Vietnam beautiful beaches, islands and bays

Contents

1/ Cu Lao Cau island (Binh Thuan province, South Central Coast)

2/ Cu Lao Cham island (Hoian town, Central Vietnam)

3/ Doc Let beach (Khanh Hoa province, South Central Coast)

4/ Co Thach beach (Binh Thuan province, South Central Coast)

    Essential Vietnamese phrases

5/ Tien Thanh - Ke Ga beach (Binh Thuan province, South Central Coast)

6/ Da Dia cliffs - A masterpiece of nature (Phu Yen province, South Central Coast)

7/ An Bang beach (Hoian town, Central Vietnam)

8/ Son Tra peninsula (Danang city, Central Vietnam)

9/ Lang Co bay (Hue city, Central Vietnam)

10/ My Khe beach (Danang city, Central Vietnam)

11/ Ha Long bay - Cat Ba island - Lan Ha bay (Quang Ninh province and Hai Phong city)

12/ I will visit: Nam Du islands, another must-visit destination in Kien Giang province (Mekong delta, South Vietnam)

1/ Cu Lao Cau island
Cu Lao Cau island is a hidden world to not only Lonely Planet but also many Vietnamese tourists!

Its in Tuy Phong district of Binh Thuan province, about 120km from Mui Ne resort.

The seawater clarity is excellent! And while there are just only two families staying on the island for about 6 months per year, its really a tropical beach paradise. There are no big trees on this small island but there are a lot of beautiful large stones along the beach for tourists like taking photo

Love watching coral reef. Cu Lao cau island is one of the best choices in Vietnam too.

(Please proceed to "Destination - Mui Ne & Binh Thuan, South Central Vietnam" for detail with how to get there, where to stay...)

                                                              Photo credit: vietnamguidebook


2/ Cu Lao Cham paradise islands - World biosphere reserve
On 26th May 2009, in Jeju island of South Korea, Cu Lao Cham islands have been recognised by the International Coordinating Council of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) as a global biosphere reserve.


In terms of topography, geomorphology, Cham islands are the extension to the southeast of the granite massif of Bach Ma - Hai Van - Son Tra which geologists call " Hai Van complex" formed about 230 million years ago.  

The Cham islands have a total area of ​​6.719ha. 165ha of which is coral reefs and approximately 500 ha  is seagrass beds.

The research results showed that there are 947 species living in the waters around the islands and in the dense hard and soft coral reefs.


The flora includes 342 species. Over 60% of all species can be used for different purposes. Thanks to the good vegetation cover, the forest is the habitat of many animal species: 12 species of mammals, 13 species of birds, 130 reptiles and five species of amphibians. Among them, the notable long-tailed macaques and two species of swift are listed in the Vietnam's Red Book.

There are more than 2,900 people living on the Cham islands. Most of islanders are fishermen. Very few islanders do farming or trading. 

 I love its many pristine white sand beaches and so clear sea water. Its great to spend some days.

(Please proceed to "Destination - Hoi An, Central Vietnam for detail)

 

Photo credit: Vietnamguidebook

3/ Doc Let beach
 About 60km North of Nha Trang is Doc Let, one of the most beautiful beaches in Vietnam. This long, wide sandy beach has very clean, clear sea water with crystal-blue colour.

     While most of tourists, both Vietnamese and foreigners, stay in Nha Trang, Doc Let is a quiet paradise. There are just some resorts, hotels and guesthouses here. And the beach is just crowded on weekends, holiday. So come to Doc Let and enjoy the whole beautiful beach!

    A motorbike trip to Doc Let is great as you will have time to stop and watch the beautiful countryside alond the road, especially the green rice fields, vast lotus lake, blue sky and mountains...

(Please see "Destination - Nha Trang, South Central Coast" for detail with where to stay, how to get there...)

 

                                                            Photo credit: Vietnamguidebook



 
4/ Co Thach beach
Lonely Planet 2011 just focused on Mui Ne resort of Binh Thuan province. For many years, a lot of guide books written by the West, havent mentioned (or havent known) the beauty of Co Thach beach yet.

Co Thach beach has been still trapped between Mui Ne resort and Nha Trang beach city. Its about 120km from Mui Ne to the North.

So why We should come to Co Thach?

Well, Co Thach translate into English is Ancient stone. Yes, the beach with clear seawater around the year and a lot of stones in many sizes and colours. In fact Vietnamese people call it a 7-colour stone beach. 
While weekend sees many local tourists. During weekday, Co Thach is a different world. Maybe you will be the only foreign traveller here in weekday.

