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"Vida Oculta en las Cavernas del Repechón - Parque Nacional Carrasco Bolivia "

Bolivia Bolivia Cave

Cavernas de Repechón

26 °C inside, all year.

Underground riverCave system

See the descentHow to visit

NathDragon · CC BY-SA 4.0

The descent

The entrance, at 446 m.

The real relief above Cavernas de Repechón, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.

depth not publishedEntrance824 m1.0 kmvertical × 5.4depth not publishedEntrance824 m1.0 kmvertical × 11.8

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.

446m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

26°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

281m

Rock above

the highest point within 1.5 km

Inside and outside

26 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 26 °C here, in January and in August. In October the afternoon reaches 33 °C at the entrance, 7 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are all year round. The wettest months are from December to February: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.

outside, at the entrance (446 m)inside
  1. 30°23°Jan
  2. 30°23°Feb
  3. 30°23°Mar
  4. 30°22°Apr
  5. 29°20°May
  6. 29°19°Jun
  7. 29°19°Jul
  8. 31°20°Aug
  9. 33°22°Sep
  10. 33°23°Oct
  11. 33°24°Nov
  12. 32°24°Dec
Inside: 26 °C all yearEscape the heat: Jan–DecWettest: Dec–Feb

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 system in Chapare Province, Bolivia

Cavernas de Repechón is a cave in Bolivia. The entrance is at 446 m. It has an underground river and several entrances and long galleries.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

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 Rio San Mateo runs highest from January to February.

The Rio San Mateo carries about 11 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from January to February. It is lowest from May to November.

  1. 25 m³/sJan
  2. 28 m³/sFeb
  3. 19 m³/sMar
  4. 8.9 m³/sApr
  5. 3.6 m³/sMay
  6. 6.6 m³/sJun
  7. 4.0 m³/sJul
  8. 2.4 m³/sAug
  9. 1.8 m³/sSep
  10. 3.6 m³/sOct
  11. 6.7 m³/sNov
  12. 17 m³/sDec

From about 1.8 m³/s in the lowest month to 28 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 351 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 Cavernas de Repechón (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.

  • 4other cave entrances within 3 kmCaverna de los Murcielagos, Cueva Murcielagos, Caverna de los Vampiros and 1 more
  • 5hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmMapajo Tropical, Hotel Candiré, RESIDENCIAL GUEVARA and 2 more
  • springs within 2 km
  • sinkholes within 3 km
  • caving clubs and spots within 15 km
  • viewpoints within 3 km
  • marked hiking routes within 3 km
  • climbing crags within 3 km
  • named waterfalls within 4 km
  • car parks within 2 km
  • information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • bus stops within 2 km
  • campsites within 8 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).

Month by month

The weather outside, at the entrance.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon303030302929293133333332
Afternoon303030302929293133333332
Night232323222019192022232424
Rain (mm)1221186728135179123654106
Rainy days19181563212481117
Sun hours/day4.94.24.85.34.64.65.26.05.75.45.54.5
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan3030231224.9
Feb3030231184.2
Mar303023674.8
Apr303022285.3
May292920134.6
Jun292919514.6
Jul29291975.2
Aug31312096.0
Sep333322125.7
Oct333323365.4
Nov333324545.5
Dec3232241064.5

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (446 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
202076%99%106%86%73%1,756%70%166%150%211%73%134%
202193%62%82%103%22%14%39%124%78%53%199%207%
202277%89%150%52%44%5%227%76%75%41%23%58%
202348%71%109%60%205%12%35%59%60%27%65%58%
202486%127%164%82%58%73%27%31%98%104%92%71%
2025218%76%389%202%166%193%0%56%120%133%91%141%

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

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q28771084) · 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

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