This observation was once again reflected upon by us when we recently had the opportunity to accompany a delegation of officials from the Ha Long Bay Management Board to survey some areas such as Tra Gioi, Cat Oan, Tra San - Cong Do, Lom Bo, Soi Sim, serving the development of new tourism products and services in the province. These are mostly destinations in offshore areas, little known but also show that the heritage still has many hidden beauties, which are rich potential for sustainable tourism exploitation in Ha Long Bay.
Hidden, unusual beauty
The Tra Gioi and Cat Oan areas are relatively far from shore, bordering Bai Tu Long Bay in Van Don District. The rocky islands here, in addition to the long mountain ranges, also have many "lonely" rocky islands standing alone on the sea, creating a strange beauty compared to Ha Long Bay in our familiar perspective. Because they were far from shore and had big waves, many of the women in the group were "dizzy". The small speedboat behind us, the brothers were even hit by the waves on both sides of the boat, getting wet...
Tra Gioi Beach is relatively wide, nestled between the arc of a majestic layered stone "wall" with a view of the bay like a picturesque landscape. The sand here is white and smooth, the sandbank has a gentle slope, according to the unit officer who accompanied him, on high tide days, the sandbank is not completely flooded...
Unlike Tra Gioi, Cat Oan area is not a single sandbank but has many adjacent sandbanks. The largest sandbank is a sandbank emerging in the middle of the sea, with two ends blocked by two ranges of rocky mountains. Waves gently hitting the sandbank in a gentle arc from both sides of the sea create a very unique landscape. From this sandbank, visitors can walk along the foot of the rocky mountain to the adjacent sandbanks right next to the mountain. From afar, the golden sand shines in the sunlight, an indescribable beauty.
Ha Long Bay has hundreds of small sand beaches along the foothills like Tra Gioi or Cat Oan. In many areas, the sand beaches are often distributed in clusters like in Cat Oan or Tra San - Cong Do areas... Currently, only 2 beaches Ti Top and Soi Sim have been included in the tours in Ha Long Bay, other sand beaches are still being surveyed to consider the feasibility of exploiting for tourism.
During the survey, the group also arrived at Lom Bo Island - an area with waters bordering Lan Ha Bay, Cat Ba of Hai Phong City. We were welcomed by rows of coconut trees stretching out across the island. In contrast to the wild scenery of the island was the bustling scene on the sea with countless magnificent and luxuriously designed cruise ships from both Quang Ninh and Hai Phong passing by, making the group members exclaim in admiration because it was so beautiful...
To harmonize conservation and development goals
Although the landscape is beautiful, in reality, not all places can be exploited immediately for tourism tours. Areas such as Tra Gioi and Cat Oan are quite far away, over 20km from the ports, and at times are subject to strong winds and waves, so preliminary assessments show that they are suitable for experience and discovery tours. However, exploitation must also take into account management issues, ensuring safety, security, order, and environmental sanitation in the areas. The exploitation of sandbanks into bathing beaches in the Tra San - Cong Do area is similar.
Observations also show that some sandbanks need to be renovated to be exploited. Of course, exploiting sandbanks does not mean only serving the purpose of swimming, but can also provide services on the sandbank, such as light parties or art performances... For example, the sandbank on Lom Bo island has strong currents, so it needs to be carefully studied before being exploited. And most of the sandbanks we surveyed above still have a lot of floating waste, mainly materials used in aquaculture such as foam buoys, bamboo rafts, plastic bottles... Not only cleaning when exploiting for tourism, but cleaning in these areas should also be done early to avoid materials drifting out to sea with the tide, affecting the overall environment of the heritage.
Soi Sim beach is currently part of the tourist routes on Ha Long Bay, but over a long period of non-use, the infrastructure has deteriorated. It is necessary to find a solution to resolve the problem soon, to serve the needs of tourists when visiting the bay. Hang Cap La is one of many caves on Ha Long Bay, also part of the heritage tour, however, trees have now grown everywhere, blocking the path leading to the cave. It also needs to be cleaned up, and at the same time, increased promotion so that businesses can include it in their tours and tourists can know about it when visiting Ha Long Bay...
Talking to us during the trip, Mr. Vu Kien Cuong, Head of Ha Long Bay Management Board, said: Developing tourism products, especially new products in Ha Long Bay, including the use and exploitation of caves, ponds, sandbanks, etc., always has to face the problem of resolving the conflict between conservation and development. That is to preserve the original values, the intact values of the world natural heritage to the maximum, but there must also be activities to promote and exploit these values to serve tourists, as well as to promote the value of Ha Long Bay heritage to be widely spread and be an opportunity for many people to experience the unique values of the heritage.
We always put conservation requirements first, exploiting tourism products must be based on ensuring absolute pristine beauty, minimizing human impact on the unique natural landscape of Ha Long Bay. With that spirit, we are trying to advise the province from now until the end of 2024, to put the beach system into operation first, then select a number of caves with the best conditions to put into service exploitation, such as organizing concerts, singing and dancing in the cave and a number of other entertainment activities...
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