Son Doong & Phong Nha Caves
Home to the largest and third largest cave in the world, Phong Nha is a wonder of ancient karst and underground worlds.
Local explorer Ho Khanh chanced upon Son Doong Cave in Phong Nha-Ke Bang, a little-known national park in Quang Binh Province, deep in the jungle in 1990. In 2008 he returned with the British Cave Research Association, who surveyed the chambers and declared it the biggest cave on the planet. Since then the national park has transformed into one of the world’s top caving and trekking destinations.
Venture into the longest dry cave in Asia, take a boat on an underground river through Phong Nha Cave or swim into the unlit Dark Cave.
Hidden gems in Son Doong & Phong Nha Caves
Son Doong & Phong Nha Caves
Son Doong cave expedition
The British Cave Research Association helped launch this tour with Oxalis Adventure, a local company, with limited numbers and a strict route to protect the integrity of the cave. This includes guides, porters, a cave expert and food, and it remains the only way to explore Son Doong Cave. Son Doong is a unique trekking experience, with underground jungles, giant ceiling collapses, ethereal campsites and stalagmites the size of multi-storey buildings. If you think caving is crawling around in narrow spaces, think again – some of these chambers can fit aeroplanes with room to spare. Whenever I mention the Son Doong Expedition, people usually question the expense of the all-inclusive tour – USD $3,000 – and I always say the same thing. Yes, it’s expensive, especially for Vietnam. But this cave is one of the world’s great wonders. Many people are happy to pay that much to go skiing in the Alps for a week – and the Son Doong Cave Expedition surely beats that. If the Son Doong Expedition is over budget, consider one of more than a dozen other caving experiences in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, including the hike to En Cave, Pygmy Cave or the Tu Lan cave system.
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