Each tour of the largest cave in the world accommodates only 10 people, but to that must be added 30 people, in addition to entrance fees and environmental services.
The world’s largest cave exploration tour, Son Doong, is 4 days and 3 nights at a cost of 3,000 USD (69.8 million VND)/person. Many people think that the value of Son Doong’s tour is too expensive compared to reality, only for people who have money. Actually, what does this cost include?
The tour is designed according to European safety standards
Currently, Oxalis Adventure is the only company authorized to operate Son Doong Cave exploration tours. In 2013, the company was authorized by the People’s Committee of Quang Binh Province to build a project to build an adventure tour to explore this cave.
Each year, the number of visitors to the cave is limited to 1,000 people. The program lasts 4 days and 3 nights, taking visitors to discover the masterpieces of underground rivers, magnificent stalactites or even forests, and the own flora and fauna inside the cave.
Mr. Nguyen Chau, Director of the company, shared: “The safety of visitors and employees is our top priority in adventure tours and haggling over safety-related requirements is not allowed.” Mr. Howard Limbert, a British caver, who worked with the company to develop a safety plan. Therefore, all equipment is ordered from Europe and approved by Mr. Howard.
Additionally, each tour only has 10 guests, but requires 30 people for a tour Including 22 porters carrying luggage and food throughout the journey; 5 security assistants; an international guide; an expert on British royal caves; 2 chefs and a ranger.
They carry 600 kg of equipment and supplies in and out of the cave, including human waste. All local porters and guides receive regular safety and rescue training. In case of emergency, there will be rescue helicopters.
The team of porters is always the one who goes first, to set up camp or prepare equipment on the roads they cross. They prepare guests with delicious meals, portable bathrooms and changing rooms.
“Each porter carries 30 kilograms of luggage, in many places it is slippery and dangerous, they only wear normal shoes and sandals, but it is fast and safe. It makes me admire,” Quang recalled , a customer.
Cost of environmental protection
In addition to 10% VAT, the tour price includes 390 USD (8.8 million VND) entrance fee to Quang Binh province, 210 USD (4.8 million VND) fee for services environmental forestry (7% of income). Starting in 2020, the People’s Committee of Quang Binh Province made the decision to reduce the entrance fee by 50% to 195 USD (4.4 million VND). Thus, the environmental service fee is also reduced to 175 USD (4 million VND)/guest.
Therefore, the price of the trip was reduced to stimulate demand, to VND58.2 million.
The tour price also includes the total cost of airport pickup, two-night hotel stay, meals before and after the trip. Additionally, many other operating and administrative costs are also included.
Mr. Nguyen Asia shared that any activity has more or less impact on heritage. Therefore, environmental issues are also a factor in Quang Binh province and the company is very concerned when operating the tours.
Therefore, the People’s Committee of Quang Binh Province only allows 1 to 8 months to organize the road to conquer Son Doong, the remaining 4 months to rebalance. The limit of visitors per year is 1,000 people, depending on the capacity of the campsites and the schedule of non-overlapping tours, i.e. not serving 2 tours at the same time.
Oxalis website: https://oxalisadventure.com/
