Vyvieračka Hlbokô (Jaskyňa Hlbokô)
A powerful karst spring in a side valley of the Jánska dolina, south of Liptovský Ján in the Low Tatras National Park. The Štiavnica stream sinks underground and re-emerges here after 2.4 km of unknown passages; together with the Medzibrodie spring it drains Kráľova hoľa, which hides almost 30 km of explored caves. Only a few metres inside the 5 × 5 m portal the first sump begins. The cave, about 150 m long, consists of three water-filled chambers linked by a low canal, with small yellow-pink stalactites. V. Benický first explored it in the 1940s; on 17 October 2015 divers of Speleoclub Nicolaus and the Czech ZO 1-09 Niphargus cleared out wood and began detailed mapping.
Facts
- Region: Slovakia – Caves, Sumps & Karst Springs
- Area: Low Tatras (Demänová & Jánska dolina)
- Depth: 0–6 m
- Level: advanced
- Current: low
- Type: cave
- Coordinates: 48.9977615, 19.675795
- Highlights: karst resurgence of the Štiavnica stream, first sump a few metres inside a 5 × 5 m portal, three water-filled chambers linked by a low canal (150 m), yellow-pink stalactites, hydrological axis of Kráľova hoľa with almost 30 km of explored caves
- Permit: In Slovakia every cave is a natural monument (Nature Protection Act 543/2002, §24(3)); entering or penetrating a cave that is not open to the public is prohibited (§24(4)a), exploration and research need the consent of the nature-protection authority (§24(5)a), and research may only be done by a qualified authorised person notified to the State Nature Conservancy 7 days ahead (§56). In practice consent comes from the district office's environment department (e.g. Okresný úrad Prešov, 2015); the cave custodian is the Slovak Caves Administration (SSJ). There is no tourist or commercial cave diving – only permitted expeditions of caving clubs, with Full Cave / sump-diver qualification.
- Issuer / contact: State Nature Conservancy of the SR – Slovak Caves Administration (Správa slovenských jaskýň, cave custodian); consent is issued by the nature-protection authority (district office, environment department)
- Phone: +421445536411
- Email: caves@ssj.sk
- Website: https://www.ssj.sk/sk/kontakty
- Tips: The spring at the roadside can be visited freely; the cave behind it is accessible only to cave divers on permitted research. After snowmelt or heavy rain the spring floods. Not a tourist site: dived only on permitted expeditions of caving clubs, with Full Cave / sump-diver qualification and in cooperation with Slovak cavers (SSS). The entrance is gated and the cave is a natural monument.