I. SPELEOLOGICAL (TECHNICAL) REPORTS

The Bright Future for Archaeological Studies in Saudi Arabia’s Caves by John J. Pint and Mahmoud A. Al-Shanti

HYPOGENE KARSTIFICATION IN SAUDI ARABIA AND JORDAN : Two papers by Stephan Kempe et al on how these caves were formed.

II. TRIP REPORTS:

Murubbeh Cave Frosted feathers, crystal "tostadas," bats, bones and more!

Dahl Surprise All about Lars Bjurstr�m's amazing find and how he found it.

The Whistling Teapot: "As I moved along the low, narrow passage,... the whistling grew stronger until it was a wavering howl..."

The Cave of the Fallen Star Standing on the floor of Arabia's deepest cave, I saw Ron peek over the edge. He looked the size of an ant!

Dahl Abulhol the Sphynx: E-mail and the Web put cavers in contact with an Aramco wildcatter who found an enormous pit in a place where no one would expect to find one.

The Three Dahls - Three Outstanding Caves, a joint adventure with the Saudi Geological Survey.

Voids Beneath the Dunes  - Bruce Davis’ classic 1983 article on Saudi karst and caving, embellished with rare archive photos

Field Trip to Surprise and Friendly Caves.  SGS cavers, teamed with Lars and Greg, find cave termites awaiting them in Dahl Surprise and a survey challenge at Friendly Cave (Nov 1-5, 2000)

Cavers in Training

BACK DOOR TO SURPRISE CAVE     A new entrance leads us to The Dancing Wall

THE CAVES OF HABIKAH:  new caves found in northern Saudi Arabia

A TRIP TO SAUDICAVES by Mahmoud Alshanti (in Arabic)

MUNBATEH CAVE:  Something is breathing beneath the Nafud Desert

DAHL SABSAB SURVEYED: Cavers Reach New Depths in Bat'n Sabsab

THE LAVA TUBES OF HARRAT KISHB: First surveys of lava caves in Arabia

GECKO CAVE:  Ideal cave for Dehydrated Dwarves. Saga of the Doomed Caver

SAUDICAVES IN ICELAND: Chilly Lava Tubes and the 10th International Symposium on Vulcanospeleology

CAVE RESCUE IN LEBANON: Adventures above and below ground with the Speleo Club du Liban

CAVES OF THE LOST CITY: First visit to lava tubes in Harrats Khaybar and Ithnayn plus a town that wouldn't stand still

NARROW ESCAPE! : Helicopter Rescue at Um Qaradi lava-tube cave (Arabic)

THAT'S-A-NICE-NAME CAVE: Speleo sausages, hollow stalagmites and more!

HIBASHI CAVE: The fascinating legend of Hibashi Lava Tube: is it true?

NEW DIVES IN AIN HIT: Six years later, the diving resumes and the cave is mapped.

CAVES OF HABIKAH: Discoveries in northern Saudi Arabia

CAVES OF THE AZORES: Saudi Cave makes world's "top ten" at Azores symposium on vulcanospeleology

QANAT LA VENTA: The Cave That Became a Qanat

THE STAR WELL: Archeological treasures may lie beneath this ancient well.

AIN HITH I: Erik Bjurstr�m tells the story of the first Desert Dives

CAVES OF MA'AQALA: The Discovery of Dahl Sultan 'way back in 1983

BLOW-HOLE DOME: Greg Gregory conquers the howling hole

LAVA TUBES OF JORDAN: Caves found in a lava field overlapping Saudi Arabia and Jordan

JORDAN DISCOVERIES--2005: Mummies, snakes, bones and Arabia's longest mapped lava tube

CAVES OF THE BLACK AND WHITE VOLCANOES:    Arabia's most spectacular volcanoes...and they come with caves!

THE HIBASHI REPORT:     New SGS publication on Saudi Arabia's most famous lava cave

SHIPROCK CAVE:    "Caving in reverse" to the top of a magnificent jebel. By Greg Gregory

XII VULCANOSPELEOLOGY SYMPOSIUM: . Detailed information, abstracts, etc.

LAVA CAVERS GATHER IN TEPOZTLAN, MEXICO: . A report on the XII Symposium by John Pint and Greg Middleton.

CRAWL THE DOUBLE BOBAT: A challenging and exciting  bat cave near Al Kharj, by Jason Fletcher and Ali Alsaiyari.

CAVE TOURISM IN SAUDI ARABIA:  Two studies show great promise for developing Show Caves in the Kingdom. Take a look at which caves are the most attractive!

VULCANOSPELEOLOGY IN SAUDI ARABIA: a new article in Acta Carsologica summarizes the great strides made in the last few years in the exploration and study of Saudi Arabia's volcanic caves. 

GEOCACHING AND CAVES IN SAUDI ARABIA:  Meet Mohammad Al-Fares, author of the first book on geocaching in Arabic. Find out what geocaching is all about and how to hunt for geocaches in the desert caves of Saudi Arabia.

UNDERGROUND IN AL GREYA: An expedition with Friends of the Desert in Al Jowf. We head for the Far North of Saudi Arabia and find mud from the sky, centipedes, goat-and-people rescues as well as two intriguing caves.

UMM JIRSAN SYSTEM: THE LONGEST LAVA TUBE IN ARABIA: Enormous passages, mysterious mounds, snarling wolves, ancient bones--this cave has it all!

AIN HIT THE MOVIE: Restored and digitalized video taken inside Dahl Ain Hit (Hith, Heet), the historically famous Saudi Cave and site for diving in the desert.

DAHL LUQAH: Mahmoud Al-Shanti and The Friends of the Desert explore an ancient cave near an ancient city on the windswept wastes of the far north.

