Discover Con Dao Island in early summer days

Con Dao Island – once the “Hell on earth” in the past – now becomes one of the most attractive destinationsin Vietnam. Con Dao Island is a group of 16 islets. The largest island is known as Con Son. Con Dao was once a prison island jailing a large number of political prisoners under the French colonial empire many forms of tortures and punishments. Besides having an interesting history, Con Dao is also an island of immense natural beauty with forested hills, deserted sandy beaches and extensive coral reefs for some excellent diving. Do not forget the following top 10 things to do when traveling Con Dao Island in your 2015 summer Vietnam holidays.

Visiting Con DaoPrison

Con Dao Prison

From 1862 to 1975, Con Dao was known as a brutal prison for those who fought against the French colonialism and the former Saigon regime. To learn somewhat more about the historical Con Dao Island, as well as to feel the sense of loss that revolutionaries in the past had to undergo, tourists never miss to visit Con Dao Prison system which is now become the museum of Con Dao with heroic ruins of Tiger Cages, Hang Duong Cemetery, and fierce jail system... Con Dao Prison is one of most visited attractions in Con Dao and is recognized as one of the fiercest prisons in the world.

Dropping by Lady PhiYen Temple

Nestled on the bank of Ot Stream (Pepper Stream), Lady Phi Yen Temple, also known as An Son Temple, has been an important point of worshiping in the spirit of Con Dao people. For the locals, it is a sacred temple associated with a tragic story of a talented, virtue and patriotic woman. After her death, local people mourned and built a shrine to commemorate her. In 1861, after occupying the island, the French decided to remove the entire island’s population to the mainland to build a prison in the island; therefore, the temple gradually became crumbling. In 1981, local people on the island rebuilt a spacious temple on the old ground and worship up until now. Todays, in Vietnam tours to Con Dao Island, Lady Phi Yen Temple is an indispensable stopover.

Visiting Vo Thi SauTomb at night

Vo Thi Sau Tomb

That will be a great “challenge” for almost anyone to visit a tomb at mid-night. However, this is one of the most interesting experiences in Con Dao tours. Tourists often share their experiences on popping in Vo Thi Sau Tomb at mid night. Unlike the thought of major people that there is no one coming to the cemetery of Vo Thi Sau – a famous heroine of Vietnam at night, it is the fact that, mid-night is the time when the historical site welcomes tourists most. Stalls around the cemetery are always shined with light to serve tourists.

Riding a bike along Con Dao Beach road

Con Dao

The beauty of Con Dao can be described by one word – Perfect. It is because the island is bestowed by The Nature with all best criteria of a wonderful beach. To feel the amazing beauty of beaches in Con Dao Island, and enjoy the fresh air of early morning on the island as well, you should rent a bike and ride along the beach of Con Dao. With this interesting experience, you will be surely enchanted by pristine landscapes here; on one side, it is the vast blue sea, and the other is covered by green and majestic mountains, forming myriad sexy scenery.

Con Dao diving

Beaches in Con Dao are among the best diving and snorkeling places in Vietnam. The coral is relatively untouched and very impressive, with giant coral heads. The marine life includes turtles, rays, giant barracuda, cuttlefish, cobia, and dugongs as well as a whole host of tropical reef fish. Con Dao includes many smaller islands such as Bay Canh Island, Tai Island, Tre Island, Trung Island, Trac Island, and Cau Island… There are many choices to dive and discover vivid coral reef here. The island is the convergence of coral reefs with the highest density in Vietnam. Now, there are many diving tours in Con Dao with the average price from 500,000 VND including necessary devices.

Exploring Ong Dung Beach

Ong Dung Beach is to the north of town. Ong Dung Beach is seen as a charming and ideal beach of Con Dao National Park. Coming here, tourists can admire and immerse into turquoise and warm waters, colorful untouched natural scenery of the flora and fauna system. It will take about 1 hour to walk along roads in the forest to reach Ong Dung Beach, which may make tourists exhausted, but the tiredness will disappear when approaching the beach; the excitement will appear instead. The turquoise waters of Ong Dung Beach will be a fantastic award for all tourists’ effort in Vietnam tour packages to Con Dao.

