Margaret River Caves with Kids: Which Are Worth It?

Forty years on Blythe Rd and I've sent more families to Ngilgi than I can count. Most of them come back happy. Some of them come back saying they wished they'd known a few things first. This is the post for the second group.

Photo: SeanMack, CC BY 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

There are four caves down here that are open to the public: Ngilgi, Mammoth, Lake, and Jewel. They are not interchangeable. One of them is genuinely good with small kids. One is fine with older ones. One will test a five-year-old, and one will properly test a ten-year-old. Picking the right one is the whole game.

Ngilgi is signposted off Caves Rd just past Yallingup. The others are further south, down past the Margaret River town turnoff.

Got a four-year-old and a seven-year-old and only time for one? Do Ngilgi. Got a six-year-old who's been to a cave before and isn't fussed by stairs? Mammoth. Tweens or teenagers who'll appreciate a guided tour and don't mind sitting still for an hour? Lake. After the most spectacular cave and the kids are eight or up? Jewel.

Now the longer version.

Photo: Lasthib, CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Ngilgi is the cave I send families to first, and the one I send them to if they're only doing one.

It's run by the Capes Foundation, and the Ngilgi Cave family tickets come in at a fair price for what you get. It's self-guided through the Ancient Lands experience, which means you go at your own pace. If a kid is tired or wants to stop and look at something for ten minutes, no one is hurrying you along.

It's classed as family-friendly for children four and up. Under-fours go free. The cave has interactive installations along the path. Kids actually press buttons and watch things happen, which sounds like a small thing but is the difference between a six-year-old enjoying the cave and a six-year-old asking how long this is going to take.

The descent is on solid steps with handrails. There's no point where a parent is going to be carrying a small kid up something steep. You'll be down there about ninety minutes if you take the audio guide seriously, less if you don't.

The one warning: it's still a cave. It's dark in parts, the audio gets a bit dramatic, and very small kids who aren't into the dark will need an adult holding their hand the whole way. Mine was three the first time we took her in. She managed it. She didn't love it. She loved it the second time.

Got a half-day to fill around the cave? how I would build a half-day around Ngilgi.

Mammoth is south, past the Margaret River town turnoff, on Caves Rd. The Mammoth Cave self-guided tickets get you an audio guide and the run of the cave at your own pace.

What makes Mammoth good for families is the access. The first chamber is wheelchair- and stroller-friendly. With a baby in a front carrier or a small kid who tires easily, this matters. There's no claustrophobic squeeze, no tight passages. It's a big, open cave with a boardwalk through it, and you can turn around at any point if it isn't working.

The audio guide is in five languages, which is useful if you've got visiting grandparents or international friends along.

The drawback is that it's not as visually wild as the others. The decorations (the stalactites and curtains and so on) are less concentrated than at Lake or Jewel. For a six-year-old, that doesn't matter; the cave itself is the event. For a teenager who's seen caves before, it can feel a bit subdued.

Photo: Lasthib, CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Lake Cave is the most visually striking of the southern caves and, for my money, the best of them if your kids are old enough.

The catch: 325 steps down, 300-and-something back up. You can take them at your own pace and there are landings to rest on, but for a four-year-old who's already done a beach walk that morning, this is not the cave. A six- or seven-year-old who's solid on stairs will manage it, but you'll be carrying somebody's water bottle and listening to a fair bit of complaining on the way up.

It's also fully guided: one-hour tours, limited numbers, must book ahead. Your guide turns off all the lights for a minute partway through so you can hear the cave properly. Some kids find that magical. Some find it terrifying. You know your kid.

Backpack child carriers aren't allowed (front baby carriers are fine). If your toddler is at the in-between age where they don't want to walk but won't go in a front carrier, skip Lake and do Mammoth instead.

The cave itself is genuinely wild. A suspended platform looks out over a perfectly still lake reflecting the karri-stained ceiling. It's the cave I send people to if they've already done Ngilgi and want to see something more dramatic. the cave-by-cave comparison

Jewel is the deepest of the four and the most spectacular by some way. The straws, the long thin formations hanging from the roof, go on for metres. It's the kind of cave that makes adults stop talking.

For families, it's the most demanding. The tour runs about an hour and goes deep. Stairs, narrow passages, low ceilings in parts. The Capes Foundation lists it as suitable for kids, and I've seen eight-year-olds do it happily. I wouldn't take a five-year-old. They'll be bored or tired before the good bit.

With teenagers and one cave to do properly, this is the one.

For what it's worth, when ours were small, we did Ngilgi about once a year. It became one of the few things they'd ask to do again. When they got older, we did Lake. They still remember the lights going off.

We didn't do all four in a week. We didn't try. Two caves in a trip is plenty for any kid. Three is too many. Four is a punishment.

After Ngilgi, most families head back toward Dunsborough for lunch. The gallery is on Blythe Rd, about ten minutes from Ngilgi — kids who've just been underground tend to like watching me work through the viewing window for ten minutes. Pamela has water, the kids can wander, and you can sit on the deck for a moment before the next thing. No expectation to buy anything. Just a pleasant stop on the way back. Yallingup with kids

You don't have to do them all. Pick the one that suits the kid you actually have, not the kid you wish you had. They'll remember one good cave longer than they'll remember three bad ones.

And if it's their first time underground, Ngilgi. That's the whole answer.