissue for emergency. Hand holding a torch, turning off the light, moving or continuing into smaller passageways, reduces the problem.

Over a two-day visit, I explored two different interesting passages leading from the bat area. A narrow hole to the right leads past ropes and, after descending passageways, you reach a warning sign (see photo) about the risk of flooding during wetter months. The passage requires use of both hands, body twists in narrower sections and you have to be careful not to slip down holes in some places. It’s therefore prudent to wear a caving helmet with a head torch, have suitable footwear, cover your legs and go in a group.

I use a Fenix HL55 head torch with a 3500 mAh rechargeable battery, keeping a fully charged spare in my side bag. It’s waterproof with four brightness levels and a burst mode. On one battery using the lowest settings, the eco mode lasts 150 hours and the low mode lasts for 30 hours. I don’t want to worry about lighting. I take a Petzl PIXA 3 head torch as a backup.

It’s also important to carry a lighter to test for high CO2 levels if exploring smaller passages. If the flame goes out or the lighter doesn't light, then leave. I didn’t detect problems, but there’re places of high CO2 - less so in the colder months.

Going left from the bat chamber and slowly ascending right ends in an area with many only partially explored narrow openings. Some have vertical entrances. You will need ropes for these sections. I met two experienced cavers extending one uncharted route. They said the cave is much longer than 3 km, with several unexplored passages.

Takkatan cave is my type of perfect cave. Though, I just wish there were fewer small flying bugs.

Walking back in the revivingly cool night, lovely cicada songs accompanied me down the valley. Show courage by a steady gait if the odd fearsome night guard dog barks from side properties.

After my second visit, a violent, gusty thunderstorm raced over the mountains. Hail lashed the ground for the first few minutes. Cringing from the lightning, I sheltered shivering for an hour. When the rain cleared, the wind eased, the earth smelt sweet, and the frogs and toads added their hectic calls (see photo).

Gliding slugs and running centipedes came out across the road. Act cautiously if you meet the centipede in my photo; their venomous jaws can give an excruciatingly painful bite, lasting many days. Returning at 1.30 a.m., I felt refreshed.

If you like to discover a cave by your own, I can recommend. You need sport shoes and stronger Flashlight. To reach the cave you have to walk a few hundred meters thru the forest. small adventure 😉

Nice cave with lots to explore. Make sure you bring a couple good lights; the LED lights are the best. Rooms are big with lots of passageways. Avoid crawling through tiny holes unless you have a Carbon reader to measure carbon dioxide. Not recommended to go into the lower cave section during rainy season as the lower section has a river and easily floods. In addition, there are two other caves close to this cave; one around the mountain to the left of Takkatan and one around the mountain on the right, but these two other cave entrances require some exploring and are not found by following trails. Oh, and this is not a “touristy” cave which makes it all the better

It was amazing trip! But please turn right if after to walk to the jungle otherwise you’ll get lost for 4 hours like us.
The cave is so big, so much fun to explore but no artworks in there... very disappointed because I read some reviews they said there have cave art paintings inside

A good hour drive from town. The Takkadan cave is interesting. The cave is cavernous and was dry when I was there in mid November. The air was rather still (stuffy) and very humid. Bring your headlamp and light source. Heard that if you hire a local guide, you can explore it further.

Beautiful and secluded. Please respect the area and don't leave trash, or graffiti in the cave. 🙏

Interesting place, quiet, no one around

Always a nice place to introduce people new to nature to the world of caving. A short hike from parking with very large caverns.

Wonderfully quiet and eerie. Take a torch and something to clean the bat droppings off your hands

TAKKATAN CAVE is not a joke 😱 It is a real big hole! The slowly creep in of the summer urge me to came up with an intention to search for a cooler environment for hiking, cave was my first keystone. I was astonished with one article while I was doing my research, it statted TAKKATAN cave length around 7 Kilometers!? I could not tell how much I appreciated the statement!! So, I rushed to the cave without done more research. The cave sites next to Hmong village Baan Num Zome, Baan Pong subdistrict. I didn't expect the cave has huge chambers inside comparing to it's entrance size and strongly believe that the cave is a dead end type, there were no wind flow, high humidity and pressure. There are lots of tricky chambers inside that easily screw away your navigation but it worth a challenge. I couldn't finished the whole exploration to the entire chambers because I wasn't well prepared, lack knowledge, gears and poor skills. I only brought 2 headlamps and 3 liters water resovir, I learned that to complete the whole exploration I must carry a strong knowledge about caves and tools. I promise I shall return!!

Beware, Beware, Walk With Care

Careful what You Do

Or Mumbo Jumbo's Gonna Hoodoo You,

Mumbo Jumbo Is Gonna Hoodoo You,

Boomlay, Boomlay, Boomlay, Boom!

For me this is awesome, cuz I like caves.😍

Good cave

Adventure!

Absolut coole Höhle, die nicht so einfach zu erreichen ist aber sehr groß ist. Gute Schuhe und Licht UNBEDINGT notwendig da viele Fledermäuse drin sind und jede Menge Kot am Boden liegt.

Крутейшее место вдали от популярных туристических маршрутов!
Уже только дорога до пещеры, которая проходит по живописным холмам и сельскохозяйственным угодьям, стоит поездки. Атмосфера покоя вокруг.
Сама пещера большая, состоит из множества залов и галерей, тянется на сотни метров вглубь. Внутри сухо и комфортно ходить, только немного тяжело дышать, так как воздух спертый и влажный.

Une belle expérience en ce 9 juin 2024. Depuis l'endroit le plus proche où l'on peut garer une voiture ou une moto (au bord des champs), il reste 600 mètres à faire à pied. Bien rester dans l'axe de la piste qui descend et qui devient un chemin de pierre aménagé comme un escalier. Il finit par remonter un peu jusqu'à l'entrée de la grotte. J'ai mis le tracé GPS sur l'application wikiloc avec le nom "Way to the Takkatan Cave". À éviter pendant la saison des pluies car le chemin semble devenir une rivière.

Les deux tiers du chemin sont ombragés avec une très belle nature. Nous étions seuls aujourd'hui. Comme indiqué dans les commentaires précédents, il faut venir bien équipé avec des lampes assez puissantes, des bonnes chaussures de marche, de quoi se nettoyer les mains à cause des fientes, etc. Et ne pas venir seul bien sûr !

Nous sommes venus en voiture de ville, cela passe très bien sur les petites routes et la piste à travers les champs. Mais il faut un peu d'expérience et rouler très prudemment. Dans le village en dessous il y a un café de bonne qualité !

Bonne exploration à vous !