During the Vietnam War the Marble Mountains stood beside Marble Mountain Air Facility, a US Marine Corps helicopter base built in 1965 on the beach between the hills and what Americans called China Beach. The caves above it were used by both sides, and local histories record that revolutionary forces kept a field station hidden inside Huyen Khong cave.
The base passed to the US Army in 1971 and to the South Vietnamese air force in 1972, and fell to northern forces in March 1975. Today almost all the traces a visitor can find are on the mountain itself.
The war history, told on the hill
Our guides bring the caves’ wartime stories to the places where they happened, alongside the religious ones.
★Marble Mountains, Lady Buddha & the Stone CarversThe Marble Mountains caves at the hour the light comes in, the Lady Buddha on Son Tra and a working Non Nuoc carving yard, with your own guide and car. · 5 hoursSee the tour →Marble Mountains, Lady Buddha & Hoi An by Lantern LightSon Tra, the Marble Mountains caves and a Non Nuoc carving yard in the morning, then Hoi An old town and a boat on the Thu Bon as the lanterns come on. · 10 hoursSee the tour →What was Marble Mountain Air Facility?
By mid-1965 Da Nang Air Base was overcrowded, and the Marines looked for a site for their helicopter squadrons. They chose a strip of sand about eight kilometres southeast of the air base, between the sea and the Marble Mountains. Civilian contractors built the airfield in weeks, and Marine Aircraft Group 16 moved in at the end of August 1965.
For almost six years it was home to Marine helicopter squadrons. It was handed to the US Army in May 1971 and to the Republic of Vietnam Air Force in August 1972, and it was taken by the People’s Army of Vietnam on 29 March 1975, weeks before the end of the war.
What happened on the night of 27 October 1965?
On the night of 27 to 28 October 1965, only weeks after the base opened, Viet Cong sapper teams attacked it under cover of mortar fire. One team reached the flight line and threw charges into the parked helicopters. Nineteen aircraft were destroyed and dozens more damaged.
The raid led to much tighter defences around the base, and no later infiltration of the base came close to it.
How were the caves used?
According to local histories, Huyen Khong cave served as a secret base for resistance fighters during the war against the French. In the American war, American and South Vietnamese units used the cave and the hill until 1968; after that, revolutionary forces used Huyen Khong as a first-aid station and a hiding place for the wounded, close to the airfield.
An American veteran and writer, William Broyles Jr., later wrote that a Viet Cong hospital had been hidden in the mountains in plain sight of the base. The details differ between sources, but the picture is the same: the caves served both sides. The cave itself is described in Huyen Khong cave.
What can you see today?
The airfield is not a place you can visit today, and there is no museum at the site. What remains to be found is on Thuy Son itself: the caves where the stories happened, and a view from the viewpoints over the coast where the base once stood.
A guide makes the difference here, because none of this history is signposted on the mountain. The wider history of the hills, from the emperors to the inscriptions, is in the guide to the inscriptions.
Want to hear the war history where it happened?
Our half day covers the caves of Thuy Son with a licensed local guide who tells both the religious and the wartime stories.
Marble Mountains, Lady Buddha & the Stone Carvers5 hoursSee the tour →Marble Mountains, Lady Buddha & Hoi An by Lantern Light10 hoursSee the tour →Marble Mountains in the Vietnam War: quick answers
Was there a US base at the Marble Mountains?
Yes. Marble Mountain Air Facility, a US Marine Corps helicopter base, operated on the beach beside the mountains from August 1965. It later passed to the US Army and the South Vietnamese air force before falling in March 1975.
Was there a Viet Cong hospital in the Marble Mountains?
Local histories record that revolutionary forces used Huyen Khong cave as a first-aid station and a hiding place for the wounded from 1968. American veterans have also written of a hidden hospital in the mountains.
Can you visit Marble Mountain Air Facility today?
No. The airfield is not open as a site and has no museum. The places connected with the war that visitors can see are the caves on Thuy Son.
What was China Beach?
China Beach was the American name for the long beach running north from the Marble Mountains towards Da Nang, used as a rest and recreation area during the war.
History told where it happened
Choose your group size and the price covers the day: pickup, private car, licensed guide, every ticket and water. Free to cancel until 3 days before.
★Marble Mountains, Lady Buddha & the Stone CarversThe Marble Mountains caves at the hour the light comes in, the Lady Buddha on Son Tra and a working Non Nuoc carving yard, with your own guide and car. · 5 hoursfrom$39/ person›
Choose your group size · price is the group totalSolo traveller$135BOOK →2 guests$140BOOK →3 guests$150BOOK →4 guests$155BOOK →See the full tour page →Marble Mountains, Lady Buddha & Hoi An by Lantern LightSon Tra, the Marble Mountains caves and a Non Nuoc carving yard in the morning, then Hoi An old town and a boat on the Thu Bon as the lanterns come on. · 10 hoursfrom$89/ person›
Choose your group size · price is the group totalSolo traveller$265BOOK →2 guests$295BOOK →3 guests$325BOOK →4 guests$355BOOK →See the full tour page →Historical details were checked against US military histories and Vietnamese local sources in September 2026; accounts of the caves differ in detail.