Dau Go Cave

The mouth of this cave is wide, and the daylight of the bay comes in with it. Because the light reaches them, the stalagmites and stalactites near the entrance wear a thin coat of green moss. The Ha Long Bay Heritage Management Board names this ancient green among the details of the cave. It is Đầu Gỗ Cave, about 300 meters east of Thiên Cung Cave on the same island, and its beauty and its story are quite different.

The cave covers more than 5,000 square meters and has three chambers. The structure is open at the outer end and narrows toward the inside. Rock walls and great stalactite columns divide one chamber from the next. Deep inside, the management board describes tall stone pillars standing like a group of ancient buildings carved by nature.

The cave sits 21 meters above sea level. Đầu Gỗ Island, where it lies, rises to 189 meters at its peak. It is one of the three western points of the triangle that marks the strictly protected core of the Ha Long Bay World Natural Heritage Site. This is the most closely guarded zone in the whole heritage site.

The Quảng Ninh tourism portal records that the cave was once called the Cave of Wonders. That folk name shows that people long ago saw this as a special place.

There are two explanations for the name Đầu Gỗ. One comes from the management board's own documents. The area has coves sheltered from the wind, and fishermen of old rowed in to wait out storms and mend their boats. They left many scraps of wood behind, and so the place became Đầu Gỗ.

The other explanation is a folk legend that is more widely told. It ties the name to the preparing of wooden stakes before the 1288 Bạch Đằng battle of Trần Hưng Đạo. The tale has passed down through many generations. But it is a folk legend, and no archaeological evidence confirms any particular event at this cave.

The cave also has a very special link to modern history. In 1957, President Hồ Chí Minh visited Ha Long Bay and was present at this cave. The Heritage Management Board's page records what he said on Đầu Gỗ Island that year. Beautiful scenery cannot be left by one person for many, he said, and everyone must enjoy it together.

Ha Long Bay, of which this cave is a part, covers 65,650 hectares and holds more than 1,133 islands and islets. UNESCO describes it as one of the world's outstanding examples of tower karst worn by the sea. Standing inside the cave and looking out through its open mouth, a visitor looks into the core of a geological system formed over hundreds of millions of years.

From the cave mouth, the light of the bay pours in and falls on the green moss over stalactites millions of years old. Outside, the water glitters. Hundreds of rock islands lie in layers all the way to the horizon. This is the sight Hồ Chí Minh spoke of in 1957, scenery for everyone to enjoy together.