Nature and outdoors

School group tour, One Cave (Riverbend Cave)

Horne Lake Cave Tours and Outdoor Centre9 hr 44 min by bus · 143.7 km

! built for 6+, your youngest are 3 · $35 a child is over your $10 budget

Four people wearing helmets with headlamps crouch along a low cave wall beside large rounded rock formations.

Cost

$35 a child

$560 for 16 children

Their booking software adds a 3% processing fee per booking, and non profit organisations are exempt from it.

Ages & size

Ages 6 to 12

Up to 42 children

Duration

1.75 hours

Year round

Weekdays

Book by

14 days ahead

Plan this trip

Fieldy handles all communication and booking for you.

What it actually looks like

Photos from Horne Lake Cave Tours and Outdoor Centre's website

Our note

Getting there is part of the trip. The last stretch is 12km of gravel logging road, so add time and talk to your driver first. Everyone needs closed shoes and warm layers, because the cave sits at 8 degrees all year and rubber boots are the better choice from October to April.

What the children do

A private guided trip into Riverbend Cave for school and home learning groups. A 1km uphill hike through karst rainforest, led by a naturalist cave guide, covers the geological processes, rock types, fossils, calcite crystals and local plants and animals before the group goes underground. Riverbend is the easiest of the caves and is designed to avoid crawling or squeezing. The $35 rate is for verified non profit organisations and only applies Monday to Friday. The same tour is $59 per person at the regular public rate. From October to April the youngest age for a school group rises to 8.

Walk about a kilometre uphill through forest, stopping seven times along the way to look at rock and talk about how the caves formed. Then, in helmets with headlamps, follow a guide into an unlit cave, crouching and using their hands to balance over river rocks while looking at fossils and crystal formations.

Good to know

The visit is a hike plus a wild cave, so it is not step-free and a stroller will not go. Washrooms, indoor lunch space and bus parking are not mentioned anywhere on the site, so those are worth a call before you commit.

Sources disagree. Two different numbers are given for their visitor centre. The school page lists one and the rest of the site lists another. Try the one on their contact page first and use the other if nobody picks up.

Sources disagree. Their own group pages give two different addresses for confirming your numbers, one starting groups and one starting education. If one bounces, try the other.

Sources disagree. The site gives two youngest ages for the Multi-Cave trip. The tour list says 8 and up, while the groups page says 5 and up. Their questions page explains the difference is a private tour, so say who is coming when you enquire.

Washrooms

Needs confirmation

Lunch space

Needs confirmation

Rain backup

Tours proceed as scheduled regardless of weather conditions.

Strollers

All tours begin with a 1km moderately strenuous uphill hike, which is broken up with 7 informative stops.

Wheelchair access

Our caves are wild and natural, with no lighting, paved walkways, or hand-railings.

Bus parking

Needs confirmation

Nearby park

The neighbouring Horne Lake Regional Park Campground has hiking, canoe rentals, beach walking and bird watching.

Restrictions

No backpacks in the cave, but small hip pouches or fanny packs are fine. NO flip-flops, sandals, or holey soles permitted. Children 5-15 years old must be accompanied by an adult. Dogs and other pets are not permitted inside any of the caves. All park visitors entering the caves must clean their shoes to remove White Nose Syndrome spores. No personal caving equipment that has been into any caves off of Vancouver Island. Please do not apply perfume or after-shave, because the enclosed spaces make it difficult for those with scent sensitivities. Adult participants aged 19 and over sign a liability waiver, and every participant under 19 needs a signed parental consent and medical form

Getting there

3905 Horne Lake Caves Rd Qualicum Beach, BC V9K 2L7

On foot

31 hr 14 min

too far with this group

By bus

9 hr 44 min

includes a 9 min wait

Driving

4 hr 33 min

The dark pin is Victoria.

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Details checked on 2026-09-07 against the venue’s own pages. Something wrong? , it takes one tap. · Venue page · (250) 248-7829