Son Doong expedition tour attracts visitors

A campsite inside Song Doong Cave

Oxalis Company, the only operator of Son Doong discovery tours, said that nearly 1,000 tourists have registered for the tour by the end of July, with the only vacancies left in August being unconfirmed and incomplete bookings. After August, the tour will be closed until the end of the rainy season and will resume operations in 2022. Every year, Quang Binh province permits bringing a maximum of 1,000 customers to the cave.

Miss Universe H'Hen Nie posed in the cave

This year, Son Doong tour offers a promotional price of VND58.2 million ($2,527) per tour. Of the nearly 1,000 registered visitors, 95 per cent are Vietnamese, the rest are foreigners who are currently living and working in Vietnam.

Adventure tour 4 days 3 nights in Son Doong Cave is the most trying adventure in the company's repertoire.

Six levels of Oxalis' tours

To ensure the safety of tourists, each expedition is limited to 10 tourists who are accompanied by a staff of 30, including cave experts, guides, safety assistants, chefs, and porters. Tourists should be in good physical conditions and have experience in trekking to take on the more than 30km trail covering many different terrains.

The cave is home to diverse vegetation

In 2020, the company welcomed nearly 7,000 tourists to its cave tours, a decrease of 50 per cent compared to 2019. Vietnamese tourists accounted for more than 6,000 people, three times as many as the previous nine years of operation, while international tourists often accounted for 80 per cent of the total number of tour visitors. Especially in June and July, when the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism launched a programme to stimulate domestic tourism, for the first time in history, the company's tours were full.

Inside Son Doong Cave

Son Doong Cave is part of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang cave complex in Son Trach Commune, Bo Trach district, Quang Binh province. The cave is part of an underground system connecting more than 150 other caves in Vietnam located near the border with Laos.

International geoscientists have stated that Son Doong is the world's largest cave with a width of 200m, a length of 9km, a height of 150m, and a volume of 38.5 million cubic meters. The cave is a breath-taking sight with its many strange stalactites formations, underground rivers, sinkholes, and even a miniature forest at its heart filled with unique creatures.