Be (Small) Island in the central province of Quang Ngai has been referred to as the “Maldives of Vietnam” by travel websites or social networks; however, its real name is An Binh.
An Binh Island
From Sa Ky Port, visitors sail for about 15 nautical miles to Lon (Big) Island, the main island of Ly Son Island District, and continue to move another three nautical miles to An Binh Island. It takes only 15 minutes for visitors to reach the island by speedboats and about 45 minutes by a wooden boat.
An Binh Island covers less than one square kilometre but there is no shortage of beautiful scenery and interesting activities. This area used to have active volcanoes millions of years ago. Nowadays, the sediment left behind are dark black rocks scattered around the island, standing out amidst the deep blue background of the sea and sky. The island is small, so the roads are small but very flat and clean, almost without plastic bags or plastic waste.
Visitors can immerse in the cool and blue waters of Sau (Back) Beach. The water is so clear that people can still see the bottomeven though it is several meters deep. Sometimes we can see colourful and beautiful fish. Colourful basket boats bobbing on the waves to take tourists a little further to dive and admire the coral reefs.
There are around 100 households in the island, mainly living by fishing and growing onion and garlic. Recently, they opened several services for visitors such as motels, tea shops, restaurants, driving motorbike taxis and trams, and rowing basket boats.
Camping right near the jetty in late afternoon is also an interesting experience on An Binh Island. Tents and barbecues can be rented and the locals can even go to the markets, buy food and cook for guests. However, natural fresh water is not available on the island but transported from Big Island, so people must save the water.
At night, the island is quieter and cooler. The experience of lying on soft sand, watching the immense night sky and listening to the waves is as poetic as in a movie. As the name itself, An Binh brings a sense of peace for visitors right from when they first set foot at the destination. Is this a great oasis to find a life close to nature?
Phuong Thanh
Translated by NDO