Hang Sơn Đoòng
The world's largest natural cave passage, hidden beneath the limestone of Vietnam.
Last updated
Where it is
Coordinates: 17°27′25″N 106°17′13″E (17.4570, 106.2870) · Open in OpenStreetMap
Coordinates and connected clubs: the infobox of Wikipedia: Hang Sơn Đoòng (CC BY-SA 4.0). Map: drawn by Codexery from OpenStreetMap tiles.
Hang Sơn Đoòng is the world's largest natural cave, located in Phong Nha–Kẻ Bàng National Park, Vietnam.[1] The cave contains a fast-flowing subterranean river and has the largest cross-section of any cave worldwide.[2]
Geography and history
A local farmer named Hồ Khanh discovered the entrance on December 10, 1990 while searching for agarwood.[3] He heard the sound of strong wind and running water, and found a wide river flowing out of the entrance.[4] In 2008, he managed to rediscover the entrance, and in 2009 he led a BCRA expedition to it.[5] The expedition returned in March 2010, traversed the wall, and estimated the cave system's overall length exceeded 9 km.[6]
Upon hearing the noise of fast-flowing water and a powerful breeze, Hồ Khanh proceeded to examine the area further.[3] Afterward, he could not recall the precise spot and told two explorers from the British Cave Research Association about what he had found.[3] A 60‑meter‑tall barrier coated with flowstone, which the team called the Great Wall of Vietnam, halted their advance.[6]
What the cited sources add
The same source notes that the cave contains its own jungle, underground river, and localized weather system.[7] Clouds form inside the cave and spew out from exits and dolines, which gave early explorers a clue to the cave's size.[7] The Phung source states that the limestone of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is around 400 million years old, but Hang Sơn Đoòng formed less than 3 million years ago.[8] According to Phung, the cave is closed to tourism from September to December each year for safety and ecosystem restoration.[8]
The Hồ Khanh account mentions that he still had not paid off a VND10 million loan borrowed ten years earlier to develop his farm.[4]
References
- Wikipedia, "Hang Sơn Đoòng" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "From the Biggest to the Longest, Five Amazing Caves to Visit", Smithsonian Magazine, October 1, 2014; "Travel through Vietnam's Son Doong, the surreal cave so large a 747 plane could fly through it - CBS News", www.cbsnews.com, 2026-03-29 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hang Sơn Đoòng" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "World's Biggest Cave Found in Vietnam", National Geographic, July 9, 2009; Largest Cave Guinness World Records 2013, Page 032. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hang Sơn Đoòng" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ho Khanh, a local farmer and biggest cave in the world at sondoongcave.org, accessed June 23, 2020 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Ho Khanh, a local farmer and biggest cave in the world at sondoongcave.org, accessed June 23, 2020. facts only, no text reused. sondoongcave.org
- Wikipedia, "Hang Sơn Đoòng" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Son Doong Cave exploration story The largest cave in the world", sondoongcave.info, March 17, 2019 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hang Sơn Đoòng" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dykes, "Explorers discover spectacular caves in Vietnam", Yahoo!, January 3, 2011; "Son Doong Cave exploration story The largest cave in the world", sondoongcave.info, March 17, 2019; Dykes, "Explorers discover spectacular caves in Vietnam", Yahoo!, January 3, 2011; Jenkins, "Conquering an Infinite Cave", January 2011; "Son Doong Cave exploration story The largest cave in the world", sondoongcave.info, March 17, 2019 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Springer, "World's biggest cave is even bigger than we thought", CCN, May 20, 2019. facts only, no text reused. edition.cnn.com
- Phung, "Inside Son Doong: Conquer the World’s Largest Cave", Kampá Tour. facts only, no text reused. kampatour.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Hang Sơn Đoòng (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Caves & Gorges
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Hang Sơn Đoòng (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced