NAM DU ISLAND TRAVEL: TIPS FROM A TO Z

Located 250km from Saigon, Nam Du island is considered as the best destination for travel lovers and must visit once in the life.

WHAT IS THE BEST TIME TO VISIT?

The best time to visit Nam Du is from December to March. During this time, the weather is quite beautiful with blue sky and mild-wave sea, so you will not be seasick and find comfortable when traveling by speedboats.

Almost territorial seas of Kien Giang are not directly affected by hurricanes, but the rainfall caused by hurricanes occupies a huge density. The rainy season starts from April to November.

HOW TO TRAVEL TO NAM DU FROM SAIGON

To reach this island, you need to travel to Rach Gia – Kien Giang. The best way is to take buses at Mien Tay bus station with the price of VND 150,000 (USD 7) to VND 170,000 (USD 8). You should take the buses around 23.00 to reach Rach Gia at 6am next day.

Continue to Nam Du by speedboats with the price of round trip about VND 440,000 (USD 22). If the rough sea is at level 6, all boats are not allowed to operate.

SPEEDBOATS FROM RACH GIA TO NAM DU FOR REFERENCE

1. Ngoc Thanh (speedboat)

Route: Rach Gia – Nam Du

Departure time: 08.15 at Rach Gia harbor and 12.15 at Nam Du

Duration:  02 hours

2. Ho Hai (slow boat)

Route: Rach Gia – Nam Du

Departure time: 09.00 at Rach Gia harbor and 10.00 at Nam Du

Duration:  05 hours

3. Superdong

Route: Rach Gia – Nam Du

Departure time: 07.20 at Rach Gia harbor and 10.15 at Nam Du

Duration:  02 hours

HOW TO TRAVEL ON THE ISLAND

1. By boats

To explore islands around Hon Lon and other beautiful places, the best way is to travel by boats. There are some persons who have boats for renting. If you cannot find any boats, just go straight to the harbor and find any fishing boats of the locals. Remember to discuss about price and destinations you want to go.

2. By motorbike

You can rent motorbikes at the guesthouses with the prices from VND 150,000 (USD 7) to VND 200,000 (USD 9)/day to freely explore your favorite destinations.

WHERE TO STAY ON NAM DU ISLAND?

There are 2 options for your stay, you either stay at homestays or guesthouses with the prices from VND 150,000 (USD 7) to VND 200,000 (USD 9) per night.

If you want to have more experiences, you can find a ground to camp and enjoy overnight here. The most suitable ground for your camping is at Hon Dau, because it has a beautiful coconut tree lines and large sandy beach which is suitable for your camping and activities. It costs about VND 40,000 (USD 2) per person.

“MUST-VISIT” PLACES ON THE ISLAND

Hon Lon

Is a beautiful island located in the Thai Lan bay. This island is the best one of the Nam Du archipelago. On this island, you can dive to catch fishes and squids or to admire the beautiful coral reefs. Also, you can play, relax on the beach or enjoy swimming at Bai Cay beach with clean and blue sea.

Ngu beach

Lie in the West of Cu Tron. According to the legend, on the way to Siam, King – Gia Long stopped at this area so this area is called Ngu beach. During the dry season, this area still has full of freshwater, while others face a serious freshwater shortage. Here, there is a well with full freshwater. The locals assume that this well was dug when the king arrived so it is called King well.

Chet beach

The legend has it that in the 16^th century on the way to Phu Quoc island for trading, there was a fierce battle between the Dutch and Chinese. In the next days, there were hundreds dead bodies of Chinese pulled over on this beach, so the locals called it Chet beach.

Nam Du lighthouse

Is situated on the top of Hon Lon (Cu Tron) in An Son commune. This lighthouse is considered as the highest one in Vietnam because of its location on the top of mountain at the altitude of 300m above the sea level.

Dau island

Like Hon Lon, Hon Dau is very famous for its blue and clean sea water and green coconut tree lines rustling. The island is quite big compared to others with the primeval forest occupying 90% of the area. There are many beautifully growing coral reefs near the shore although they are not as beautiful as those in the deep sea area, the sea water here is very clean and clear. Some coconut trees are inclining towards the sea which you can lean on to enjoy a nap and cool breeze.

Nom island

Is one of eleventh inhabited islands, now there is only the big family of Mr. Duong Van Sau living on Nom island. This island was reclaimed and constructed by Mr. Vuong Van Kieu (father of Mr. Sau) in 1960. The entire island has an area of 10 hectares, but only 3 hectares are farmable, the rest is fully rocky.

Mau island

Mau island is about 200 hectares wide with over 120 adjacent households across the lowest part of the island. Almost people on this island are fisherman. Because the island is quite small, all people from the elderly to children will recognize the strangers as soon as they arrive in.