Fishing at night

The sea area of Con Dao is located in the South China Sea which possesses a large number of seafood, promising an interesting off-shore trip. The most ideal area to go fishing is Nhat Beach near Love Hill in Con Dao Island. According to “professional” fishermen, the best time to go fishing is when the night falls.

Stopping by Bay Canh Island

Bay Canh Island

Located in the east of Con Dao Island, Bay Canh Island is covered by a primitive forests and mangrove forests belonging to island tropical ecosystem with 882 flora species and nearly 150 fauna species. Coming here, tourists will have chances to dive and admire colorful coral reef, fish, and other marine creatures living on coral reefs. The coastline of Bay Canh Island is long and pristine. It has a simple and familiar beauty, which makes tourists feel peacefully in the serene atmosphere.

Tripping to turtle sanctuary

With an area of about 14,000 ha of water, Con Dao Island has a large turtle sanctuary. Annually, in breeding season from April to September, there are thousands of turtles coming here to spawn. Witnessing and recording the moment when turtle digging and spawning is an interesting experience. Do not miss the second-to-none chance in Con Dao tours.

Staying in a Con Dao resort

Six Senses Con Dao

The peace and serenity in a resort in Con Dao will make the island be the right place for those who desire to relax in a luxurious setting, experience a slow life, and escape the busy routine and habits. Traveling Con Dao Island, tourists will have many choices to take rest in one of beautiful hotels and resorts, fitting different needs of every tourist.

How about Con Dao Island

Con Dao is the vacationer objective drawing in visitors both household and worldwide. It is spotted in the area of Ba Ria -Vung Tau. Con Dao is known for its decent white sandy gem shorelines. It charms sightseers when landing here. Flying out to Con Dao Vietnam to investigate well known and excellent view here is a standout amongst the most fascinating minute in your trek. Yet, before you achieve Con Dao island, you ought to furnish yourself with the accompanying essential information.

Firstly, you should find information about transport in Con Dao Island. Currently, there are only one flight of Vietnam Airlines to Con Dao every day. Normally, you have to transit your trip through Ho Chi Minh City. On every Wednesday and Friday, there is a direct Hanoi- Con Dao route. It is quite convenient for those who are traveling in Hanoi. Although it depends on the number of visitors and you might have to transit, the transit time is very fast. You still have to carry hand luggage off the plane, then get into the lounge area to get on the right plane to continue your trip.

Sea View

From Co Ong Airport, it is about 12 km far from Con Dao town center. You can take a taxi. They are always available at the airport. However, hotels in Con Dao often have shuttle service at the airport. You need to ask carefully when booking. If you have not make reservations before, you can book at the representatives at the airport. Visiting Con Dao, you should travel by motorcycles. While riding your motorbikes, you also can enjoy cool sea breeze, and beautiful landscapes of Con Dao beach. The most interesting thing is that you do not need to lock your vehicles when visiting around. Even if you leave it overnight, your motorbike still there. On the island there is only one gas station, so you should pay attention to the level of gasoline.

Secondly, you can find famous hotels and restaurants in Con Dao before getting there in order to make your vacation more convenient. If you want to stay at hotels having beachfront view, you should choose Con Dao Resort on Nguyen Duc Thuan Street. This resort is in the central area. It is convenient to travel around and enjoy fresh meals. Besides, you can choose one of these hotels such as Saigon Con Dao Resort, ATC Resort on Ton Duc Thang Street. These resorts also have stunning sea view, clean and good service. Fresh seafood on the island is very tasty. You should eat lobster and shrimp and lobster. Specifically, the price of the restaurants here is fairly similar to each other. The food is really fresh, good cooked, quick and professional service.

