Amazing nature on Ly Son volcanic island

(Dan Tri) - Ly Son Island was formed from volcanic eruptions millions of years ago. With its pristine landscape and majestic ancient craters, Ly Son is always a destination chosen by many tourists.

Ly Son Island

Ly Son is an island district of Quang Ngai province, 17 nautical miles from the mainland. The district has an area of ​​about 10 square kilometers, with a population of about 22,000 people. Ly Son district includes the Big Island and the Small Island. This area has traces of 10 craters, of which 3 craters are located on the seabed. Ly Son island has many ancient craters, beautiful beaches, and pristine scenery. In addition, Ly Son is also famous for its fresh seafood, especially garlic. On average, Ly Son island welcomes about 250,000 tourists each year.

Ly Son island district, seen from above (Photo: Quoc Trieu).

The "golden" time to explore Ly Son

The tourist season in Ly Son starts from April to August every year. During this time, the weather in Ly Son is quite nice, favorable for tourists to explore the entire island. During the rest of the year, the sea weather is bad, the sea is rough, and passenger ships are not allowed to depart. If you have to go to Ly Son during this time, tourists need to closely monitor the weather forecast to avoid being stuck on the island.

Every April, Ly Son island district organizes many cultural and sports events to attract tourists (Photo: Quoc Trieu).

How to get to Ly Son?

Ly Son island district is 17 nautical miles from the mainland. Visitors will go to the island by passenger ship, departing from Sa Ky port (Binh Chau commune, Binh Son district). Every day there are 8-10 high-speed trains carrying passengers to the island, and vice versa. The travel time from the mainland to the island takes about 45 minutes. Visitors can book a flight to Chu Lai airport. There is a shuttle bus to Sa Ky port, a distance of more than 40km. In addition, visitors can go by car or train to Quang Ngai city. From Quang Ngai city to Sa Ky port is about 25km. For convenience, visitors should book train tickets in advance. The departure time and how to book tickets are detailed on the website cangsaky.com.vn.

Taking a speedboat to Ly Son Island will be a memorable experience for tourists (Photo: Quoc Trieu).

Accommodation

Ly Son island district has 133 accommodation facilities including hotels, motels, and homestays. Many accommodations cost only VND250,000-300,000 per day. If you want to experience the feeling of being immersed in wild nature, visitors can camp at Hang Cau, or stay at homestays on Be Island.

Beachfront homestay helps visitors immerse themselves in pristine nature.

Beautiful scenery in Ly Son

Ly Son Island consists of Big Island and Small Island. Big Island is where passenger ships from the mainland dock. From the sea, visitors will see ancient volcanoes towering. Most of the relics and landscapes are located on Big Island. Thoi Loi is the largest volcano on Ly Son Island. The peak is over 149m high, this is also the highest point on the island. This volcano has a base diameter of 1.4km, and a mouth diameter of 0.35km. The inner wall of Thoi Loi crater is steep, with a deep lake in the middle. The eruption of Thoi Loi volcano creates spectacular landscapes, especially Hang Cau.

Thoi Loi crater becomes a reservoir providing water for agricultural production in Ly Son.

Hang Cau Cave was formed by a volcanic eruption about 1 million years ago. Later, the sea waves eroded and carved deep into the foot of the mountain, creating a fairly large cave. Formed through many volcanic eruptions, Hang Cau Cave is likened to a "sandwich" with many layers of sediments stacked on top of each other. After millions of years of erosion, the sediment layers gradually became visible.

Duc Pagoda and Hang Pagoda On the Big Island, there are two famous pagodas: Hang Pagoda and Duc Pagoda. Hang Pagoda is located on the east side of the island. The pagoda is located in a cave at the foot of Thoi Loi volcano. This is the largest cave in the cave system on Ly Son Island. Hang Pagoda is located in a cave 24m deep, 20m wide, and 3.2m high. In the pagoda, there are many altars to Buddha and the ancestors of An Hai village. Because it is located in a cave, the air in the pagoda is cool all year round.

Entrance to Hang Pagoda.

Duc Pagoda was built in 2008 with a 27m high statue of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. The pagoda has 3 shrines which are stone caves located on the cliff of Gieng Tien volcano. In addition to visiting Duc Pagoda, visitors can climb 139 stone steps to the top of Gieng Tien mountain and immerse themselves in the vast space of the sea and islands.

Duc Pagoda has 3 shrines formed from caves on the volcanic cliff of Tien Well (Photo: Bui Thanh Trung).

To Vo Gate To Vo Gate is also an interesting destination for tourists. This is a rare natural stone arch in the world. The stone arch was formed from volcanic sediments millions of years ago. To Vo Gate is about 20m long, the top of the gate is 4m higher than the sea erosion surface, the narrowest point is about 2m wide. In addition to To Vo Gate on land, in Ly Son there is another stone arch located off the coast of Be Island. This stone arch was discovered by archaeological experts in 2014. The stone arch is formed from volcanic lava, with the same structure as To Vo Gate on land. The lava block that forms the stone arch is nearly 100m long, of which the dome is about 20m long. From the seabed up, the highest point of the stone arch is about 5m. Visitors can join a diving tour to admire this amazing stone arch.

To Vo Gate is a rare terrain in the world (Photo: Quoc Trieu).

In addition to the sights, visitors can visit Am Linh Pagoda, the whale skeleton exhibition house, the Hoang Sa Fleet exhibition house managing Bac Hai. Be Island Be Island is more than 3 nautical miles from Big Island. From Big Island, it takes about 15 minutes by canoe to reach Be Island. This place has a wild space and beautiful beaches. Coming to Be Island, visitors can experience the windy roads along the coast, admire the ancient sedimentary rocks, and Dun Island. On Be Island, there are many homestays located on the coast. This is a beautiful place to watch the sunset or sunrise.

The beach on Be Island is surrounded by volcanic lava (Photo: Quoc Trieu).

Ly Son specialties

Like many other island regions, Ly Son is also famous for its fresh seafood. In addition to fish caught near the shore, visitors can enjoy sea urchins, Huynh De crabs, or abalone. In addition to seafood, Ly Son is also famous for being the land of garlic. The island district has about 300 hectares of land for growing onions and garlic. Ly Son garlic is considered to be of the highest quality compared to garlic grown elsewhere.

Huynh De crabs living around Ly Son island are very delicious (Photo: Quoc Trieu).

Experiential activities

Coming to Ly Son, tourists can participate in many interesting activities. Tourists can go scuba diving to see corals, underwater To Vo gate, and fishing near the shore. If coming to Ly Son during the onion and garlic growing season, tourists can join the locals in the fields like real farmers. The onion and garlic fields are also ideal check-in spots for tourists when coming to Ly Son.

Onion and garlic fields on Ly Son island (Photo: Quoc Trieu).

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/thien-nhien-ky-thu-tren-dao-nui-lua-ly-son-20240405114634829.htm