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Cat Ba Island belongs to Cat Hai District – 50 kilometers
southeast from Hai Phong City and 150 kilometers from Ha Noi Capital.
The area occupies for 200 square kilometers and consists of 366
small and big islands of which Cat Ba is the biggest one in almost
2,000 ones within the Ha Long Bay Community. Cat Ba – along
with another community of small and big islands and caves –
constitutes an imposing, charming and mysterious vision for the
City.
Cat Ba is in fact a great green carpet hiding a variety of mysterious
and attractive facts. Apart from the natural special potentials,
Cat Ba owns its Cai Beo Heritage of Ha Long Culture; their inhabitants
lived here some 6475-4200 years ago. The nature in this place is
wild. The forests, the hills, the mountains, the valleys, the caves
and the sand of Cat Ba are mingled into one another to help constitute
a surprising beauty.
The National Cat Ba Forest covers an area of 15.200 hectares. It
has a primeval tropical forest with an area of 570 hectares with
an abundant fauna and flora system, especially the “white
Vooc” and the chopstick plant which is used to make chopsticks
to avoid poisoned food by the Vietnamest royal families in the past.
Coming here the tourists will be welcomed by the friendly islanders
and the hidden charm of the island as well. Cat Ba is also a fantastic
land for ecological tourism which brings satisfaction to tourists
and a land with great opportunities for investors.
From Ha Noi, you can get to Cat Ba Resort in many ways:
· From Ha Noi you can go by train, by air or by road to Hai
Phong and then by ferry or express boat to Cat Ba – the place
being under construction. As planned, some suspensions will be built
to link between Hai Phong and Cat Ba.
· Or from Bai Chay tourist habour, it takes about three and
half hours to Cat Ba by tourist Boat.
On the south-east side of HaLong Bay, about 25 km from Bãi
Cháy Wharf, Cong Ðo is in Bái Tu Long Bay in the
region which recognized as the World Heritage. It has an area of
23,363 sq. m, and its mountain reaches a peak of 172 m. The island
features many lagoons, which are the residence of numerous species
of sea-life, such as shrimp, crab, fish, squid and aquatic plants.
On the south-west side of the island, there is a wide coral reef
displaying a myriad of colors.
Coral reef ecosystem is more than 700 m long and 300 m wide. It
is preserved almost undamaged. In the future, there are plans for
the development of a zone for scuba-diving. On the south-east side
of the island, vestiges of the ancient commercial port of Vân
Ðon were discovered. This confirms beliefs that Cong Ðo
Island once held an important position in terms of foreign trade.
This beach lies at Quan Lan Island in Bái Tu Long Bay, between
Minh Châu and Quan Lan communes of Vân Ðon District,
55 km away from HaLong City. Its pristine beauty features unspoiled
environment. The deep blue beach has strong waves and white sand,
which spans over several kilometers. Tens of meters away from the
beach stand the very green wild pines, which further add to its
original charm.
Quan Lan Island belongs to Bái Tu Long Bay; part of an island
range on the outside of the gulf of Tonkin. It has an area of 11
sq. km, and features eight populated hamlets. Quan Lan Island stretch
toward East – West from the foot of Vân van Range to
the Gót Mount with many high mountains to the east barring
waves and winds, protect the villages. The island is situated on
an important navigation route that connects China, Japan, Thailand
and Philippines to Vietnam. Along two sides of the island are tens
kilometres of sand beaches. This is the endless resource for glass
making which the sea gives to man and it is also the extremely interesting
tourism
Since the 11th century, Quan Lan had been one of the centres of
the ancient commercial port of Vân Ðon, which was animated
and prosperous at the time. Today, there are still many vestiges
linked to the ancient commercial port. This also explains why the
island, lying deep in the sea, has the large pagodas and archaeological
sites seen today. On the island there is the Quan Lan Communal House
built in the 18th century; exceedingly beautiful and almost entirely
preserved. Next to it is Quan Lan Pagoda (Linh Quang Tu), which
is dedicated to Buddha and God Liêu Hanh. The pagoda also
worships the statue of old Hau, a local person who made lots of
contributions to the construction of the pagoda. The statue features
a gentle and cheerful old woman, which adds an original character
to the pagoda. Beside Quan Lon Pagoda lies Nghè Quan Lon
(Ðuc Ông) Shrine, which is dedicated to Pham Công
Chính, a local people who participated in the historical
Vân Ðon battle against the Yuan invaders. He was later
honored as a god. Quan Lon has many valuable sea products such as
octopuses, butterfish, mackerel, holothurian, shrimp, and sái
sùn
Some 8 km away from the Bãi Cháy Tourist Wharf, Tuan
Châu is a sandy artificial beach which stretches over 3 km.
