Thien Cung, the "Heavenly Palace", is a cave in the Dau Go group of islands in the south-west of Ha Long Bay. It is the first stop on the Ha Long Bay Management Board's sightseeing route VHL1, which also takes in Dau Go Cave and the rock islets Cho Da, Dinh Huong and Trong Mai.
The board names Thien Cung among the bay's old underground caves, the large ones with the richest stalactites. Vietnamese Wikipedia dates its opening to visitors to 1 May 1998, and says an inscription with the number 1901 on one wall is thought to be the mark of its first explorer.
Visitors here hear a legend about the cave. In a drought, the story goes, a young couple braved the journey to the Dragon King's cave; their daughter May grew up to marry the Dragon Prince, and the wedding feast here lasted seven days and seven nights. The rock shapes are said to be the dragons, elephants and lions that danced at the feast, and the pools in the last chamber the place where May bathed her 100 children.
Getting there
You reach Thien Cung by boat from a mainland port. The board says the two common day routes leave from Ha Long International Cruise Port or Tuan Chau International Port, with ticket counters at both. Route VHL1 takes about 4 hours, the shorter of the two.
Measured in a straight line on map coordinates, the cave is about 6 km from Ha Long International Cruise Port, much closer than Sung Sot or Ti Top. The board puts the drive from Hanoi at about 1 hour 30 minutes on the Hanoi to Hai Phong expressway, about 2 hours from Noi Bai airport and about 45 minutes from Van Don airport.
Hours and fees
| Season | Hours at Thien Cung and Dau Go |
|---|---|
| Summer, 16 April to 31 October | 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM |
| Winter, 1 November to 15 April | 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM |
Between 1 April and 31 October boats leave port from 5:00 AM and must be back by 8:00 PM. Between 1 November and 31 March they leave from 5:30 AM and return by 7:00 PM.
The ticket covers the whole route, not one cave:
| Ticket, route VHL1 | Price |
|---|---|
| Adult, any nationality | VND 250,000 |
| Child aged 7 to under 16, any nationality (20% off) | VND 200,000 |
| Child under 7, or under 1.2 m tall | Free |
VND 200,000 is our arithmetic: the board's VND 250,000 less its 20% child discount. A foreign child aged 7 to 15 needs a passport for the discount. Keep the ticket all day; staff check it at each stop.
Nearby
- Ti Top Island: about 8.9 km in a straight line, on route VHL2, a separate ticket.
- Sung Sot Cave: about 10.8 km in a straight line, also on route VHL2.
Questions travelers ask
Can I fit a Ha Long Bay day cruise into a short layover in Hanoi? A traveler with about a day between flights asked this on r/VietNam. One reply said a chartered boat is the only flexible option:
"It's only doable if you charter a boat - you can start and end whenever you like (but not after dark - needs special permit to stay in the water after sundown)."
u/MemoryLatter761 on r/VietNam
Another warned about the time lost at the pier:
"Traffic is one thing but even the boarding and off-boarding of these cruises is a chaos fest. Lots of sitting around with huge groups of people just waiting to be called."
u/MouseHouse444 on r/VietNam
