Ha Long Bay – The Majesty of an Island Destination in its Full Splendor

Earth Delight / Photo from fesign

For those of you craving for an island vacation, Ha Long Bay in North Vietnam would prove to be a veritable paradise. This group of islets in the Quang Ninh province is known for its marvelous ‘natural wonder’ and has been acknowledged as a UNESCO World Heritage site. What is most noticeable about Ha Long Bay is its exceptional seascape that changes colors rapidly under the clear sky of a warm summer night. This group of 1969 islets having a coastline of 120 km extends over an area of 1553 square kilometers and it is thronged by the Cát Bà Island to its southwest, China to its north and the Gulf of Tonkin to its southeast.

View of Ha Long Bay from cave / Photo from Palinka

Photo from yhshangkuan

Evening, Ha Long Bay / Photo from Flickmor

You must have seen this wondrous group of islands as the backdrop of the breathtaking chase scene of the 1997 James Bond movie ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’. Vietnamese legend has a remarkable tale about the formation of these limestone karsts isles. It is said that the islands came into existence when a family of dragons was sent by the gods to help the Vietnamese to protect themselves against the Chinese foray and they spat gems and jewels. This chain of islands hence gave rise to a defensive wall and became the nesting place of the dragons. The dragon babies spread out to the neighboring areas of Bái Tử Long Island and Bạch Long Vỹ Island.

Photo from Saad S. Fayoumi

Halong Bay sunset / Photo from Iñaki Vinaixa

Photo from hbp_pix’

Such stories are lovely to hear but the actual tectonic origin of the Ha Long Bay is no less wonderful. Originally, at a submerged level during the Ordovician and Silurian periods, ha Long Bay came to the surface in the Carboniferous and Permian periods after epochs of marine regression and transgression. As a result of almost 500 years of ceaseless tectonic activities, Ha Long Bay has come to exhibit an interesting layer of thick pale grey strong limestone, finely granular in nature. Its karsts topography is estimated to have evolved over 20 million years and contain a series of interlacing inland lakes with submerged fengcong karst.

How many pigs can you get on a motorbike? / Photo from pompey_diver

Guess who’s watching his calories Vietnam / Photo from random discoveries

Its location between E106°56′ to E107°37′ and N20°43′ to N21°09′ has given Ha Long Bay two predominating seasons. The summers are mostly warm and damp while the winters are cold and dry. The average temperature remains between 15°C- 25°C and the annual precipitation borders on 2000 mm and 2200 mm. Ha long Bay is inhabited by a population of 1600 people, belonging to the fishing community who live mostly on floating houses. Apart from fishing, marine aquaculture is another leading occupation of these people.

Photo from McAsteve

Photo from Asher Hung

When you go to Ha Long Bay as a tourist, you must not miss the caves dotting the limestone monolithic islands some of which are hollow. Among these, Hang Đầu Gỗ (Wooden stakes Cave) is the largest and the most remarkable cave. Look out for the gigantic stalactite and stalagmite formations within it. Your eyes would be soothed by the wondrous blue-green combination of the surrounding ocean and the isles jotting out of it. When you have an aerial view of these isles, some will appear similar to elephants, roofs and fighting cocks in their shape. You are sure to catch sight of the fenglin landscape because of its elevation of 50-100 m.

Photo from Jeff Maurone

Such rich natural ambience is enriched further by the wealth of flora and fauna that Ha Long Bay possesses. You will find about 477 magnoliales, 40 apes, 20 salt marsh flora, 12 pteris and 10 reptilian species inhabiting the islands. Enthusiasts over the world have noticed such amazing biodiversity, the result of which is the many awards that Ha Long Bay has received. Apart from the honors of being classified as a 1994 UNESCO World Heritage Site, it has been nominated for the World’s 7 Natural Wonders.

Cave in one of the islands of Ha Long Bay / Photo from Palinka

The natural beauty of Ha Long Bay has never ceased to attract tourists and nature lovers. The new shopping and dining facilities is a further addition to that direction. However, the increasing scope of tourism has diminished the sea grass beds, mangroves and the limestone formations within the caves. Added to that, the debris left by the tourists has endangered the terrestrial and marine ecosystem. Too much fishing has already started to take its toll on the fish population. If such reckless activities are not checked, chances are that you would not get to see the ethereal beauty of Ha Long Bay in the future.

This cave, formed over many an age, is huge. It felt like I was on a film set. / Photo from abhishakey

Photo from Roger OZ

A view of the sea / Photo from thegolzer

Dusk Over Halong Bay / Photo from hiddentravel