“Even those who have conquered Mount Everest say that exploring Sơn Đoòng Cave is the most extraordinary experience, that it is the most wonderful place they have ever visited in their lives.”
The Guinness World Records recognizes Sơn Đoòng Cave as the largest cave in the world, based on its overall dimensions, with a volume of 38.5 million cubic meters, surpassing Deer Cave in Malaysia, which previously held the record.
According to the Guinness World Records dataset, Sơn Đoòng Cave is approximately 200 meters high, 150 meters wide, and at least 6.5 kilometers long. Sơn Đoòng Cave is located in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province, Vietnam.
Based on current surveys and explorations, Sơn Đoòng Cave has a total length of 9 kilometers and includes around 150 individual caves, an underground jungle, and several underground rivers.
Sơn Đoòng Cave hidden in the ancient forest. (Photo: Oxalis Adventure).
The ethereal beauty of the world’s largest cave. (Photo: Oxalis Adventure).
Oxalis Adventure – a professional adventure operator based in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, has stated: “The largest cave in the world – Sơn Đoòng – is one of the most incredible places in Vietnam and one of the top natural heritage sites globally. The astonishing size of Sơn Đoòng leaves explorers in awe, making them feel as if they are stepping into an extraterrestrial world beneath the Earth’s surface.”
Sơn Đoòng Cave is nearly 3 million years old and offers the most magnificent caving experience for adventure and exploration enthusiasts worldwide. It is not just a cave but a distinct and unique underground environment. Sơn Đoòng is vast and features lush forests, underground rivers, and even its own climate. It was officially explored in 2009-2010 by the British Cave Research Association (BCRA).
The breathtaking beauty inside Sơn Đoòng Cave. (Photo: Oxalis Adventure).
The cave attracts many experts and international explorers. (Photo: Oxalis Adventure).
The India Times describes Sơn Đoòng as being hidden in the heart of an ancient forest. The underground maze, formed over millions of years, reaches heights of up to 200 meters and widths of up to 160 meters. The cave’s vast space could accommodate an entire neighborhood of New York City, complete with 40-story skyscrapers.
Exploring the underground river in Sơn Đoòng – Making history!
First discovered in the 1990s by a local resident and officially explored by British adventurers in 2009, Sơn Đoòng shocked the world with its unbelievable size.
The cave continues to hold the record for the largest cave on Earth following an expedition in early April 2019 – the exploration of the underground river within Sơn Đoòng Cave. The official results confirmed that Sơn Đoòng is indeed larger than we thought, as reported by Oxalis Adventure.
Oxalis Adventure, the only company licensed to take visitors into Sơn Đoòng Cave, invited a team of British divers – including Jason Mallinson, Rick Stanton, and Chris Jewell – to explore Sơn Đoòng after their famous rescue operation of a trapped soccer team in Thailand in 2018.
In the first week of April 2019, the underground river inside Sơn Đoòng Cave was dived by the British team, covering a length of 78 meters, marking the deepest cave dive ever conducted in Vietnam!
British divers Jason Mallinson, Rick Stanton, and Chris Jewell – who were involved in the rescue of the trapped soccer team in Thailand in 2018 – diving in the underground river in Sơn Đoòng Cave. (Photo: Oxalis Adventure).
The dive expedition in Sơn Đoòng Cave attracted international media. (Photo: Oxalis Adventure).
The astonishing dive expedition in the underground river of Sơn Đoòng made headlines around the world and left experts and nature lovers in awe of another thrilling secret.
<p Major Western news outlets reported on the pioneering dive expedition and the fact that Sơn Đoòng remains the largest cave on our planet, but it could potentially be even larger than we imagined.
One of the world’s most famous media outlets, CNN Travel, featured this fascinating exploration and shared a video showcasing the majesty of Sơn Đoòng Cave.
“It is incredible that something as significant as the largest cave in the world is still being explored and understood more. No one had set foot in Sơn Đoòng until 2009. To date, we have only explored about 30% of the area of Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, so there are still many exciting discoveries waiting for us to uncover.” – CNN quoted Howard Limbert, technical advisor for the adventure tourism company Oxalis Adventure, in their famous article from 2019.
Famous websites like Travel & Leisure and News.com.au called this a “breakthrough discovery” and widely circulated this information through interesting articles and videos. MSN and Kids.com.au also expressed their amazement at the extraordinary discoveries beneath Sơn Đoòng Cave.
Many exciting discoveries await us in the future. (Photo: Oxalis Adventure).
The entire scientific and travel news community is eagerly anticipating the mysterious connection between Sơn Đoòng and Thung Cave, wondering what will happen when divers return in 2020 to vividly share with the world the fascinating wonders hidden within the Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park in Vietnam.
“It is a fact that, at this moment (2019), more people have climbed to the summit of Everest than have visited Sơn Đoòng Cave. But even those who have conquered Everest say that exploring Sơn Đoòng is the most extraordinary experience, that it is the most wonderful place they have ever visited in their lives.” – Howard Limbert told CNN.