Heading to the holiday resort in Tuan Chau Island Resort, besides
swimming, tourists can enjoy such fascinating extras as sightseeing,
entertainment, and sports activities, including climbing or camping
in the eco-tourism zone.
On the south-west side of Ha Long City it is Tuan Châu Island,
a schist island, very pretty, with a luxuriant forest. It has an
area of 220 ha, and to the east and south are two beaches endowed
with very white and fine sand. In 1962, Ho Chí Minh visited
Ha Long Bay and made a stop here for vacation. Nowadays, Tuan Châu
Island is one of the most attractive destinations in Ha Long City.
Tuan Châu is in an important position at the entrance of the
waterway system of Thang Long, Bach Dang and Vân Ðon,
and this is why it was formerly a military watch station. The Office
of Feudal Customs was also installed there.
The island also has many archaeological sites pertaining to the
ancient Ha Long culture from 3,000 to 5,000 years ago.
One can go to Tuan Châu Island via the 2-km cement road from
the mainland. Investments have been poured into the island to turn
it into a modern tourist resort. It includes such fascinating extras
as the dolphin, sea lion, and seal-performing club, animal circus
club, golf court, cultural-sports center, beach, rural market, ornamental
fish lake, villas in Hill 1 and Hill 2, guesthouses, five 80-room
villas by the beach. The ensemble of five restaurants and one round
house built in the pagoda motif can serve up to 500 guests at the
same time.
In Tuan Châu, the octagonal house where President Ho Chí
Minh rested when he visited Ha Long now became his memorial site.
Tuan Châu Island is expeditiously putting the finishing touches
to its construction works so that they can be made available for
the 2003 Ha Long Tourism Year.
In the Ngoc Vung - Quan Lan islands itinerary, one will visit Cong
Tây Island, which lies at the Bái Tu Long Bay, 40 km
away from the Bãi Cháy Tourist Wharf. From Cam Pha,
express boats will take you 30 minutes or 90 minutes by common boats
to reach Cong Tây Island.
Cong Tây Island is considered the Cinderella in a legendary
tale. The Cam Pha Coal Construction and Port Company built a resort
in the island to attract holidaymakers. A system of villas and restaurants
lies very close to the beach. Red brick-paved, coconut-lined roads
lead from the villas to the beach. Hammocks are available here and
there for tourists to relax and view the sea.
Ngoc Vung Beach
Ngoc Vung is one of the offshore beaches which are still kept pristine
and unspoilt. Situated to the south of Ngoc Vung Island, some 34
km southeast of the tourist boat wharf, this beach boasts clear
waters all year round. Its 3-km sandy stretch sparkles in the sunlight.
Apart from swimming and sightseeing, tourists can also enjoy fresh
delicious seafood supplied by local fishermen.
Ngoc Vung Island
Ngoc Vung, or Gem Island, is a pretty site sitting between the Nét
Islet and Phuong Hoàng (Phoenix) Island, in the Vân
Ðon District. From above, Ngoc Vung looks like a beautiful velvet
handkerchief with exquisite white edgings; it seems to float on
the water surface. On the east side of the island there is a kilometres-beach
with pure white sand. At the centre is a luxuriant benjamin fig
tree; it was under this tree that Ho Chí Minh stood and conversed
with the population in 1962 during a visit.
Formerly, under the feudal dynasties, this island zone contained
a great quantity of rare and precious species of mother-of-pearls.
At night, fluorescent pearls would light up the whole region. So
there are several islands having name “Ngoc” such as
Ngoc Vung (dazzling pearl), Minh Châu (Ngoc Châu)...
During the war against the US, the island belonged to a front of
outward islands that served as protection for the eastern waterways.
It is also on the beach that many stone artifacts were discovered
in 1937, opening a string of excavations and archaeological research
aiming at providing some explanations of the mysteries of the ancient
Ha Long culture.
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