Be picked up at your hotel in Phong Nha and head to the boat station located at the Phong Nha-Ke Bang Tourism Center’s ticket office. After a short intro, enter a tour van which will take you to another small dock located 10 minutes from the boat station.
Use a boat to get to the mouth of the Phong Nha Cave. Be equipped with high-quality gear required for successfully exploring the Cave. The assigned tour guide will provide general information about the cave before entering it.
After a safety briefing, enter the cave by kayak/boat. Pass through the entrance zone, home to many different animals like birds, fish, snakes, & monkeys. Not far from the mouth of the cave, the Twilight zone starts.
This is the zone in which the carefully placed artificial lighting system is installed. Grand stalagmite and stalactite formations are beautifully lit up by this system and it creates a spectacular ambiance & vibe. The twilight zone stretches for about 1.2kms & after the last lamp, the dark zone officially starts.
After venturing approximately 500m into the dark zone, leave the kayaks/boat behind & make your way over enormous boulders, narrow passages, and huge stalagmites & stalactites. It’s a game of climbing & descending while your tour guide provides a large amount of interesting information about the Phong Nha Cave.
After making it through the first kilometre of the dark zone, a simple lunch will be served to regain some of the used up energy. Next up it’s time to enter the subterranean river once again, however, this time, you will have to swim.
The temperature of the water is very pleasant & the view is once again spectacular. After swimming approximately 200m, reach a sandy beach & from that point on it will be swimming and walking on the gorgeous beaches that can be found inside the cave.
At one point the river current gets stronger and one of the tour guides will span a rope between one side of the river & the other to successfully get you across. After 2~4 hours, reach the 4.5km point & be awarded certificates for successfully exploring 500m in Phong Nha.
After taking pictures with the certificates, head back to the kayaks/boats. Although partly the same route will be walked, viewing the cave from the other way is completely different. This is also caused by the fact that on the way back you are usually more confident & now take the time to look up more than watch your step.
Another great thing about the way back is that you will be travelling downstream & the river will carry you down for the largest part of the way. Back at the kayak/boat, there is time to relax & swim before returning to the boat station.
However, at this point, the tour is not over. The twilight zone will also be visited including the amazing By Ki chamber where Cham people have left an inscription that’s over a thousand years old. The twilight zone will be explored by foot & the artificial lighting system will create for another entirely different caving experience.