Adventure day: Repelling down the moaning caverns

Activity: Repelling down the Moaning Caverns

Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Website: Moaning Caverns

Description: The moaning caverns are located about 2.5 hours from San Francisco. It is an adventure park from limestone caves where you can go on a cave tour, repel down the cave, or go on an all day tour including crawling in the caves with a guide. 

They do not allow reservations in advance unless you have a large group so make sure to arrive on time. Fortunately when I got there I did not have to wait. I paid, watched a short video, then I was instructed to put on the harness and ropes. The guide was there to set me up and answer any last minute questions. I was surprised that you do not go with a guide, instead you can go with a group or alone. The repel could take 15-40 minutes depending on how comfortable you feel going down. As I was going down the cave a group from the walking tour was able to see my shuffle down. At the bottom there is someone to help you with the harness and then you take a long flight of stairs back to the top. The only photos allowed for safety reasons are from a go pro strap to the helmet so make sure to bring any equipment that you may have.

The repel was a little frightening, but it was worth the spectacular view!