(Please proceed to "Destination - Mui Ne & Binh Thuan, South Central Coast" for detail with how to get there, where to stay...)

                                                                Photo credit: vietnamguidebook

Essential Vietnamese phrases

5/ Tien Thanh - Ke Ga beach

Want to leave the crowded Mui Ne resort and enjoy the beach in its natural beauty. Well, Tien Thanh - Ke Ga beach, Ham Thuan Nam district of Binh Thuan province is a good choice. 

Tien Thanh - Ke Ga has many white long sandy beaches with clear seawater, some fishing villages and the small leafy road running along dense casuarina equisetifolia forest . On the West are the low hills and sand dunes where you can see many oxen looking for food.

Tien Thanh - Ke Ga beach is about 25km from the South of Mui Ne. There are just some deluxe resorts along the beach. Its totally different with the so crowded Mui Ne 

(Please proceed to "Destination - Mui Ne & Binh Thuan, South Central Coast" for detail with how to get there, where to stay...)

                                                               Photo credit: vietnamguidebook

6/ Da Dia cliffs - A masterpiece of nature

Vietnam south central coast has many beautiful beaches. Most of tourists feel "full" after visiting Mui Ne beach resort and Nha Trang beach city. So, why We should come to Tuy Hoa beach city of Phu Yen province? Its because of Da Dia cliffs - a masterpiece of nature, about 40km from Tuy Hoa.

According to Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam (http://www.monre.gov.vn), Da Dia Cliffs are about 50m wide and more than 2,000m long. It is listed as a national tourist site.

Geologists said that the stone of the Da Dia Cliffs is basalt and that the cliffs were formed by volcanic eruption in the Van Hoa plateau about 200 million years ago. When the molten rock spewed out into the sea, it hardened and cracked both vertically and horizontally, creating the layers of rock that we see at Da Dia Cliffs today.

The Da Dia Cliffs from a distance look like a huge beehive. It is a huge pile of hexagonal and pentagonal shaped basaltic rocks. A part of the cliffs is under the sea water while most of it is above the sea surface. The sea crashes onto the cliffs all year round and the black and yellow rocks look very smooth and shiny. In the center of the cliffs is a depression filled with still water.

Beyond the cliffs is a 3-km long sickle-shaped sandbank on which there are yellow rocks lying on smooth, white sand in the shade of tropical almond trees. The seawater here is very clean making it an ideal beach for both domestic and foreign tourists.

One can stand on the hill above Da Dia Cliffs and contemplate the beauty of the sky and the sea, melt into the sun and rhythm of the sea and feel the unique beauty of these amazing cliffs.

(Please proceed to "Destination - Tuy Hoa, Phu Yen, South Central Coast for detail)

                                                 

                                                                

                                              

                                                      

                                                                 

                                                              

                                  

                                   

         Photo credit: vietnamguidebook

7/ An Bang beach - world's 50 best beaches

Located 3km from the ancient city of Hoi An, An Bang has been listed among the world’s 50 best beaches by CNN Go. This pristine beach is very peaceful and poetic with gentle waves lapping the shore.

(Please proceed to "Destination - Hoi An, Central Vietnam for detail)

 

 

Photo credit: vietnamguidebook

8/ Son Tra peninsula 

Son Tra peninsula is a low mountainous area mostly covered by forest . It is considered the green lung of Da Nang city. Son Tra peninsula and the Hai Van pass embrace the Han river and form a wide bay. From the air, the Son Tra peninsula looks like a fish fairy swimming to the East sea. From the sea, you can see three mountain peaks: Co Ngua, Nghe and Mo Dieu. The highest peak is 693m above the sea level.

 Stretching a total area of 4,000 hectares, Son Tra is home to around 1,000 different plant species, 51 species of birds, 15 species of reptiles, and 42 species of coral. Red cheek gibbons and a species of turtle are among the animals living in the area that are also listed in Vietnam’s Red Book of endangered species.

The peninsula has been named a national park to help protect the delicate balance of life in the area.

Surrounded by the sea, the peninsula has an extensive array of beaches like Bai Bac, Bai Nam and Bai But – heaven for those seeking water activities like swimming, fishing and sightseeing by boat. One can also take a dive to explore extraordinary coral reefs. With its strong winds and large waves, Bai Bac beach is perfect for surfers. Bai But and Bai Nam are more gentle and safe for scuba diving.

For tens of thousands of years, the peninsula was an island. However, alluvial soil deposited by rivers connected it with the mainland. In the early nineteenth century, the Nguyen Dynasty built many defensive fortresses and observation posts here. In 1858, the French fired the first shot on the peninsula and started their invasion of Vietnam.

