Al-Hawa Cave (Umm al-Rumman Cave)

A lava tube running through the basalt 2 kilometres north of the village of Umm al-Rumman, south of Suwayda. The hollow it formed in may go back as far as two million years. The cave has never been opened to tourism: there is no lighting and no path inside, and it can only be entered with an experienced group that knows the area.

How it formed

Al-Hawa is a compound cave, meaning two lava flows lie one on top of the other. The first flow came from a crater west of the hill that carries Salkhad Castle, and from Tell Abd Mar. Following the slope of the land, it poured into the deep valley between the village of Rafiqa and the town of Dhibin. As its surface cooled and hardened, it formed the roof of the first tunnel. Much later the volcano became active again. A second flow ran into the same valley over the first, and its heat melted the roof of the tunnel below. What remains of that roof is a shoulder on each side, jutting inwards.

What is inside

The lower level is about 5 metres high, and the roof rises to 7 metres at its highest. The width runs from 12 to 17 metres. In places the shoulders are more than two metres wide, and they continue along both sides from the entrance to the end of the explored section. Lime coats the basalt, and the stalactites and stalagmites take on a reddish tint from iron oxide. Midway along, the tunnel splits into two branches, right and left.

How long it is

There is no single figure. Arabic Wikipedia gives the explored length as 1700 metres; the Syrian Society for Exploration and Documentation says it exceeds 1700 metres. The geographer Jamil Shuqayr, interviewed in 2009 by the local news site eSuweda, puts the explored part at 3 kilometres and estimates the full length at around 9 kilometres.

Who has been inside

According to Shuqayr, the cave was found at the start of the 20th century and French soldiers used it during the Mandate. In October 2011 the Syrian Society for Exploration and Documentation walked the area with about 60 volunteers and went into the tunnel with lights.

What not to miss

The shoulders. These two stone ledges pushing in from the foot of the walls are what is left of the melted and collapsed roof of the first tunnel. This cross-section is where the cave shows two separate volcanic events at once; nowhere else does the stacking of the lava read so plainly.

Where it stands now

The cave lies in the south of Suwayda governorate, in the Salkhad area, and the governorate has been inside an armed conflict since July 2025. Access to the region is not regular and the present condition of the cave cannot be confirmed. This page tells you what al-Hawa is; it does not tell you that you can go there today.