Caves, thermal springs and a cafe in Far South Tasmania, 1.5 hours south from Hobart, Australia. Enjoy a guided cave tour, barbeque, swim and gentle bush walks, before continuing on to the nearby historic railway or gemstone fossicking. Far South Tasmania is a land of waterways, wilderness and wildlife. This is your one stop shop to plan and book your Far South Tasmania and Bruny Island and Huon Valley Escape.

For general cave and pool information phone the cave direct
03 6298 3209

For a Huon Valley Escape Itinerary including Hastings Caves
phone 1800 770 224 9am to 5pm, 7 days

Hastings (Newdegate) Cave Tours

The Hastings Experience,
Far South Tasmania

Tour magical chambers of flowstones and shawls, then relax in a thermal pool. Hastings Caves in Tasmania, includes Newdegate Cave, the largest tourism cave in Australia.
 
The Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service conducts 45-minute tours through Newdegate's large, highly decorated cavern. Newdegate Cave is spacious and well lit, with no narrow passages. There are around 240 stairs but these are traversed in small sections. The underground temperate is naturally maintained at nine degrees Celsius (48 degrees Fahrenheit) all year round.
 
You can buy your tickets for the cave tour, at the Hastings Cave Visitor Centre, which is about five kilometers (three miles) from the cave entrance. Here you'll find modern, well equipped facilities including interpretation, souvenirs and a licensed cafe.

The Hastings Experience: Includes Hastings Cave, Thermal Springs, walks and facilities.

Please arrive at the Visitor Centre at least 30 minutes before the advertised tour time. 

Guided tours of Newdegate Cave led by Parks and Wildlife Service staff are available throughout the day. Tours take approximately 45 minutes. ​
Tickets for the cave tour must be paid and collected at the Hastings Cave Visitor Centre.  Please arrive 45 minutes prior to tour times, this allows time to buy or collect tickets and self-drive approximately 20 minutes to the cave car park. You will then take the short walk through the forest to the cave entrance - where the guide will meet you.

For times and prices, see below.

Hastings is not currently bookable online. To purchase tickets as part of a Huon valley Escape Package, please use the email button below. Otherwise, arrive early and purchase your tickets at the visitor centre.

For general cave and pool information phone 
​03 6298 3209

For a Huon Valley Escape package including accommodation and cave tickets, phone from 9am to 5pm 1800 770 224
or Click to Email

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Cafe, Pool and Bushwalks

Thermal Pool

Cafe

Nature Trails

The thermal pool is surrounded by forest and ferns and has a large picnic area equipped with change rooms, showers and toilets, electric barbecues, shelters and forest walks. The pool is fed from a spring that supplies spring water at around 28 degrees Celsius (82.5 degrees Fahrenheit) all year round. It is hygienically controlled and has a paddling pool for children.

A walk along the Hot Springs Track will take you to the convergence of  two streams. If you put your hand in the water here, you'll be able to feel the warm current from one stream meeting the cold current from the other.

Hastings Caves History and Natural Features

The Hastings Experience,
Far South Tasmania

Hastings Caves in Tasmania, includes Newdegate Cave, the largest tourism cave in Australia. The caves of this region started to form approximately 40 million years ago and remained unseen until 1917, when timber workers discovered an entrance. They named their magnificent find after the governor of the time, Sir Francis Newdegate.
 
Formations in the cave are spectacular and include flowstone, stalactites, columns, shawls, straws, stalagmites and the unusual helictites - tendrils of calcite that grow in all directions in tiny filaments. 

It is one of the few caves in Australia to have formed in dolomite, which is harder and heavier than limestone. (Dolomite is characterised by pearly white and pinkish crystal, and should not be confused with that famous Tasmanian rock, dolerite, which weathers into tall grey flutes such as those you see on Mt Wellington and Cradle Mountain). The underground temperate is naturally maintained at nine degrees Celsius (48 degrees Fahrenheit) all year round.

Things to do and places to stay nearby

Far South

Southwest National Park, The Southern Ocean, fishing villages and the furthest south point in Australia.

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Where to stay near Hastings Caves

Buttongrass Retreat is the perfect place to stay near Hastings Caves. Comfortable 2 bedroom, self contained, eco-cabin, just 10 minutes drive from Hastings Visitor Centre.

Classic farm cottage above the Huon River, Tasmania

Castle Forbes Bay

Overlooking the Huon River, just off the highway from Huonvile to Geeveston, this classic farm cottage can be your base to explore the Huon Valley. Hun Rive Country Cottage has three bedrooms to suit couples, families or small groups.

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Walks in Far South Tasmania

Click to download this free guide to four easy walks near Hastings Caves

Hastings Information correct for January 2020. Click for updated info.

For up to date cave and pool information
phone 03 6298 3209

Videos of Hastings Thermal Springs, Southport Lagoon and Cockle Creek, Far South Tasmania