Son Doong Cave is the largest Cave in the world, attracting many domestic and international visitors to experience. Currently, Son Doong Cave is being exploited by the Oxalis Company in the form of adventure tour under the permission of Quang Binh Provincial People’s Committee.
The image of Son Doong Cave is famous on Google Culture, National Geographic, or Travel Magazines such as Trip Advisor, lonely Planet for its large cave systems and magnificent stalactites. Besides, the image of Son Doong Cave is also shown on major world television channels such as BBC or CNN.
In this article, we will list detailed informations about SonDoong Cave that visitors may concern.
Where is Son Doong Cave?
Son Doong Cave has coordinates 17°55’N and 106°14’E, located in Son Trach commune, Bo Trach district, Quang Binh province, in the core zone of Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park. Son Doong Cave has twice been recognized as a World Natural Heritage by Unessco.
Son Doong Cave was formed about 2-5 million years ago. The Cave has a width of 150 meters, a height of more than 200 meters, a length of nearly 9km. By estimate, the capacity of Son Doong Cave is up to 38.5 million cubic meters (equivalent to 15,000 Olympic swimming pools).
How Son Doong Cave was found and who found it.
In 1991, a local person named Ho Khanh living in Phong Nha Ke Bang during a hunting trip encountering a thunderstorm, he was looking for a place to shelter from the rain and accidentally discovered Son Dong cave.
In 2007, the British Royal Expedition carried out a new Cave search in Phong Nha – Ke Bang. Ho Khanh went together with them to find Son Doong cave in 2 days but they could not find it. During that trip, Mr. Howard Limbert while observing natural phenomena in the surrounding area has confirmed to Mr. Khanh that there must be a large Cave recently, but due to time limit, the expedition had to return to England.
After that, under the mandate of Mr. Limbert, Ho Khanh continued to go to the forest and finally found Son Doong Cave in 2008. In early 2009, the expedition of the Royal British Cave Association has returned Vietnam, Ho Khanh led Howard Limbert’s group to the Cave and named the Cave : Son Doong Cave.
Phong Nha Cave – An irresistible tourist destination in Viet Nam
Son Doong Cave is well- known in the world.
After thorough surveys, the Royal British Cave experts have coordinated with Quang Binh province to introduce Son Doong Cave to the world. The announcement Son Doong Cave was being the largest Cave in the world with its size and unique ecosystem has surprised the whole world.
Son Doong Cave was officially exploited in form of adventure tour in 2013 by Oxalis Company, since then, it has always proved attractive to the domestic and international tourism community by its majestic beauty and other great values.
The name: Son Doong Cave
Initially, Son Doong Cave was named after the man who discovered Son Doong Cave : Ho Khanh. Then with the permission of Ho Khanh, the Cave experts have changed the name Son Doong Cave. According to experts, Son Doong Cave was located in an area where there was an ethnic village group living called Doong village, and “Son” meant mountain.
Son Doong Cave was discovered and named so far.
Highlights of Son Doong Cave
Son Doong Cave is a Cave with different experiences few caves have with many highlights below.
Vietnam Wall
Vietnam Wall is the name of the highest stalactite wall located at the end of Son Doong Cave with the highest point at the ceiling of about 200 meters. Visitors need to pass a rather muddy road in the Cave to reach Viet Nam Wall.
The whole process of climbing this 90m high Wall requires protective equipments and is ensured by the professional team of Oxalis Company. When reaching the top of Vietnam Wall, you will see the exit of the Son Doong Cave.
Campground in the Cave
When conquering Son Doong Cave, you will sleep in 3 nights in the Cave, the first night in En Cave, the 2 nights left in Son Doong Cave. Camping on the beautiful white sand in Son Doong Cave is a wonderful experience that could not be found anywhere else.
Dog paws
Dog’s paw is a massive natural stalactite in Son Doong Cave, an amazing sight visitors can admire when coming to the world’s largest Cave.
Son Doong sinkhole
The two sinkholes of Son Doong Cave are the places with the most beautiful pictures. The first Sinkhole is also known as the “Vong Khung Long”, where there is a large layered stalactite block which is named “Wedding Cake” by tourists. The second Sinkhole is also known as the “Garden of Eden”.
