Echo Caves — Hotel in Greater Tubatse Local Municipality

I battled to find a review comparing the two caves before our trip, so here is a review of Echo Caves vs Sudwala caves.

Our family recently enjoyed a trip to both the Echo caves and then the Sudwala caves. My opinion is that both are worth a visit. I am, however, glad that we visited Echo caves first.

There are quite a few steps leading up to the entrance of the cave, but not too bad if you take your time. The entrance fee was a little cheaper than Sudwala and the caves themselves are very dusty and dark. We were all covered in a layer of brown earth when we left. The kids really enjoyed the visit. I was worried about managing tight spaces, but found the caves to be easy going, only a few low areas, no narrow areas. The 90 or so steps at the end were a bit of a climb, but we all managed, even the elderly lady in our group. I have noticed a few comments about the tour guides passing a tip book around at the end with inflated figures, and this was our experience as well. I didn’t write in the book, but did tip the guide an amount I thought reasonable.

I have heard people say the Sudwala caves are more ‘commercial’, however, I found them to be very impressive. The caves are sprayed down to minimise dust and had a lovely damp smell. I found them to be much larger than Echo caves, I was amazed by the scale and grandeur. The lighting was done beautifully, and the tour guide was both knowledgable and considerate, shining his torch to help guide our path and answering any questions we had. Once again no tight spaces, only a couple low areas.. but nothing hectic. The guides also expect a tip - with a subtle tip box at the end of the tour, but our guy was so knowledgeable and helpful, that everyone gave gladly.

In summary both are well worth visiting, but I would defiantly recommend visiting Echo caves first, then ‘upscaling’ to Sudwala.

If you have younger kids with you (6 and under), then they would really enjoy a visit to the Dinosaur Park (next-door to the caves), and there is also a Butterfly garden with free entrance. We also had a lovely lunch at...

Our family stayed at Echo Caves from December 25th to 27th, 2024, and the experience was distressing due to disrespectful and discriminatory treatment by the staff. We had reserved a standard room and a dormitory for our family, which included three teenagers and a toddler. Upon arrival, a young lady directed us to reception and then back to her, explaining that the dormitory required our children to share a kitchen with other guests. We accepted this arrangement, provided they didn’t have to share a bedroom, and she eventually offered us a vacant family unit, which we agreed to use.

The following day, after exploring the nearby attractions, we returned to find two Afrikaner women and a young man accusing us of taking the wrong accommodation. Despite our explanation that the family unit had been offered to us, one staff member became aggressive, pointed at me, and told me to be quiet. She referred to us as "these things" and made a disparaging comment about my 2-year-old, saying, "I don’t care about this little thing." She demanded that we pack our belongings and leave immediately.

While we were willing to leave to avoid further confrontation, she accused us of "robbing" the young lady who helped us and demanded R1040. We refused, explaining that the family unit had been given to us in good faith. After further argument, she allowed us to stay but made a degrading comment, saying that we should "stick to what we can afford" in the future.

This experience was upsetting and unacceptable. The behavior displayed by the staff lacked professionalism, courtesy, and respect, and it was a stark reminder of ongoing social injustices. I urge Echo Caves management to investigate this matter and take steps to ensure future guests are treated with dignity...

Good:

1. Really scenic inside the caves.
2. Tour guide is very informed about history of the region and has a good sense of humour to keep the walk through the caves interesting.

Bad:

1. Some people pay for the tour but get no receipt. Other people don't pay anything at all but join the group from the parking area. As a result what should be a comfortable tour of maybe 20 pax who paid, ends up being a crowded tour of about 50 who probably paid a small bribe "back door". Sadly this lack of control means that tour money/ conservation funds is probably being pocketed by staff. Property officials need to get this piggy backing controlled otherwise this site will lose appeal to tourists.
2. Lengthy gravel road to cave site. The province would do good to tar this road as it becomes a problem from tourists who might not have a 4x4 vehicle, especially for the mud getting travellers stuck...