British diving experts unveil new discoveries inside Son Doong Cave

• Son Doong named amazing place discovered recently
• Son Doong Cave listed as world’s most ideal tourist destination

National Geographic once shared that, located in central Quang Binh province, the entrance to Son Doong, meaning “cave of the mountain river,” was first discovered in 1991 by Hồ Khanh, a local logger. 

In 2009, a team of scientists and explorers, having heard tale of Hồ Khanh’s fabled discovery, contacted him and requested his help to find the cave. It took several months, but he eventually retraced his way back through the remote jungle.

Inside Son Doong cave. Photo: NG

After days of searching, using caving systems and techniques, they found that the cave is estimated to be between two and five million years old, and it is believed to be the largest cave passage in the world.

At an international press conference held recently in Hanoi, a team of 5 professional divers including British divers Richard Stanton, John Volanthen, Jason Mallison and Chris Jewell, who were members of the rescue team saving the Thai football team trapped in Thailand's Tham Luang Cave last year, announced an amazing shocking news.

A new underground tunnel, which is far below the sea level, has been discovered in Son Doong. In particular, the cave experts found a new tunnel system at a depth of 60 metres, the deeper it goes the wider the underground cave system opens up.

The result came after months of reseaching, said the British divers team. They had to work at the end of the river inside Son Doong and went further into a water passage. 

The trip was first to find out the connection between Son Doong Cave and Hang Thung Cave which are 600m apart, based on the results mace by the British Cave Research Association’s team in 2010.

However, according to diver John Volanthen, the passage was actually not in a straight line and it went deeper underground. They found a hole inside the passage that leads to a tunnel.

The divers are expected to return to Vietnam next year, where they hope to link the tunnel in Son Doong to another cave nearby.