Planina Cave — Attraction in Postojna

An absolute highlight!

We (two persons) did the long tour with the boat. First it was a bit hard to get a reply from the guides team but just call them and agree on a time and date. Carlo, our guide, is a bit younger and is slowly but surely improving the booking, too. Maybe insist they write down your phone number...

But once you have arrive at the cave (parking a bit higher then the entrance on the right side, sign) you will meet Carlo, get your suit, helmet and lamp and a bag if you want to bring a camera, some snacks and a bit of water. I recommend this as your adventure in the cave might well take 6h.

You then enter the cave and after a first section of easy walking, already seeing some impressive dripstones you will arrive at your boat. Paddling in the huge cave in the dark on the perfectly calm water, seeing the many human fish and impressive dripstones in the "dwarftland" is truly unique! But is getting even better once you arrive at the "Paradise" - it has it's name for a reason: the natural treasures fill the walls of the entire cave here and you will see the "Jellyfish", the "Octopus", and my personal favorite: the "Bacon"! The best: no fences, no glass, no masses of tourists. Just you in wild underground nature with a guide who will help you get around, make jokes, tell you fun facts and makes you feel safe.

However you have to be prepared for some adventure with a bit of commitment to be 6h in the dark. So bring basic fitness and the right attitude.

Thank you Carlo for showing...

The 6hr excursion into the underground depths of Planina cave was super adventurous. This cave is more of a "workman" type of cave as compared to Krizna, where everything is so pristine and precious. In Planina cave expect to get muddy and dirty and you can get really up close and personal with the beautiful cave formations and the creepy crawlies of the underground. Some of the formations have unusual vibrant colors - from red browns to jet black - all due to different minerals present. You will also see plenty of famous "baby dragons" in their natural habitat - proteus or human fish as it is called. This was the biggest attraction for me. We were also surprised to learn that one of the underground lakes we crossed by boat was 50m deep - wow. Expect to climb over some slippery rocks, which requires great care and some level of fitness. The only minor issue was a limited command of english on the part of the guide, who was super experienced and knowledeable, but sometimes had trouble communicating everything he wanted to say. We still had a great experience of course and the cave speaks for...

We did the 4-5 hour raft tour which was incredible, until we accidentally dropped the raft while carrying it over rocks and it completely flattened in seconds! We had no life jackets and the guide had no patch kit for the raft. My kids and I were stuck waiting for 3 additional hours, 2 miles deep in the cave, while the guide and my husband had to swim, crawl, scramble and climb out over several hours which was no easy feat!! Water was 10 degrees! It was 10 hours before we all finally got out safely. We were very cold, wet and hungry! Thankfully nobody was hurt. I was getting nervous about hypothermia. Honestly I still have a bit of PTSD! The guides were great, and the cave is an amazing spectacle, but safety standards were not followed...I hope life jackets and a proper patch kit are standard protocol...