Vietnamese and British scientists have so far surveyed a total of 20 caves with a total length of 70 km. Of these surveyed caves, 17 were in the Phong Nha area and three in the Ke Bang area.
The Phong Nha cave from which the name to the whole system and the park is derived is famous for their rock formations which have been given names such as the “Lion”, the “Fairy Caves”, the “Royal Court”, and the “Buddha”.

Phong Nha – Ke Bang also contains two dozens of mountain peaks with over 1,000 metres height. Noteworthy peaks are the Peak Co Rilata with ta height of 1,128 m and the Peak Co Preu with a height of 1,213 m.
The park is part of the Annamites eco-region. According to the results of initial surveys, the primary tropical forest in Phong Nha – Ke Bang 140 families, 427 genera, and 751 species of vascular plants, of which 36 species are endangered and listed in the Vietnam Red Book. The forest is also home to 98 families, 256 genera and 381 species of vertebrates. Sixty-six animal species are listed in the Vietnam Red Book and 23 other species in the World Red Book.
In 2005, a new species of gecko was discovered here by a group of Vietnamese biologists together with biologists working for the park, Cologne Zoo in Germany and the Saint Petersburg Wild Zoology Institute in Russia.

Besides the grotto and cave systems, Phong Nha has the longest underground river. The Son and Chay are the main rivers in this national park. Most of caves here have been shaped by Son and Chay Rivers. The Son River flows into the mouth of the Phong Nha cave and keeps on underground, where it is called as the Nam Aki River. It emerges 20 km to the south near Pu-Pha-Dam Mountain.
There are over ten spectacular streams, springs and waterfalls in Phong Nha-Ke Bang area, namely: Gió waterfall, Madame Loan waterfall, M?c stream erupting from a limestone mount range, and Tràng  An stream.

Incoming search terms:

• phong nha ke bang

Son Doong Cave (in Vietnamese: Hang Son Ðoòng, meaning Mountain River Cave) is one of the most newly-found caves in the national park. Found by British cave scientists of the British Cave Research Association, it is regarded as the largest cave in the world.The biggest chamber of Son Doong is over five kilometers in length, 200 meters high and 150 meters wide. With these tremendous dimensions, Son Doong overtakes Deer Cave of Malaysia to take the title of world’s largest cave. Because the fast flowing underground river in the cave deterred the explorers from going farther, they are only able to estimate the length of the cave using a flashlight. They will carry out further exploration in the near future. The cave had been discovered by a native man in 1991, but he could not remember the way to the cave until January, 2008. From the end of March to April 14, 2009, he helped the explorers to traverse the 10 kilometer forest pass to access the cave mouth. Because of the difficulty in traversing into the cave as well as dangerous conditions in the cave, the cave will be open only to scientists in the near future. The cave was found by a local man named Ho-Khanh in 1991. The local jungle men were afraid of the cave for the whistling sound it makes from the underground river. However, not until 2009 was it made known to the public when a group of British scientists from the British Cave Research Association, led by Howard and Deb Limbert, conducted a survey in Phong Nha-Ke Bang from April 10–14, 2009.Their progress was stopped by a large calcite wall. According to Limbert, this cave is five times larger than the Phong Nha cave, previously considered the biggest cave in Vietnam. The biggest chamber of Son Doong is over five kilometers in length.

Incoming search terms:

• son doong cave

Map of Tu Lan cave system:

Thien Duong (Paradise) Cave is a newly found cave in this area. Prior to the discovery of Son Doong Cave, it was regarded as the largest and longest cave in Phong Nha-Ke Bang. Some of the most beautiful and spectacular stalactites and stalagmites in the park are found within Thien Duong. It was opened up to tourists in early 2011 with a 1.1 km path to see the beautiful formations. A comprehensive survey has not yet been conducted due to the inherent dangers; therefore, knowledge of this cave is limited and it remains a mystery to the scientists.

