Sung Sot Cave

Sung Sot Cave – 70,000 Years as Halong Bay’s Heart

The outward beauty of Halong Bay is plain for all to see, but another world exists within the limestone karsts of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, one that has been adding another profound sense of grandeur to cruises for years. Sung Sot Cave is one of the best caves to visit in Halong Bay, with magnificence in its appearance and a long history born of powerful and natural forces.

Sung Sot Cave also goes by the names of the ‘Surprising Cave’ or the ‘Amazing Cave’, named by French explorers to the region at the turn of the 20th century. Since then, the cave has become the anchor of Halong Bay cruises, one endearing to the many hundreds of visitors who step foot inside it on a daily basis. Its vast limestone formations come in an array of shapes and sizes, with some blooming like clouds from below and others cascading from the high ceiling above.

While the cavern is hugely popular on cruises, its magnificence justifies this perfectly. Amidst the overall painting of Halong Bay, Sung Sot Cave contains some of its boldest colors.

The magnificence inside Sung Sot Cave

A Gallery of Limestone Forged by Water

For tens of thousands of years in Halong Bay, ferocious storms and constant tidal erosion contoured and sculpted Sung Sot Cave into its cavernous existence today. It stands at an unbelievable 10,000m2, twice the size of the White House and separated into two chambers categorized by two different approaches to natural beauty.

The first of its chambers resemble a grand theatre; a huge open area flanked by stalactites and stalagmites acting as the ‘audience’ while limestone ‘chandeliers’ hangs from high above. The rocks are also bathed in colorful lighting, which accentuates their shapes and lends an eerie feeling of drama to this most majestic of performance spaces.

Through a narrow path, visitors will find the second chamber, even larger than the first and supposedly capable of holding up to 1,000 people. Its gigantic, empty space was a blank canvas for rainwater in the past, which could forge its own path and create, along with a reflective lake, some of Sung Sot Cave’s most marvelous limestone offerings.

The exit to the cave provides stunning vistas of the garden that lies just beyond it. This is an area rich with tropical vegetation and the wealth of wildlife that its magical ecosystem brings. Don’t be surprised to see monkeys swinging between trees above the shimmering water or black kites perched atop streaked limestone cliffs, observing the scene from up high.

Amazing Cave

Animals and Demons in a Zoo of Rock

As with many, if not all, of the caves in Halong Bay, the various shapely appearances of its rocky innards have given rise to colourful folklore about Sung Sot Cave. It is centered on Thanh Giong, one of Vietnam’s mythical heroes who banished demons from the cave using nothing but a horse and sword, later heading to the heavens for early retirement. Locals will claim that the pools of water on the floor are footprints of Thanh Giong’s horse, while other formations dotted around are the slain bodies of demons, cast into stone after their deaths and left for eternity in Sung Sot Cave.

Along with this, tour guides will point out the shapes of various animals such as elephants and bears, who stand amongst vast gardens of banyan trees as part of the idyllic Asian scene cast into rock. Visitors to the cave need a healthy capacity for imagination upon entering, but viewing the cave with an open mind for local folklore merely adds to its wonderful appeal.

It's also known as Surprising Cave

The Best Time to Visit Sung Sot Cave

Visitors to Halong Bay in its wet season or its cold season can be buoyed by the fact that Sung Sot Cave is a year-round attraction, one that offers excellent conditions regardless of the weather outside.

The Wet Season (May – September) – Halong Bay during the wet season is not only characterized by its rain but also the scorching average temperatures of around 31°C (88°F). Sung Sot Cave’s roomy existence and protection from the elements means that it contains a natural system of air conditioning, providing a much-needed respite from the heat and rain before passengers return to their cruises.

The Cold Season (December – February) – Relatively cold temperatures in the bay during winter can be withstood at Sung Sot Cave, which retains its heat with another natural system of heat insulation. As a bonus, views out of the cave’s exit while the bay is engulfed in the typical winter mist are exquisite, as Halong Bay is turned into a prehistoric world with limestone mountains silhouetted within the haze.

The Peak Seasons (March-May and October – December) – Perfect or near-perfect weather conditions come to Halong Bay during the peak seasons, and Sung Sot Cave retains its constant good temperatures and offers to shield from any early or late wet season deluges.

How to get to Sung Sot Cave

The only way to visit Sung Sot Cave is via a tour through Halong Bay, many of which opt to visit the cave for the wonders of the bay that it can showcase for passengers. Along with Titop Island, Soi Sim Beach and Luon Cave, Sung Sot Cave forms the central heart of Halong Bay and is open as a tourist attraction throughout the day.

The way to Sung Sot Cave

On a day trip, 2-day cruise or 3-day cruise, it is likely that Sung Sot Cave will feature. This makes the cave quite busy at times, but the natural splendor ensures that the karst topography is always at the forefront of visitors’ minds.

The cruises will take you to visit Amazing Cave

To visit Sung Sot Cave in Halong Bay please contact us for booking a cruise in Halong Bay. Vietnam Escape Tours Travel is a best oneline Vietnam Travel Operator for agency for booking a cruise in Halong Bay and other vacation in Vietnam for your group.