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Hey there
I think you should go to Phu quoc Island. I have been there in 4 days 3 nights and it was so great. Phu Quoc Island is bigger than Con Dao Island. If you visit Phu Quoc, you'll know how the local residents make Fish-Sauce (Nuoc Mam) and you can visit Pearl Farm. That farm will show you the technique to create many kinds of pearls. The beach in Phu Quoc Island is very clean. Its color is light green,and there are 2 kinds of waves those are very silent wave (looks like no wave) and the other is very strong.You can take a bath at the streams,and to be honest it's the coolest! ^_^ You should rent a motorbike and go around that island. There are 2 ways to do it which are to go along the beach(sandy path) and go through the tropical nation forest(sandy,muddy,small rocky path). Therefore, be careful haha Moreover, i remembered i have gone up to the hill with many scary feelings. The small path was made by the residents and made of many small bamboos,and that way is very slippery... You can enjoy snorkeling or scuba diving there too. ))

Ah, i forget one thing . There is a big jail in Phu quoc. That place holds some history events. You will see a specially famous kind of Phu Quoc's dog. I guess you are going to look forward to watching dog competition on the many kinds of ways.

vampire186 wrote:

Hey there
I think you should go to Phu quoc Island. I have been there in 4 days 3 nights and it was so great. Phu Quoc Island is bigger than Con Dao Island. If you visit Phu Quoc, you'll know how the local residents make Fish-Sauce (Nuoc Mam) and you can visit Pearl Farm. That farm will show you the technique to create many kinds of pearls. The beach in Phu Quoc Island is very clean. Its color is light green,and there are 2 kinds of waves those are very silent wave (looks like no wave) and the other is very strong.You can take a bath at the streams,and to be honest it's the coolest! ^_^ You should rent a motorbike and go around that island. There are 2 ways to do it which are to go along the beach(sandy path) and go through the tropical nation forest(sandy,muddy,small rocky path). Therefore, be careful haha Moreover, i remembered i have gone up to the hill with many scary feelings. The small path was made by the residents and made of many small bamboos,and that way is very slippery... You can enjoy snorkeling or scuba diving there too. ))

Dear Duc Bui,

Have you ever been in Con Dao Island ?
Can you make a presentation of this Island too?

Thanks,
Alex

Hi Alex,

Have u ever heard abt Ly Son island in Quang Ngai province? People said that it's a wonderful island cuz still remains unspoiled by tourists.

I havnt got a chance to visit Ly Son island yet, so i'll try to see it soon, within this year.

Hope that you have one more option with it. Have a nice trip!

BR
Thy

labella193 wrote:

Hi Alex,

Have u ever heard abt Ly Son island in Quang Ngai province? People said that it's a wonderful island cuz still remains unspoiled by tourists.

I havnt got a chance to visit Ly Son island yet, so i'll try to see it soon, within this year.

Hope that you have one more option with it. Have a nice trip!

BR
Thy

Hi,

I never heard about Ly Son Island, it looks interesting too.

Have you ever been in Con Dao Island ?

We already have a little group of expatriates and Vietnamese going to Con Dao this September 2013...it's gonna be great with a night in camping on a desert Island of the National Park of Con Dao, fishing, snorkeling, trekking.... !

If you want to join, just give me your Email address and I send you the detailled schedule.

Best regards,
Alex (alexis.thizeau@gmail.com)

Alex,

I have heard that a lot of efforts had been put into turning Con Dao into a tourist area.  However, knowing what I know about the island, I would NEVER go there:  Con Dao was South Vietnam's Alcatraz.  They housed the most hardcord of prisoners there.  Many of whom never saw the main land again. 

I don't know about you, but personally, such is not too ideal of a place for some R&Rs.

Naw, I think Phu Quoc has them beat Howie:

Wild_1 wrote:

Alex,

I have heard that a lot of efforts had been put into turning Con Dao into a tourist area.  However, knowing what I know about the island, I would NEVER go there:  Con Dao was South Vietnam's Alcatraz.  They housed the most hardcord of prisoners there.  Many of whom never saw the main land again. 

I don't know about you, but personally, such is not too ideal of a place for some R&Rs.

Hi,

Yes I understand your concern.
I am aware of what happened on this Island, it is terrible, I totally agree. But the life still have to continue. If we refuse to go at places where happened terrible things in the past, I am not sure that there will still be a place to go !

So me, I am always looking for the positive all the time, and the positive part of the terrible history of this Island is that it made this place more preserved than other Islands in Vietnam...but for how long?

One of the purpose of my organized trip in September is to raise the awareness of the people to the importance of the preservation of the Vietnamese wonders before it is too late.

Hope you understand my opinion,
Best regards and have a nice day.
Alex

Budman,

Somebody must have had his/her history mixed up, or might have tried to alter it  for their own economic benefits, or something. But, as far back as I can remember, Phu Quoc has always been known for its fish sauce and ridgeback dogs, with a small population of fishermen.  They might have had a prison there.  But, it must have been a holding tank or something, because this is the first time I have heard of such. 

But Con Dao...  It is an entirely different story.  They used to house some of the most harden criminals there, from the time of the French to 1975.  Up until recent years, no one was allowed or wanted to live there.  All that ever came from the island were stories of death and torture.

You might want to google that as well...

I like the Con Dao Islands. I have gone there for work with the National Park, so have more access than most, including to some stunning places on small islands, but it is still beautiful for anyone.

It is mostly national park, with some good forest, but there are the old prisons and associated things (eg a moving small temple to a 19 year old martyred woman), but if you don't like that sort of thing, just don't go to them (many ghosts my VN friends say).

But I think it is important to bear witness to atrocities. In this case, what the French and American jailers inflicted on human beings. Always unbelievable, except it happened.

Con Dao has some nice beaches, fresh air, good forest (a simple idea is to go to Ong Dung Beach walking through the forest to the ranger station), good coral. Look to get away from the resorts on bikes. The NP has some small tours etc and the dive shop is apparently a source of tourist info (never been to the shop myself).

It will be boring to some. A VN friend was just there with some of her friends and they left early, but that was partly because they had a whinger in the party who found fault with everything.

It just isn't very developed and things are basic. Some of the 'resorts' are the basic Saigon Tourist type and accommodation generally is a bit overpriced for what you get.

There are a few local restaurants that serve local OK food in the town. A cafe on the waterfront. I saw one hopeful little cocktail bar catering to foreigners.

If people like nature, fresh air, a break from HCMC traffic and air and are there with good friends, then it should be good. Phu Quoc is the obvious choice, but as I said, I like Con Dao.

PS Phu Quoc did have the 'Coconut Prison'.

Hi,

Yes, I think it is definitely a great archipelago in VN even if some people can see it not enough developed and get bored.

I just like this kind of preserved places, they are rare in VN...
Too many places are spoiled by the human activity, by people only thinking about their immediate profit and not thinking about the future of this country and what gonna left to the next generations!

Thanks for sharing your knowledge about this amazing place (I came also to Phu Quoc island)...

From the 14th until the 17th of September we gonna go there (little group of around 10guys, Vietnamese and expats), rent a boat, sleep overnight on a desert island, even do some night snorkeling on the coral reef. We know people from the National Park so it gonna be just awesome! A few people can still join us, so just write me a mail if you'r interested : alexis.thizeau@gmail.com

Cheers,
Alex