Son Doong Cave: World's Biggest Cave

Son Doong Cave: World's Biggest Cave

At 150 meters high and 200 meters wide, Son Doong Cave is considered the world's biggest cave. It's so big that a 40-storey building is said to fit inside it. Even a jungle can be found inside the gigantic cave.
Song Doong Cave is located at Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, in the central province of Quang Binh. It was discovered by a local resident named Ho Khanh who later became an expedition guide to the British Cave Research Association in 2009. The group was headed by the couple Howard and Deb Limbert. And after measuring the cave's dimensions and announcing it to be the world's largest, Son Doong Cave earned its global recognition that same year.
Recently, the local government and Phong Nha – Ke Bang Tourism Center, the primary tour operators at the park, planned and announced a trial caving tourism plan for Son Doong Cave. The pilot project outlines a bi-monthly, five to seven days, between February and August tour for the site. Each tour is designed to have three trekking trips, with each batch composed of seven tourists and 15 local porters at the maximum.
An initial tour to the Sinh Ton (living) Valley and Thuy Cung (undersea palace) Cave had already been established last May, which consisted of a visit to the following areas: Dau Rai primeval forest; Tien (fairy) Spring; Nuoc Lan (diving waters) Cave; Thuy Cung Cave; and Sinh Ton.
Dau Rai Forest is home to hundreds of gigantic centuries-old trees. The name Dau Rai itself means the plant Dipterocarpus alatus which is native to Vietnam, Bangladesh and Cambodia. At Nuoc Lan Cave, tourists are provided with special diving equipment to explore the so-called “wild” cave. Thuy Cung Cave is known for its one-of-a-kind blue water. Sinh Ton, the last leg of the tour, is an amazing 2,000-hectare valley surrounded by limestone mountains.
Visitors will have the option to take a day trip or a two-day stay of the Sinh Ton – Thuy Cung Cave tour. If they choose the latter, accommodations are available for stay-in guests. Moreover, meals are already inclusive, consisting of wild vegetables, fish, grilled meat, and rice balls – a new and unique experience worthy of an adventure in itself especially to first-time visitors.
U Bo is another pilot project planned by Phong Nha – Ke Bang Tourism Center. It is one of the park's highest mountains situated at over 1,000 meters above sea level. From the top, tourists will be able to see popular sites in Quang Binh for as far as 40 kilometers away such as Nhat Le Beach, Dong Hoi Town, and Bao Ninh White Beach, just to name a few. Pristine forests and historic relic sites embrace the mountain.
The local government and Phong Nha – Ke Bang Tourism Center are both hopeful and confident that their proposed tour projects will be successful and boost the tourism industry in the area.