Out of sight in the heart of the eastern Al Hajar Mountains in the Sultanate of Oman, hides one of the world’s greatest and most beautiful natural wonders. The Majlis Al Jinn Cave (Council Chamber of the Spirits) is considered one of the largest underground caves in the world.

The floor area of this enormous cave is 58 thousand square meters (14 acres ) and its volume is 4 million cubic meters (141 million cubic feet). The length of Majlis Al Jinn Cave is 310 meters (1,017 feet) and its width is 225 meters (738 feet) . A dome-shaped ceiling tops the cave at a height of 120 meters (393 feet). Despite the enormity of this cave, it is difficult to detect in a rugged and remote plateau, because the only evidence of its existence is three small openings that seem of no importance to the casual viewer.

Majlis Al Jinn Cave was first discovered while searching for underground water reserves in a karst terrain (weathered limestone). The first man to descend inside the cave was Don Davidson in 1983, through an opening extending to a depth of 120 metres, considered to be the shallowest of the three openings. In 1984, he was followed by his wife, Cheryl Jones, who descended into the Cave through its deepest opening, which goes down 158 metres. Don Davidson once again descended through the third opening in 1985.

Reaching the Cave opening requires strenuous physical effort, since you must traverse rugged mountain terrain to reach the cave opening. This trip takes about five hours. The only way to descend into the cave is by ropes. Geologists put the age of this cave at millions of years.

The size of this cave is the result of unique geologic conditions and could not likely form in areas such as Florida. Why? Because Florida’s limestone is “early diagenic”, meaning it is recently formed and has not had time and pressure to give it the strength of the limestone found in Oman, which is geologically much older material.