Phong Nha styles itself as one of the adventure capitals of Vietnam and the town certainly occupies a dramatic location, with limestone peaks towering over the main street. A busy, independent traveller enclave has been carved out here, with most of the buildings on the main road housing either restaurants, guesthouses or tour agencies. Some of them offer all three.
Tour booking is big business and you’ll be gently pestered throughout your stay to spend book tours and excursions, starting as soon as you check in to your hotel. The good news is that it’s simple enough to arrange tours independently, tailored to your family’s requirements. Keep reading for all the information you need for your visit to Phong Nha with kids.
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Day 1 in Phong Nha
On Day 1, there’s no need to book a tour or drive anywhere, everything you’ll need today is within walking distance of the town centre, before jumping on a boat tour of the closest cave to town (known as Phong Nha Cave). The boats depart from the boat station a few minutes walk from the town centre at the dock.
Buy your tickets at the ticket office where a small amount of English is spoken. Ticket prices for the trip (maximum visit time of 2hr 30min) are VND150,000 for visitors over 1.3m (otherwise free of charge). Note that this doesn’t include boat transportation, which is pretty much the only option, so factor in another VND550,000 for the boat (they call it a Dragon Boat, but it’s more functional and less romantic than that). Payment is by cash only.
The boat can accommodate up to twelve people, so it’s possible to share with other tourists if you’d prefer, although we’d suggest taking the tour on your own. We’ve always found we need the flexibility of a private tour when travelling with kids; sometimes they want to spend ages collecting pebbles at the shoreline, and at other times they get fidgety waiting for the adults to hear all about sedimentary rock formations.
It takes about one hour to reach the cave, although the time flies by amongst the rock formations and gentle river breezes. As you approach the cave, the engines are switched off and the boat is rowed gently through the cave, the ceiling often only a few inches above your heads (make sure the kids are aware of the ramifications of not keeping their heads down).
After a few minutes, the guide performs an elaborate U-turn and rows you back to the entrance. From here, you hop out of the boat and walk along the wooden boardwalk for a closer inspection of the rock formations. It takes about fifteen minutes to reach the end, where the boat is waiting to take you back to the town centre dock. Expect to spend about three hours in total on the tour.
Afterwards, you’ll feel ready for some lunch and there are plenty of similar options along the main road. Head back to your hotel for an afternoon swim and relaxation session before popping out for a beer and dinner. If you’re hungry and love Indian food, we’d suggest Ganesh Indian Restaurant (the naan are incredible but huge so don’t over-order; you’ve been warned).
Day 2 in Phong Nha
On your second day, the two most famous caves are a short drive away, so you’ll need to arrange transport to and from them. This was something we decided to arrange via our guesthouse, partly because they offered a reasonable rate, and partly because we felt duty-bound to spend at least some of our tour money directly with them. There is an unwritten rule in Phong Nha that you direct some/most of your tour spending towards your accommodation, and life is usually easier this way.
We paid VND800,000 to be driven to Paradise Cave and Dark Cave (also known as Mud Cave), then back to the hotel. Including waiting time, we had use of the vehicle for almost nine hours, so this seemed like a reasonable price to pay, and it was certainly the easiest option for us. We saw several tour groups being herded around, and it didn’t look like much fun (more on this later).
First stop is Paradise Cave, the beauty of which is difficult to put into words, or capture in photographs. As you descend the staircase, the gigantic chamber continues to open up in front of you, eventually a revealing monumental cave system. A wooden boardwalk leads you through the caves, eventually reaching the turnaround point after about twenty minutes of walking. There’s a clever use of lighting that manages to illuminate the cave without spoiling the natural effect. It’s a breathtaking experience and one that the kids seemed equally captivated by.
As you’ve paid for a private driver, make sure you take advantage of that and get an early start, we arrived around 8:15am and most of the tour groups hadn’t appeared yet (we left the hotel at 7:30am). By the time we emerged above ground, the waiting area was thronging with tour groups, and the boardwalk had turned into a conveyor-belt.
Entrance fees are VND265,000 for visitors over 1.3m and VND143,000 for those under 1.3m. Surprisingly, we were able to pay by credit card (cash also accepted) and the price includes the buggy that transports you the 2km from the car park to the cave entrance.
The next (and final) stop is Dark Cave (also known as Mud Cave), which offers a different type of cave experience, perhaps one which will appeal even more to the kids.
Twenty minutes back along the road to Phong Nha, this is another place to go underground, but also to kayak, swim, zipline and bounce around on giant inflatables. It’s a huge amount of fun but bring plenty of stamina if you intend to join the kids on the obstacle course.
Before the excitement of the adventure course, you visit Dark Cave where you’ll navigate a dark cave system before reaching a mud bath and the opportunity to smother yourselves for a few minutes. To reach the cave entrance you can use the zipline, although they have strict height and weight limits (between 40kg and 90kg), which tends to exclude most children (and some parents). If this is the case for your group, there’s an alternate option of kayaks, and this also makes for a fun five-minute commute to the cave.
Even if you’re visiting on your own private tour, you tend to enter Mud Cave with other people as you need to be guided through the cave in a group. Everyone is given a lifejacket, helmet and head torch before being led through narrow passages, low ceilings and rocky river beds. If you have them, it’s a good idea to bring some aqua-shoes as the floor can be quite sharp and uneven in places.
After you’ve explored the caves and enjoyed the mud bath, you’re free to spend as much time as you like on the inflatable course and adventure area. Lifejackets must be worn at all times, so it’s quite safe to let your kids explore the area on their own whilst you paddle around on the kayaks. We spent almost three hours here before the kids finally agreed it was time to leave.
The entrance fee to Dark Cave is VND450,000 for over 1.3m and VND150,000 for under 1.3m. There’s a small area to get changed in and you can leave your clothes and valuables with the driver. You don’t need to take anything else with you, unless you want to take some photos in the cave. Once you get back to the adventure area, it’s a good idea to top-up on sunscreen as it gets very hot here, and there’s no shade.
Where to stay in Phong Nha
We stayed in a family room at Phong Nha Green Homestay. This is one of the few places on our Vietnam travels where the boys had a separate room and the extra space was very much appreciated.
There’s a rooftop pool with fantastic views across the the surrounding limestone karts, but the water quality of the pool was questionable, with no obvious filter or cleaning regime.
The owner is quite a character and very friendly, although no English is spoken at the hotel. Everything (including ordering breakfast) needs to be communicated either by pointing or Google Translate. There’s a fair amount of pestering to book tours, although we quickly came to realise this is just how things are done in Phong Nha.
How to get to and from Phong Nha
Getting to and from Phong Nha can be difficult as it’s not on the railway network and the sleeper buses are of mixed standard. Depending on the direction of onward travel, it’s common for travellers to be either visiting Ninh Binh or Hue next.
If you’re coming from the south (e.g. Hue or Nha Trang), a good option is to take the train to Dong Hoi (SE6 arrives at 4:53pm) and then arrange for a private transfer to Phong Nha. The journey from Dong Hoi to Phong Nha takes around 45 minutes and costs VND500,000 if arranged via your hotel (the price is similar or slightly cheaper if you book a Grab or negotiate directly with the taxi drivers who meet the train).
From the north, the same advice applies, with the SE7 and SE11 trains arriving at good times.
Heading out of Phong Nha is more complicated, especially if you’re travelling north. The train from Dong Hoi to Ninh Binh leaves around 7am, which necessitates a very early alarm call. The other trains will arrive into Ninh Binh in the middle of the night. It’s slightly better heading south, but the SE7 train still arrives into Hue around 8:30pm, which isn’t ideal with kids.
Instead, it’s probably best to book a sleeper bus onto your next destination. We made the mistake of booking our bus online without the option of reserving seats. When the bus arrived in Phong Nha, we were last to board and had to scramble to get seats near each other. It’s not fool proof, but the better option is to book your bus with either your hotel or one of the tour agencies. This way, they may be able to reserve you a seat but, just as importantly, they’ll be able to arrange pick-up locations and liaise with the bus company in case anything goes wrong. Booking online ourselves left us slightly unsure where we were being collected and what to do if things went wrong.
Final thoughts on visiting Phong Nha with kids
Phong Nha might be slightly off the main tourist route, but it’s certainly worth the detour. The town centre is entirely centred around the tourist market, so it does lack some character, but there’s no debate that everything you need for a successful stay is right on your doorstep.
Once you get past the gentle pressure to book tours, the pace of life here is relaxed and peaceful with the limestone peaks looking down over the town. All three of the main caves (Phong Nha, Paradise and Dark Cave) offer something of interest to families, especially if you skip the tours and arrange your own visit.
Parents might well prefer Paradise Cave and its epic atmosphere, but the kids are sure to really appreciate Dark Cave, if not for the muddy adventures, then definitely for the zipwires and inflatables that are guaranteed to be a highlight of their trip.
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