Son Doong Hang Sơn Đoòng
Booked six-day cave expedition
Booked cave expedition: six days and five nights with Oxalis, January to August, for the doline at that scale. The price is 3,000 USD a person, or 80,000,000 VND. Be in Dong Hoi by 15:00 for the briefing. The 2027 and 2028 departures are full.
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A sunbeam in the first doline, with a person on the rock for scale
Photo: Trantuanviet · CC BY-SA 4.0
Book this ahead. Be in Dong Hoi by 15:00 for the transfer to Phong Nha. The briefing that evening is compulsory. At 17:00 the group visits the Phong Nha Caves Exploration Museum, then the briefing. Pack the porter bag before 07:00 the next morning. The group leaves at 08:00, along Road 20 and the west Ho Chi Minh road, to the trailhead at kilometre 35. That day is a 14-kilometre trek, with about 30 knee-deep river crossings, a stop in Doong village of the Bru–Vân Kiều, and a walk through Hang En. One itinerary camps that night at Hang En. Another camps near the Son Doong entrance after Hang En, and enters the main cave the next day.
Photo: Doug Knuth · CC BY-SA 2.0
Inside, a jungle sits 252 metres down in a doline, and a wall of 90 metres is climbed with ladders and ropes. The same wall is also an 18-metre ladder and a 72-metre ascent, with an 80-metre descent from an upper passage to the cave floor on the day you enter. That passage is about 700 metres, with sections 100 metres wide. A local man, Ho Khanh, found the entrance in 1990. A British-Vietnamese survey announced it in 2009. Oxalis has run the trek since 2013. The cave stays about 18 to 24°C. Groups are capped at 10, with a support team of more than 30 people.
This one takes the week. The morning in the village is the boat. Paradise Cave is the dry walk, on its own ticket. The join-in age is 18 to 70. A private departure is a different price.
Getting there and around
You start in Dong Hoi, not at the village pier. Be there by 15:00 for the transfer to Phong Nha and the briefing that evening. The road minutes from the airport to that briefing are check on arrival. The trek starts the next morning at kilometre 35 on the west Ho Chi Minh road.
From Dong Hoi
Arrive by 15:00. The transfer to Phong Nha and the evening briefing are compulsory. At 17:00 the group goes to the Phong Nha Caves Exploration Museum, then to the briefing. The road minutes are check on arrival.
From Phong Nha village
You sleep here after the briefing. Pack the porter bag before 07:00. The group leaves at 08:00 for kilometre 35 on the west Ho Chi Minh road. Minutes from the village to that trailhead are check on arrival.
Hours and fees
- Hours
January to August. Departures follow the booking calendar, not a daily gate.
- Closed
No walk-up entry. The 2027 and 2028 departures are fully booked. The trip runs from January to August.
- Admission
Join-in group of 10. 3,000 USD a person, or 80,000,000 VND a person with VAT included. Age 18 to 70. A private departure is a different price. Oxalis has run the trek since 2013, from January to August, with a maximum of 10 guests and about 1,000 visitors a year.
Also in Phong Nha
Paradise Cave Động Thiên Đường
Dry boardwalk cave: walk about a kilometre inside at Km 16, the other half-day beside the boat.
Phong Nha Cave Động Phong Nha
River cave by boat: row about 1,200 metres in a 2.5-hour visit for the mouth the village is built around.
Tien Son Cave Động Tiên Sơn
Dry cave above the river: climb nearly 600 steps on the same 2.5-hour boat trip as Phong Nha Cave.
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