Spectacular cave site 'neglected' after five years closed to tourists

The reopening of the Princess Margaret Rose Cave has been pushed back yet again.

Public tours of the popular site, 2 kilometres east of the South Australian border, started in the 1940s but stopped in 2021 when the operators retired amid COVID-era travel restrictions.

Today, the spectacular site named after the sister of Queen Elizabeth II is not exactly fit for a royal visit.

"They've had to put gates on to stop the vandalism,” local tourism operator David Graham said.

The cave entrance is within the “dilapidated” visitor centre which Mr Graham recently entered with little difficulty, after he stuck his finger through a hole left by a missing doorhandle next to a cracked window.

"If it keeps going the way it's going … it'll just be vandalised to the point where they'll never re-open it,"

he said.

The door has since been locked, but Mr Graham said the absence of a permanent occupant at the nearby residence made the location a target. 

Elsewhere on the site, there were shards of broken mirror, ripped floors and a large hole inside a shower near the campground and cabins.

Local Liberal MP Roma Britnell said it was disappointing for the community.

"It's just been left to fall into disrepair and neglect,” Ms Britnell said.

Cautious optimism, another delay

The Victorian taxpayer is earmarked to pay $2,135,000 for work at the Princess Margaret Rose Cave site, including new toilets, and upgrades to the wastewater infrastructure and visitor area.

Parks Victoria said work was complete on new cave lighting, handrails, improvements to the steps, and upgrades to electrical systems.

“We know how important the caves are to local tourism, and we’re getting on with the work to reopen them,” a Victorian government spokesperson said in a statement.

Mr Graham said:

“That is a promising sign for the future that it is going to open."

In October, a large metal sign went up near the car park with information about the upgrades.

“Completion: December 2026,” the text on the sign reads.

Parks Victoria’s website was also updated last month with new details about the project timeline.

“Unforeseen contractor availability constraints affected project scheduling, resulting in a revised time frame for construction works,” the website reads.

The government agency now expected the site to re-open in late 2027.

Mr Graham said the re-opening date had been repeatedly delayed.

"It keeps getting pushed back — another 12 months, another 12 months"

Mr Graham, a member of the Nelson Tourism Association, said the continued closure was hurting the local economy. 

"It [the cave] contributes to everyone in the area being profitable," he said.

Once a drawcard, still a drawcard

Local fisherman Kym Muller has visited the cave site off the Glenelg River many times since childhood. 

He said there were "magnificent" lights inside to highlight stalagmites and stalactites.

"It was a very, very pretty cave when it was open, so a lot of tourists came through here," he said. 

"Hopefully they do get it up and going again"

While the cave has been closed for more than five years, frustrated holiday-makers have been relatively common in the car park.

"To get right to the front entrance and find that it's just not open is disappointing," traveller Gerry Anthony, who towed a caravan to the closed site, said.

Mr Graham said it was "hard to say" whether there was enough signage.

"[Locals] drive and we see the signs often enough …that's not to say that people do know it's closed," he said.