A Visit to the Al Heet cave in Al-Kharj, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is a country with a very small number of wild caves. The caves here have great investigation potential with supreme attractiveness that provides interest to a cave explorer. Al Heet cave is also known as Ain Heet where Ain means eye.

When you go inside the cave, the entrance is very close to the shape of an eye. It has a natural beauty with underground water in its center chambers. Al Heet is a town which faces Mount Al Jubayl in Wadi as Sulay on the border of Riyadh. It is one of the easily reachable caves in the area of Riyadh located between Al Kharj road and the city of Riyadh.[irp]

There is an old pump house near the cave which could be a landmark for identification of the cave. The exit to ‘Heet’ is about 40km from Riyadh City Center (in the Al Kharj main road) going towards Al Kharj. About 5km from Heet exit, there is off-road on the east which takes to the entrance of the cave.

The entrance of Ain Heet cave is about 20 meters broad and it narrows down to about 5 meters. As you go close to it, the entrance of the cave gets bigger and bigger. Like other caves, Ain Heet cave is also shaped in the limestone by dissolving the anhydride minerals inside. Most part of the entrance seems delicate and newly downed limestone pieces were found at the entrance.

Big and sharp rocks are hard to climb as most of the rocks have moved when anyone stepped on them because they are not fixed to the ground.  After a downward path, when the glow of sunlight ends, there is a narrow hole which takes you to one of the chambers of the cave which has a wide room with deep underground water.

A natural pool filled with crystal clear water welcomes you. The clearness of water is amazing. The water is deep. You cannot see its bottom but the area near the rocks are convenient. This is something new in Riyadh! And definitely something attractive and amusing!

The water level is more than 30 meters in depth and horizontally 150 meters in length. The water in the lake is not always present. So whenever you plan your trip to Al Heet cave first check there is water present inside.

It gets full around 9 o’clock in the morning, so it is better to visit early in the morning so you can get space in the pool area for swimming. Wear rubber shoes and do not hold anything while caving the cave because it is dangerous.

If anyone wants to experience cave diving or desert diving, this is the right place for such an exciting activity. But be careful, the complexity of a cave requires proper equipment and proper training for caving and diving.

Caving in Saudi Arabia is not promoted much while this is an exciting activity with full of adventures and surprises. Rare minerals, rocks, and stones in Saudi caves are precious and needs to be sealed.