Động Tiên Cá

Tien Ca Cave - Mermaid Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Thung Nham, Thôn Hải Nham, Hoa Lư, Ninh Bình. 14 km from Ninh Binh city center. From Ninh Binh follow QL1A south, turn right on DT491C to Hoa Lư, turn right to Thung Nham. Follow the trail around the lake clockwise. (20.2174119, 105.8903634)
Open:	Thung Nham Ecotourism Area: Summer daily 7-18. Winter daily 7:30-17:30. [2024]
Fee:	Thung Nham Ecotourism Area: Adults VND 150,000, Children (1m-1.3m) VND 100,000, Children (<1m) free, Seniors (80+) free, Disabled free. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	Incandescent Coloured Light
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided, L=500 m.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Thung Nham Ecotourism Area, Thung Nham, Thôn Hải Nham, Hoa Lư, Ninh Bình, Tel: +84-912-900-887. E-mail:
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

Động Tiên Cá (Tien Ca Cave, Mermaid Cave) is one of numerous caves in the karstified and forested hills, which belong to the Thung Nham Ecotourism Zone. The visit is included in the entrance fee of the zone, it is visited self-guided as a part of the walk through the park. The zone has three show caves which can be visited on the same day, due to the size of the area you should plan a full day. The three caves are Vai Gioi Cave, Buddha Cave, and Mermaid Cave.

Mermaid Cave is a more or less horizontal passage, a through cave located at the southwestern edge of the bird park. The river is dammed to create a huge lake, and there is a trail along the shore of the lake with several bridges. The entry to this cave is on the trail, and the cave crosses a protruding karst tower and ends again on the trail. So it is possible to return along the lake or continue the round trip around the lake. The cave has a calm cave river, but there is a dry trail made of bamboo through the whole cave. The trail is 500 m long, and the passage is quite spacious, the largest section is 40 m wide and 30 m high.

The cave was called hang Cá (Fish Cave) by the locals, because the cave river was the gathering place of two types of precious fish, Tràu Tiến Vua and Tong Truong Perch. From October to February of the lunar calendar, visitors can observe large numbers of fish swimming in the stream because the water in the cave is very clear. Tràu Tiến Vua and Tong Truong Perch are rare and delicious, so the people brought them to the King, because he was the only person who knew how to enjoy this type of fish.