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Con Dao island – new destination for tourist - Ba Ria Vung Tau
About a dozen tropical islands and islets in the South China Sea 180km (111 miles) south of Vung Tau. The largest island, Con Son, was used as a prison for revolutionaries during the French colonial period and gained an infamous reputation for the harsh mistreatment and torture of its prisoners. It continued to be a fearsome prison during the second Indochina war. More than 22,000 prisoners were incarcerated on the island during its prison history, and a museum commemorates this period. Con Dao Island is also famous for its nice beaches shaded with evergreen trees, fresh air, clear blue waters, and primitive forests.
With its inhumane past behind it, nowadays the islands are gaining a reputation as one of the world's greatest undiscovered tropical hideaways. The islands boast primitive forests, beautiful white sandy beaches shaded with evergreen trees, fresh clean air, clear blue waters and coral reefs, making them a great getaway for a quiet and relaxing retreat.
The best time to visit is from March to June, when the sea is calm.
The island's many natural endowments make it perfect for this. White beaches, evergreen trees, blue waters. And of course, resorts have sprung up to cater to the new kind of visitors.
Con Dao is hosting many activities for tourists, including biology tours, beach volleyball, basket boat races, raft races and swimming.
In recent years, flight and ship routes to Con Dao have increased. To get there, tourists now have many choices.
HCM City offers a flight every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. From next Monday to April 16, there will be five flights for those who want to join the Sea Festival extension on the island.
From Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, a helicopter flies three times a week to the island. During the Sea Festival all of next week, it flies every day.
Con Dao (also known as Poulo Condore) is an archipelago of 15 islands situated in the South China Sea, around 250 kilometres, or a 45-minute flight, from Ho Chi Minh City. The island is famed for its grizzly past: due its remoteness, the French used the main island of Con Son (the largest island in the group) to keep anti-colonial protestors prisoner. The South Vietnamese continued the tradition, sending political dissenters and activists to the 11 prisons which were also used in the American War. One third of the current 6,000 population are Vietnamese soldiers based in barracks dotted around the island. More than 22,000 prisoners who dedicated their lives to national independence were incarcerated on the isolated island of Con Dao.
Con Son is largely mountainous and covered in forest, with ample opportunity for hiking through the jungle and looking for wildlife. The island is also home to a coastline of steep, rocky hills and long sweeping coves, boasting some excellent spots for swimming and snorkelling. The best source of information is the National Park Headquarters, located about five minutes' drive from Con Son town on Vo Thi Sau Rd. From here you can organise trips to other islands in the archipelago, hire a guide for trekking (required) and get permits to enter certain parts of the forest. Three tourist hotels are available on Con Son, all on Ton Duc Thang Rd which follows the beach and the harbour around Con Son town.
One of only two terrestrial and maritime National Parks, the Con Dao archipelago became a national park in 1993 and five years later the park was expanded significantly into the surrounding waters. Because of this protective status, the waters escaped some of the destructive fishing practices that have marred many other marine areas in Vietnam.
Partly as a result of this protected state, the island is very popular with divers with over 1,000 hectares of coral reefs and over 1,300 marine species so far identified. Rainbow Divers is the only dive-shop on the island.
Despite these considerable assets and its proximity to the mainland, the islands are still largely untouched by mass tourism. Saigon Tourist though is transforming its resort on the island into a four-star, 90-room complex which is expected to open in 2007 while the government plans to turn Con Dao into a 'high quality and economic tourist area by 2020' -- so now may be the time to experience this destination in its still undiscovered state.
Con Dao was recognized as a nature reserve in 1984 and a national park in 1993. The total protected area of the park is 20,000ha, including 14,000ha of sea and 6,000ha of forest on 14 islands. There is also a buffer zone that is 20,500ha wide. Con Dao National Park encompasses oceanic and coastal ecosystems such as mangrove forests, coral reefs and sea grasslands. Over 1,300 species of sea animals have been identified here. The park is the most important egg-laying area in Vietnam for sea turtles. The island also has many precious animals, the most important being dugong (called “sea cows” by locals). Between late 1996 and early 1997, officials at the park counted 10 dugong in the sea surrounding the island. With high oceanic biodiversity, Con Dao is classified as one of the areas given optimum priority in the world's system of oceanic reserves.
The best time to visit Con Dao Island is from March to June, when the sea is calm. Some of those beaches include Dam Trau, Hang Duong and Phi Yen where visitors can relax and enjoy the warm temperature. The ocean around Con Dao Island is a heaven for sea life and the splendid forest cloaks the land. This is ecotourism at its best. Clean, smooth sand banks, blue sea, dolphins jumping and racing after boats, tropical almond trees swinging in a cool sea breeze, peaceful narrow roads, and forest covering most of the island, make Con Dao seem like heaven to visitors from far and wide.
