Hello friends in #Haveyoubeenhere, if you are a person who likes the sea and islands, then don't miss Cham Island. I just had an interesting trip there, so today I would like to share with you about this wonderful place.
Cham Island is a historical and cultural relic associated with the formation and development of the commercial port town of Hoi An. In ancient Western maps, it was known as "Champello" from the Austronesian word "Pulau Champa". With rich flora and fauna and historical sites hundreds of years ago, Cham Island was recognized by UNESCO as a World Biosphere Reserve.
People call "cu lao Cham" (Cham island) because this island is subjected to the source water from the Thu Bon River, so in addition to being called the Island, it is also called Cu Lao, just as Ly Son Island is subjected to the source water from the Tra Khuc River. Ly Son Island is also known as Cu Lao Re. The word Cham is a word that the ancient Quang Nam people misread from the word Cham – in the past, the Cham people lived here a lot. That was formed from Cu Lao Cham.
How to get there?
Starting from Da Nang, it took us 45 minutes to ride a motorbike to Cua Dai port. From here, there are two ways to get to Cham Island: by boat or canoe. Travel time is from 30-40' (for market boat) and 15' for canoe. We chose the market boat to save money as well as experience what it's like to go by the market boat. 🙂
Right at Cua Dai port, we were asked to replace the plastic bags we were holding with paper or plastic baskets like this before we were allowed to go to the market boat or canoe to Cham Island. This is to prevent tourists from littering and throwing plastic bags into the sea. Cham Island is home to many species of sea turtles. Sea turtles like to eat jellyfish, when you accidentally throw down a plastic bag, the turtle will look at them like jellyfish and eat them. Also, when these plastic bags cling to the coral, the coral will not be able to breathe and will also die.
In terms of geography, Cham Island is located about 15km from Cua Dai coast, combined with Son Tra peninsula in Da Nang to form an ideal ecosystem where marine creatures only live around this area, not go somewhere far. For that reason, this place has rich marine life in both quantity and quality.
In this season, the sea water is clear and flying fish can be seen jumping on the sea water - Looks great, this is my first time seeing this scene.
After 45 minutes on the boat, we were at Bai Lang - the main beach of Cham Island.
What does Cham Island have?
Beautiful roads
Driving a motorbike around every corner in Cham Island is a great feeling that you should try. Tiny roads just enough for 2 motorbikes connecting from village to village and leading to the sea… You won't get lost when you enter any road because it eventually leads you to the main road or the coast. Among them, there is a road running along the coast with a beautiful white sand beach. Sorry I don't remember specifically which village it was in.
Beach and coral reefs
Going to Cham Island without taking a boat to the surrounding islands and watching the coral is a waste. Usually, when renting a boat to visit around the island, they will always come with a scuba diving service to see the coral. Visitors will be fully equipped with life jackets, diving goggles and basic diving instructions. So even if you don't know how to swim, you can still comfortably see the beautiful coral reefs and marine life.
Heliport - the beautiful view overlooking Ong beach and sunset
Early dawn on the island
The most beautiful place to watch the sunrise on the island is Eo Gio. We got up at 4am and headed to the first sunrise on the island. The moment of sitting and waiting from when it was still dark to when the sun began to rise gradually from the sea, it felt like waking up the whole soul.
Visit the seafood market in the early morning
After watching the sunrise, it was time for us to visit the seafood market. It's really busy and exciting. Boats full of seafood return from the ocean early in the morning. Watching traders, restaurateurs, tourists and villagers gather to buy the freshest seafood is exciting. I then joined the stream of people to buy some fresh seafood to bring back to the mainland. Everything happened very quickly. If you are slow, you will not be able to buy the seafood you like.
What do I like most about Cham island?
Friendly and honest local people, delicious and cheap food and beautiful scenery are all my favorite things about Cham Island. However, what I like most is the people's sense of environmental protection on the island.
Honestly, Vietnamese people have a habit of using plastic bags everywhere. Just go around the market, you can have up to 15 large and small plastic bags in your bag. That is too large a number and directly affects our living environment.
With the policy of saying no to plastic bags that has been applied extremely effectively in Cham Island, I did not see a single plastic bag on the island even at the market. I think that has greatly contributed to the conservation of Cham Island.
After a 2 days 1 night trip to Cu Lao Cham, I changed my shopping habits a lot such as carrying reusable boxes and bags when going to the market to minimize the use of plastic bags. Or in case I forgot to bring them, I would still like to combine many items in 1 plastic bag to reduce the number of plastic bags to take home. And I will clean those plastic bags and fold them neatly into the drawer to reuse for the next time.
This interesting trip has brought me a lot of experiences, and helped me have more good habits to contribute to environmental protection besides enjoying the beautiful scenery, delicious food and friendly people.
If you have the opportunity, visit Cham island once to experience it. Thank you for reading to the end of my post.😘