Beer Bottle Cave

Peter Swart, May 2026

Introduction

Sometime in early January 1993, Anthony Hitchcock and I began exploring on top of Constantiaberg. On the way to Aboulia Grotto, we crossed the top of a little gully that leads down a grass lined area with a fireplace next to a low cave entrance. Today (16 May 2026), the fireplace is still there. Next to the fireplace is a low arch, which is the entrance to Beer Bottle Cave. On that trip, we found 6 crown cork, quart beer bottles just inside the entrance.

Description

The arch entrance is about 1m high and has a narrow pillar on the left. On the first visit in mid summer, the cave was dry, but today our way forward was blocked by a wall-to-wall pool, home to a few speedy Paramelita. On the other side of the pool, the cave splits into 3 low passages. The left hand passage (closest to Hout Bay side) is about 3-4m long and is a dead end. The right passage (closest to Southern Suburbs) is very narrow, but runs right through the rock band and emerges in the fynbos. The central passage is the main route through the cave, and also emerges in the fynbos on the other side of the rock block.

Animals

As mentioned, there were Paramelita in the entrance pool, and by their size, I would guess they are Paramelita capensis. I did not see any flat worms, but did not spend a lot of time looking for them.

In the drier dead end passage, there were two light-coloured, adult bristletails and few cave crickets. There was another, quite large, light-coloured Machiloides bristletail near the northern exit in the central passage.

See Also: * Aboulia Grotto