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Six Phu Quoc beaches to get your summer on

admin — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 12:58:51 +0000

Vietnam’s largest island Phu Quoc boasts stunning beaches and a serene atmosphere, making it a top vacation destination for sun seekers.

Sao Beach

Sao Beach (Bai Sao), one of the most beautiful beaches on the southern island in Kien Giang Province, is located near An Thoi Town, about 25 km from Phu Quoc’s center. The beach stretches along 7 km of white sand. The sea here is calm and the water gets bluer the further you enter. At the northern and southern tip of the beach, there are entrances created by locals to enter surrounding pristine forests.

Dai Beach

It’s no surprise Dai Beach (Bai Dai) is considered one of the most pristine beaches in the world. From here, you can easily travel to the popular Dinh Cau Night Marke after a day languishing in the turquoise sea.

Tourists can join the fun of kayaking, fishing and diving, as well as visiting nearby islets. Dai Beach, 15 km in length, is located in Ganh Dau Commune, only 45 minutes from the Phu Quoc International Airport.

Truong Beach

Known as the longest beach in Phu Quoc, Truong Beach (Bai Truong) has a coastline of about 20 km, starting at Dinh Cau Port. Parallel to the beach lies famous Tran Hung Dao Street, the main road on the island and usually crowded. Many restaurants, motels, resorts, shops, eateries and other entertainment services are concentrated here, making Truong Beach one of the busiest beaches on Phu Quoc.

Skirting Truong Beach is the beautiful palm line, suitable for chilling and sunbathing. It is a shallow ocean zone, with cool, calm waters and no rough waves. The beach is ideal for watching the sunset.

Khem Beach

This is one of the most gorgeous beaches in Phu Quoc with its white sand and crystal-clear water. Although it is not as spacious or long as Truong Beach, it still has much to offer. At the south of Khem Beach (Bai Khem), there is an old well called Fairy Well. Although its position is near the sea, the water here is totally fresh. Local seafood is also delicious and fresh, with several fishing villages located nearby.

Khem Beach is located on the south of Phu Quoc like Bai Sao. This beach is 25 km from the center of Duong Dong Town. Visitors can rent a motorbike in town to ride there or simply take a taxi.

Ganh Dau Beach

Bound on the west by Cape Ganh Dau, 32 km from Duong Dong Town, this spot has more than just a beach to behold. Tourists can visit Nguyen Trung Truc Temple and enjoy its vast beauty, for instance. Although it’s only 500 m long, Ganh Dau is shielded by two mountains, one of which is Ta Lon of Cambodia.

The special experience visitors can enjoy at Ganh Dau Beach (Bai Ganh Dau) includes swimming and viewing the borderland between Vietnam and Cambodia. A boat service is also available, which take tourists to two islands offshore, Hon Ban and Hon Thay Boi.

Vung Bau Beach

Located in the northwestern part of Phu Quoc, Vung Bau Beach (Bai Vung Bau) is still relatively undeveloped, so its pristine beauty is still intact. For now, there are still only a few small resorts here.

This is really a place for those seeking tranquility. It is remote, so visitors can enjoy the feeling of having the whole area to themselves. From the beach, tourists can go to Hon Mong Tay Island, which is a great place for swimming, snorkeling and fishing.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock

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Storm Podul to make landfall in central Vietnam Friday

admin — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 11:42:45 +0000

A village in the north central province of Thanh Hoa is damaged as storm Wipha hit on August 3, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Le Hoang.

Storm Podul is expected to hit provinces from Nghe An to Quang Binh with strong winds and heavy rains on Friday morning.

As of Thursday afternoon, Podul’s eye was to the south of China’s Hainan Island, and is about 350 kilometers to the east of Vietnamese shores from Nghe An to Quang Tri provinces, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

It was carrying maximum wind speeds of 75-90 kph, the center added.

Podul is expected to make landfall with wind speeds of 60-75kph. It would devolve into a tropical depression within the next 36 to 48 hours, the center said.