MAJLIS AL JINN: World's largest sunlit underground room (in Oman) will soon be developed into a tourist cave.

AIN HEETH (AIN HIT) REVISITED: An unexpected turn of events. What happened to this cave's previously crystal-clear water?

AIN HIT'S WATER ANALYZED: Greg Gregory visits the cave to take samples. Is Ain Hit polluted by Riyadh's Sewage Lake, only 7 kilometers away?

SEARCHING FOR LAVA CAVES ON JABAL Q'IDR: IN THE SHADOW OF THE BLACK AND WHITE VOLCANOES. "There were cave entrances everywhere."

KAUST STUDENTS EXPLORE HIBASHI CAVE  What did they find there? What kind of research did they carry out?  A Photo Gallery

 HARRAT KHAYBAR RECONNAISSANCE

BOOK REPORTS, CULTURE, WILDLIFE, ETC.

THE FARMER AND THE BATS:  An anecdote told to us by bat expert Merlin Tuttle inspired this cartoon story.

THUCKY THE DHUBB: Everything you ever wanted to know about spiny-tailed lizards, known as dhubbs in Saudi Arabia.

BOOK REVIEW: OUT IN THE BLUE:.Surveys and Sandstorms, A Young Geologist Explores Early Saudi Arabia

BATS OF SAUDI ARABIA: What kind of bats are flitting around this desert country? You might be surprised

INTERVIEW WITH A VOLCANOLOGIST: The Lava Fields of Saudi Arabia and the Formation of the Kishb Lava Tubes

OLD JEDDAH: Tour the narrow, crooked streets of one of the world's oldest cities and marvel at the beautiful (and functional) architecture.

DESERT CAVES OF SAUDI ARABIA: What's inside the new Saudi caves book - and what was left out? All the info you need to get your own copy.

CURIOUS CAVE MINERALS: From arcanite to Maya Blue... how are they connected to Saudi caves

ROSES OF TAIF: Susy Pint reveals the secrets of the marvelous "attar" of the Roses of Taif.

THE EARLY DAYS OF CAVING IN ARABIA: Interview with Will Kochinski: Joy and terror of early caving

SGS REPORTS: Complete list of SGS Speleological Reports

RED SEA DIVING: Incredible pictures of incredible fish by some of Arabia's best undersea photographers

CAVE SCIENCE IN ARABIA: The Potential for Scientific Projects in Saudi Arabia's Caves

INTERVIEW WITH RAMON ESPINASA:    A chat with Mexico's foremost vulcanospeleologist

GONE FISHIN' WITH BIG TONY: Join us on an unforgettable fishing trip in the Red Sea

ROOBOL'S RUB AL KHALI:   Join SGS on a journey to Arabia's greatest desert, the famed Rub Al Khali

JEDDAH'S OUTDOOR ART: Some of the world's finest sculptures are on permanent display--and free--all over the city of Jeddah.

CAVE MAPPING IN SAUDI ARABIA: Maps of Saudi Caves published in new report; A Brief History of Cave Mapping in Saudi Arabia; The Joy and Pain of Surveying Caves in Arabia.

BIRDS IN ARABIAN CAVES: Michael C. Jennings, coordinator of the Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia, introduces us to birds that prefer to live deep beneath the desert.

MAKHULAH: The tender and true tale of Makhulah the Camel, by Quirian Al-Hajri

THE AMAZING SINKHOLES OF LAYLA, SAUDI ARABIA: These sinkholes, with their gypsum tufas, are unique in the world. By Dr. Stephan Kempe.

CAVES, CISTERNS AND THERMS ON THE RED-SEA COAST: Proof of Greek and Ptolemaic-Roman settlements? By Michel Pons

15TH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF SPELEOLOGY & 2009 NSS CONVENTION: 1600 cavers gathered in Kerrville, Texas to talk about White Nose Syndrome, Saudi Arabia as the world's new lava caving frontier, and lots more.

THE GPS: FRIEND OR FOE OF SAUDI CAVES? With a GPS, speleologists can relocate even the smallest cave entrance in the biggest desert...but this device also allows vandals to do the same, resulting in broken stalactites, trash and graffiti in previously virgin caves.

THE 3RD GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON GEOTOURISM. Will Saudi Arabia's Black and White Volcanoes make the grade as the country's first Geopark? John Pint reports from Muscat, Oman.

 UNDERGROUND IN ARABIA by John Pint. Tim Barger reviews this new book about caves, lava tubes, camaraderie, Bedouin, bats, wolves, jinns, sand storms and rollicking adventure beneath the dunes of Saudi Arabia. Available as a paperback or ebook.

JOURNEY TO THUWAL  A Visit to Amazing KAUST University, which, in 2013, included a course on Saudi Caves in its Winter Enrichment Program

INTRODUCING THE GUANOMITE RESEARCH GROUP  Scientists, cavers and researchers have formed a group to study the towers of pigeon droppings often  found in Saudi caves...

Antiquities from Saudi Arabia displayed at Carnegie Museum  Just the tip of the archaeological iceberg? Wait until the archaeologists start digging in Saudi Arabia's caves!

ROCK FORMATIONS OF ABU RAKAH

Denis O'Brien and friends from Yanbu describe two picturesque rocks you simply have to see.

 A MEXICAN WOMAN IN ARABIA

In 184 pages, with 56 color photos, Susy Pint describes her experiences exploring deserts, dunes, caves and much more in Saudi Arabia. This book is written in Spanish.

RESEARCHERS STUDY BONE CACHE IN UMM JIRSAN CAVE

The title says it all

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