Hospital Cave
On the main road leading from Cat Ba Town to Cat Ba National Park lie the remnants of a secret military cave, which was built inside a mountain and served as a secret, bomb-proof hospital during the American War. Built from 1963 to 1965 was constantly used until 1975, the hospital then was handed over to the tourism authorities and has became a historical monument which recalls the past when American bomber planes were pounding the region.
The inside of the Hospital Cave is an extraordinary structure of pathways and labyrinths leading straight into the mountain across 3 different floors with in total 17 rooms. The space is dark with weak light, giving out a feeling of an horror movie.
- 1st floor: The main area includes 14 function rooms (bedrooms, surgical rooms, entertainment facilities of a squash court, table – tennis room & choir room)
- 2nd floor: Cinema room, swimming pool and physical examination area.
- 3rd floor: Reception hall, guard rooms and officers' rooms.
The whole area is designed ingeniously with multiple exits used in case of blitz attacks, especially escape from the 2nd floor to the 3rd floor, leading to an outlet located at the back of the mountain.
It is recommended to hire a tour guide to accompany you during the visit here because the stories and explanation from the guy will help you to discover more about history and intelligence of war time people than just going around and looking at all the brick and concrete.
How to reach it?
As it located in between Cat Ba Town and Cat Ba National Park, you can use the same method as to reach the National Park. Cat Ba Town is quite small so we recommend you to hire a motorbike and freely driving around.
Entrance fee?
Cave entrance fee is 15,000 VND/person (around 0.75 USD) and ticket can be bought at the cave keeper’s house, located at the other roadside in compare to the path leading to the cave (you will see a noticeable signboard says Hospital Cave, right at the roadside, at the begining of the path). If you want the cave keeper to be your tour guide, you will buy the ticket at higher price but not expensive.