Heavy rains should be expected across the country.

Central provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, which is home to the popular tourist town Hue, should expect rainfall of up to 200 mm a day until Saturday. Rainfall of 180 mm a day is considered heavy.

Da Nang, the largest city in central Vietnam, is forecast to receive rainfall of 100-200mm from Friday to Saturday.

Hoa Binh, Son La, Yen Bai and Phu Tho Province in northern Vietnam should expect between 200-300mm of rainfall until Monday, and the nearby Hanoi between 50-120 mm.

Rainfall of between 100-150 mm is forecast in southern Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City, until Sunday, and 150-250 mm in the Central Highlands, home to Da Lat.

Hong Kong Observatory and the U.S. Navy forecast that the storm will make landfall at around 7 a.m.

U.S. weather forecasting service AccuWeather said Podul is expected to maintain its tropical storm intensity when it makes landfall before weakening into a depression over the rugged terrain of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.

Areas from Da Nang to Ha Tinh would endure the worst of the storm’s impacts with strong winds and torrential rainfall from Thursday to Friday, it added.

Numerous localities, including Quang Binh, Thanh Hoa, Thua Thien-Hue and Kien Giang, home to Phu Quoc Island, have banned their ships and boats from sailing on Thursday as the storm approaches.

As many as 13 flights between Hanoi, Saigon, Hue, Thanh Hoa’s Vinh and Quang Binh’s Dong Hoi by carriers Vietnam Airlines, JetStar Pacific and Vasco will be cancelled Thursday, a press release by the Vietnam Airlines Group said.

Earlier this month Vietnam was struck by storm Wipha, which brought heavy rains, floods and landslides that left at least 10 dead and 11 missing in Thanh Hoa Province and its neighbors.

The country is hit by up to 10 tropical storms during the monsoon season between July and October. Four are expected this year.

Natural disasters, mostly floods, storms and landslides, killed 181 people last year and left 37 others missing and caused losses of around VND20 trillion ($858 million).

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Greenhouses, deforestation in focus as flooding toll rises in Central Highlands

admin — Sat, 10 Aug 2019 13:50:05 +0000

People are evacuated from a flooded area in Lam Dong Province in the Central Highlands, August 8, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Hoai Thanh.

Greenhouses and deforestation are looming large as floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains in the Central Highlands have killed 10 people.

Dak Nong Province has suffered the most in terms of human casualties, losing at least five people since Wednesday, the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control said Saturday.

Other provinces in the region, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, and Lam Dong, have reported one death each, while Kon Tum has confirmed two deaths.

The severe flooding has submerged more than 3,000 houses and more than 20 hectares of rice, agricultural crops and killed hundreds of poultry fowls in the Central Highlands and southern provinces, with total damage estimated at VND992 billion ($43 million).

The Central Highlands region produces most of Vietnam’s coffee, a major export item.

On Friday afternoon, many communes in Bao Loc Town, Lam Dong Province, were still surrounded by muddy waters. Many houses had collapsed or were badly damaged.

Rescued from her flooded house on Friday, Tran Thanh Thuy, 14, was waiting for the rain to stop to return home.

“The heavy rain began early and went on until 9 a.m. and the flood waters were coming very fast. In a little more than two hours, the water flooded most of my house and all four of us in the family had to climb upstairs,” Thuy said.

After hours of panic, they were rescued by soldiers in a canoe and taken to their relatives’ house.

Thuy’s house was one of 800 that were flooded in Bao Loc following severe flooding on Thursday.

Many streets in the popular resort town Da Lat, which is more than two hours drive away, were also flooded. Landslides from over 10 kilometers of Bao Loc Pass on Friday also disrupted traffic between HCMC and Da Lat.

In Dak Lak Province, the flood waters started receding on Friday after flooding 800 houses. Local residents have begun returning home to clean up.

