Sardinia
- Thread starter Stu
- Start date
Ship-badger
Member
Here is my trip report from our visit in 2003. Sorry if it's a bit long winded.
Sardinia 2003? A Climber?s Paradise?
In December 2003 Johns Crowsley and Cliffe, Andy Clark, Tony Smith, Jan Karvik, Steve Tomalin and myself went to Sardinia for a week. We flew from Stansted to Algherro for the princely sum of ?21 return, hired two cars, and stayed in a rather posh apartment in a small town called Irgoli. Irgoli is on the western side of the island, about eight kilometres inland, and was probably just a bit too quiet for our liking.
Getting information regarding caving on Sardinia is not very easy. There have been a few articles in Descent over the years (the indexes are invaluable for finding these articles), there is a bit of stuff on the Web, and we had some information from friends. We knew that there were three major caves on the island (Su Bentu, Su Palu and Su Spiria), plus a lot of smaller ones. We had found out that all the large caves were gated and locked, with access being controlled by some sort of local committee, and we knew that some cavers from the Craven Pothole Club had spent a week in Sardinia and had failed to get access to any of them (though they were there mainly to climb, so they may not have tried very hard). Undaunted by all of this we set off, convinced that if all else failed, we could probably buy a hacksaw or bolt cropper!
Unlike Majorca, the caves on Sardinia are mainly wet, and a wetsuit is essential if you want to get very far. The combination of a heavy wetsuit and wellies, SRT gear, climbing gear, and Ryanair?s draconian fifteen kilo baggage allowance, made for some interesting attempts at packing. Wetsuits went on in hand luggage. Walking boots were worn on the plane. Somehow we made it on with no surcharges.
Sardinia is at about the same latitude as Majorca, and we were expecting a similar sort of climate. We were going to be strolling around in shorts and tee shirts, having a quick dip in the sea, and sipping pinocoladas on the terrace. WRONG! As we flew into Algherro we saw SNOW on the hilltops. It was cold and grey. It had been raining. What had we done?
Irgoli is about a two hour drive from Algherro, and about three hours later (we took a short cut!) we arrived at our apartment. I had booked the whole trip online. Flights, airport parking, car-hire and accommodation, all were arranged without a word being spoken. Keyboards all over the world speak perfect English. Unfortunately people do not. Our gracious hosts could not utter a single word of the worlds most beautiful language, and our attempts at Italian were woefully inadequate. Doh! It transpired that all of my arranging had been with their son, who was at university in Cagliari. However, they knew who we were, and apart from one time when the lady of the house had to get her son to speak to me on the telephone, we got by with smiles and gestures. They were very welcoming.
The Caving
Su Palu
Steve had made contact with a Dutch friend of his, who had arranged that we should meet some local cavers for a trip to Su Palu on our first full day. Off we went on the Sunday morning, all full of hope apart from Jan, who was full of disease. Su Palu is in a long valley that stretches to the sea. After a long drive we found the meeting point very easily, and there were the cavers to meet us. The only problem was that they had been there the day before, and had finished their trip. Two of them had waited for us to arrive though, and showed us to the cave entrance. We all agreed that without their help we would probably not have found the entrance, and would have missed out on a fantastic trip. Thanks are extended to them.
The entrance was gated, but the chain securing it was so long that we easily got in underneath. Apparently it is always like this.
The entrance is mainly one quite long broken pitch, that leads eventually to a large chamber, and then to a low streamway. The streamway gets particularly low at one point (flat out), and this section can sump in wet weather, sealing you in the cave. Beyond this the cave is wonderful. Some of it is like the high level route in Lancaster Hole, large dry passges above the streamway, with ways down to the water. The main stream eventually led us to an amazing junction, where there was a pool of about twenty metres diameter. I had a swim around this pool. There was a lot of cave beyond this point, but time was running out, and we were a bit worried about Jan, who had stayed in the car as he was feeling so ill.
Su Bentu
We went find the entrance to this cave on the day before we intended having a trip there, just to make sure that we could get in. There were lots of cavers there, as well as walkers and families. It is very popular spot a day trip. The gate was unlocked, and to ensure that nobody locked it before we returned the next day, we removed and hid the locking bolt!
Su Bentu is the most fun cave I have ever visited. After a couple of entrance pitches you get to the main streamway, which is followed uptream. For seven hundred metres you swim across a lake, climb up a gour dam (up to three metres high), swim another lake, climb another dam, etc. this goes on for thirteen lakes. The water is clear and warm. There are wonderful stal formations. The passage is very tall (up to fifty metres) but never much more than two metres wide at the bottom (though at the top it is much wider). The Lake Gallery ends at a junction. Right goes to an extensive system, but we went left which led, after a considerable distance, to some huge dry passages. The return journey was even better than going in, because we could leap off the gour dams into the pools below.
