Thunder From The Waves Crashing Into The Cave
As you approach, you’ll hear the huge crashing sounds from the treacherous Southern Ocean pushing it’s tide with force into Thunder Cave.
Thunder Cave is in the Port Campbell National Park on the Shipwreck Coast, which is the final section of coastline along the Great Ocean Road.
The main thing that brings people to the area are the 12 Apostles, just five kilometers to the east of Thunder Cave. When tourists visit the Apostles, they then head over to the Loch Ard Gorge car park, where they’ll of course find the incredible gorge, but also short walks to Thunder Cave, Broken Head, The Razorback (to get a different view of the Apostles), Mutton Bird Island and Sherbrook River.
How To Find Thunder Cave
Head five kilometres west (away from Melbourne) of the Apostles and turn left into the Loch Ard Gorge car park. As you turn off the Great Ocean Road, you’ll quickly come to T-intersection, turn right here and drive straight ahead.
It’s pretty simple from here, you can either turn left and head to Mutton Bird Island, then walk about half of a kilometre to Thunder Cave, or park as far as you can without turning left and walk straight ahead for around three hundred metres to find Thunder Cave.
It’s hard to get a decent view. Sometimes the bush between the track and the cave is so overgrown that you’ll need to use your ears to locate Thunder Cave, then do your best to get a glimpse.
Erosion Caused Thunder Cave, It Isn't A Sinkhole
Thunder Cave was formed after millions of years of erosion from the Southern Ocean smashing into it.
About 20 million years ago, this entire area was a deep ocean. Sand from the rivers, fish and plant matter and other debris compacted at the bottom of the ocean and formed the Sandstone and Limestone coastline that is there today.
Originally, the erosion created an arch way before the cave. Eventually, the arch collapsed, now huge bits of Limestone and Sandstone sit just outside the cave at around 15 metres below the water surface. The water pushes over these huge chunks of stone and form waves that crash into the cave, contributing to the harrowing thunder that’s created a few times per minute on a wild day.