South Australia · Attraction
Engelbrecht Cave
Underground lakes beneath the city
schedule 1 min read / Updated Jun 2026
Engelbrecht Cave is a remarkable limestone cave system sitting directly beneath the streets of Mount Gambier. Its dry eastern and western passages open into subterranean lakes whose waters connect to the broader Blue Lake aquifer. Guided tours take visitors down 164 steps into passages lined with 35-to-45-million-year-old Gambier Limestone studded with fossilised sea creatures.
The cave was first described in writing in 1865 and takes its name from Carl Engelbrecht, a German immigrant who operated a distillery nearby in the 1880s. In December 2019, divers began exploring a newly discovered cave network branching from the eastern passage, now believed to be the second largest cave system on the Limestone Coast.
Tours run regularly throughout the day and last around 30 minutes, covering the geology of the cave, the history of its discovery, and the cave-diving community that has used the flooded passages since the 1960s. The site is managed by the City of Mount Gambier.
Pre-booking is strongly recommended, particularly in school holiday periods. The cave is also a working dive site for advanced cave divers with appropriate certification, adding a living dimension to the underground experience.
Scenic views
Lookouts near Engelbrecht Cave.
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