This is a tremendous cave, though the distances that you have to swim should not be underestimated, and make it a serious endeavour. A wetsuit is essential, both for warmth and for buoyancy (one person has drowned here).
When we got back to the apartment and read the guide, we discovered that the Lake Gallery can be bypassed by a bolted traverse high in the roof of the passage. We returned later in the week and did this trip as well. At the end of the traverses you can free-climb down to the floor of the passage below. Brilliant!
This cave is in my top ten all-time favourites list.
That was all the caving we did. Three trips, but what a three. Members of the party also went canyoning (twice), swimming (in wetsuits), bird-watching, rock-climbing and mountain-walking. As for the weather. It was a bit cool, especially in the evening, but it stayed dry during the day. As is usually the case, on the drive back to the airport it was beautiful sunshine all day.
If you go to Sardinia to cave or climb, the best place to stay is Cala Gonone, near Dorgali, though in December it is a bit of a ghost town.
Sardinia has a lot to offer, and we shall return one day I am sure.
Sardinia 2003? A Climber?s Paradise?
In December 2003 Johns Crowsley and Cliffe, Andy Clark, Tony Smith, Jan Karvik, Steve Tomalin and myself went to Sardinia for a week. We flew from Stansted to Algherro for the princely sum of ?21 return, hired two cars, and stayed in a rather posh apartment in a small town called Irgoli. Irgoli is on the western side of the island, about eight kilometres inland, and was probably just a bit too quiet for our liking.
Getting information regarding caving on Sardinia is not very easy. There have been a few articles in Descent over the years (the indexes are invaluable for finding these articles), there is a bit of stuff on the Web, and we had some information from friends. We knew that there were three major caves on the island (Su Bentu, Su Palu and Su Spiria), plus a lot of smaller ones. We had found out that all the large caves were gated and locked, with access being controlled by some sort of local committee, and we knew that some cavers from the Craven Pothole Club had spent a week in Sardinia and had failed to get access to any of them (though they were there mainly to climb, so they may not have tried very hard). Undaunted by all of this we set off, convinced that if all else failed, we could probably buy a hacksaw or bolt cropper!
Unlike Majorca, the caves on Sardinia are mainly wet, and a wetsuit is essential if you want to get very far. The combination of a heavy wetsuit and wellies, SRT gear, climbing gear, and Ryanair?s draconian fifteen kilo baggage allowance, made for some interesting attempts at packing. Wetsuits went on in hand luggage. Walking boots were worn on the plane. Somehow we made it on with no surcharges.
Sardinia is at about the same latitude as Majorca, and we were expecting a similar sort of climate. We were going to be strolling around in shorts and tee shirts, having a quick dip in the sea, and sipping pinocoladas on the terrace. WRONG! As we flew into Algherro we saw SNOW on the hilltops. It was cold and grey. It had been raining. What had we done?
Irgoli is about a two hour drive from Algherro, and about three hours later (we took a short cut!) we arrived at our apartment. I had booked the whole trip online. Flights, airport parking, car-hire and accommodation, all were arranged without a word being spoken. Keyboards all over the world speak perfect English. Unfortunately people do not. Our gracious hosts could not utter a single word of the worlds most beautiful language, and our attempts at Italian were woefully inadequate. Doh! It transpired that all of my arranging had been with their son, who was at university in Cagliari. However, they knew who we were, and apart from one time when the lady of the house had to get her son to speak to me on the telephone, we got by with smiles and gestures. They were very welcoming.
The Caving
Su Palu
Steve had made contact with a Dutch friend of his, who had arranged that we should meet some local cavers for a trip to Su Palu on our first full day. Off we went on the Sunday morning, all full of hope apart from Jan, who was full of disease. Su Palu is in a long valley that stretches to the sea. After a long drive we found the meeting point very easily, and there were the cavers to meet us. The only problem was that they had been there the day before, and had finished their trip. Two of them had waited for us to arrive though, and showed us to the cave entrance. We all agreed that without their help we would probably not have found the entrance, and would have missed out on a fantastic trip. Thanks are extended to them.
The entrance was gated, but the chain securing it was so long that we easily got in underneath. Apparently it is always like this.
The entrance is mainly one quite long broken pitch, that leads eventually to a large chamber, and then to a low streamway. The streamway gets particularly low at one point (flat out), and this section can sump in wet weather, sealing you in the cave. Beyond this the cave is wonderful. Some of it is like the high level route in Lancaster Hole, large dry passges above the streamway, with ways down to the water. The main stream eventually led us to an amazing junction, where there was a pool of about twenty metres diameter. I had a swim around this pool. There was a lot of cave beyond this point, but time was running out, and we were a bit worried about Jan, who had stayed in the car as he was feeling so ill.
