Scribble World Travel Blog

Sea Lion Cave

Sea Lion Cave located eleven miles North of Florence is one of the world’s largest sea caves-if not the largest. (Rico Rico Cave in New Zealand is another contender for the title of the “world’s largest sea cave,” though words like “longest” versus “most volume” suggest there still remains some degree of ambiguity.) If Sea Lion Caves is 1,315 feet, as they claim, that makes it the longest sea cave in the world. The dark basalt cave, which bagan forming 25 million years ago, is now the approximate length of a football field with the height of a 12 story building. Suffice it to say, Sea lion Caves is impressive.

We took the elevator down to the sea cave to watch the raucous sea lions as they fought for prime positions along jagged rocks, while the little guys were inadvertantly plunged into the watery depths below. Though fascinating to watch, I wouldn’t want to live there as the sea lions smell just like their diet-fishy-and not the fresh kind, but an old rotten smell like fish guts in a garbage can.

The cave was jam packed full of sea lions, and to see even more we walked along the outdoor paths and saw twice as many sunbathing on the nearby rocky ledges.

Following the lovely flower-lined walking paths and lookout views greatly enhances the experience. The employees said they saw a whale hanging around off shore, though it’s appearance was sporadic.

Admission for adults into the Sea Lion Cave is currently $11 per adult and is located at 91560 Hwy. 101 North, Florence, OR 97439.
With GPS Coordinates: 124 degrees 8 minutes W Longitude
44 degrees 7 minutes N Latitude