Considered a "twin sister" of Ha Long Bay, Bai Tu Long Bay has long been like a "sleeping princess in the forest". Therefore, Quang Ninh province is focusing on awakening this tourism potential.

Wild, mysterious beauty
Joining the working group of Bai Tu Long National Park Management Board on a field trip to Bai Tu Long Bay, Giao Thong Newspaper reporters saw the rocky islands with multi-colored shapes, the vast primeval forests with diverse flora and fauna, and the smooth white sand beaches hugging the feet of the islands...

Mr. Nguyen Hai Khien, former Deputy Director of Bai Tu Long National Park, said: Bai Tu Long is 61.25 square kilometers wide and the aquatic marine area is 96.58 square kilometers with over 630 islands, 23 of which are inhabited.

Bai Tu Long Bay has many cultural sediments, spiritual tourism values, and ecological tourism. In which, Soi Nhu culture is the cradle of prehistoric Vietnamese people, dating back about 25,000 years ago, equivalent to Hoa Binh culture, Vo Nhai culture (Thai Nguyen).

There are also many vestiges of Van Don commercial port, a bustling seaport during the three feudal dynasties of Ly, Tran, and Le, lasting for 7 centuries.

This land is also recognized as the birthplace of the coal export port at Ke Bao in Van Yen commune - one of the earliest places where coal mining appeared in Quang Ninh.

Not only cultural and historical sediments, Bai Tu Long Bay has a primeval forest above with Ba Mun nature reserve, below is the sea with diverse and rare ecosystems...

Ba Mun Nature Reserve was approved by the Prime Minister to be upgraded to Bai Tu Long National Park on June 1, 2021, with an area of ​​15,783 hectares. Of which, the forest and forest land area is 6,125 hectares and the sea surface area, lagoons, and mangrove tidal flats is 9,650 hectares, with over 80 large and small islands.

Bai Tu Long National Park is a vast land with a rich ecosystem of 2,415 species of living things, including 1,195 species of forest flora and fauna and 1,220 species of marine life. The total number of wild animals and fish species recorded in the Vietnam Red Book and the World Red Book here is over 100 species, typically sea turtles, green turtles, dolphins...

The highlight of Bai Tu Long National Park is Ba Mun Island, about 1,800 hectares wide, which is considered a biological treasure with a variety of flora and fauna. The forest here has many large trees of the four-tree family such as ironwood, lim, sen, tau... ancient tree trunks that 2-3 people can hug; and many wild animals, underwater coral reef ecosystem with 106 species.

Bai Tu Long Bay was created by the second geological period with a unique and interesting topography. The most prominent are the wild caves such as Cap Ky Nhay, Cap Ky Gia, and the underground cave through Cai De mountain. On the surface of the bay, there are small, isolated islands shaped like chickens and crows...

With such diversity and uniqueness, on May 19, 2017, Bai Tu Long National Park was awarded the certificate as the first and only ASEAN Heritage Park of Quang Ninh to date.

Bai Tu Long Bay is located in a convenient traffic location because it has a highway, airport, and waterway adjacent to Ha Long Bay.

"However, tourism activities in Bai Tu Long Bay have been very limited in recent times. While its twin sister Ha Long Bay welcomes tens of millions of tourists each year, this place only has about 1 million visitors," said Mr. Khien.

It is worth mentioning that tourists coming to Bai Tu Long Bay mainly come to visit spiritual tourist attractions such as Cai Bau Pagoda, Cap Tien Temple, Quan Lan and relax at traditional beaches in Co To Island and Van Hai archipelago. Meanwhile, most of the beaches with long stretches of white sand such as Ngoc Vung, Van Yen, Cai Rong... are still deserted by tourists.

"Developing tourism in Bai Tu Long Bay will be a new opportunity for Quang Ninh to transform the growth model "from brown to green" that the locality has been implementing," Mr. Khien affirmed.

Fleet development, port infrastructure investment
Mr. Nguyen Lam Nguyen, Director of Quang Ninh Department of Tourism said: In order to create space for tourism development in Bai Tu Long Bay, reduce the load on Ha Long Bay, and at the same time create new high-quality tourism products, experience exploring new spaces, recently, Quang Ninh has announced itineraries connecting Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay .

Specifically, there are 3 itineraries connecting Ha Long Bay - Bai Tu Long Bay and 10 itineraries on Bai Tu Long Bay.

Along with that, Van Don district and Cam Pha city have surveyed and connected tourist attractions, tourist areas according to announced sightseeing and tourism itineraries, and invested in infrastructure to establish a tourist boat anchorage area on Bai Tu Long Bay.

According to Mr. Nguyen, recently, a number of tourism businesses have researched and developed their own tours targeting the high-end tourism market in Bai Tu Long Bay. The Provincial People's Committee has directed sectors and localities to survey, find locations, and develop service plans based on the principles of ensuring safety and having a special and unique location.

There are now a number of businesses ready to offer tours connecting Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay.

"Expanding the tourism space in Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay will certainly contribute to creating new and unique tourism products, helping to avoid local overload in Ha Long Bay and prolonging the length of stay of tourists," said Mr. Nguyen.

To develop tourism in Bai Tu Long Bay, the core issue is to have port infrastructure, wharves, and a fleet of tourist boats.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Bui Hong Minh, Permanent Deputy Director of the Department of Transport of Quang Ninh, said that the Provincial People's Committee has just issued a draft plan to develop the fleet and solutions to improve the quality of the tourist fleet in Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay.

Accordingly, in Bai Tu Long Bay, there are ports qualified to receive tourist ships : Ao Tien port (50-70 ships), Hoang Gia port, Vung Duc port (10-15 ships), Ban Sen port (8-10 ships), Quan Lan port, Minh Chau port (15 ships), Thang Loi port, Ngoc Vung port (6-8 ships).

The province has based on the capacity of current ports and wharves to receive cruise ships to add 100 cruise ships.

Currently, the authorities are reviewing to invest in upgrading, dredging water areas, access channels, expanding the scale of existing ports and passenger terminals to meet the demand for receiving cruise ships ...

"The authorities are also studying investment in overnight anchorage areas ( Ban Sen - Nha Tro Cave, Phat Co Cave, Mang Ha ) , entertainment and recreation areas on Bai Tu Long Bay . Along with that, they will gradually invest in and upgrade facilities and infrastructure at ports and passenger wharves to accommodate large-capacity ships; apply information technology , improve service quality to meet the needs of tourists... when tourist spots and routes on Bai Tu Long Bay are put into operation ," Mr. Minh informed.