British and Vietnamese spelunkers have finished a ten-day exploration of the Son Doong Cave, called the world’s largest grotto. The 20-member exploration team joined explorers from the British Cave Research Association (BCRA) and the Hanoi University for Natural Sciences.
The explorers penetrated an additional 530 meters into the Quang Binh province cave, increasing the part that has been surveyed to 7.2 kilometers. They confirmed that Son Doong has two entrances, unlike the mammoth karst caves in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (Quang Binh).
Team leader Howard Limbert called Son Doong unsuitable for tourism. It is too deep and its river flows too fast for the safety of unskilled visitors. Thus, although the cave is not very far from the western branch of the Ho Chi Minh Highway, it should be preserved in its natural state, he said.
A documentary about Son Doong will be aired after this survey, so adventure fans can look forward to exploring the cave on TV.
In mid-2009, the British Royal Cave Society announced the discovery of the world’s largest cave by Ho Khanh, a man in Quang Binh, who had named it Son Doong. The cave is 2 kilometers in length, 150 meters at the highest point, and 90 meters wide.
Before this site was discovered, Deer Cave in Malaysia was recognized as the world’s biggest cave at 100 meters high, 90 meters wide and 2 kilometers long.