Trip Report – Arbroath Caves

You could be forgiven for thinking that the sea caves at Arbroath are similar to many other sea caves around our coasts -shallow indentations formed by wave action in non-limestone rock – but they couldn’t be more different. You get substantial, long tunnels and cross-tunnels, chambers, and limestone-like calcite formations. Plus you get the fun of clambering around a fascinating coastline and swimming into the caves from the sea.

We explored Barricaded Cave, Stalactite Cave, Yellow Rock Cave, Mermaid’s Kirk Cave, Dickmont’s Den Cave (aka Smuggler’s Cave), Deil’s Dungeon and the three-storey house cave. Tam got right to the very end of Barricaded Cave (good effort!) and even surveyed it with LIDAR, since it’s not often visited. Iain explained the geology of the area and pointed out various examples of rock types; he’s a real mine (errr, cave) of information!

Can’t wait to return!

–Andrew