Nowadays, the peninsula’s tourism potentials have been aroused. Some resorts, including Son Tra Mercure resort managed by Accor, have been built along the beaches.

While most of the beaches near the city are usually crowded, Son Tra beaches still remains the beauty of quietness.

(Please proceed to "Destination - Danang, Central Vietnam for detail)

(Source: Vietnamnet newspaper and others)

 

Photo credit: Vietnamguidebook

9/ Lang Co bay

Lang Co – the beautiful bay of Thua Thien Hue province has been officially a member of the World’s Most Beautiful Bays Club. Together with Ha Long and Nha Trang bays, Lang Co is the third bay of Vietnam which is honourably admitted to this Club. 

Photo credit: Vietnamguidebook

10/ My Khe beach

Local Da Nang people call My Khe the most beautiful beach of the city. 

The Australian magazine, Sunday Herald Sun, ranked the 900m long My Khe beach in the top 10 Asian beaches, saying that Australia is endowed with so many beaches but they can’t forget the first impression of My Khe with its  crystal-clear blue water and long sandy beach.

And the  American business magazine Forbes also voted My Khe as one of the six most attractive beaches on the planet .

For me, My Khe is a beautiful long sandy beach with blue water and fresh atmosphere. I especially love the coconut trees running along the road beside the beach. The beach is free of roaming vendors.

There are many hotel, resorts along the beachfront

My Khe beach is located about six kilometers East of Da Nang. A motorbike ride from Da Nang city center to the beach costs about 30,000VND

Photo credit: Vietnamguidebook

11/ Ha Long bay - Lan Ha bay & Cat Ba island

Ha Long bay

One of 33 most beautiful bays of the World

Two times regconised by UNESCO as World Heritage for its outstanding values of landscape, geology and geomorphology.

One of the seven of the New World Nature Wonders

That is Ha Long bay, a picturesque seascape sculpted by nature with 1969 of limestone islands and islets rising from the emerald waters of gulf of Tonkin, in a variety of sizes and shapes. 

Many tourists made a comparison between Ha Long bay and Krabi of Southern Thailand. A China newspaper called Ha Long "Guilin on the sea". But in fact Ha Long bay is much more spectacular. Even poetry, music, painting, movie, photography cant help to depict the beauty of it.

At different times and at different seasons, Ha Long has different beauties. Early morning is a watercolour painting with rolling mountains towering from an endless sheet of silver silk. When the sun is above the head, it is a large multidimensional blue mirror created by a perfect combination of turquoise waters and vertical green limestone mounts. Sunset dyes landscape pink and gives a deeply quiet, peaceful feeling...

Beside joining an unforgettable cruise, come to Ha Long bay, you will have chance to explore many caves full of stalagmites and stalactities. Those are edventurers, Ha Long with its thousands of limestone mountains is an ideal place for rock climbing too...

                                                           Photo credit: Vietnamguidebook


Lan Ha bay
Covering an area of 7,000ha with 366 limestone islands and islets in a variety of sizes and shapes at an average height of 50 – 200m, Lan Ha bay is a natural senic wonder and is one of the typhical examples of the mature karst landscape invaded by the sea. 

For geologists and experts of geomorphology, the limestone formations of Lan Ha bay provide the evidence of a long history of erosion and landscape evolution through the sculpting power of sea water. For tourists, they inspire the imagination – a Vietnamese myth describes the limestone formations of Lan Ha bay as being wrought by the thrashing of a dragon’s tail as it crash-landed into the sea. 

Different with Ha Long bay, the bay of Lan Ha has 139 small white sandy beaches. Many of them lie between two large limestone mountains creating the ideal, quiet places for swimming. 

Beside tourism, fishery plays an important economic role in Lan Ha. Its unpolluted emerald waters are home to many floating houses with caged sea fish breeding. A lot of Vietnamese travellers come here to stay with fishermen in their floating houses and enjoy the fresh seafood right on the sea water. 

Lan Ha is located in the East of Cat Ba town, adjacent to Ha Long bay. Most tourists take a 1-day cruise tour through Lan Ha from Cat Ba town. The tour often costs at 20 – 25USD/pax, including wooden cruise boat, entrance fee of Surprising cave, snorkeling, kayaking and lunch. Check around the town for the best price.
You can take a 2-day cruise tour too. It takes you from Lan Ha bay to Ha Long bay with one night onboard. This is highly recommended as the beauty of Ha Long and Lan Ha bays are different from time to time. 

