The Cango Caves are located in Precambrian limestones at the foothills of the Swartberg range near the town of Oudtshoorn, in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

Although the extensive system of tunnels and chambers go on for over 4 km (2+1⁄2 mi), only about a quarter of this is open to visitors, who may proceed into the cave only in groups supervised by a guide.

Goodwin, an archaeologist at the University of Cape Town, carried out a test excavation in the Cango Caves in 1930 which found stone artefacts and other cultural material.

[7] In 1956 the South African Spelaeological Association was tasked to draw up an accurate mapping of the Cango Caves, and look for alternative entrances.

In 1972 James Craig-Smith, Luther Terblanche and Dart Ruiters widened an obstructed passage to discover Cango II.

In August 1975, during a symposium on cave biology, an exploration team led by Hans Oosthuizen, Luther Terblanche, Michale Schultz, Digby Ellis, Jean Paul Matisse, Bob Mann, Florus Koper and Peter Breedt drained the chamber of most of its water and crawled through what was previously an underwater passage.

The "Adventure Tour" consists of crawling through narrow passages and climbing up steep rock formations guided by small lights.