Lights twinkle through the night off Hai Hoa Beach

20/09/2008

It must be an undiscovered beach. We are very lucky to be the first people to enjoy the turquoise water and vast white sand beach," said a 12-year old boy.

He is right. The beach is calm and less crowded than many others, such as Cua Lo Beach in the central province of Nghe An’s Vinh City. This tranquillity will allow us to enjoy our entire four-day summer family vacation without being disturbed by other people, such as the tiresome local photographers who insists on taking pictures at busier beaches.

A friend directed me to the newly discovered beach in Hai Hoa Commune in the northern province of Thanh Hoa’s Tinh Gia District, where we could enjoy a natural shore lined with casuarina trees and views of the surrounding mountains.

Walking along the beach during the night we noticed many ‘stars’ on the sea surface. At first we thought we were looking at a modern seaside town close to the shore.

"Oh! It’s so wonderful," exclaimed my son.

A local fisherman told us that the lights are from the fishermen’s boats, who often go fishing at 4pm and return early the next morning.

"Our villagers focuses on three types of fishing: the first group specialises in catching tiny shrimps; the second group nets fish and the third group catches cuttle fish. They earn around VND1.5-2 million (around US$100) per month," said Hoang van Tu, a local fisherman.

He told us that if we want to buy live fish or cuttle fish we should come to the beach very early in the morning.

Nguyen Thi Nhung from Ha Noi told me that her two children particularly liked joining the local fishermen pull in their catch, saying it was the most interesting "game" they had played so far.

"I could see how happy my children and other city-kids were when they joined the fishermen moving the live fish from their nets to large baskets to be ready for sale." Some of them even asked the fishermen for a few tiny fish to raise in a plastic bottle.

We were happily surprised by the Cao Nguyen, Xanh Ha and Dai Duong hotels, built by private developers.

Prior to our arrival at the beach we assumed its infrastructure would be very poor, but we were pleased to find quality hotels open to offer guests with a full range of services, from tasty food to karaoke.

You can also laze the day away in the complimentary deck chairs that line the beach, contrary to Sam Son Beach in the same province where you must pay at least VND10,000 ($70 cent) per hour.

We checked into the three-star Cao Nguyen Hotel and were happy to find clean, well-equipped rooms with a view of the sea.

Our favourite amenity was the swimming pool in front of the hotel, where the children were able to swim during the hot nights after a long day of play in the sea.

"I can let my children swim in the pool at any time because the water is clean and completely safe for children," said parents, adding that they were surprised to find a hotel with a pool in such a remote and poor place.

Cao Ngoc Tung, director of the hotel, told Viet Nam News that he plans to invest billions of dong to build a five-star hotel to serve the needs of a growing number of visitors.

"When the new hotel is completed we will be able to increase the total number of visitors at any one time from sixty to hundreds," he said.

To attract local and foreign visitors to the province the Hien Duc Company has been granted a licence to build a four-season resort, Doan Van Phu, director of the Thanh Hoa Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, said.

The VND561 billion ($34 million) project will include a five-star hotel complex, eco-tourism villas and garden bungalows. Sports, entertainment and fine dining options are also part of the plan, said Phu.

The project is expected to be operational by the end of 2011.

Thanh Hoa aims to increase investment for international-standard resorts and eco-tourism facilities from local and foreign investors "so as to turn Hai Hoa Beach into one of the most popular beaches in the northern region," Phu said.

Hai Hoa Beach was officially opened to tourism three years ago. More than 300,000 visitors were welcomed this summer, bringing the total so far to 800,000

Although we had to leave the beach, we promised ourselves to return next year to fully enjoy its calm beauty, and to join again the local fishermen reel in their daily catch.

<Halong Holiday>