22 new caves discovered in Vietnam's Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng
The "kingdom of caves" of Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng has just gained 22 newly discovered caves, said to be every bit as dazzling as the 400 caves found there before.
On April 14, the management board of Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park in central Vietnam (in the former Quảng Bình province, now part of Quảng Trị) announced that cave explorers had discovered 22 more caves in Quảng Bình's "kingdom of caves."
One of the caves added to Quảng Bình's "kingdom of caves" in March 2024. (Photo: courtesy of the expedition team)
The new caves are mostly concentrated within Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park and in the former Minh Hóa and Tuyên Hóa districts.
The surveyed caves range from 30 to 572 m in length. The four longest are Va Cave (516 m), 12/2 Dry Cave (404 m), Vuc Hung Cave (430 m) and Ong Dau Cave (572 m). Their entrances sit at elevations of 46 to 550 m, and the caves reach depths of 32 to 154 m.
In this round, 7 caves with a combined length of 1,415 m were surveyed in the core zone of Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, 7 caves totaling 1,027 m in the park's buffer zone, and 11 caves totaling 1,108 m in the neighboring area of Lâm Hóa commune (in the former Tuyên Hóa district).
Most of the newly discovered caves are stunningly beautiful. (Photo: courtesy of the expedition team)
A member of the survey team said most of the newly found caves are dazzling and otherworldly. Each cave has its own distinctive character, representing the outstanding geological, geomorphological and hydrological values of different parts of Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park.
Phạm Hồng Thái, director of the Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park management board, said work on the newly discovered caves has so far only reached the preliminary stage of accessing them, pinpointing their locations and giving initial descriptions.
The park therefore needs in-depth surveys and research to better understand their value and make sound assessments for conserving and sustainably using these landscapes and caves.
Quảng Bình is known as the "kingdom of caves" with more than 400 caves explored so far. Among them are Sơn Đoòng Cave , the largest cave in the world, and Én Cave, the third-largest cave in the world.
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