Con Dao, an island district in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, is approximately 230 km from Ho Chi Minh City. The island district consists of 16 islands, the biggest of which is Con Dao. Con Dao is associated with Vietnam’s heroic history of resistance wars to rise up and liberate the homeland.
Con Dao National Park and Con Dao district's administrative center (Photo: VNA)
Con Dao is known as a tourist paradise that rose from an isolated island dubbed "hell on earth" where Vietnamese revolutionary soldiers were detained by the colonial and imperial rules. The Vietnamese government has planned to turn Con Dao in to a spiritual, historical, cultural, and marine eco-tourism area with unique, high products at international quality.The general construction planning of Con Dao until 2030 approved by the Prime Minister is being implemented by Ba Ria-Vung Tau province with the dual goals of preserving the integrity of special national relics, and promoting the advantages of natural landscape of Con Dao, a "pearl" in the East Sea.
Con Dao attracts tourists for its beautiful natural landscape of beaches, coral reefs, and primitive forests surrounded by sea waves, as well as historical sites. One of the most popular venues on the island is the Con Dao Prison Relic.
Tourists shared their feeling. “I’ve been to Con Dao several times. I am always exited whenever I come here. I’m most impressed by the beautiful sea, pristine natural landscape, and clean environment.”
“I’m grateful to the heroes who sacrificed their lives for peace today. I come to Con Dao to offer incense to commemorate the heroic martyrs.”
“I don’t have relatives resting in Hang Duong Cemetery. But I come here every year to commemorate all heroes with my deep gratitude.”
“I feel moved to listen to stories of the heroes who fought for the nation. As a young person coming here to learn about history, I find the trip truly worth it.”
Tourists visit Con Dao Prison. (Photo: VNA)
Con Dao has two places considered extremely sacred: the grave of female armed force hero Vo Thi Sau and the shrine of Mrs. Phi Yen.
By the end of November, Con Dao district had welcomed over 555 thousand visitors, an increase of 23% over the same period last year, of which foreign visitors were more than 13 thousand, an increase of 84%.
New tourism products have been launched such as visiting many islets of the Con Dao National Park, diving to explore the coral reefs, and watching rare plants and animals such as bird's nest, tortoises, and holothurias.
Highlights of the tour in Con Dao National Park are vestiges of the Neolithic age, the early Bronze Age about 3,000 years ago, and burial sites of the Sa Huynh culture about 2,000 years ago.
Con Dao also has unique marine economic potential. It’s a large fishing ground and a very convenient place for logistics services and seafood processing facilities. Ben Dam Bay is the main seaport of the island district, which has a water depth from 6 to 18m. It provides a full range of services such as petro, electricity, water, fish market, and cold storage. Con Dao has a large fishing fleet, with annual catching of about 10,000 tons of all kinds of seafood.
Le Van Phong, Secretary of the district’s Party Committee and Chairman of Con Dao district People's Committee, said: “Our goals are to preserve and promote the values that our ancestors left for today, while promoting socio-economic development and shifting social structure from agriculture to tourism and services. We aim to preserve the environment.”
Con Dao is upgrading Co Ong airport and is building a 340m long maritime trade and service port at Ben Dam to serve ships of 2,000 tons. The port on Con Dao island is being upgraded while new ports are being built on Bai Ong Dung and other islets to serve passenger ships.
As one of 21 national tourist areas in Vietnam, Con Dao is considered a paradise of relaxation and natural discovery for domestic and international tourists. In 2011, Con Dao was voted by British travel magazine Lonely Planet as one of the top 10 best and most mysterious islands in the world.
To implement the master plan of Con Dao until 2030, the Government and Ba Ria-Vung Tau province are striving to build the island district harmoniously between economic development, preservation of cultural and historical relics, and forest and marine ecosystem protection, while ensuring security and national defense.
Bui Hang
