These are limestone caves that are situated eight kilometers to the north of Tanga in Tanzania along the Mombasa-Tanga highway. The Amboni caves are believed to be the most extensive limestone caves in East Africa, located in Kiomoni village.
The Amboni caves are among the areas most popular attractions that have attracted, over the years, hundred thousand of tourist both local and foreign. These caves feature extensive underground halls with formations that are towering. The caves are very dark inside and potentially lethal. Nearly all tunnels or chambers are accessible to tourist via a guided tour.
These caves are estimated to have been formed150 million year ago in the Jarassic age and span region of 234 square kilometers. As per researchers, the area was submerged in water about 20 million years ago. There a total of ten caves although only one is used for tours.
The main attraction of Amboni caves is Popo flight. Popo is the Kiswahili word for bat. Thousands of these bats live in the caves. They fly out of the cave entrance every evening at sunset. The caves were traditionally believed to have various spirits and continue to be a place of worship and ritual. The caves were used for prayers by ethnic groups such as the Samba, Bondei, Digo and Segeju who resided near them.
In 1892, Amboni limited, a company that mainly operated sisal plantations is the region procured the areas. It alerted the British Colonial administration of the Amboni caves and in 1922, the site was declared a conservation area.