Con Dao Beach

Thirdly, visiting historical relics in Con Dao Tours should not be miss when coming here. Vo Thi Sau Grave Martyr in Hang Duong cemetery should be visited first. You can get there at 12am because it is crowded all the time. Ms. Sau is regarded as holy protecting, neutralizing sadness and pain. People come here to worship and wish happiness and luck. You also should visit the Memorial of 1912 martyrs located in Hang Duong cemetery. In addition, you should drop by Ms. Phi Yen Temple. it is also known as An Son Temple. Temple and tomb of Cai Prince near Co Ong Airport should be visited in your tours. Furthermore, One Mountain Temple is a shoul-not-miss destination in your trip. It is the temple has the best position in Vietnam. The airy, peaceful architecture of the temple appeals hundreds of tourists. Last but not least, it is Con Dao Prison- a historical monument.

Finally, in your Tour Con Dao, apart from traveling Dam Trau Beach in the main island with white sandy beach, and beautiful landscapes, you should hire a canoe to visit Hon Bay Canh Island. It is the second largest island in Con Dao Vietnam. There is wonderful beaches and mangroves. You also can dive to contemplate the beauty of coral. However, there is few eating services here, so you need to prepare your food before traveling to this island.

Hotel Room in Con Dao

To sum up, though you travel other place beside Con Dao Vietnam, you need to prepare well before you trip to make your holidays more wonderful and significant. Hopefully, the above tips will be useful to you and your holiday in Vietnam.

Source: http://www.vietnamtour.alotrip.com

Con Dao- Beautiful place dips in my memory

Con Dao with shivering historical prisons and breath-taking natural scenery will leave deep impression with any tourists once coming right here. It will be an some unforgettable experience in life.

There are two methods for getting to Con Dao from Vung Tau Town: by plane or ship. We chose the second. After a night by sailing, we landed at Ben Dam of Con Dao when the sun had just risen.

Con Son Beach

Source: Panoramio

Con Dao appeared in front of our eyes in a green shirt of coconut trees and coastal casuarinas. On the way from the port to the center, I had the opportunity to contemplate the picturesque beauty of Con Dao City. On the right of my hand were spotless white sandy beaches and the deep blue sea. On the left were superb green forests, fresh young grass and red-roofed houses hidden in the early morning mist. The natural picture with refresh colors and pure air of Con Dao quickly helped me to forget the tiredness of a night with seasick.

Con Dao National Park

Source: Panoramio

The roads of Con Dao City were covered with hundreds-of-years tropical almond trees. The first place I visited was an ancient house of French architectural style in Le Duan Street. After 113 years used as a place to live and work of 53 Island Lord, the house became the Con Dao Gallery of historic revolution. We visited Con Dao prison system after that. The relic was a huge area which consisted of 127 rooms, 42 cells, 504 tiger cages and many other areas. Therefore, we were taken to visit three main prisons which were Phu Hai, Phu Son and Phu Truong. Although 30 years passed, I was still shivered when taking a firsthand look at atrocities of the enemy in prisons. On the way out, we visited Hang Duong Cemetery, the resting place of more than 20 thousand revolutionary soldiers including anonymous ones.

Ben Dam port

Source: Panoramio

Con Dao also had many beautiful natural landscapes, however. In the next days, we visited Con Dao National Park, which was recognized as one of the most diverse biological reserve in the world. It was truly an enormous land with a wide variety of animal and plant species, many of which I had never seen before. In the afternoon, we took a ship to a minor beach, not far away from Dam Trau Bay. There, after being tired of swimming, we climbed cliffs, visiting wild freshwater lake behind the bay and diving to watch the undersea world of splendid corals and colorful fishes. Then we wandered in primeval forest to watch rare animals which could be found nowhere apart from Con Dao such as Nicoba pigeons, or fire storks.

Former Prison

When the sun was going down, we gathered with the beach to contemplate an exciting natural phenomenon: purple sunset. The purple sunset was so strange and fantastic which it created many different feelings inside me. It was also our last image of Con Dao. Regardless of having been many destinations in Vietnam and also on earth, it seems that nowhere results in deep impression in me such as Con Dao Island.