The Cathedral Caves are two connected limestone sea caves located on Waipati Beach, south of Papatowai, on the Catlins Coast in the southeast corner of New Zealand's South Island. The two main cave systems join together within the cliff and one has a high ceiling. Often blue penguins and fur seals will emerge from the gloom at the far end of the cave.
The 199m-long cave is formed in Jurassic sandstone (about 160 million years old) of the Murihiku Terrane, though the cave itself is much younger, ten to hundreds of thousands of years old. They were named by Thomas Hocken who noted how the caves reverberated noise and their resemblance to European cathedrals. The caves are only accessible for an hour either side of low tide. They are managed by Kāi Tahu descendants.
References
External links
Official website - Information about the caves, including tide charts and pictures