Con Dao is one of the few places in Vietnam that is home to rare dugong, sea turtles, and dolphins, and to varieties of orchids found nowhere else in the country. In addition, the island has large and diverse coral reefs comparable to the most famous ecotourism spots in the region. This peaceful island district has 5,000 people whom nature seems to have created with kind hearted and generous characters and adventurous enough to choose the remote island as their home. Visitors will arrive there to enjoy themselves in an intact natural environment and have a good time with dugong, sea turtles and dolphins playing freely around the island paradise.
The best time to visit is from March to June, when the sea is calm.
The island's many natural endowments make it perfect for this. White beaches, evergreen trees, blue waters. And of course, resorts have sprung up to cater to the new kind of visitors.
Con Dao is hosting many activities for tourists, including biology tours, beach volleyball, basket boat races, raft races and swimming.
In recent years, flight and ship routes to Con Dao have increased. To get there, tourists now have many choices.
HCM City offers a flight every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. From next Monday to April 16, there will be five flights for those who want to join the Sea Festival extension on the island.
From Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, a helicopter flies three times a week to the island. During the Sea Festival all of next week, it flies every day.
Con Dao (also known as Poulo Condore) is an archipelago of 15 islands situated in the South China Sea, around 250 kilometres, or a 45-minute flight, from Ho Chi Minh City. The island is famed for its grizzly past: due its remoteness, the French used the main island of Con Son (the largest island in the group) to keep anti-colonial protestors prisoner. The South Vietnamese continued the tradition, sending political dissenters and activists to the 11 prisons which were also used in the American War. One third of the current 6,000 population are Vietnamese soldiers based in barracks dotted around the island. More than 22,000 prisoners who dedicated their lives to national independence were incarcerated on the isolated island of Con Dao.
Con Son is largely mountainous and covered in forest, with ample opportunity for hiking through the jungle and looking for wildlife. The island is also home to a coastline of steep, rocky hills and long sweeping coves, boasting some excellent spots for swimming and snorkelling. The best source of information is the National Park Headquarters, located about five minutes' drive from Con Son town on Vo Thi Sau Rd. From here you can organise trips to other islands in the archipelago, hire a guide for trekking (required) and get permits to enter certain parts of the forest. Three tourist hotels are available on Con Son, all on Ton Duc Thang Rd which follows the beach and the harbour around Con Son town.
One of only two terrestrial and maritime National Parks, the Con Dao archipelago became a national park in 1993 and five years later the park was expanded significantly into the surrounding waters. Because of this protective status, the waters escaped some of the destructive fishing practices that have marred many other marine areas in Vietnam.
Partly as a result of this protected state, the island is very popular with divers with over 1,000 hectares of coral reefs and over 1,300 marine species so far identified. Rainbow Divers is the only dive-shop on the island.
Despite these considerable assets and its proximity to the mainland, the islands are still largely untouched by mass tourism. Saigon Tourist though is transforming its resort on the island into a four-star, 90-room complex which is expected to open in 2007 while the government plans to turn Con Dao into a 'high quality and economic tourist area by 2020' -- so now may be the time to experience this destination in its still undiscovered state.
Con Dao was recognized as a nature reserve in 1984 and a national park in 1993. The total protected area of the park is 20,000ha, including 14,000ha of sea and 6,000ha of forest on 14 islands. There is also a buffer zone that is 20,500ha wide. Con Dao National Park encompasses oceanic and coastal ecosystems such as mangrove forests, coral reefs and sea grasslands. Over 1,300 species of sea animals have been identified here. The park is the most important egg-laying area in Vietnam for sea turtles. The island also has many precious animals, the most important being dugong (called “sea cows” by locals). Between late 1996 and early 1997, officials at the park counted 10 dugong in the sea surrounding the island. With high oceanic biodiversity, Con Dao is classified as one of the areas given optimum priority in the world's system of oceanic reserves.
The best time to visit Con Dao Island is from March to June, when the sea is calm. Some of those beaches include Dam Trau, Hang Duong and Phi Yen where visitors can relax and enjoy the warm temperature. The ocean around Con Dao Island is a heaven for sea life and the splendid forest cloaks the land. This is ecotourism at its best. Clean, smooth sand banks, blue sea, dolphins jumping and racing after boats, tropical almond trees swinging in a cool sea breeze, peaceful narrow roads, and forest covering most of the island, make Con Dao seem like heaven to visitors from far and wide.
Con Dao is one of the few places in Vietnam that is home to rare dugong, sea turtles, and dolphins, and to varieties of orchids found nowhere else in the country. In addition, the island has large and diverse coral reefs comparable to the most famous ecotourism spots in the region. This peaceful island district has 5,000 people whom nature seems to have created with kind hearted and generous characters and adventurous enough to choose the remote island as their home. Visitors will arrive there to enjoy themselves in an intact natural environment and have a good time with dugong, sea turtles and dolphins playing freely around the island paradise.
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