Diamond Caverns

Learned some cool facts, our tourist was vocal and very good at explaining. Warning! I would NOT recommend bringing small children because of the steep stairs and breakable stuff. Inexpensive, nice pit stop. Had permission to use flash photography in cave.

Large gift shop, lots to beautiful geodes. You break, you buy, so I was nervous to have my small children in there with giant $ 1000+ geodes.
They had a fun little sluice mining thing outside where you could buy a bag of treasure-​loaded dirt (either fossils or gemstones/​colorful rocks) for $ 10 in the gift shop and then wash out the dirt in the sluice. We split one bag for two kids and it entertained them for 15 – 20 minutes while we were waiting for our tour to start.
I used a sling-​style carrier for my almost two year old, and I’m glad I did! We also had our four year old along and he walked and did ok, we just had him hold our hand the whole time for safety.
The entrance to the cave is a narrow, steep, spiraling staircase of wet concrete! I can’t believe I didn’t have to sign a waiver to walk down those things! Once you’re down in the cave, the rest is pretty open. There were only one or two other sets of steps but they were much less strenuous than the entrance ones.
This cave is isolated and separate from the Mammoth Cave system as far as they know. It is privately owned and operated. Flash photography is allowed, and the cave is fairly well lit. We saw one cave cricket, but no other wildlife.
Our tour lasted about an hour and our guide was very knowledgable about the cave and the area in general. This felt a little more touristy than the Mammoth Cave Frozen Niagra tour we went on, but was more strenuous.

Went here with my wife and 11 month old child. It was very captivating. I thought we would be riding a tour bus then they took us down some stairs and the opening to the cave was inside the building, that’s pretty cool. It is manageable carrying a baby if you have some kind of carrier.
We had Les for our tour guide there. He is very knowledgable of the cave and surrounding area he was a great tour guide.
We enjoyed the scenic view more than mammoth cave.

We enjoyed Diamond Caverns more than Mammoth. Diamond has lots of beautiful formations, while Mammoth does not. The tour group size was small and the tour guide was friendly and informative.

What a nice place. Great people. We pulled up just to see when the tours started and it turned out 1 started in 2 min. We went and it was great. Not a lot or people this time of year got some great pics and had a good time…

Beautiful cavern– got tricked by the name thinking it was actually a diamond cavern, but beautiful nonetheless! Got a private tour because there were not very many people, not sure why since I thought it was more impressive than mammoth cave. We got a discount from the mammoth cave visitor center so we saved some. Kids were half price as well! Tour guide was fantastic and took pictures with our family and used her flashlight as a «flash» for us. Kids loved it. A bit steep an slippery at times, especially for kids and elderly, but other than that, great!

The Diamond Cave tour cost us $ 34 for 2 adults. We brought our 4 month old who came free. We were a bit concerned that the tour would not be safe to bring our baby but the employees assured us it was safe.
The total tour took about an hour. There was a ton of wet, steep stairs and very tight areas but my wife managed them with little trouble. She had a baby carrier that went over her shoulders. Had our baby been much bigger I’m not sure she could have managed. My wife said she would recommend to bring a baby between 10 – 15 lbs but anything bigger she would not. Also we would not recommend it without someone there to help like a spouse or close family member. Its definitely a chore to bring a small child and a carrier is a must.
The cave is pretty cool with some nice views. For an hour tour it’s not that big of a tour. The guide rushed us along a bit which made things a little harder on my wife. It’s dark, some of the areas hold water and are slick so be extra careful.
It’s a neat cave but value wise we were not impressed. Yes it’s an hour tour but much of that time is getting in an out of the cave. You really don’t see much for what you pay for.

beautiful gem underground, literally and figuratively. We were welcomed in a very friendly way and added to a tour group just about to start. Not sure why one cannot bring a small purse or anything in, but no prob.
The way the lights were worked away was pretty neatly done, but with all these kind of caves the concrete pavements, steps are not adding to the atmosphere. Our guide was nice, but didn’t manage to provide a lot of geological nor biological information/​terminology.

This was a great tour. The cave is gorgeous. Be prepared for some steep steps though and a tiny passageway leaving the Queen room. It is very cool when they play with the lights in the caves (which they prepare you for) and the tour is very informative about the animals in the caves, the minerals etc.
You have to wear tennis shoes and I recommend no more then wearing long sleeves while in the caves, it is humid down there and warm enough. If you have any mobility issue I do not recommend this due to the steepness of the stairs, it is not that strenuous other than the steepness of the stairs. There are hand rails for you to use on the whole trip though for safety. There are about 350 stairs on the tour but there no more than 50 at one time.
I highly recommend this and if you can get a coupon that is even better.

We couldn’t get on a tour at Mammoth and ended up here. Worked out pretty well!
The building that tours start in, with the gift shop, is adorable.
I would certainly return next time I’m in the area.

Cool little show cave at the gates of Mammoth Cave National Park about 1.5 hours from Nashville. Literally cool at 58 F, this nice little place is a great day trip coupled with Mammoth Cave next door, especially during these blazing summer days. The 1 hour tour costs $ 16 adult (-$ 2 if you order online beforehand).
The tour path is wide, fairly straightforward, and with limited stairs, taking you to a beautiful set of three caverns with stalactites, stalagmites, large drapery formations as well as more unique cave popcorn and honeycombs and a small pool of water. In an area filled with caverns, this is quite outstanding; most caves in the Southeast are pretty dry and lacking in these interesting shapes, including Mammoth Cave nearby. The cave is well-​lit around the most interesting formations, making photography easier (if still difficult).
The tour guide was bright and chipper, though he mostly recited the information and didn’t hit his stride until near the end of the tour. The tour was mostly historical, the guide pointing out things like vandalism that occurred during the Kentucky Cave Wars and the small chapel where weddings were performed. More interesting was searching for cave crickets and the snarky exchanges between passing guides.
All in all a fun place to visit. If you’ve never seen a cave before, this is as good a cave as any (Mammoth Cave is not, but definitely still worth visiting). Those who have seen great formations like those at Carlsbad will not be particularly impressed, though it will still be enjoyable. When the tour is done, continue up to Mammoth Cave and enjoy the hikes or more caving there.

This is a slightly different caving experience from the Mammoth Cave State Park. Diamond Caverns is independently run. From the outside it looks like a fancy country club. The tours run $ 15 for adults, which seems a bit steep. The tour though is a lot more intense then our $ 5 tour we took at the state park. You also get to see a lot of stalactites, stalagmites and other amazing formations. The tour walks around a lot more and you have to navigate some slippery and steep steps.