About SFBC

Who We Are  |  Mailing List  |  Corporate Information  |  Meetings  |  Post-meeting Dinner
Post-meeting Socializing  |  Executive Meetings  |  Vertical Practices

Who We Are

The San Francisco Bay Chapter (SFBC) is an internal organization of the National Speleological Society known as a grotto. Grottos are local groups of cavers who like to get together monthly and chat about caves and caving, watch videos and presentations about caving, and of course go on trips to caves. Besides organizing trips, the SFBC is also very involved in local cave conservation, speleology (the study of caves), geology, cave surveying, and cave photography. We are also involved in cave rescue training (including self-rescue). If you are interested in caves, feel free to drop by one of our meetings and introduce yourself! New members are always welcome!

Mailing List

Members can subscribe and post messages to the San Francisco Bay Chapter Mailing List.

New cavers are encouraged to also join the new caver group where more publicly available trips are announced and members foster active discussions on getting into the world of caving.

Corporate Information

The SFBC is a corporation organized and operated exclusively for scientific and educational purposes, as outlined in its articles of incorporation, within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. As such, it does not have a constitution, but rather conducts its business following the guidelines presented in the SFBC bylaws. SFBC also has an anti-harassment policy.

Meetings

Chapter meetings are traditionally held on the 4th Tuesday of each month* at Sports Basement in Redwood City at 6 PM.  We also host all meetings online via Google Meet. Watch our mailing list for the meeting URLs to be announced prior to each meeting. There is no monthly meeting in December, due to the grotto Holiday Party. For information on the next meeting date, visit our grotto calendar.

Sports Basement Redwood City is located at:

202 Walnut Street
Redwood City, CA 94063

https://g.co/kgs/XfshnG5

If you are interested in giving a presentation at one of our meetings, please email chair@sfbaycaving.org and read the Guidelines for Presenters!

Post-Meeting Dinner

After the members meetings we meet for optional dinner, drinks, and conversation in downtown Redwood City.

Executive Committee

Meet the Executive Committee:

(he/him) Charlie was introduced to caving in 2019 after being invited to an SFBC vertical practice, and after a brief COVID induced hiatus, he’s been enjoying all that California caving has to offer. Before becoming the Chair, he served as Vice Chair, running vertical practices throughout the Bay Area. Charlie enjoys exploring caves and doesn’t mind running meetings.
(she/her) Dalia joined SFBC in 2020 when she learned caving is not only for the hardcore adventure folks in documentaries, but something regular dorks like herself can partake in. You will find Dalia crawling in mud looking for bugs, bats, herps, fungy, slime molds, fluorescent rocks and all kinds of marvelous cave things.
(he/him) Born and raised in Georgia (the G in TAG), and started caving around 14. While caving with ORGT (Georgia Tech) and DCG, started taking photos in caves with his first digital camera around 1999. Joined SFBC after moving to the bay area around 2007, and has enjoyed caving in several countries, yet always returns to TAG.

Executive Committee meetings are still Virtual, via Google Meet. IF you would like to attend, simply email execs@sfbaycaving.org or our mailing list requesting the link.

Vertical Practice

A monthly Vertical Practice/Potluck is usually held on the 1st Tuesday of each month at rotating locations in San Francisco and Los Gatos. Call or email beforehand to confirm the location and time. Everyone is invited to come to practice his/her vertical skills and/or socialize. Due to COVID, we have not been hosting the potluck portion of Vertical Practices just yet. We hope to resume this soon! Please bring your own main course and something to share with others. Other (sometimes advanced) Vertical Practices are planned, which will be announced. Check the calendar and watch the email list for the most up to date information.