Quang Ninh (VNA) – Located 80 kilometres from the mainland, QuangNinh province’s Co To island, a rough pearl in the Gulf of Tonkin withturquoise sea and tranquil beaches, has grown in popularity among domestic andinternational visitors.

The island district comprises Co To Lon (large Co To island), Co To Be (smallCo To island) and 15 smaller islands. Besides enchanting beaches, the island hasnatural forests, lighthouses, parks, wharves, fishing villages, bays and a rockgarden.

From Cai Rong port in Van Don district, another island district of Quang Ninhprovince, travellers can take high-speed boat trips that take one hour and halfto cover the distance.

The port on Cai Bau island also offers faster boats which can travel to theisland in just 45 minutes, with spectacular views along the way.

Since connecting to the national grid at the end of 2013, Co To Lon, thelargest island in the archipelago, has seen rapid tourism infrastructure growth,giving a facelift to Co To town on the island, with modern hotels and moreeateries and cafes.

To navigate Co To Lon, tourists can hire an electric vehicle with a tour guideor a motorbike to explore the island. Luckily, Co To Lon is small enough toexplore in one day.

For those who love to swim or relax on beaches, Co To Lon has plenty. Beachesare on all sides of the island and some small accommodation services havepopped up on the beaches.

There is a small lighthouse to visit as well. It is located atop a mountain,70m above sea level, in Co To Lon and can be accessed via a road through thepine jungle.

Riding a motorbike around Co To Lon is the best way to explore and see the dailyactivities of island natives.

The peaceful feeling around the island is unique, particularly for those comingfrom big cities.

Visitors to the island should not miss nearby islands, which are more wild,pristine and off-the-beaten-track by taking boat trips with locals.

After exploring, it is ideal to return to the town to enjoy coffee or drinksand find a restaurant for seafood. Because Co To Lon is little known amongforeigners, most tourism services from hotels to restaurants are typicallyVietnamese but the quality is good at reasonable prices.

Since tourism is the spearhead economy of the island district, changes havemade to the island and it has emerged as a new tourist attraction.

Last year, the island welcomed 300,000 visitors, including 676 foreigners andpocketed 400 billion VND (17.6 million USD) from tourism revenue. Meanwhile, inthe first nine months of this year alone, some 250,000 travellers chose Co Toto spend their holiday, including more than 1,000 foreign holidaymakers.

The result was spurred by a provincial decision to recognise Co To island as alocal tourism site, which allows foreign tourists who legally reside in Vietnamto visit the island without getting permission from local authorities.

The island district has worked to meet demand from visitors by organising threetraining courses on sustainable tourism, homestay and standards ofaccommodation, five vocational training courses for rural labourers and threeEnglish training courses for 150 labourers.

Currently, Co To island houses more 300 accommodation buildings with more than2,500 rooms. Meanwhile, upgrades have been made to water transport system withthe operation of 26 high speed boats, each of which can make four trips perday.

Information on weather, a tourism hot line, socio-economic development of theisland, policies and regulations will be provided free of charge via textmessage for local people, tourism household businesses and visitors.-VNA