The formation of sinkholes allows sunlight to penetrate into the Cave and create a small natural primeval forest with an endemic ecosystem. To reach this locations, visitors will follow a natural stone step to climb up, which looks like the step leading to the Garden of Eden.
The climate in Son Doong Cave.
One of the most special things about Son Doong Cave is its unique weather and climate system inside the Cave.
According to Cave experts, normally the temperature in the Cave ranges from 20-25 degrees Celsius. But due to the special structure and topography of Son Doong Cave, it has its own weather system and changes according to the season. Visitors can clearly feel the change each time of the year when making the Son Doong expedition.
Son Doong Tour
Currently, Son Doong Cave is exploited and managed exclusively by Oxalis Company and welcomes about 1000 visitors every year. Therefore, you need to book Son Doong Tour in advance before coming.
To international visitors, Son Doong Cave in particular and Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in general are considered as the image of Vietnam’s tourism.
The ticket price for 4 days 3 nights Tour is $ 3,000 / pax.
Son Doong Tour is currently being held for 4 days and 3 nights, but Oxalis Company has built a 6 day 5 nights tour.
6 days 5 nights Son Doong Tour
Day 1: The Oxalis Company will disseminate information about tourism safety in Son Doong Cave to visitors at Phong Nha town.
Day 2: Trekking Doong Village – En Cave
Day 3: Cave Entrance – The 1st Camping site Sinkhole
Day 4: The 2nd Camping site Sinkhole – Garden of Eden
Day 5: The Wall of Vietnam – The Exit – Chay Lap Farmstay
Day 6: Chay Lap Farmstay – Dong Hoi City.
Once conquering this unique and magnificent Cave is also an opportunity for you to challenge yourself to new experience.
Conditions to conquer Son Doong Cave
Health: This adventure journey is potentially dangerous, medical experts will conduct a survey to make sure you are strong enough for the trip. An extremely useful experience is that with the time from 3 to 6 months before conquering Son Doong Cave, you should practice walking about 10km a day and try crossing a 200-300m high hill at least .
Costume: Because of long distance travel , it is necessary to prepare belongings and clothes. You should wear airy and soft shoes which can cling to rockand e asy to climb mountains.Wearing clothes that are comfortable, cool, and easy to move and remember to bring warm clothes because the temperature in the Cave at night is quite cold.
Personal belongings: Sunscreen and insect repellent are two very important things you shouln’t forget to bring together. And for taking super quality photos, don’t forget the tripod and camera.
The records that Son Doong cave has brought back
On April 30, 2013, Guinness Organization announced the World Record Book, in which Son Doong Cave was recognized as the largest Cave in the world.
In June 2016, the World Records Association sent a document confirming the record for Son Doong Cave in Quang Binh province as the largest natural Cave in the world.
On July 24, 2016, the World Records Union Council – WorldKings also officially confirmed the record for Son Doong Cave.
Son Doong Cave, Google
The event “Son Doong Cave on google “ has produced a stir in World Press. The world’s largest Cave image is introduced by the world’s No. 1 search page Google on its website.
Some common questions
What is Hang Son Doong in English?
Many tourists often translate it as Hang Son Doong without sign or Son Doong Cave.
Who discovered Son Doong cave?
The first person who discovered Son Doong Cave was Ho Khanh, then the British Royal Cave experts surveyed and announced about this Cave.
How was Son Doong Cave found?
The Cave was discovered by chance during a forest trip of local person Ho Khanh, then through many searches of British Royal Cave experts , it was redrawn and put into adventure tour.
When was Son Doong Cave found?
Son Dong Cave was first discovered in 1990, but only outside. Untill 2008, during a hunting trip, Ho Khanh was lucky to find the location of the Cave that seemed to have been forgotten. In 2009, Ho Khanh led Howard, Deb and other Cave experts back to the Cave entrance, opening the way for further explorations later. In 2013, Hang Son Doong was exploited in form of adventure tour as a World-class tour.
You can check out the Phong Nha Ke Bang tourism experience here: https://www.quangbinhtravel.vn/
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