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Many beautiful islands and coastlines around the world have more to offer than just beaches and sunshine. Many are dotted with amazing sea caves that have been worn away by the waves, leaving behind natural wonders. These caves sit on the edge of the sea and some even go underground, requiring safety or diving gear to explore. Thankfully, you can experience them from the comfort of your own home via these beautiful photos of stunning sea caves from around the world.
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Located on the gorgeous island of Capri, Grotta Azzurra, or Blue Cave, has intense blue waters that almost look like they’re glowing.
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New Zealand’s Coromandel Peninsula has one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, and Cathedral Cove is a photogenic sea cave that can be found by walking from Hahei Beach.
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A romantic spot with plenty of adventure, Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands are home to sea caves that turn into otherworldly ice caves in the winter.
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The Marble Caves, or Capillas de Mármol, are located in Chilean Patagonia. The black and white caves are one of the world’s strangest natural wonders, especially with their striking contrast to the clear blue waters.
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Not far from the colorful beach of Porto Ferro in Italy, Neptune’s Grotto, or Grotto di Nettuno as it’s locally called, is a large cave with impressive stalagmites and stalactites as well as giant columns.
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The Turkish Riviera is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, but you can find lovely sea caves here as well. Fosforlu Cave, or Phosphoric Cave, is named after the blue phosphoric color that can be found in its interior.
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The Great Blue Hole, located about 40 miles off the coast of Belize, is a giant sinkhole that’s one of the most mysterious places in the world. A renowned diving destination, it runs more than 400 feet deep and is over 1,000 feet wide.
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Fingal’s Cave in Scotland is a natural wonder everyone should see. It’s made of hexagon-shaped basalt rock columns and has an arched roof that creates amazing acoustics for echoing the sound of the ocean waves.
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Cyprus used to be a more popular destination, but it remains as enchanting as ever, thanks to its beaches, Mediterranean climate and natural scenery. The sea caves located on the coast of Ayia Napa are particularly lovely, with brown and white rock hovering above astonishingly clear water.
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Animal Flower Cave is located on the tropical island of Barbados and gets its name from the sea anemones found in the pools of the cave, some of which you can even swim in.
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Located in the Algarve region of Portugal, Benagil Sea Cave has a natural sunroof of sorts that bathes the cave in sunlight, revealing the different colors of striation in the rock.
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Santa Cruz Island is situated off the coast of Southern California, and it’s here that you can find Painted Cave, the longest sea cave in North America. Stretching a quarter of a mile, the cave also has a picturesque waterfall at its mouth during the rainy season.
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Australia’s Kangaroo Island is known for its natural beauty, and within Flinders Chase National Park lies Admirals Arch. A boardwalk on nearby cliffs leads to the natural rock arch, and seals are often found playing in the rock pools beneath it.
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Tulum is known for being a celebrity vacation hotspot that’s actually affordable. It’s also one of Mexico’s prime destinations for cenotes, or natural freshwater wells that contain caves or caverns. A little more than 50 miles long, Cenote Dos Ojos is connected to Sac Actun, and the two underwater caves form the largest underwater cave system in the world.
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The Blue Caves on the Greek island of Zakynthos have clear blue waters to dive into and bright, beautiful corals in their seabed.
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There are many cliffside caves in the beautiful country of Scotland, and Smoo Caves is set in a limestone cliff with a 50-foot-high entrance.
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The Waitomo Glowworm Caves in New Zealand is one of the most mesmerizing places on Earth. Thousands of glowworms make the interior of the caves along an underground river look like the night sky illuminated with stars.
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More of a river cave than a sea cave, Río Secreto is a hidden gem in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, with astonishingly clear pools of water and impressive rock formations.
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Iceland was one of the trendiest travel destinations of the past decade, in large part because of its unique landscapes and wildlife. On Reynisfjöru Beach near the small town of Vík lies Hálsanefshellir Cave, set in the rugged cliffs of the black sand beach.
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A great spot for animal lovers, Oregon’s Sea Lion Caves is the largest sea cave in the United States. Technically a privately owned wildlife preserve, the caves are a year-round home to Steller sea lions.
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Formed as the result of volcanic eruptions in the 17th century on the Canary Islands, Los Hervideros are a group of caves and holes that get their name — “hervir” means “to boil” in Spanish — from the way the ocean bubbles up around the rocks and shoots through its holes.
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Hawaii is the perfect island oasis that Americans don’t even need a passport for, and among its many natural wonders are the sea caves of the Na Pali Coast in the northern part of Kauai.
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La Jolla, California, is one of America’s most underrated beach towns. The sea caves at La Jolla Cave Beach are only accessible by foot at low tide, but year-round they’re a great photo-op.
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Phong Nha, Vietnam, is home to the largest cave in the world, Son Doong, as well as Phong Nha Cave. The latter is more of a river cave than a sea cave, and it’s only accessible by boat. Both caves are part of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, which is home to hiking trails, kayak-friendly rivers and some of the absolute coolest caves in the world.
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