HCM City (VNA) - Noted for its vast mangroveforests, pure air and wildlife sanctuaries, the coastal district ofCan Gio and its Mangrove Biosphere Reserve is a perfect weekend break fromthe frenzied activity of the country's big cities.

Located 50km southeast of the Ho Chi Minh City centre, the Can Gio wetlands can be visited easily by speedboat,car, motorbike or bus.

Regarded as the “green lung” of the city, thearea is home to more than 33,900 hectares of mangroves, one of themost extensive rehabilitated mangrove forests in the world.

In 2000 UNESCO designated Can Gio as thefirst Mangrove Biosphere Reserve in Vietnam.

With a coastal line of 23km and a river networkstretching 22,000 hectares, Can Gio has perfect conditions for aquaculture andagriculture as well as eco-tourism and sea tourism.

Eco-tourism

Often referred to as the "kingdom ofsalt", Thieng Lieng Island in Can Gio district’s Thạnh An commune has beentransformed from an isolated place without electricity and limited livingconditions to a new eco-tourism site.

The island is home to more than 200 households,with most of them living on salt farming and the rest involved in shrimpand oyster aquaculture and fish farming.

With more than 400 ha of land for saltfarming, the island has salt output of 20,000 tonnes every year.

A visit to the island offers hands-onexperiences such as working on salt farms and learning about salt production,and catching shrimp and crab with fishing nets.

The serene and peaceful sunset on the whitesalt farms on the island is best viewed between December and May, the saltcultivation period.

Visitors can also trek through themangroves to conquer Giong Chua Mountain, the only high hill in HCM City,and view the mangroves and salt fields. 

At night, visitors are entertained withpopular cai luong (reformed opera) songs performed by local peopleliving on the island.

In the early morning, visitors can ride abicycle around the island and catch the sunrise, breathing the pure fresh air.

Le Truong Hoang Nam, a young man from HCM City,said: “My first impression as visiting Can Gio is untouched nature, anunpolluted environment, and peacefulness, which cannot be found inthe city. The friendliness and warm hospitality of the locals alsoimpress me. This place is a great escape from stressful city life."

"Delicious dishes made with freshseafood, locally grown vegetables and herbs, served with fish sauceor chilli salt, make perfect meals for visitors," he said.

Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, Deputy Director of HCMCity's Department of Tourism, said: "The coastal district of Can Gio withits forest and sea ecosystem played a vital role in the city’s tourismdevelopment."

"The peaceful Thieng Lieng Island, not farfrom the bustling economic hub of HCM City, makes it a special place tovisit," she added.

In recent years, community-based tourism hasbeen developed, offering unique experiences about local life and culture,she said.

Several households have invested in home-stayservices to serve overnight visitors over the past year. They havereceived training in tourism-related services such as accommodation,transportation, and dining and entertainment services.

Wildlife sanctuary

The mangroves in Can Gio have a highbiodiversity with more than 200 species of fauna and 52 species of flora,according to UNESCO.

A variety of wildlife such as bats, birds,saltwater crocodiles and macaques are found at the Vam Sat Ecological Park, asection of the Mangrove Biosphere Reserve.

The 600-hectare Vam Sat natural birdsanctuary is home to 70,000 birds of 26 different species. Visitors canobserve thousands of birds flying around during the nesting season from Aprilto October.

At Vam Sat, tourists can alsoboard rowing boats to explore the bat swamps where fruit bats nest.

The breeding season forthe bat is in the 11th lunar month when thousands of bats holdtheir children against their chests in their nests.

The 26 metre-high tower at the centre of Vam Satis a prime place for visitors to observe the immense panorama ofthe forest and wildlife.

Jan Bordewijk, a tourist from Holland, said: “Aneco-tour to Can Gio on a speedboat was nice. To me it was a bitlike the Amazon area in Brazil. I saw a lot of mangroves, trees and big rivers.It's a pity we could not see some animals because it was not thebest time of the year."

The Rung Sac Guerrilla Base, Dan Xay MangrovePark, Monkey Island, and the city-level architectural site Ong Thuy TuongTemple (Temple worshipping the whale) are also appealing touristattractions in Can Gio.

Seafood specialities

Wetland specialties such as crab, mudskipper,duck, mullet and oyster that grow naturally in mangroves make up mostof the signature dishes of Can Gio.

Roasted crabs with tamarind sauce, grilledmudskippers with chili salt, sour eeltail catfish soup, and grilledoysters are must-try dishes for any foodie.

Dried shark catfish, bird's nest, and mango inCan Gio district are specialties that HCM City has given incentive policies forproduction, brand building and trade promotion.

Cruise tourism

Ferries linking Can Gio district and Vung Tau cityare scheduled to start in April, facilitating transport between thecities, according to the city's Department of Transport.

The ferry service with a capacity of 250passengers, 100 motorbikes and 15 cars is expected to bring more tourists fromBa Ria-Vung Tau province to Can Gio district.

It takes three and a half hours to travel bycar from Vung Tau city to Can Gio district, but only 30 minutes byferry.

Phan Xuan Anh, chairman of Viet Excursions, saidthat passengers on cruise ships that dock at ports in Ba Ria-Vung Tau provincepreferred to take river tours to Can Gio for sightseeing instead of travellingfor two hours by cars to visit the centre of HCM City.

“Can Gio should take advantage ofriver-based tourism because it could receive a huge number of cruisepassengers from Ba Ria-Vung Tau province,” Anh said.

Over the last five years, the number of touristsvisiting Can Gio district rose by 10 percent each year, according to thedistrict’s People’s Committee. 

This year, the district welcomed 2.57 millionvisitor arrivals, up 29 percent compared to last year.

The district’s tourism revenue is estimated at1.4 trillion VND (60.51 million USD) this year, a year-on-year increase of 40percent./.