Caving clubs are the best way to go caving
Caving clubs offer training and know what equipment is needed to visit caves. They can get you ready to head underground.
Grottos
Most caving clubs are known as grottos. These organizations are chapters of the National Speleological Society (NSS), the nation’s leading caving organization. There are more than a dozen grottos in California. Most grottos have monthly meetings and social events, and they may also offer training on special skills such as rope work and know which vendors to use to purchase caving equipment. But, of course, the important activity is caving trips, and grottos often offer varied caving trips usually on the weekends to caves big and small across the state. They can point you in the right direction for your first caving trip or to more technical and challenging caves if you have experience.
Grottos can also provide information and access to caving projects such as cave research, cave mapping, cave restoration and clean-up work, cave search and rescue, cave biological inventories and much more.
Another important cave organization in California is the Western Cave Conservancy (WCC). This group buys, owns and manages their own caves and looks after some caves on public land through cooperative agreements with federal agencies.
