Top 10 Caves in Vietnam
Vietnam's cave heritage is concentrated in Quang Binh Province in the centre of the country, where the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (UNESCO World Heritage Site, 2003; extended 2015) protects the most significant karst cave system in Southeast Asia. The caves were explored systematically from the 1990s by Howard and Deb Limbert of the British Cave Research Association (BCRA), whose expeditions with Vietnamese cave scientists revealed the true scale of the system — including the discovery of Son Doong's enormous passage in 2009. Since 2013, Oxalis Adventure Tours has held a monopoly on expedition-style overnight tours to Son Doong and several other key caves in the area; the arrangement is controversial among cavers but has been effective at limiting visitor impact.
All accessible caves are on the cave map.
1. Hang Son Doong, Quang Binh
Karst cave, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Son Doong — Mountain River Cave — is the largest known cave passage by cross-sectional area anywhere on earth. Discovered by local farmer Ho Khanh in 1991 and first explored scientifically by Howard and Deb Limbert with the BCRA in 2009, the main passage reaches 200 metres in height, 150 metres in width, and approximately 9 kilometres in navigable length. The cave contains two large dolines (collapsed ceiling sections) where jungle has grown on the cave floor: the Great Wall of Vietnam is a 90-metre calcite flowstone barrier within the cave. The atmospheric conditions create clouds and localised rainfall. Maximum 1,000 visitors per year allowed; each 4-day tour costs approximately USD 3,000 and is operated exclusively by Oxalis. Tour grade C.
2. Hang En Cave, Quang Binh
Karst cave, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hang En is the third largest cave passage in the world (after Son Doong and Malaysia's Deer Cave), with chambers large enough to camp inside — which is exactly what Oxalis overnight tours do. The approach requires crossing the Rao Thuong River several times and takes approximately 7 hours of trekking. The cave contains one of the world's largest cave-swiftlet colonies; the birds' nests coat the upper walls in the millions. The sandy cave beach inside is the overnight camp site. Tour grade C.
3. Hang Va, Quang Binh
Karst cave. Hang Va is known for its cave pearls and stalagmite "mushrooms" — stalagmites with flat tops caused by drip-water pooling — clustered in a section of the cave where mineral-saturated water has built formations over tens of thousands of years. The cave is accessed via a combination of trekking and cave river swimming. Oxalis runs the tours; the cave is usually combined with a visit to the adjacent Nuoc Nut cave. Tour grade C.
4. Paradise Cave (Thien Duong), Quang Binh
Karst cave, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Thien Duong — Paradise Cave — near the Son Doong entrance village is the most accessible of the major Phong Nha caves. A wooden boardwalk extends approximately 1 kilometre into the cave, passing formations of exceptional scale — stalactites up to 70 metres long, and a passage so wide that the far wall is invisible in places. The cave extends 31 kilometres in total; the boardwalk covers the first accessible section. Open daily with guides. Tour grade A.
5. Phong Nha Cave, Quang Binh
Karst cave, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Phong Nha is the original cave of the national park, named for the karst tower in which its river entrance is cut. Visitors enter by wooden boat on the Son River and travel approximately 1.5 kilometres into the cave, past formations lit by the boat's lanterns. The cave has been visited by tourists since the late twentieth century; it was used as a weapons depot and shelter during the American War. The cave extends approximately 7.7 kilometres; only the river section is toured. Tour grade A.
6. Tu Lan Cave System, Quang Binh
Karst cave system. Tu Lan is a group of connected caves in the Phong Nha-Ke Bang periphery, developed for multi-day adventure tourism by Oxalis. The tours involve river swimming, cave scrambling, jungle trekking, and camping both inside caves and in the surrounding forest. The individual caves include Hang Tu Lan itself, Hang Ton, and Hang Va. The appeal is the combination of cave exploration with broader jungle wilderness experience rather than any single outstanding formation. Tour grade C.
7. Hang Tien (Celestial Cave), Quang Binh
Karst cave. Hang Tien is a multi-day tour destination near the Laos border in the Phong Nha-Ke Bang area, involving jungle trekking to reach the cave entrance. The cave is known for its exceptionally well-preserved formations in passages that are dry throughout most of their length. The isolation of the cave and the relatively small number of tours permitted per season (managed by Oxalis under the national park permit system) keeps the cave in near-pristine condition. Tour grade C.
8. Tien Son Cave, Quang Binh
Karst cave. Tien Son (Fairy Mountain Cave) is located approximately 1 kilometre from Phong Nha Cave, entered via a stairway from the surface rather than by river boat. The cave contains dry formations — stalactites, stalagmites, and cave pearls — in a series of interconnected dry chambers. It is a standard day-trip option from the Phong Nha Ke Bang visitor centre, usually combined with the Phong Nha boat tour. Tour grade A.
9. Hang Khe Ry, Quang Binh
Karst cave. One of the more recently surveyed significant caves in the Phong Nha-Ke Bang area, Hang Khe Ry involves river swimming through flooded passages as well as dry section exploration. The cave is accessible through Oxalis multi-day itineraries and is known for the quality of its aragonite formations and the adventure of its water sections. The number of visitors per year is very small by comparison with Phong Nha and Paradise Cave. Tour grade C.
10. Hang Pygmy, Quang Binh
Karst cave. Hang Pygmy is one of the most recently systematically surveyed caves in the Phong Nha-Ke Bang area, with passage surveys by BCRA and Oxalis teams identifying substantial new passage sections in recent seasons. The cave is included in some Oxalis multi-day expedition itineraries and is notable for sections of passage with unusually low ceilings (the source of the name) contrasting with large chambers and speleothem galleries further inside. The juxtaposition of tight, low crawls and large decorated chambers is characteristic of several of the Quang Binh caves, where vadose stream cutting has produced narrow trenches beneath ancient phreatic tube ceilings. Access is exclusively through permitted guided tours managed under the national park system. Tour grade C.
Planning a Vietnam cave trip
The Phong Nha-Ke Bang area is accessed from Dong Hoi, which has an airport with direct connections from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The Oxalis base camp is near the Phong Nha village, approximately 50 kilometres west of Dong Hoi. Paradise Cave and Phong Nha Cave (river boat) can be visited in a single day without advance booking through local operators. Tu Lan, Son Doong, Hang En, and Hang Va all require advance booking through Oxalis — sometimes months ahead for Son Doong — and fit different budget and fitness levels.
Son Doong tour availability is extremely limited: approximately 1,000 permits per year at USD 3,000 per person (2024 pricing). Booking opens annually and sells out within days. Hang En and Tu Lan are more accessible but still require booking well in advance in the November-to-April dry season, which is the recommended visit window.
All serious cave exploration in Vietnam requires prior arrangement with Oxalis or the national park; independent access to significant cave systems is not permitted.