Skip to content
cavernyas
EN
The ground above Cave of Niño (Sentinel-2)

Spain Spain Cave World Heritage

Cave of Niño

15 °C inside, all year.

Underground river

See the descentHow to visit

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data), CC BY 4.0, with relief shading from Copernicus WorldDEM-30

The descent

The entrance, at 741 m.

The real relief above Cave of Niño, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.

depth not publishedEntrance1,198 m1.0 kmvertical × 4.7depth not publishedEntrance1,198 m1.0 kmvertical × 10.1

The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.

741m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

15°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

443m

Rock above

the highest point within 1.5 km

Inside and outside

15 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 15 °C here, in January and in August. In July the afternoon reaches 35 °C at the entrance, 20 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from June to September.

outside, at the entrance (741 m)inside
  1. 11°0°Jan
  2. 13°1°Feb
  3. 16°3°Mar
  4. 20°6°Apr
  5. 25°10°May
  6. 31°15°Jun
  7. 35°18°Jul
  8. 34°18°Aug
  9. 28°14°Sep
  10. 22°10°Oct
  11. 15°4°Nov
  12. 12°1°Dec
Inside: 15 °C all yearEscape the heat: Jun–Sep

Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.

Cave in Spain

Cave of Niño is a cave in Spain. The entrance is at 741 m. It has an underground river. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

  • Wild cave: only with caving equipmentNo paths or lights inside. Go only with a caving club or a qualified guide.
  • Aynanearest town · 6.3 km in a straight line
  • Region of Murcia International Airport (RMU)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 122 km in a straight lineCar hire at RMU airport (Corvera)Discover Cars · sponsored link

Plan the visit

Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The water

The Río Mundo runs highest from March to April and from November to December.

The Río Mundo carries about 1.3 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to April and from November to December. It is lowest from July to August.

  1. 2.8 m³/sJan
  2. 2.3 m³/sFeb
  3. 3.9 m³/sMar
  4. 4.3 m³/sApr
  5. 2.8 m³/sMay
  6. 1.2 m³/sJun
  7. 0.3 m³/sJul
  8. 0.2 m³/sAug
  9. 1.5 m³/sSep
  10. 2.5 m³/sOct
  11. 4.0 m³/sNov
  12. 3.6 m³/sDec

From about 0.20 m³/s in the lowest month to 4.3 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 455 km².

Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.

From above.

The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.

The ground above Cave of Niño (Sentinel-2) N 1.5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the entrance.

  • 1other cave entrances within 3 kmCueva del Niño
  • 2marked hiking routes within 3 kmSendero del Mundo, Royo Odrea por los Luisos, la Rambla de el Griego, y la Fuente de la Parra
  • 1car parks within 2 km
  • 1campsites within 8 km
  • 3hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHotel Felipe II, Miralmundo
  • springs within 2 km
  • sinkholes within 3 km
  • caving clubs and spots within 15 km
  • viewpoints within 3 km
  • climbing crags within 3 km
  • named waterfalls within 4 km
  • information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • bus stops within 2 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

  • Ayna6.3 km in a straight line
  • Bogarra6.6 km in a straight line
  • Molinicos11 km in a straight line
  • Elche de la Sierra14 km in a straight line
  • Paterna del Madera18 km in a straight line
  • Liétor18 km in a straight line
  • Alcadozo19 km in a straight line
  • Letur20 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Cave of Niño.

The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.

Peakyas3 mountains within 10 km
Sierra de Bogarra · 4.1 kmSierra Seca · 6.3 kmLas Crucetas · 9.8 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather outside, at the entrance.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon111316202531353428221512
Afternoon111316202531353428221512
Night013610151818141041
Rain (mm)24193838271651434323729
Rainy days445663125665
Sun hours/day5.96.67.58.710.312.112.611.08.77.25.95.5
Snow on the ground (cm)221000000002
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan11110245.9
Feb13131196.6
Mar16163387.5
Apr20206388.7
May2525102710.3
Jun3131151612.1
Jul353518512.6
Aug3434181411.0
Sep282814348.7
Oct222210327.2
Nov15154375.9
Dec12121295.5

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (741 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020230%5%271%110%132%36%248%82%40%66%140%54%
2021251%62%84%151%132%231%24%226%90%129%99%40%
202226%25%254%176%81%27%112%123%151%52%54%220%
202314%38%10%9%322%149%12%2%167%64%8%24%
2024108%126%141%17%24%364%18%32%167%178%33%13%
2025231%44%370%76%136%38%130%75%51%134%65%201%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Caves nearby.

Cave of Niño

Spain

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 741 mEntrance altitude
  • 15 °CInside, all year

Cueva de Montesinos

Spain · 72 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 922 mEntrance altitude
  • 13 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Cueva de la Vieja

Spain · 94 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 1,018 mEntrance altitude
  • 13 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Tortosilla rockshelters

Spain · 97 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 1,034 mEntrance altitude
  • 12 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q5054954) · CC0
The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
River flow and basinHydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit
cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.You are here
dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Coming soonVisit
forestsForestyaEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit