Lao Cau island - South Central Coast

Binh Thuan Province is rich in human and natural potentialities that are good advantages for developing tourism and service sector. The province has the coastal line of nearly 200 km with many beautiful beaches such as Mui Ne, Ca Na, Cu Lao Cau. Cu Lao Cau is a small and young island rising in the middle of the sea, located in Tuy Phong District, Binh Thuan, about 9 km away from the seashore. Tourists can spend 30 or 40 minutes to get there by boat. 

 This island stays about 119 km away from Phan Thiet City to the Northeast. Cu Lao Cau island is characterised by rocky outcrops, with sandy beaches on the north and south sides. The highest point on the island is 27m. It covers a long distance of over 1.500m with the widest area of nearly 700m and the highest one of 7m above sea level. The entire island is surrounded by tens of thousands of cliff blocks of different colors and shapes. From the main land, it looks like a big warship. It is really interesting when having a condition to observe the whole island carefully. Around this isle, the water is always clean and blue. When the tide goes down, on the seashore we can see numerous beautiful shells and corals pleasing the tourists’eyes. Quite many kinds of sea creatures living around this island. It would be very great if tourists bring a fishing rod and some preys to fish. On the island, there is also a fresh water well, which is called a Fairy Well from an old book. 

Although the water amount is small, the well is the sort of permanent leaking water. Fringing coral reefs can be found around Cu Lao Cau island and platform reefs on submerged banks. The reefs are pristine, with an average cover of 43%. This site supports the highest diversity of hermatypic corals known in Vietnam. There are more than 65 genera of coral known here, including Acropora, Goniopora, Montipora, Porites, and Favia. There is also a small area of seagrass beds. Sea currents from the north and south converge near Hon Cau-Vinh Hao, with strong upwelling. 

The area has high productivity, with 175 phytoplankton species, 163 seaweed species, 147 coral species, 80 mollusc species, 46 crustacean species, 26 echinoderm species and 211 fish species so far recorded here. Cu Lao Cau island is one of the places that has Vietnam’s best ecological environment. With beautiful neglected beach, presently, it is has been planned to be a marine life preservation zone and an eco tourist site. The island will promisingly become an ideal ecological tourist attraction.