A caver is someone who explores caves as a hobby or profession. Cavers venture underground into natural tunnels and chambers carved through rock by water over millions of years, crawling through tight passages, rappelling down vertical shafts, and discovering underground rivers and enormous caverns decorated with stalactites and stalagmites.

Caving (also called spelunking) requires special equipment like helmets with headlamps, ropes, and sometimes wetsuits for navigating underground streams. Experienced cavers map unexplored cave systems, study underground geology, and occasionally discover new species of creatures that have adapted to life in complete darkness.

Unlike casual tourists who walk through well-lit commercial caves on paved paths, cavers seek out wild, undeveloped caves where they might be among the first humans to see certain formations or chambers. They need to understand safety, navigation, and rescue techniques since getting lost or injured underground can be extremely dangerous.

Cavers take their safety seriously because they know that underground, you can't just call for help the way you could above ground.