Greenhouse effect and deforestation

Agricultural greenhouses in Da Lat, October 2018. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

Nguyen Van Son, director of Lam Dong’s Department of Agriculture and Development, said that the flodding in the province was much bigger and more serious than before.

He said that apart from climate change, the severity of the flooding was influenced by the profusion of greenhouses in Da Lat.

Once favored by holidaymakers in tropical Vietnam for its year-round temperate climate, Da Lat, a top holiday destination in Vietnam, was getting warmer at an alarming rate due to the mushrooming of agricultural greenhouses on its outskirts and in nearby areas.

The number of greenhouses in Da Lat and neighboring farming regions has grown by five times over the past five years, said Vu Ngoc Long, former president of the Southern Institute of Ecology.

Official reports have mentioned the total area of greenhouses in Da Lat and its vicinity at around 5,600 hectares, but Long believes the actual number is likely much higher.

However, Dang Van Chien, director of Dak Lak’s hydrometeorology center, said there were many reasons for the worsening flooding situation, but the main reason was deforestation.

The Central Highlands region has lost nearly 358,800 hectares (14 percent) of forests between 2008 and 2015, according to a report by the Central Highlands Steering Committee.

Most trees were chopped down by illegal loggers or cleared to make way for cash crops, roads or hydropower plants.

The southwestern monsoon and tropical depressions in the East Sea, internationally known as the South China Sea, have been triggering downpours in the Central Highlands and southern Vietnam, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting had warned.

Natural disasters, mostly floods, storms and landslides, killed 181 people, left 37 others missing and caused losses of around VND20 trillion ($858 million) in Vietnam last year.

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Province wants Phu Quoc named economic zone

admin — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 09:03:15 +0000

The plan to turn Phu Quoc into an SEZ was first approved in August 2018. Photo courtesy of Kien Giang Province.

Kien Giang authorities want the government to make Phu Quoc Island an economic zone pending the passage of the law on special economic zones.

In a recent letter to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the southern province said the plan to make Phu Quoc a special economic zone (SEZ) should be kept in abeyance until the SEZ bill is passed by the National Assembly.

It also sought permission to draw up a new socio-economic development plan for the island which would turn it into the Phu Quoc Economic Zone instead.

The plan to turn Phu Quoc into an SEZ was first approved in August 2018 with areas earmarked for urban development, tourism, services, housing, agricultural and forestry development, and specialized areas for airports, seaports and non-tariff zones.

Province authorities drafted a number of plans based on this. But the SEZ bill was shelved late last year and has yet to be brought back to the National Assembly’s legislative agenda, resulting in these plans lacking a legal basis.

The plans for the overall development of Phu Quoc Island approved by the government in 2004 are no longer appropriate, according to provincial authorities.

An economic zone should have separate economic space with a favorable environment for business and investment, an area of at least 100 square kilometers (38.6 square miles), a suitable geographical position for regional economic development, and good connectivity with key national and international transportation routes.

An economic zone also enjoys a number of preferential treatments in prioritized industries and tax, but to a lesser degree than the proposed SEZs.

Vietnam has a number of economic zones such as Chu Lai, Vung Ang, Dung Quat, and Nhon Hoi in the central region and Dinh Vu-Cat Hai in the northern port city of Hai Phong.

In October 2017 the National Assembly started discussing the law on setting up special economic zones in three strategic locations with greater incentives and fewer restrictions, Van Don in northern Quang Ninh Province, Bac Van Phong in central Khanh Hoa Province, and Phu Quoc in southern Kien Giang Province.

But one provision in it allowing foreign investors to lease land for 99 years sparked a public outcry, with thousands taking to the streets to protest in Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, and several provinces in June 2018.

The police detained hundreds of protesters and said they had uncovered evidence the protests were anti-state actions incited by organizations based in other countries using false, distorted information about the proposed law.

Dozens of protesters were sentenced to jail for inciting violence in Binh Thuan and Dong Nai provinces.

The law, initially scheduled to be passed that month, was postponed to subsequent sessions and then shelved.

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