A day exploring Quang Binh caves

Caves in Quang Binh are the most popular destinations today. Even if you haven’t had the chance to explore the famous Son Doong, with a day trip, you can still visit two other famous caves here, Thien Duong and Phong Nha.

Phong Nha Cave + Paradise Cave Daily Tour

All experiences of Quang Binh tourism

Admire the beauty of Thien Duong Cave

Thien Duong Cave is located in Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park (Son Trach Commune, Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province), 60km northwest of Dong Hoi. In the past, to get to this cave, you had to follow a trail in the forest and climb the hill – where the cave entrance is. Now it’s much easier, there are cars that take you to the foot of the hill, from there you climb 522 more steps to get to the cave entrance. If you don’t like driving, you can walk, but it will be a challenge with a length of 2km, but in return you will enjoy the fresh air with green trees and birds singing.

Going up the hill, the cave entrance is quite small (just enough for one adult to pass through), but thanks to that, the temperature inside Thien Duong Cave is always about 16 degrees Celsius different from the outside. Most of the ground in the cave is soft and quite flat, making it convenient for sightseeing and exploration. However, to protect the stalactites, visitors will walk on a wooden bridge with handrails.

Upon entering, Thien Duong Cave welcomes visitors with a cool breeze. Everywhere in the cave are giant rocks and stalactites of various shapes sparkling in the light. For a pure sightseeing, you just need to walk to explore more than 1km of the cave, or you can walk and explore another 6km (more expensive), this route will be very attractive to those who love adventure.

Boat trip on Son River

After lunch at a nearby restaurant (or at Xuan Son wharf), you prepare to get on the boat, follow the Son River to start visiting Phong Nha Cave. Locals call this river Trooc River. Since Phong Nha Cave was put into tourism exploitation, the river has become famous because it has become the waterway to Phong Nha Cave.

Currently, the Son River is still considered by many tourists to be a beautiful river, pristine, and has not been destroyed by humans. Quang Binh in the summer is very hot and sunny, so at this time, taking a boat on the Son River, you will see the sky and water are a beautiful blue color.

If you travel on your own, you can rent a small boat from the locals to cruise around and admire the pristine beauty of both banks and enjoy rustic dishes from the shops here. Note that the area near the wharf is where many services are concentrated, but the further you go, the fewer houses there are. Therefore, even if you are a good swimmer, you should let the locals steer the boat, because under the seemingly calm riverbed are the reefs of the Ke Bang limestone mountain range with dangerous whirlpools.

From Son River, it takes about 30 minutes by boat to reach Phong Nha Cave entrance. The cave entrance is barely visible on the water (it looks narrower during high water season), while the cave is hidden in Ke Bang limestone mountain, protected by green forests.

Phong Nha is also known by locals as Trooc Cave or Thay Tien Cave, Hang Pagoda. The cave is located in the cave complex of Phong Nha limestone mountain system, formed by the flow of underground rivers eroding limestone.

According to a survey by cave explorers, Phong Nha has a surveyed length of nearly 8km, mainly with underground rivers (ranked among the caves with the longest underground rivers in the world), but regular tours only go about 1km.

Phong Nha is one of the caves with the longest underground river in the world.

Here, you still sit on a boat to start “drifting” into Phong Nha Cave. Besides admiring the beautiful stalactites, when the boat enters the cave, you will feel the fresh and cool air (the average temperature in the cave is only about 17-19 degrees Celsius). The interesting thing is that the deeper you go, the dimmer the light becomes and then disappears completely.

The boat followed the current for about 800m to a shallow cave. This place is full of fine sand, stalactites hanging down from above, stalagmites rising from below, sparkling under the lights creating many colors. These stalactites were created by nature millions of years ago.

Notes when visiting caves

Quang Binh weather is divided into two distinct seasons: rainy season (from September to March, rainy season is concentrated in September, October and November) and dry season (from April to August).

During the rainy season, if it coincides with a storm, the Son River will rise and cover the cave entrance, and tourist boats will not be able to enter, so you will not be able to visit Phong Nha Cave (a water cave). On days not affected by storms or floods, Phong Nha Cave and other caves are still open to welcome visitors.

The dry season is a good time to visit caves.

The dry season is the most favorable time to visit caves. During this time, the outside temperature is not too hot and the temperature inside the caves is very cool. To fully appreciate the beauty of the cave as well as ensure your health, you should visit two caves a day. The other caves (Dark Cave, Tien Son Cave, Thuy Cung Cave, Cha Loi Cave, etc.) are very beautiful, but you will be very tired after visiting them all. Moreover, the total ticket price will also be quite high. If you travel on your own to explore, at least one person in the group should be a local resident or a ranger who has been to the cave so that you can move safely and arrange a reasonable visit time.

You can refer to the Phong Nha 2 days 1 night tour departing daily from Dong Hoi
PS: Currently, many companies organize group tours to Phong Nha Thien Duong for 1 day. You can join a group for a cheaper price. You can contact: 0914 666 873 – 0914 666 872 – 0914 666 871 – 0912 356056 for advice