This place is famous for its wild, peaceful natural scenery, white sand dunes and long, clear beaches. Quan Lan is an interesting tourist destination for visitors to admire and watch the sea. Overcoming a long, hot and tiring journey, we were soothed by the heartbreaking beauty of this land.

Minh Chau commune welcome gate on Quan Lan island.

Come to Quan Lan in the most beautiful season of the year

Before coming to Quan Lan, we did some research and concluded that Quan Lan is beautiful at any time except during the rainy and stormy season. It depends on the purpose of the visitors coming here. If you want to swim and sightsee, then perhaps from May to July is the best time, because at this time the weather is clear, the clouds are white and the sun is yellow, the sea is warm, suitable for swimming and "living virtual". August and September have storms. From September onwards, the weather is autumn, the sea water is cold, not suitable for swimming anymore, but the scenery is still very poetic, at this time you can go to Eo Gio or walk on the beach to watch the sunset, watch the sunrise. For those who love the wildness of the island, they should come here at this time, because there are almost no tourists.

For us, the best season in Quan Lan is July, when the family is on summer vacation, taking each other on vacation, far from the hustle and bustle of the splendid capital. Although at this time, the prices of rooms, homestays and food all increase, if you are clever and know how to choose the time to go in the middle of the week, it is much more "affordable". At this time, you can feel all the beauty and wildness of Quan Lan, and can fully enjoy your vacation with your family in the golden sunshine, blue sea and white sand.

How to get to Quan Lan

There are many ways to get to Quan Lan, the first way is by wooden boat. It will take about 2 hours to get there. The advantage of this means of transport is safety, in any weather conditions including heavy rain, strong winds, high waves.

Ao Tien International Port has just been put into operation, very beautiful and modern.

The second way is to go by speedboat. We chose this way. From Ao Tien International Port, it only takes about 40 minutes to take a speedboat to Minh Chau Pier of Quan Lan Island. The first thing we saw when we stepped onto the island was a row of electric cars, painted in eye-catching colors right at the pier, waiting for customers to call for an hour, and then agree on a price and "go". Each electric car can carry a group of 9 to 12 people, very suitable for families or groups.

For individual travelers, we recommend renting a motorbike to get around. We rented a motorbike on the island for 200,000 VND per day, not including gas. The interesting thing here is that you can buy gas at any grocery store for 35,000 VND per liter. Exploring Quan Lan by motorbike is the most popular method chosen by many young people because it saves maximum costs and allows you to actively enjoy the scenery here.

Go to the island to swim

It would be a mistake to come to Quan Lan without swimming in the sea. This place is blessed by nature with long beaches with white sand and clear blue water.

Minh Chau beach in the early morning. The sea water is so clear you can see the bottom.

We stayed at Dau Dau homestay, so the closest place was Minh Chau beach. After packing our luggage, we went swimming here in the afternoon. It is not an exaggeration to say that Minh Chau beach is a pearl in the heart of Quang Ninh, because of its long stretch of fine white sand and clear blue water.

The second beach on the island is Son Hao beach. Along with Minh Chau, Son Hao beach is one of the two famous beaches on Quan Lan island that attracts tourists every summer. Son Hao is a famous beautiful beach on Quan Lan island, with a length of more than 3km, possessing clear blue sea water and poetic scenery. The characteristics of Son Hao beach are the tall rows of casuarinas and diverse vegetation. The special thing about Son Hao beach is that if the sea level rises, the beach will be smaller and the shore will be slightly steep.

The third beach is Robinson Beach. And just like its name, this is known as the most pristine beach in Quan Lan because it has just been put into operation and has not been affected by human hands. The way to Robinson Beach is quite difficult to find, because it is a deserted beach hidden behind a small road, in front is the sea, behind is the casuarina forest. When coming here, visitors will be amazed by the clear blue water that can be seen all the way to the bottom, along with the white, smooth, long sand beach. The interesting thing when coming here is that the beach is extremely deserted, to the point that there is a sign leading to the "nude bathing" area.

The way to Robinson beach is quite difficult to find.

What to do on the island

At 5am on the second day of the holiday, Mr. Nguyen Van Toan, the owner of Dau Dau homestay where I rented a room, knocked on the door to wake us up. Then we rode our motorbikes to the rocky beach at Minh Chau beach to catch snails. He gave each member of our family a pair of gloves and a basket, then showed us how to turn over each rock to search for and catch snails. He shared that finding a drinking party here was very simple, just go to the beach. That night, we ate seafood prepared by Mr. Toan, including the snails that the whole family had found that morning.

