Cu Lao Cham Island, 15km from Quang Nam mainland, is full of corals

The third time traveling to Hoi An with his family, also the third time coming to Cu Lao Cham (Tan Hiep commune, Hoi An city, Quang Nam province) in the past three years, Mr. Ho Phi Long (a tourist from Gia Lai province) continued to choose the Cu Lao Cham eco-tour to visit the world biosphere reserve, especially to experience the service of diving to see corals under the sea.

“This is my third time in Hoi An. All three times I went to Cu Lao Cham to dive and see the coral. The sea water in the coral diving area is clear and not too deep, which is ideal for those who love diving.

In particular, at the bottom of Hon Dai sea, about ten minutes by canoe from Cu Lao Cham island port, Tan Hiep island commune, is home to hundreds of species of coral with different shapes and colorful, extremely eye-catching colors, along with a diverse marine ecosystem, captivating people's hearts.

If there are more windsurfing and paragliding activities here to serve tourists, it can be affirmed that Cu Lao Cham beach is one of the top places to visit in the country," Mr. Long shared.

To dive and see corals in Cu Lao Cham, each tourist is equipped with a life jacket, snorkel and mask; some are also equipped with oxygen tanks suitable for each type of diving. When the canoe leaves the port and anchors in the diving area, tourists are fully equipped with diving equipment and safety equipment by technical staff and are free to dive in the designated areas.

Each group of coral diving tourists always has a technician swimming along to support diving techniques when needed. On each canoe, there are usually 2-3 technicians whose duty is to supervise all diving activities of tourists to ensure absolute safety.

Scuba divers are always under the safety supervision of authorities.

Regularly guiding tourists to scuba dive, Mr. Le Ngoc Thao (working at the Management Board of Cu Lao Cham World Biosphere Reserve) said that there are three ways to scuba dive to see coral in Cu Lao Cham.

The first is snorkeling, also known as scuba diving. This is the most popular and widely chosen method of coral diving in Cu Lao Cham.

The second is scuba diving; suitable for those who want to explore the seabed at a deeper level than surface diving. With scuba diving, divers are equipped with snorkels, goggles and air tanks along with technicians diving to a depth of about 6 m to get closer to coral reefs and underwater vegetation.

The third method is walking under the sea to see coral (Sea Walking). This is a new and unique experience but not many people choose it. Participating in this method, visitors can experience an indescribable feeling when their diving feet directly touch the bottom of the sea.

In any diving method, the most important factor is still ensuring absolute safety for divers. This is a mandatory criterion that all units participating in providing coral diving services must strictly comply with - Mr. Le Ngoc Thao affirmed.

Expecting a new development direction in island tourism, Secretary of Tan Hiep Commune Party Committee Nguyen Van An said that during the island tourism season, on weekends, Tan Hiep island commune welcomes an average of 2,500 - 3,000 visitors per day.

On the remaining days of the week, each day, the locality has from 1,200 to nearly 2,000 visitors coming to visit and experience the services on Cu Lao Cham Island. Although diving to see corals was born later than other products, it has had great appeal.

Coral viewing service providers in Cu Lao Cham are strictly inspected by authorities regarding their vehicles and equipment.

“The coral reefs in Cu Lao Cham are among the best in the country in terms of scale, number of species and pristine beauty under the sea.

“Diving to see coral is one of the most attractive activities that many tourists look forward to when traveling to Cu Lao Cham. However, since COVID-19, the number of tourists participating in diving has decreased significantly and only really increased again during the summer island tourism season this year,” said the Secretary of the Tan Hiep Commune Party Committee.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van An, the locality always creates favorable conditions for companies to develop this type of service on the condition that they fully meet the requirements of the authorities to ensure absolute safety for tourists.

In the long term, coral diving activities will only develop at a moderate level, within control. If they develop too quickly, this activity will negatively affect the environment and marine ecosystems in the Cu Lao Cham World Biosphere Reserve.

Scuba diving is only allowed in good weather.

Approaching the coral diving product of tourism workers, Mr. Van Ba Son, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Nam shared that for many years, coral diving, especially the surface diving method or also known as snorkeling, has been an indispensable product for a part of tourists every time they come to Cu Lao Cham in the summer.

With more than 300 species of coral and a rich marine ecosystem, scuba diving has become an indispensable part of tours to the Cu Lao Cham World Biosphere Reserve. It is important that for scuba diving activities to develop safely, sustainably and friendly, each tourist needs to be aware of protecting marine ecological resources.

Vice Chairman of Hoi An City People's Committee (Quang Nam Province) Nguyen Van Lanh said that sea and island tourism has become a strength of the locality for many years. With Cu Lao Cham sea and island, Hoi An city has been and will continue to create all favorable conditions, while combining the State, businesses and the community to gradually build this place into a truly worthy national sea and island tourist area.

Cu Lao Cham has been planned as one of nine national island tourism areas. This is an outstanding advantage for Hoi An to exploit all the potential and strengths of island tourism, becoming the leading force of Quang Nam tourism in general and island tourism in particular.

In this general development trend, coral diving products will be facilitated to develop safely, friendly, sustainably and in harmony with nature.

Source: https://danviet.vn/dao-cu-lao-cham-cach-dat-lien-quang-nam-15km-la-liet-san-ho-con-dong-vat-hoang-da-ngoi-im-20240830201341974.htm