Son Doong Cave is in the heart of the Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park in the Quang Binh province of Central Vietnam. Only recently explored in 2009-2010 by the British Cave Research Association, the cave has only been open to the public since 2013.
The world’s biggest cave has overwhelmed once more with an incredible 2-hour live broadcast that aired on the 2th/13th May on ABC’s Good Morning America and can still be found online. Once again Son Doong gets the spotlight, but there are numerous and wonderful cave systems in the area, many of which, including Hang En and Tu Lan, can be visited with A-Class Travel.
Please kindly access this link for MSNBC‘s video:
GEOLOGY & SIZE OF SON DOONG CAVE
The Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Vietnam contains the oldest karst system in Asia, between 400-450 million years old. Hang Son Doong itself is relatively young, with the analysis of sediment dating it to be only 3 million years old.
Formed on the edge of a fault zone, Hang Son Doong has been carved out by the mighty Rao Thuong River as it erodes away the limestone, forming the enormous tunnel beneath the Annamite Mountains. Giant sinkholes, known as do lines, have collapsed sometime up to 300’000 years ago, creating massive openings to the outside world. Cave pearls the size of baseballs have been formed by water dripping from the ceiling.
The first expedition had been halted by an 80m high calcite barrier, which was jokingly dubbed the ‘Great Wall of Vietnam’. It wasn’t until their second expedition in 2010, when the Great Wall was finally climbed, and the end of the passage was found, that Hang Son Doong was determined to be the largest cave in the world.
At over 5 km long, with sections reaching up to 200m tall and 150m wide, Hang Son Doong is large enough to house an entire New York City block, complete with 40 story skyscrapers. With a total measured volume of 38.5 million cubic meters, this comfortably surpasses Deer Cave in Malaysia, which was considered to be the previous record holder. Stalagmites up to 80m high have also been surveyed, the tallest ever encountered.
Son Doong Cave Expedition is world-renowned tour product offering the very best caving opportunity for the very active adventure traveler! With a team of cave experts from the British Cave Research Association you’ll be deep in the wild jungle of Vietnam discovering the most amazing natural environments.
Our Son Doong Expedition is available with weekly departures. It is advised to book in advance as this is a popular tour and we are strictly limited to 10 guests per departure.
Some brief information about the Son Doong Expedition:
Duration: 7 days/6 nights
Adventure Level: Hard (60 km +) for physically active guests.
Availability: Weekly Departures (Feb to Aug, we close the cave from Sept to Jan)
Small Group Tours: 10 guests per departure
Minimum Age: 18 years old
Should you need further information, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Giang at
ACLASS TRAVEL at giang.hh@aclasstravel.com.vn or phone number (+84) 4 3927 4288.
https://aclasstravel.vn/