Su Bentu
We went find the entrance to this cave on the day before we intended having a trip there, just to make sure that we could get in. There were lots of cavers there, as well as walkers and families. It is very popular spot a day trip. The gate was unlocked, and to ensure that nobody locked it before we returned the next day, we removed and hid the locking bolt!
Su Bentu is the most fun cave I have ever visited. After a couple of entrance pitches you get to the main streamway, which is followed uptream. For seven hundred metres you swim across a lake, climb up a gour dam (up to three metres high), swim another lake, climb another dam, etc. this goes on for thirteen lakes. The water is clear and warm. There are wonderful stal formations. The passage is very tall (up to fifty metres) but never much more than two metres wide at the bottom (though at the top it is much wider). The Lake Gallery ends at a junction. Right goes to an extensive system, but we went left which led, after a considerable distance, to some huge dry passages. The return journey was even better than going in, because we could leap off the gour dams into the pools below.
This is a tremendous cave, though the distances that you have to swim should not be underestimated, and make it a serious endeavour. A wetsuit is essential, both for warmth and for buoyancy (one person has drowned here).
When we got back to the apartment and read the guide, we discovered that the Lake Gallery can be bypassed by a bolted traverse high in the roof of the passage. We returned later in the week and did this trip as well. At the end of the traverses you can free-climb down to the floor of the passage below. Brilliant!
This cave is in my top ten all-time favourites list.
That was all the caving we did. Three trips, but what a three. Members of the party also went canyoning (twice), swimming (in wetsuits), bird-watching, rock-climbing and mountain-walking. As for the weather. It was a bit cool, especially in the evening, but it stayed dry during the day. As is usually the case, on the drive back to the airport it was beautiful sunshine all day.
If you go to Sardinia to cave or climb, the best place to stay is Cala Gonone, near Dorgali, though in December it is a bit of a ghost town.
Sardinia has a lot to offer, and we shall return one day I am sure.
shotlighter
Active member
Wouldn't leaving your kids alone on a beach be rather irresponsible?SamT said:
OK - coat collection moment
Ed W
Member
Stu,
The Shepton went there in the 90s, and there is a very good write up in the SMCC Journal. I can probably get you a copy of this article if you want. I did not go, but the trip was reportedly most excellent. The only downside is that I believe that access has become more difficult since that visit.
Cheers,
Ed
The Shepton went there in the 90s, and there is a very good write up in the SMCC Journal. I can probably get you a copy of this article if you want. I did not go, but the trip was reportedly most excellent. The only downside is that I believe that access has become more difficult since that visit.
Cheers,
Ed
jarvist
New member
We were there in Easter 2007.
http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/sardinia/sardinia07.php
We wrote a 2 page supplement to the aforementioned (and INVALUABLE!) SMCC guide:
http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/sardinia/sardinia07_hardfacts.pdf
And took some pretty photos:
http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/photo_archive/tours/2007%20-%20sardinia/
Access was fine, as long as you didn't mind squeezing past the gate to Su Palu. There was a hut right next to Su Bentu that might be better to stay at than the Villas (which all seemed a bit away from the caving areas).
We re-bolted the little pitch in Su Palu - still wasn't ideal, would definitely take a bolting kit with you.
Caves were very warm and pleasent, but take Daren drums to keep your lunch dry
The two caves Su Palu & Su Bentu are a good 1.5hrs drive from each other, but both offer extensive trips. There were some dodgy tins of suspicious meat & a volleyball at the Italian diving camp in Su Palu
Jarvist
Imperial College Caving Club
http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/sardinia/sardinia07.php
We wrote a 2 page supplement to the aforementioned (and INVALUABLE!) SMCC guide:
http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/sardinia/sardinia07_hardfacts.pdf
And took some pretty photos:
http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/photo_archive/tours/2007%20-%20sardinia/
Access was fine, as long as you didn't mind squeezing past the gate to Su Palu. There was a hut right next to Su Bentu that might be better to stay at than the Villas (which all seemed a bit away from the caving areas).
We re-bolted the little pitch in Su Palu - still wasn't ideal, would definitely take a bolting kit with you.
Caves were very warm and pleasent, but take Daren drums to keep your lunch dry
The two caves Su Palu & Su Bentu are a good 1.5hrs drive from each other, but both offer extensive trips. There were some dodgy tins of suspicious meat & a volleyball at the Italian diving camp in Su Palu
Jarvist
Imperial College Caving Club
