Lan Ha Bay among Southeast Asia’s best places to visit: Thrillist

Lan Ha bay in Cat Ba island has been ranked 10^th among the most beautiful place to visit in every country in Southeast Asia, according to a list released by Thrillist, a U.S. online media website covering food, drink, travel and entertainment.

Lan Ha Bay, Cat Ba island. Photo: abstravel.asia

Many people think that it is in the Ha Long bay area because it also has hundreds of islands like Ha Long bay. However, Lan Ha bay is different with hundreds of small beaches, this is a paradise for tourists to go swimming, go kayaking or staying overnight in a bungalow, etc.

“Lan Ha Bay itself is home to several hundred islands, of which Cat Ba is the largest, you can rent a boat to explore, or spend the day swimming. There are well over 100 hotels in the immediate vicinity, so you can take your time if you understandably want to stay in the area a while,” Thrillist wrote.

Kelimutu Lake (Indonesia) tops the list, followed by Kampong Ayer (Brunei), Kuan Si Falls (Laos), Tun Sakaran Marine Park, Borneo (Malaysia), Banaue rice terraces (Philippines), etc.

No one doubt about the beauty of Ha Long bay as it’s the first time open to the public. Thousand of people has travel here and come back every year. But actually there is another place even offer you much more. It’s Lan Ha bay where is in the South of Ha Long bay and take you only 2 hours to get there. Known as twin of Ha Long bay, Lan Ha bay in Cat Ba island, Hai Phong city is an undiscovered land and water of blooming tourism in Vietnam in the last decade. It’s really unfair that this area bay it’s not popular as Ha Long bay but this help to remain the truly experience, natural environment and local culture.

Due to it being a fair way from Ha Long city, not so many tourist boats venture here, meaning Lan Ha bay has a more isolated appeal. Sailing and kayak trips here are best organised in Cat Ba town.

Geologically, Lan Ha is an extension of Ha Long bay but sits in a different province of Vietnam. Around 200 species of fish, 500 species of mollusc, 400 species of arthropod, and numerous hard and soft coral live in the waters here, while larger marine animals in the area include seals and three species of dolphin.

Lan Ha bay has about 139 beautiful, small sandy beaches, many island has sandy beach lie between two stone mountains. Many tourists come to these beaches for swimming, kayaking, having sunbath or have a picnic lunch on the beach.

The number of visitors to Cat Ba island in 2017 was estimated at 2 million, 450,000 of whom were foreigners, according to the Hai Phong Department of Tourism./.

VNF