Hang Luồn

Useful Information

Location:	Cát Hải. (20.8533837, 107.0945588)
Open:	all year daily. [2024]
Fee:
Classification:	Karst Cave Natural Bridge
Light:	Incandescent Coloured Light
Dimension:	L=60 m, H=2.5-4 m.
Guided tours:	boat tour, no guide
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Hang Luồn, Tel: +84-.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

Hang Luồn (Luon Cave) is located on Bo Hon Island, and unlike the other show caves in the area, this one is not a huge passage with stalactites and stalagmites. The karst towers of Ha Long Bay stand in the shallow sea, the waves hit them at sea level, which erodes and dissolves the limestone. The result are quite characteristic ledges along the water level, which are several meters deep and often go all around the island. Hang Luồn is similar, but it actually goes through a karst tower, forming a sort of low and wide through-cave with seawater inside. Some call it a natural bridge or a rock arch. This cave is not developed and has neither trails nor electric light. The cave tour is a tour by rowing boat, and as the through-cave as well as the other shelters, the ledges, have daylight, no lamp is required.

The cave connects the bay with an almost circular lake named Hang Luồn Lake, which is surrounded by steep limestone cliffs The only way to get to this lake of seawater is through the cave. It is a result of the weathering of the limestone which formed a sort of polje inside the karst tower, which is now flooded by the sea.

But it's actually a guided tour, the guide is rowing the boat. So we classified it as a show cave tour, which is well deserved, the number of visitors is enormous, and it's more like a rock concert. The cruise ships which do the one- to five-day cruises stop at this small bay, there are three floating quays with some roofs for sun protection and lots of rowing boats and kayaks. So there is actually a quay with a total length of 300 intended only for the enormous numbers of visitors who embark on rowing boats or rent a kayak. The small boats are necessary because the arch is too low for bigger boats, during high tide it's only 2.5 m high, and in the lower sections the visitors have to duck. Visitors get life jackets instead of helmets.