Lower 19 - 20 m are below water level. The cave formed at lower sea level and, as the sea level rose, many speleothems, which formed in air, now are under water level.
A tourist attraction since 1907, it was discovered in 1905 by Carl Gibbons and Edgar Hollis, two 12 year-old boys searching for a lost cricket ball. They had to abseil through the only very narrow entrance at the time and have soon been in the absolute dark, with only a candle lit latern. They then had to swim through the cave trying to find an alternative exit. However, the cave system only has submerged connections to the sea. The boys had to climb up the way they came from.
Soon after, the Wilkinson family (the owners of the property since 1884) learned of the discovery, Mr. Percy Wilkinson lowered his 14 year-old son Bernard into it with a bicycle lamp on 140 feet of strong rope tied to a tree to explore the cave.
Later a small wooden spiral staircase was established. Nowadays a tunnel with a proper staircase (81 steps) has been built for easy access of the cave.
In the old days tourists received a saw to allow them to cut off stalagtites as souvenirs. Today it is strictly forbidden to touch the limestone.
As the whole cave is filled with water, a floating ponton bridge allows to "walk on water" and explore the not very big cave. The extremely clean water looks shallow but is in fact more than 10 meters deep.
The area surrounding Harrington Sound (which lies to the south of Crystal Cave) is of limestone formation and noted for many subterranean waterways, through which the waters of the sound empty into the Atlantic. Crystal Cave is one of these, and - as its name suggests - is one of the most spectacularly beautiful, with many stalactites, stalagmites, and deep crystal-clear pools. However, some crystal formations have been damaged by earthquakes in the far past.
An excursion to Crystal Cave also includes the neighbouring Fantasy Cave with Fantasy being deeper (88 steps down). Fantasy Cave was reopened in the summer of 2001 with all the pathways rebuilt and re-illuminated by artificial lighting. It was discovered and opened about the same time as Crystal Cave, but was closed by the owners in the 1940s.
At the beginning of WWII the owners decided to only keep the more famous Crystal Cave open to focus resources on. Fantasy Cave remained closed for more than 60 years.
The two caves located on 8 Crystal Caves Rd. at Wilkinson Ave. are accessible by bus running between Hamilton and St. George's Parishes, taxi and other private forms of transportation (including motorbike and bicycle). Outside the two caves is a sub-tropical garden lined with palm trees where one will find many species of trees and flowers.
The caves are owned by the local Wilkinson Trust, and are open to the public.
(c) Dirk Frantzen 2013 — published via iPad
Position:Crystal Caves, Bermuda
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