Engelbrecht Cave

A council-owned show cave in central Mount Gambier with two flooded passages, East (Cave-rated, about 70 m) and West (Advanced Cave, about 340 m), plus the Advanced Cave East Extension with more than 400 m of passage.

Engelbrecht Cave sits beneath a doline (a collapse sinkhole) in the middle of Mount Gambier and is named after Carl Engelbrecht, a 19th-century German settler. The City of Mount Gambier owns it and a tour operator runs guided visits of the dry cave and sinkhole for the public, with a café and viewing platforms at the surface.

Two submerged passages lead off in opposite directions. The East passage, reached by a short stairway inside the eastern tourist cave, is a low, silty tunnel of about 70 m to an inner air chamber. The West passage is reached down a long stone stairway to a small pool; after a narrow restriction (a section where passage size limits how divers can move) the first sump runs about 100 m to an air chamber and rock pile, beyond which a second, usually very clear sump continues.

From the East passage air chamber, Advanced Cave divers can climb over the rock pile to the East Extension (EEX), where the CDAA describes more than 400 m of submerged tunnel, several dry squeezes and seasonal water-level changes. The CDAA treats EEX as a sidemount-only site and does not allow training there.

The CDAA warns that storm water can enter the West passage's first sump after heavy rain, so visibility there swings between very clear and zero; the second sump is usually clear. Water levels in the East Extension's 'Rabbit Hole' vary seasonally from almost dry to fully submerged.

Visibility in the West passage first sump depends on recent rain; silty sections can drop to zero visibility if disturbed.

현재 상태가 아닌 공개된 자료의 일반적인 범위입니다.

Two dive entrances inside the show cave: East (5L19) and West (5L20). The East Extension is reached on foot through the East passage air chamber. Divers collect keys from the city visitor centre.