[8] Since its discovery, surveyors have considered the cave extremely difficult to explore, owing to the numerous waterfalls, flooded passages, and traverses within.

[11] A team of French speleologists of the Spéléo-club de Paris working with local Turkish cavers was the first to enter the cave proper.

[6][12] Team members J. L. Pintaux and Doniat (full names not given) passed through the sump in August 1965 and were the first to explore the cave's interior.

[11] In August 1968, Claude Chabert, and Michel Bakalowicz of the Spéléo-club de Paris, accompanied by Michael Clarke of the British Speleological Association, were the second group to venture past the entry sump.

[11] In September 1975, the Red Rose Cave & Pothole Club discovered and explored a tributary passage which they called the Affluent sump.

On their final trip in 1989, they managed to climb the waterfall that had stymied the University of Bristol Team, ultimately reaching a height of −661.5 m (−2,170 ft) above the entrance.

The Turkey Archaeological Settlements Project (TAY) estimates just over 2,400 caves in the area, while the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism claims there may be over 20,000.

[20] The source of the spring has yet to be located, although there are semi-permanent fields of snow and a large tarn, or glacial lake, on the ground above the cave.

[3][21] The cave contains a number of water features which make it extremely difficult to explore, such as large waterfalls, ponds, dripstone pools, sumps, and siphons.

[10] The water temperature is around 4–5 °C (39–41 °F) year-round, which means that divers must wear thick protective clothing when exploring flooded areas of the cave.