Saudi explorers are first to reach bottom of giant volcanic cave

Five men documented their journey into Maker Al Shayahin cave in kingdom's Harrat Khaybar

Maker Al Shayahin is the largest cave in Saudi Arabia. @Eyaaaad on Twitter

A group of five Saudi adventurers have become the first to reach the bottom of a volcanic cave in the west of the kingdom.

The men documented their journey into Maker Al Shayahin cave in Harrat Khaybar. It is one of the largest volcanic fields in thekingdom, located north of Medina in the Hijaz region.

In a video, one of the men described the journey as a miracle and said the cave “looks like it is from another world”.

“As we entered the cave the feeling of astonishment remained with us until we left,” Badr Al Ali said.

"The cave narrows, widens, rises and falls as you walk through it, as if you were walking inside a museum of natural arts with rocky hollows, geometric shapes and colourful ceilings."

The Maker Al Shayahin cave is thought to be the largest cave in the country – it is more than three kilometres in length, 22 metres high and 18m wide in places.

“The idea to visit the cave came after the discovery of the giant cave more than two years ago,” he said.

“It is part of an unknown giant volcanic tube underground, in which volcanic magma once flowed, and if a part of it did not collapse, it would not have been known until now.

“The cave is legendary."

The journey into the cave took the men about four and half hours during which they walked about six kilometres.

The cave is the result of volcanic eruptions. The last volcano in the region appeared about 400 years ago in the region, Mr Al Ali said.

Saudi Arabia is known to be a major destination for geologists because it has large and prominent volcanoes with more than 2,000 volcanic craters.

Exploring caves in Oman - in pictures