The attraction from islands and sea tourism in Viet Nam

Viet Nam has a long coastline of 3,260km with about 125 large and small beaches, including large beaches up to 15 - 18km and many small beaches from 1 to 2km. Viet Nam has favorable conditions to exploit attractive and competitive sea products. Due to the weather conditions, the southern beaches can be exploited to serve tourists year round, while the northern beaches can only be exploited for visitors to visit in the summer.

Coming to the S-shaped country, visitors also have the opportunity to discover nearly 50 large and small bays, many of which are highly appreciated in the world such as Ha Long bay (Quang Ninh), Nha Trang bay (Khanh Hoa province) and Lang Co bay (Thua Thien - Hue) ... In particular, with its special karst terrain, with thousands of islands and unique caves, Ha Long bay has been recognized twice by UNESCO as the World Natural Heritage, becoming a famous tourist destination.

More than that, Viet Nam owns a system of islands stretching from Quang Ninh to Kien Giang. The coastal island system of Viet Nam has great economic value, including natural scenery, fresh air, tropical forest ecosystems which maintain high biodiversity. The beaches on the islands are not large but usually very nice with fine sandy beaches, clear ocean water; Some of the most valuable tourist destinations include Phu Quoc (Kien Giang), Con Dao (Ba Ria - Vung Tau), Cu Lao Cham (Quang Nam), Phu Quy (Binh Thuan), Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh), Cat Ba (Hai Phong)... Coastal provinces also have a great treasure of tourism resources, including the world heritages recognized by UNESCO such as Ho house (Thanh Hoa), Hue royal city and royal music (Thua Thien - Hue), Hoi An ancient town and My Son (Quang Nam)...

In addition to inshore islands, the offshore islands of Viet Nam include Hoang Sa (Da Nang) and Truong Sa (Khanh Hoa) archipelagoes, which have rich coral reef ecosystems with high marine biodiversity values, and good water quality due to not being affected by socio-economic development activities in the coastal zone. This is an ideal condition for developing various kinds of marine sports tourism, sightseeing tours, study tours, scuba diving trips to explore coral reef ecosystems.

Up to now, Viet Nam has 6/9 biosphere reserves in the world located on the coast (Can Gio mangrove forest, Cat Ba archipelago, Red River Delta, coastal area, Kien Giang island, Cu Lao Cham, Ca Mau National Park); 4/8 ramsars, which are located in coastal and island areas, are recognized by IUCN (Xuan Thuy, Ca Mau, Con Dao, U Minh Thuong).

In addition, in the coastal area of ​​Viet Nam, there are some special ecosystems representing the nature of the tropics are being exploited for tourism development such as the lagoon ecosystem: Tam Giang - Cau Hai lagoon (Thua Thien - Hue) is considered to be the largest lagoon in Southeast Asia; coral reef ecosystems; Mangrove ecosystems...

Exploring the sea tourism in Viet Nam, visitors have many opportunities to enjoy the quintessence of traditional cuisine; special art performances; experience the daily life of friendly Vietnamese people; participate in traditional folklore festivals and contemporary cultural tourism festivals. Recently, festivals and events held in coastal areas have attracted many visitors, contributing to the positioning of Viet Nam's sea tourism brands, such as Nha Trang beach festival, International fireworks festival in Da Nang, International hot-air balloon in Binh Thuan, Hue festival, Mid-autumn festival in Hoi An town… Traditional festivals are usually organized on the early months of the new year and are often associated with production, folk cultural activities. In particular, Nghinh Ong festival is considered as the most typical coastal festival. 

To meet the increasing demand of tourists, the tourism industry in Viet Nam has accelerated the investment in infrastructure tourism for many years. Accordingly, more and more hotels, resorts, villas, entertainment areas ... with modern facilities and professional service have been established in the coastal area. Along with that, many types of tourism are exploited to serve tourists, especially relax tours, sea sports tours, eco tours... Developing tourism associated with protecting the environment for the green - clean – beautiful islands and sea are two important missions of the government.  

Many international tourists have shared their love for Viet Nam after participating in islands and sea tours, exploring the culture of the local people and experiencing many exciting sports activities on Vietnamese beaches.

Over the past time, tourism in coastal provinces accounted for more than 60% of the total revenue of tourism of the country; the number of international tourists to the coastal area tends to increase continuously and currently accounts for about 80% of the total number of tourists in the country.

Phong Vi
Vietnam Tourist Review