Cave Hunting

Al-Hasa is the largest oasis in Saudi Arabia and the must visit place in there is caves of Qara mountains (Jabal e Qara in Arabic). These mountains are made of sediments and are located near Hofuf city.

Since this place was just 150 km away from Al-Khobar city. I made a plan of one day trip with my family to explore the alleys of Qara mountains. We left 8 o’clock in the morning and within couple of hours, we were at the entrance of caves. I was thinking that the place would be deserted but I was surprised to see a number of visitors were already there.

Qara mountains cave entrance.

It was a bright sunny day and temperature was escalating before noon. However as were approaching towards the cave, we were feeling slight decrease in temperature. Once we entered the alley, there was noticeable difference between outside and inside temperature. It was pretty cold inside.

Sky can be seen at the entrance through the cave walls.

Peeping through cave alleys.

It was getting darker and darker as we were moving in. However there were some colorful lights mounted at different elevations, probably by the local administration, which were enhancing the beauty of the place.

Cool lighting effects?

Peeping through the cave walls. 

Although sun was shinning at its full outside the caves yet there were many areas inside which were in complete darkness. Lamps were not installed at these places and a torch was required to move along. We didn’t have a torch but we managed to continue walking using mobile phone’s flash.

Some areas were in complete darkness. Torch was required to roam the space.

Light coming down through a hole.

Due to darkness, I was unable to focus my camera. I simply clicked in the darkness and the result was below pic.

After spending one and half hour, we decided to leave the caves and explore Hofuf city.

Leaving Qara caves.

As soon as we stepped outside, warm gusts were awaiting us. We wished to go back to the pleasant atmosphere of caves till afternoon. But we were short of time. So we had to abandon our desire and kept walking towards our vehicles.

Front view while exiting caves.

Looking up.

When we reached our parking, we saw two locals who were selling some artifacts. We didn’t purchase anything though.

Locals selling some handicrafts outside Qara caves.

Finally, we left the area to explore the rest of the city. I will blog about that some other time. However Qara caves expedition was definitely the most engaging than other activities.

Location of Qara Caves, Al Hasa

Coordinates for Qara cave car park:  25.410557, 49.693692

Coordinates of Qara cave entrance:  25.411599, 49.690702

My Route

PS: The starting point of my route is indicative only.