Dau Dau Homestay, one of the lovely accommodations just 300m from Minh Chau beach.

Mr. Toan shared: “Here, visitors can participate in the experience of catching snails or squid fishing. But I only recommend it to those who love to experience and explore because these two activities take a lot of time.”

Mr. Toan (in black shirt) was the one who took us to experience catching snails on the island, and the result that day was a plate of fragrant grilled snails.

That night, we cycled around the walking street on quad bikes, ate street food, played games with prizes, went down to the beach to listen to music, and joined in the campfire.

An unforgettable quad biking experience.

On the morning of the third day, the whole group got up early to have breakfast and then rented motorbikes to explore the island. The main road on the island is stunningly beautiful with two rows of green, straight pine trees. Next, we stopped by Robinson beach, Ngoc beach (Ngoc Vung beach), Quan Lan wharf, and visited Eo Gio. Eo Gio on Quan Lan island is probably most beautiful around May or June, because at this time the sky is clear and cloudless. And during the day, the best time to see the scenery is around 5am when dawn begins, or in the late afternoon when dusk is gradually falling. From the top of the mountain, you can observe the island from above, or look out at the blue sea, with white foam waves.

The main road on the island has two rows of green pine trees on both sides and few people passing by.

Ms. Anh Thu (My Dinh, Hanoi) - who went with our group said: "I have been to many places, explored many islands, but have never seen a place as beautiful as Eo Gio. Coming to Eo Gio Quan Lan is an endless space, standing on high looking at the blue sea water, feeling the salty sea air through each breeze... I feel very lucky about this experience, although I feel a little regretful because I could not see Eo Gio at its most beautiful".

Eo Gio Quan Lan, a check-in location not to be missed.

"Specialties" of the island

Coming to Quan Lan for tourism but forgetting to enjoy the delicious specialties here is a big mistake. Being a coastal area, this place is famous for its countless different types of seafood, delicious and fresh such as geoducks, shrimp, oysters, crabs, etc. But besides these seafoods, what we saw the most on the island, and told each other that this is the "specialty" of this land, is probably jackfruit, climbing flowers and sea worms.

The "specialty" we saw most on the island.

During the short 3 days and 2 nights on the island, jackfruit was everywhere. Jackfruit was grown in the homestay, in the hotel grounds, in the resort, and was sold all along the way to the beach. We often joked that perhaps in this sunny and windy place, nothing grows faster than jackfruit trees. And indeed, the jackfruits growing on the island, in this sunny, windy place and the salty sea, every tree was full of fruit, big fruits growing all around the base. Children and adults were all excited to check-in and wanted to share the big and small fruits to bring back as gifts.

Perhaps because of the year-round hot climate, the most commonly grown plants here are worm flowers, bougainvillea and yellow trumpet vine. The worm flower tree, whose name means a gentleman who does not become an official but is neither a hermit nor a politician, speaks to the characteristics of the tree that can endure all hardships and poverty but always reaches out to truth and light with a strong and abundant vitality. The worm flower tree is often planted as a trellis to both block the hot sun and create a fragrance, while also showing off its brilliant colors. The flowers bloom continuously many times a year, and can block the hot sun well, so it is very popular. Every house you go to will smell the fragrant scent of worm flowers, inviting visitors to come and take pictures as souvenirs.

The flower trellis is an ideal check-in place for visitors to the island.

When it comes to specialties that are often bought as gifts in Quang Ninh, people can mention squid rolls, dried squid, sun-dried fish and sea worms. Sea worms, also known as ginseng, are a famous specialty of this place that Quang Ninh people have used for cooking, daily life and health improvement since ancient times. Sea worms have a rather strange name, some people have never even heard of it, but it has many miraculous uses that few people know. Quan Lan sea worms are a precious specialty that nature has bestowed upon Quang Ninh, a precious medicine that nature has bestowed upon humans.

At the end of the short 3-day, 2-night trip, no one in our group wanted to leave this peaceful island. On the tram back to the pier, everyone was silent and regretful. Some people said that their plan was to come back here next year, but not just for another 3-day, 2-night trip, but to stay as much as possible, to immerse themselves in the salty sea air, to let themselves go in the clear blue water and to explore all the places that we had not set foot on this trip. Because Quan Lan is so beautiful, because there are still many places to go to Quan Lan and because we truly cherish the time we spent together on this island. See you again - Quan Lan!

Article and photos: THANH HUONG - TO NGOC

*Please visit the Travel section to see related news and articles.