The engine stops when your boat reaches Phong Nha Cave. Your guide starts rowing, and you glide into the dark. It’s the quietest, and best, part of the visit. Quite a change from your typical Vietnamese coastal journey.
Pick your caves
Phong Nha is cave country. The town is largely one main street of restaurants, massage places and tour offices, with the caves providing the reason to visit.
Phong Nha Cave is accessible though a classic boat experience; Paradise Cave is the more imposing walk through a huge interior. I visited in cool January weather, so I skipped Dark Cave’s more summery water-based entertainment. You don’t have to check into every cave on the map.
The useful logistics
At the Phong Nha boat station, the boat is charged as a whole, rather than per passenger. Finding other visitors at the counter to share the ride with is essential. Don’t pay for a boat by yourself.
For caves farther from town, arrange the return journey before your Grab driver leaves. Finding a ride in town and finding one outside a remote cave are not the same problems. Take a layer for the cooler cave interiors.
Add a hike, or stop at two days
I also did a full-day Tu Lan Experience with Oxalis. Phong Nha is their HQ, their home base. For me, it was more about the hike and the surrounding landscape than the particular caves. Choose the trip by what you want to do, rather than by how many cave names it promises.
I’d give Phong Nha two days if caves and hiking appeal. If you’re deciding between here and Ninh Binh and want more variety, I’d choose Ninh Binh.
These photographs and tips are a small selection from my more comprehensive Phong Nha guide. I’m developing guides from my visits, with fuller recommendations on where to stay, eat and drink, what’s worth your time, what to avoid, and how to put a visit together. Keep an eye out for those - I’ll let you know when they come out.
I’ll share photographs and a few useful notes from another stop each Sunday morning.