Maori Leap Cave

This sea cave discovered at a limestone quarry in 1958 is located near the Caves Restaurant (despite the name there’s only one cave) just south of Kaikoura. The entrance is locked, but guided tours run hourly during the day.

Inside the cave are stalactites, stalagmites, straws, flowstone and cave coral, collectively known as speleothems, from Greek: “spelaion” (cave) + “thema” (deposit). Also interesting are the dark bands of flint (also known as chert) that have formed in the limestone beds.  While the limestone beds are formed from the lime (calcium carbonate) of shelled animals, flint is formed as silicaceous creatures such as tiny diatoms and radiolarians are trapped in the sediment. The silica dissolves and reforms as nodules and layers of flint. These hard flints weather out of the limestone, and are found as dark, slightly translucent pebbles on the local beaches.