The same with Ha Long bay, Lan Ha bay is an ideal place for rock climbing. See "Rock climbing" of Ha Long bay and contact vietclimb.com. Or you use service of Slo Pony rock climbing operator which is highly recommended by some guidebooks (I havent used it service)

Photo credit: Vietnamguidebook

Cat Ba biosphere reserve and Cat Ba island, Cat Ba national park

Cat Ba biosphere reserve

Cat Ba World Biosphere Reserve, an archipelago of Cat Hai district of Hai phong city, in northeast Vietnam, which is adjacent to the Ha Long bay world heritage site, is internationally important for its limestone karst geomorphology and is one of the best examples in the world of a fengcong and fenglin karst landscape invaded by the sea. 

Its 366 limestone islands contain landforms, caves and cave deposits that provide evidence of a long history of erosion and landscape evolution. Many of the small islands rise steeply or vertically from the shallow marine waters and are the distinguishing features of the region. Most of the bigger islands are covered by evergreen tropical monsoon forest. 

Beside the limestone islands, the archipelago also has  a number of regionally important habitat types including fringing coral reefs, mangrove forests, seagrass beds, flooded willow forest and tropical limestone forest. Most of the habitats are under severe threat especially due to encroachment.

The archipelago has a  high number of endemic floral and faunal species. The golden-headed langur (Trachypithecus poliocephalus) is one example, a species endemic to the Cat Ba island that is listed as one of the ten rarest primates in the world due to its restricted range and small population size.   

      

                                                                                                                                      (Source: Unesco)

Cat Ba island

Cat Ba island is the largest island of the Cat Ba archipelago. The island has a surface of 285 km2, includes the Cat Ba national park and one main town , Cat Ba town.

Cat Ba national park 

(Went to Cat Ba national park in a rainy day. It was closed. Plan to trek through the park in the future)

Cat Ba national park is home to a diverse range of terrestrial and marine life.

Founded in 1986, the park was the first in Vietnam to include land and sea areas. Today the park covers 162km2, 109km2 of which are terrestrial ecosystems, with the remainning 53km2 comprising of marine ecosystems.

The terrestrial ecosystems of the park include tropical monsoon forest, flooded willow forest. The  marine ecosystems comprise fringing  coral reefs, sandy beaches, mangrove forest, tidal flats...

The marine biodiversity
The marine biodiversity of the park is extremely high with more than 500 species living just on the sea floor. Worms, snails, mussels, crabs, sea stars and other simple-bodied creatures are all represented. Going further are around 200 species of fish which live in the surrounding sea. Coral reefs found around with close to 200 different species recorded. Visitors to the park may also be lucky to observe the sea turtles and dolphins which occasionally visit the area. 

The terrestrial plants
Cat Ba has more than 1500 species of plant, many of which are nationally and internationally listed as rare or endangered. 661 species are traditionally used for medicinal purposes and 18 are certified as being pharmaceutically active.

The terrestrial animals  
The most famous of terrestrial animal is golden-headed langur. Its one of the most endangered primate species in the world with only 60 - 70 individuals remaining. 

Other are mammals include: Southern serow, Leopard cat, small Indian civet, Rhesus macaque, Black giant squirrel, Variuos bat species.

Roughly 160 species of resident and migratory birds including the oriental pied hornbill, the red-whiskered bulbul and the rare and endangered fish owl

Around 190 species of butterfly....  


12/  I will visit: Nam Du islands, another must-visit destination in Kien Giang province (Mekong delta, South Vietnam)

By Ben Ro Lang Thang, Thanh Nien News 

Nam Du Archipelago, around 40 kilometers away from Phu Quoc Island, is becoming an attractive destination for backpackers heading to the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang. 

Located in Kien Hai District, the archipelago has 21 islands, of which the Hon Lon (Big Isle) is the biggest. 

How to get to Nam Du: 

-You can take a bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Rach Gia (Kien Giang). A two-way ticket costs VND300,000-350,000. It takes around 5-6 hours to get to Rach Soi Bus Station in Kien Giang. 

-From the Rach Soi Station, take a xe om (motorbike taxi) for around VND60,000 per person to the Rach Gia ferry wharf. 

-Buy a speed-boat two-way ticket at the wharf to Hon Lon (Big Isle) for VND440,000. Note that you do not need to book the ticket in advance from Monday to Thursday, but you have to from Friday to Sunday. 

-The boat sets off at 8:15 a.m. It takes around two hours and 45 minutes to get to Hon Lon. The boat will drop by Hon Tre and Hon Son, two other isles in Nam Du, on the way.

-The boat’s return trip starts at 12:15 at noon. Please note that there is only one return trip each day from Hon Lon to the mainland.