The Cathedral Caves in the Catlins are situated in a gated access area and are a steep scenic bush walk down to this remote beach. The Cathedral Caves in the Catlins are one of the biggest draw cards of the Catlins and have to be considered a “must see”!

The Cathedral Caves in the Catlins are a short 600 meters from The Catlins Eco Tourism Park The Cathedral Caves in the Catlins - access is only available two hours either side of low tide. A flashlight is essential to visit these caves, as they interconnect in total darkness almost 100 meters inside the main entrance. They consist of five caves along the Waipati Beach, with some as high as 20 meters. Wave-carved from the soft sandstone compressed between the harder sedimentary rock of this spectacular syncline formation, they are truly impressive when observed at low tide from Waipati Beach. The shy native blue penguins and rare but curious blinking large-eyed fur seals are often seen in the total darkness far back in the recesses of these caves.