A tidal sea cave tucked into the rugged coastline of the Lizard Peninsula — England's most southerly point — this natural formation is accessible only by water, carved into the dramatic serpentinite cliffs that define this stretch of Cornwall. Visitors approaching by boat or swim encounter a low, dark entrance that opens into a chamber shaped by centuries of Atlantic tides. The Lizard Peninsula's remote coves and inlets were historically favored by smugglers and seafarers who valued their concealment and difficulty of access. Gates investigated this particular cave in Season 12 of Expedition Unknown as part of a broader hunt for the lost treasure of the notorious pirate Henry Every, who vanished with his plunder after 1696 and was never definitively located. A centuries-old coded letter, examined earlier in the episode, was said by local treasure hunters to point toward a pirate cave somewhere along this coastline — lending the cave its place in an ongoing, unresolved mystery.
Henry Every and his crew allegedly operated in and around British coastal waters following the 1695 plunder of the Mughal treasure ship Ganj-i-Sawai; caves along the Cornish coast were reportedly used for concealment by pirates and smugglers of the era
Six members of Henry Every's crew were hanged at London's Execution Dock; Every himself disappeared and was never captured or his treasure recovered
Gates and Tyrone Leech swim to and enter the sea cave during filming of Expedition Unknown S12E04, recovering two musket balls believed to be consistent with late 17th-century manufacture
The Lizard Peninsula has long been associated with maritime concealment. Its coastline of serpentinite rock is riddled with natural caves and hidden coves that, according to historical accounts, were regularly exploited by Cornish smugglers from at least the 17th through the 19th centuries. The region's remoteness from major ports and its treacherous offshore reefs — while dangerous to ships — made it attractive to those who wanted to move contraband or lie low. Whether any specific cave was ever used by Henry Every or his crew remains unconfirmed by documentary or archaeological record.
Henry Every (also spelled Avery) is a genuinely significant figure in the history of piracy. In 1695 he led the seizure of the Ganj-i-Sawai, a Mughal vessel carrying an enormous fortune, in what is regarded as one of the most lucrative pirate raids in recorded history. The attack sparked what the episode's narrator describes as "the first-ever global manhunt." Every vanished after reaching the British Isles and was never captured; the whereabouts of his share of the plunder have never been established. As Gates' longtime collaborator Colin Woodard — introduced in the episode as "one of the foremost authorities on piracy" — notes, very few pirates actually escaped with their treasure intact.
The two musket balls recovered during the cave dive are genuinely intriguing but require careful interpretation. Musket balls of the late 17th-century type were common across maritime Britain, and their presence in a coastal cave is consistent with any number of historical uses — not exclusively piracy. Without accompanying artifacts, documentary corroboration, or formal archaeological excavation, attributing them specifically to Every or his crew would be a significant leap. That said, their discovery at least confirms that the cave saw some form of human activity during the relevant period.
The episode is candid that this is an open investigation rather than a solved one. Gates and the production frame the cave as one promising thread in a much larger, still-unresolved mystery. The coded letter, the musket balls, and the geography all point toward the Lizard Peninsula as a plausible area of interest — but as of the episode's airing, no conclusive evidence linking the cave directly to Henry Every's treasure had been established.
The Lizard Peninsula is regarded as the most southerly point of mainland Great Britain, giving its coastline a particularly exposed and dramatic character shaped by Atlantic weather.
The distinctive greenish rock that gives the Lizard its craggy cliffs is serpentinite, a metamorphic rock unusual enough that it has been quarried locally for decorative use for centuries.
Henry Every's 1695 raid on the Ganj-i-Sawai is described in the episode as producing a haul worth hundreds of millions of dollars in today's terms — making it one of the most valuable single pirate seizures in recorded history.
Six members of Every's crew were captured and hanged at London's Execution Dock in 1696, but Every himself was never caught, making him one of the very few major pirates of the era to apparently escape justice entirely.
The sea caves of the Lizard Peninsula are generally accessible to experienced sea kayakers, swimmers, and boat operators during calm weather, though tidal conditions and swell can make access dangerous. Independent exploration is possible from several launch points along the peninsula's coast, but visitors are advised to check tide tables and local maritime conditions carefully before attempting entry. Guided coasteering and boat tours operating in the area may offer supervised access to caves along this stretch of coastline.
Falmouth is the nearest town of meaningful size, approximately 12 miles north of the Lizard Peninsula's tip. Truro, Cornwall's county city, lies roughly 20 miles to the north.
Late spring through early autumn — roughly May to September — generally offers the calmest sea conditions and most favorable visibility for coastal exploration along the Lizard. Summer months can bring more visitors to the broader Lizard Peninsula, though the more remote coves tend to stay quieter.
Whydah Pirate Museum, Yarmouth
The Whydah Pirate Museum connects directly to the pirate treasure theme — the Whydah was a real pirate ship, and its artifacts represent some of the only physically recovered pirate treasure in the world, providing context for what Every's crew may have possessed.
Neahkahnie Mountain
Neahkahnie Mountain features in a Gates investigation involving a centuries-old coastal treasure legend and a coded or cryptic map — a very close parallel to the coded letter that points Gates toward the Lizard cave in this episode.
La Garma Cave
La Garma Cave is another natural cave system investigated by Gates for evidence of historical human activity, making it a thematic parallel as a site where the cave environment itself is the focus of the archaeological inquiry.