Background
Oxalis Adventure Tours, the sole licensed operator of Son Doong Cave expeditions in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, inaugurated the Phong Nha Cave Exploration Information Centre on 26 April 2026. The centre, in Phong Nha, Quang Tri Province, Vietnam, combines scientific knowledge, exploration history, and experiential technology to help visitors engage with the heritage of Phong Nha-Ke Bang.
The VR180 5D experience
The centrepiece of the new centre is a fee-based, 15-minute VR180 5D experience of Son Doong Cave, the world's largest natural cave. Visitors use VR headsets to view footage captured by photographer Ryan Deboodt in 8K resolution at a 180-degree viewing angle. A motion system synced to each frame delivers physical environmental effects: wind, mist, vibrations, and the warmth of sunlight filtering through the cave's famous sky windows. Together these recreate the cold air, drifting mist, characteristic echoes, water drips, and wind through vast stone chambers.
Access and pricing
Tickets cost VND 500,000 (approximately USD 19) per person. All revenue is donated to the Oxalis Foundation, supporting community programmes including swimming lessons for children, scholarships, and school construction. The wider exhibition covering 35+ years of exploration via documents, maps, imagery, and documentary film is free of charge. The centre is open daily from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM.
Heritage context
The centre chronicles the discovery and mapping of 472 caves totalling approximately 330 km in length across Quang Tri Province, led by Howard Limbert and the British Cave Research Association in partnership with Vietnamese colleagues since 1990. During a March to April 2026 survey, the British-Vietnamese team mapped 29 caves including 26 newly discovered, and found five Neolithic stone axes dating 6,000 to 8,000 years old in Hang En cave.
At the opening, Ho Van Hoan, deputy director of Quang Tri Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, praised the centre as a vivid and realistic recreation of more than three decades of exploration.