Out of 21 island of this archipelago, the nature seems biased when giving this small island beautiful beaches. There are up to five beaches on Mau island. Out of them, there are two rare white sandy beaches including: Chuong and Nam beaches; the remaining beaches are rocky such as: Bac, Da Den and Da Trang. Nam beach is the frontage of the island which is quite quiet all year round so all boats, ships for trading often stop over here. Accordingly, this area is more crowded. However, the beach is very clean with white soft sand.

Chuong beach

The best thing is to dip into the cool water of Chuong beach. The beach looks like a giant lake surrounded by coconut tree lines which their lifespan is longer than human age. The white sandy beach stretches and sea water is so blue and clear that you still can see the bottom at a distance.

There are two nearby wonderful stone beaches. Da Den beach has many beautiful types of stones of which mostly are glossy black so the locals take it as the name of the beach. The stones here have a variety of shapes and colors. When sunshine pour down, the stones under sea are sparkling with many beautiful colors. From Da Den, walk about 15 minutes to reach Da Trang beach. Only one color of white covers the entire beach. The “finger-sized” and “hand-sized” stones lie along the beach. This beach does not mostly have sand, just only white stones.

Ngang beach

This beach has a harbor with calmest waves in Nam Du which attracts thousand ships, boats and fish cages. It only takes 30 minutes from Lon island to Ngang island by boat. There are two boats departing at 7.00 am and 3.00 pm daily.

Ngang beach is the center of Nam Du commune. There are thousand boats, ships and nearly 60 fish cages anchoring not in any orders. There is a row of adjacent stilt houses built on bamboo and concrete columns spreading over 2km. There is only a small road with the width of 1.5 meters without any types of public transports.

Hai Bo Dap island

Is a favorite place chosen by many tourists who want to camp for staying overnight together. This is an ideal place for diving to enjoy coral reefs, to catch urchin, fish and to swim.

Son island

Located between Tre island and Nam Du archipelago, 60km from the shore, on the deep blue of ocean, Son island appears as a giant mountain. Since 1983, this island was renamed as Lai Son and is one of four islands in Kien Hai district (Kien Giang) with the area of 11.5 km² and over 2000 households living. To Son island, you will see the romantic beauty which is the harmonious combination of sea and island associated with history and culture of a place surrounded by rolling waves.

On the beautiful days, from a distance, Son island looks like a sparkling pearl with seven peaks amongst the waves. When coming closer, the island is more impressive with the green color of palm trees and peaceful scenery. Along the coast, there is a fishing village with many boats which make lively atmosphere.

Ma Thien Lanh hill

Most tourists to Son island like to explore Ma Thien Lanh hill which is keeping many myths that all locals here know very well. They are stories of fairies descending on the top of hill which is called the yard of fairies. Later on, there were many trees and caves so many Taoist hermits came here. On the way to Ma Thien Lanh, there is an open-air Buddhist statue and a lot of traces recorded on rocks by ancient people.

Most visitors when coming to Hon Son like to explore Ma Thien Lanh hill, which still keeps many myths that every person here knows. They are the stories of fairies descending on earth on top of the hill which is called the yard of fairies afterwards. Later on, this place has plenty of trees, caves so many hermits come here. On the way to Ma Thien Lanh, there’s still an open-air statue of the Buddha and lots of traces recorded on rocks by ancient people.

WHAT TO EAT ON NAM DU ISLAND?

Grilled needlefish with banana stems

This fish is also called as Blue bone fish which is a sea fish with long body, pointed beak like halfbeaks. The biggest ones can be a meter long and 2-3kg weight. It is called blue bone fish because their skins are blue. When looking at it, the bone appears to be blue as well.

The locals often choose the freshest fishes, then clean and clear their bodies and put them into the banana steams tightly. Next, grill them until the stems dry, the fishes are cooked well. Not only is the fish sweet, but also is a bit tough, wrapped and rolled with rice paper served with wild vegetables including ming aralia, blumea…forming a special color of the island which you cannot find anywhere else.

Dried fish

Drying method is one of the best way for keeping food which has existed for long. Dried fishes can be kept for years without being spoilt. The way of drying is simple but very effective of which fisherman often use to keep fishes if they cannot be sold. In Nam Du, all dried fishes are chosen rom the fresh fishes and this is an interesting specialty of Nam Du.

Grilled scallop with spring onion

Scallop is a familiar seafood with the delicious flesh which is suitable for both frying and roasting and is one of ingredients for many tasty and nutritious dishes such as, scallop with pepper and salt, scallop with spring onions…