Csodabogyós Cave, Balatonederics — Attraction in Tapolcai járás

We had been looking forward to this little adventure, prebooked ahead of our Balaton stay. The website and confirmation email provided some information as to what to bring and what to expect. Stressing how cold it would be down there, however we later found out this was just to soak up all of your sweat while on the tour. However, our experience on the day was anything but a happy one. The tour guide spoke at length about many things such as his many adventures and political thoughts ahead of providing us with our equipment but no information about what to expect on the tour and didn't ask any questions about any needs or level of experience anybody had, which in my mind was a huge miss. We then started on a very strenuous up hill walk on uneven ground for about 40 minutes. While it was a hot June day we did not expect quite so many mosquitos. Even with many spraying on route there were often so many on you that the focus was not on walking but trying to not be eaten. Once we got to the top, very hot and covered in bites we quickly got into out suits and we were waiting for instruction. Our guide again failed to give any instructions ahead asking for us to enter into the cave which quickly became very tight. After one of our party became concerned to the size of the cave spaces and asked the second guide if there would be any more spaces this size or smaller the guide said no but quickly someone else in the group who had done a tour before said that there would be many more of similar size and smaller. For some in our party this was the last straw with one starting to feel claustrophobic and loosing all confidence in our tour guide to provide us with correct information or any information at all that would keep us safe, we decided to turn back with the main tour guide being very rude and unsupportive about this decision and we weren't even asking for a refund. We then made our way back down the the huge hill bitten all the way again with one of our group getting over 60 bites all over them besides using spray regularly and trying to keep on top off swatting them as we made our way down. Looking at the website I think that a lot of information people should have about what the tour is really about is missing. However, looking at some of the Google reviews again, perhaps we should have been more cautious...

This was a fantastic experience, my teenaged kids and myself enjoyed this so much! We did the basic (standard) tour. I learned a lot about caves, about geology and about people whose profession and passion are the discovery of caves. Our tour guide was very experienced, knowledgeable and highly professional. It was such a unique experience to be climbing (and at times, crawling) in the crevices between huge rock boulders and on ladders mounted to steep walls in the inside of the hundreds of millions years old mountain. It was awe inspiring to look at the various untouched rock formations down deep: stalactites, stalagmites and others. It was also interesting to see the signs of life on the underground rocks closer to the surface: very deep tree roots breaking through layers of soil and rocks into the cave ceiling, a few insects, spiders. There are also bat colonies that reside in some portions of the cave for part of the year according to the guides although we did not see those due to the season. The equipment that was provided for us - the properly sized sturdy caving suits and helmets with headlights - made the experience much more enjoyable. The hike uphill to the cave from the base required a good bit of energy but the trail was following a nice forest path with many wildflowers, shrubs and trees along the way. We also saw "szúrós csodabogyó" - Ruscus aculeatus - the shrub after which the cave was named. I would highly recommend this tour for anyone who is adventurous, physically fit, has no mobility limitations and no claustrophobia. Advance registration is required for the tours but I found it very easy to register and...

A tour to remember! I've seen a lot of caves but this one is something special. Not so for the carst carbon formations which are not so spectacular nor big, but for the exploring the cave! It is quite a challenging and it is recommended that you have some experience if you are doing the longer tour, more demanding. You get a protection dress and helmet plus head light which is essential as there is no light in the cave. Some passages are really narrow and you have to look and listen to the guide how to get through. There are also ladders and ropes to climb safer. I would recommand gloves as some parts are muddy and wet. We had both guides and they were very atentive and informative. Go for the tour if you want to experience what are doing the cave...