Tien Son cave was discovered by a local inhabitant by accident in 1935. It is located in Son Trach Commune, Bố Trạch District. The entry mouth of Tien Son is 1 km from Phong Nha cave, at an altitude of 200 m. This cave is 980 m in length. A 10 m deep hole is situated 400 m from the entry mouth, then a 500 m long underground cave, dangerous for tourists and therefore is open to professional expeditionists only. Like Phong Nha cave, this cave features spectacular stalactites and stalagmites shaped like several fairy-tales. Stalactite and stalagmite columns and walls here create strange sounds like that of gong and drum if they are knocked with the hand. According to British cave scientists; Tien Son cave was created tens of millions years ago when water current holed this limestone mount in Ke Bang. Following a series of landforms and movement of rocks, this mass was levered or lowered, blocking the current and creating what is now Tien Son cave while the underground river redirected its current to Phong Nha cave. Although Phong Nha and Tien Son caves are located next to each other, there are no linking grottos between them.

Vom Cave systems in Phong Nha Ke Bang national par

Vom Grotto

Vom Grotto  is a 15.05 km long, 145 m high grotto with several underground rivers, pools. This grotto features several spectacular stalagmite and stalactites. In the recent exploring of British Cave Research Association, the scientists have found an abyss in Vom Grotto named Tang hole with the deep of over 255m.This hole is the deepest hole in Vietnam.

Dai Cao Grotto

This grotto is a connection of Vom Grotto. This grotto is 1645 m long, 28 m high..

Duot Grotto

This is a connection of Dai Cao Grotto with the length of 3.927 km and height of 45 m. There are some fine sand fields inside.

Ca Grotto

Ca Grotto is a 1,500 m long, 62 m high grotto.

Ho Grotto

Ho Grotto  is a connection of Ca Grotto with the length of 1,616 m and the height of 46 m

Over Grotto

Over Grotto is a 3,244 m long, 103 m high grotto, with the width from 30–50 m.

Pygmy Grotto

This 845 m long grotto has several streams falling from mounts.

Ruc Caroong Grotto

This the habitat of Arem ethnic group. They live in the caves, grottos and on hunting, harvesting natural products.

Phong Nha Caves, like most of the caves in this area, has been continuously shaped by the Chay River. As one gets farther into the cave, the more illusory the stalactites and stalagmites look as they glitter when bright light is shone on them. The Son River flows into the mouth of the cave and keeps flowing underground, where it is referred to as the Nam Aki River, then this river emerges at a site 20 km to the south near Pu Pha Dam Mountain.
The main Phong Nha cave includes 14 chambers, connected by an underwater river that runs for 1.5 km. Secondary corridors branch off in all directions. The Outer Cave and some of the Inner Caves have roofs that tower between 25 and 40 meters above the water level. From the 14th chamber there may be other corridors leading to similarly large chambers, but this area proves more dangerous for explorers because of the ongoing erosion of the limestone of the cavern. The Shallow cave is located 800 meters from the cave mouth, where there is a spectacular landscape of sand and rock. Stalactites and stalagmites jut out like strange trees, exciting visitor’s imaginations.

Notable caves and grottos in Phong Nha Cave system

Dark Grotto

Dark Grotto located upstream of Son River running to the branch of Chay River on the left. This cave is 5,258 m long and with a height of 83 m. The entry is high and wide with heavy forest around the cave mouth.

E Grotto

E Grotto a 736 m-long grotto accessible by Ho Chi Minh Trail.En Grotto is  a 1645 m long, 78.6 m high grotto. The grotto is wide, there is fine sand field inside. This grotto is the habitat of thousands of sparrows.

Cha An Grotto

Cha An Grotto: a 667 m-long grotto, with the width of 15 m.
Thung Grotto: This grotto has an underground river of 3351 m, with the height in some part exceed 133 . This river receives water resources from Rao Thuong.

Khe Tien Grotto

Khe Tien Grotto: located south of Phong Nha, this grotto is 520 m long.

Khe Ry Grotto

Khe Ry Grotto: located south of Phong Nha. The grotto is where the stream Khe Ry (a 13.817 km or 8.585 mi (13.816 km) long stream at the elevation of 120 m, originating from a mount 1300 m high) runs out.

Khe Thi Grotto

Khe Thi Grotto: The Khe Thi stream originating from the mount and runs underground at this grotto.