Etsba Cave (Me'arat Etsba)

Our hike over Etsba Ridge included a foray into the Etsba cave (Finger cave). One of the explanations for the name is that it looks like a thumb and has three chambers, corresponding to finger joints. It is one of the most interesting caves in the region and should be explored with a good flashlight.

You can park in the Nahal Oren (Oren stream) parking lot and climb up to the cave opening. The view of the Carmel ridge and Haifa is stunning.

The cave is large enough to stand upright, but it can be slippery from the constant drip of water. These photos of the cave’s interior were taken with the flash on my camera. You’ll need quite a few attempts because it’s very difficult to focus in pitch black darkness. If you have a helper with a flashlight who can illuminate an area to focus on, that makes the process a lot easier. I didn’t, so these photos were really hit and miss and I was lucky to get a few decent shots of the rocks and stalactites.

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