48 hours exploring Ly Son island

Ly Son island district has many blue beaches, clear sunny skies and many tourist attractions such as temples, pagodas and mausoleums. It consists of three islands: Big Island (Cu Lao Re), Small Island (An Binh Island) and Mu Cu Island located close to Big Island, which is uninhabited.

With two distinct rainy and sunny seasons, the best time to travel to Ly Son is from April to August when the weather is stable, there are few storms and the sun is beautiful.

48 hours exploring Ly Son island — **Duc Pagoda is located at the foot of Tien Well volcano.** Photo: Bui Thanh Trung

48-hour itinerary to explore Ly Son Island, based on suggestions from local Hoang Pham and survey by VnExpress reporters.

Day 1

Moving to Ly Son

The island district is located about 30 km from the mainland, the main means of transportation is the speedboat from Sa Ky port. The ticket price is about 400,000 VND round trip. Visitors need to bring their ID card or driver's license to buy tickets. Travel time from the port to the island is about 35 minutes.

From Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, tourists book air tickets to Chu Lai airport, Quang Nam , flight time is 1 hour 30 minutes. The airport is about 42 km from Sa Ky port, tourists can travel by taxi, one way fare is about 350,000 VND or take the bus stopping at Quang Ngai city to save costs.

Some sleeper buses running the North-South route stop at Quang Ngai City, including Quang Dung and Chinh Nghia. The Thong Nhat train, including the express trains SE1/2 and SE3/4, also stops at Quang Ngai station. Train and bus fares range from about VND300,000 to VND1,500,000 one way per person, depending on the departure point.

Visit Hang Pagoda

The first destination is Hang Pagoda, which is over 400 years old. The pagoda is located in a large cave halfway up the mountain, worshiping Buddha and those who reclaimed the island. Hang Pagoda, also known as Thien Khong Thach Tu, was originally a Cham temple. By the early 17th century, the pagoda became a place for immortality and later a place for Vietnamese people to worship Buddha. The pagoda is located in a cave 24 m deep, 20 m wide, 3.2 m high, with an area of about 480 m2.

On the way up to the pagoda, around the mountain pass, visitors can take in the view of the village, garlic fields and green grass of the island. The large pagoda yard is surrounded by ancient trees, where the statue of Bodhisattva Guanyin looks out to sea. In addition, visitors can visit the altars carved on natural stalactites and Cham Pa relics.

Check in Ly Son lighthouse

Ly Son Lighthouse is located on the east side of the island. The tower is cylindrical in shape, 45 m high from the foundation, with a visibility of about 18 nautical miles, and was put into operation in 1898. This is one of the tallest lighthouses and plays an important role in Vietnam's maritime traffic. Standing on the highest peak of the lighthouse, you can see the whole island of Ly Son with the sea all around. Along with that are onion fields, garlic fields and bustling boats going back and forth.

For lunch, Hoang Pham suggests that guests can order lunch at hotels, homestays or visit some popular local restaurants such as Dai Hang seafood rice, Ty To seafood and Hoang Khuyen restaurant with prices ranging from 50,000 VND to 200,000 VND per person.

Participate in sea sports activities at Hang Cau

Hang Cau has a unique shape due to the impact of wind and waves, on one side is a blue beach embracing the fine white sand, on the other side is a high cliff. To the south of Hang Cau is a wide beach, with colorful coral reefs. Visitors can also experience coral diving and kayaking.

Watching the sunset on Thoi Loi peak

The peak is one of five dormant volcanoes on the island, suitable for watching the sunset. The mountain is about 170 m above sea level and the road up is steep. On the top of the mountain is a giant basin, with a freshwater lake supplying water to the island district. Here, visitors can sit and watch cows grazing and birds flying. The 20 m high national flagpole on the mountain is one of the check-in points in Ly Son that visitors should not miss.

The island is quite deserted at night, people usually go to bed early so there are not many entertainment activities. Tourists can enjoy the sea air and enjoy seafood at restaurants along the port. Among them, Phat Hai restaurant (Tay village, An Hai commune) is an address recommended by many locals and tourists.

Here, diners choose their own fresh seafood, ask for the price in advance, and then request it to be prepared to their liking. Some suggested dishes include grilled clams with scallion oil, king crab, sea urchin, oysters, and giant clams. The cost ranges from 200,000 to 300,000 VND per person.

Tourists can also choose to stay at homestays or hotels in the center of Ly Son such as Muong Thanh holiday Ly Son hotel, Ly Son Pearl Island resort, Bien Ngoc with prices ranging from 500,000 to 1,500,000 VND per night.

Day 2

Breakfast and visit the seafood market

Visit local restaurants in the center of Ly Son to enjoy breakfast with fish cake noodle soup, fish cake noodles, beef noodles priced from 20,000 VND depending on the dish.

Ly Son fishing port is bustling in the early morning when fishing boats come ashore. Tourists can buy fresh seafood to bring home as gifts. However, to bring fresh food on the plane, it must be carefully packed in a sealed styrofoam box, free of ice, water and odor. Tourists can choose to buy Ly Son garlic or dried seafood at stalls near the port for easy storage and transportation.

Visit Mu Cu island

Hon Mu Cu is considered the most beautiful sunrise viewing spot on the archipelago. The island is about three kilometers east of the center of Big Island. Because it is uninhabited, the landscape is still very pristine and the air is fresh.

Experience Be Island

Be Island or An Binh commune is small in area but has a beach with fine white sand, surrounded by majestic lava cliffs. The island is about three nautical miles from the center of Ly Son, if traveling by wooden boat it takes more than 30 minutes, canoe about 15 minutes. Visitors can rent a whole canoe for 2,500,000 VND, or go individually for 120,000 VND per person. Round trip ticket price for the same day.

The boat from Ly Son port to Be Island departs at 7am, and 11:20am is the last boat of the day. The boat from Be Island to Big Island departs at 10am and goes to 2:20pm. The trips are 20 minutes apart. If you buy a single ticket at the port, according to regulations, each person can only buy two tickets. Tickets are sold starting at 6am.

On Be Island, in addition to swimming, diving and sightseeing, visitors can visit local restaurants to enjoy specialties such as garlic salad, seaweed salad, devil fish, snails and king crab.

Alternatives

Hoang Sa Exhibition House manages Bac Hai, the mural village, the whale shrine, An Hai communal house, Duc pagoda, and Am Linh pagoda. These places are scattered across the island, with different routes, and the weather is quite sunny, so it takes more time to travel.

According to vnexpress.net

Source: https://baohanam.com.vn/du-lich/48-gio-kham-pha-dao-ly-son-162822.html

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