Caves in Ha Long Bay

Hang Trinh Nu is popularly known as the "Virgin Cave", a popular cave due to the historical story attached to it. Known in Vietnamese as Hang Trinh Nu, it sits on the southern side of Bo Hon Island facing Drum Cave across a narrow channel, and the pair are tied together by a local legend about a fisherman's daughter and the young man who came looking for her. It is far quieter than Sung Sot because the larger cruise boats do not stop here, and the ones that do usually combine it with kayaking in the sheltered water outside.

Hang Sung Sot, the Surprise Cave, is the largest cave in Ha Long Bay and the one almost every cruise itinerary includes. It sits on Bo Hon Island and was documented by French surveyors in the late nineteenth century. A stepped path leads up from the jetty into two connected chambers, the second of them vast, with a lit walkway running through stalactites and stalagmites that guides point out as a Buddha, a tortoise and other shapes. The lighting is coloured and theatrical rather than subtle. Go early or late in the day, because between ten and two the walkway is shoulder to shoulder.

One of the largest and the most beautiful caves of Halong Bay, Dong Thien Cung, popularly known as 'Heaven Cave' is a natural wonder. It has a system of stalactites and stalagmites of strange shapes like birds, fishes and human activities illuminated with fluorescent lights. Along with this heavenly beauty, the cave also has three small ponds.

Hang Dau Go is a natural wonder and one of the most beautiful caves of Halong Bay. It has intricate carvings and an ancient architecture with many stone pillars and stalactites. There is a wide variety of flora and fauna in the cave, especially mosses, ferns and the wood tree. The cave has a historical meaning behind it's name dating back to when Vietnam fought the Mongols.

Thien Canh Son Cave is a cave 60 steps up the island. It has three caverns inside, each full of unique stalactites and stalagmites illuminated by artificial lights. The cave has a small entrance and is tiny in comparison to some other caves of Halong, however, it acts as an advantage because it doesn't get crowded.

With a system of thousands of years old stalactites and stalagmites, Tien Ong Cave is a cave with landscapes and a primitive charm like no other. Split into two chambers by a rustic looking stone pillar, the cave is only 5 meters above sea level, but 50 meters below. Archelogists have also discovered human bones and artefacts dating back to 10,000 BC - 8,000 BC.

During the Vietnam War, the Hospital Cave was built high up in the limestone karsts which was invisible from the ground and air, making it an ideal safe house. The cave has concrete rooms that were built as doctors offices and surgical rooms for the injured soldiers. Those interested in history and the war should definitely visit this unique atrraction.

Hang Trong or Drum Cave is found in the southeast area of Halong Bay. Opposite the virgin cave, it gets its name from the sound made by the numerous stalactites on its ceiling, making the sound of distent drumbeats when a wind blows in. Drum Cave, or Hang Trong, faces Virgin Cave across the channel on Bo Hon Island. The name comes from the sound the wind makes moving through the stalactites at the mouth, which carries across the water like a distant drum. Most visitors see it from the boat rather than landing, and it is usually paired with the kayaking stop at Virgin Cave.

Hang Bo Nau, also known as "Pelican Cave" is named so due to the herd of pelicans that filled the cave in the past. The cave has a monster mouth opening with the stalactites and stalgmites of strange shapes falling down from the ceiling looking like sharp teeth. You can stand at the entrance and admire the scenery of Halong Bay.