Con Dao Ranked Fourth In Top 10 Asian Destinations For 2016

According Lonely Planet Magazine, Con Dao has recently been ranked fourth in the top 10 best places to travel in Asia list of 2016.

Con Dao is an archipelago in the southern province of Ba Ria –Vung Tau, and also a district of this province which is famous for the heroic feat of arms of the nation and served as a prison island for political prisoners during the French colonial era, Con Dao has now become an international tourism destination, thanks to its primitive beauty, fresh food and plentiful fauna and floral ecosystem.

Being an island archipelago has historical significance as the site of several prisons used by the French colonial and South Vietnamese regime. Many famous revolutionaries were imprisoned on the island prior to 1975, and the site is considered a national memorial. A 30 ha site incorporating the prisons have been formally recognized as a national heritage site. There is great potential to further develop ecotourism at the national park, in the form of hiking, bird watching, snorkeling, diving and watching nesting turtles.

Besides, pure water, silky sand banks and blue skies are the good reasons for tourists to visit Con Dao.

Moreover, with about of 16 islands of different sizes in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province, Con Dao National Park is one of two national parks in Viet Nam owing both forest and marine protected area.

Con Dao National Park is centered on an archipelago of 16 islands, the largest of which is Con Son. The topography of Con Son Island is mountainous and dominated by a granite ridge which runs from south-west to north-east, sheltering the bays on both sides of the island from strong winds. The highest points on the island are the summits of Mount Thanh Gia and Mount Chua, at 577 and 515 m respectively. The smaller islands reach a maximum elevation of 200m.

Con Dao has various marine ecosystems with 285 species of hard coral, 84 species of sea weed, 202 species of fish, 153 species of mollusc, etc. What is more, aquiherbosa ecosystem, geophytes in sea estimate about 200ha, comprising of 9 species among 16 ones in the world. Con Dao’s sea is a home of tortoise-shell, turtle, black whale, and especially dugong, one of the extremely rare species in the world.

The marine ecosystems at the national park include mangroves, coral reefs and sea grass beds. Mangroves cover a total of 15 ha, and are distributed around Ba Island and along the west coast of Bay Canh Island, and along the north and south coasts of Con Son Island. The coral reefs at Con Dao are among the most pristine in Vietnam, and are distributed in shallow waters around the islands, covering a total area of around 1,000 ha.

Con Dao National Park is now considered one of the best examples of marine conservation in Vietnam with regulations to limit fishing activities and prohibit destructive fishing. There are plans for eco-friendly development within the park’s boundaries.

Coming to Con Dao, tourists are sure to have comfortable and relaxing holidays deeply sunk in wild nature and experience rare species in the world surviving in Con Dao National Park.