Capital city:     Vung Tau
Area (sq km):     1,975
Population:     839,000
Average temp:     27°C
Ethnic data:     Viet/Kinh, Hoa, Khmer, Tay.
Districts/wards:     Ba Ria, Chau Duc, Con Dao, Long Dat,
Tan Thanh, Xuyen Moc.

Description:
Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province is located northeast of Mekong Delta in southern ViêtNam. It is a popular, albeit overrated, resort approximately 120  kilometres from Ho Chi Minh City/SaiGon.

There are beaches, such as Back, Front and Dau Beaches, located in the southern part of Vung Tau. Vung Tau beaches are not clean and are littered with used drug paraphernalia which can pass on AIDS/HIV and hepatitis C. Wear shoes.

Con Dao Island (4), approximately 90 kilometres southeast of Vung Tau City, was a famous French and American detention centre/prison, has a dense forest with various animal species.

The area ocean has various valuable marine species.

Economy:
Oil and marine resources.

Natural beauty sights:
Binh Chau Thermal Springs (1), Con Dao Island, Vung Tau (?).

Historic sights:
An Son Temple (5), Niet Ban Tinh Xa (3), Thich Ca Phat Dai (2).

Festivals:
Dinh Co Festival, Thang Genies Festival.

Transport:
Vung Tau is 125 kilometres from Ho Chi Minh City/SaiGon. It has air, road and water services.

Air
There are airports at Vung Tau (VTG) and Con Dao Islands (VVCS) although there are no scheduled flights to either at this time. They are used primarily for military and oil drilling purposes. Charters can be arranged - see below.

Road
Vung Tau Bus Station is located at 52 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, about 1.5 kilometres northeast of downtown Vung Tau. There are both long distance and local services - Ho Chi Minh City/SaiGon 128 kilometre trip is USD$4.00, 2 hours) to SaiGon Hotel (Dong Du between Dong Khoi Street and Ha Bai Trung Street) in District 1.

Local bus services include Baria, Bien Hoa, Long Hai, Long Khanh, My Tho and Tay Ninh.

Water
There is a flying-fish hydrofoil service between Ho Chi Minh City/SaiGon and Vung Tau (USD$10, 1.25 hours) up to 4 times daily (seasonal) from the docks on SaiGon River at Ham Nghi - you can't miss the dock waiting room. (Tel: +84-(0)-8-821-5609). Purchasing your RETURN ticket in advance is recommended.
 
Con Dao Islands
180 kilometres off shore are the islands of the Con Dao Archipelago comprising 14 islands of various sizes. The best time to visit Con Dao is from March through June, when the sea is at its calmest.
 
The largest, Con Son Island looks like a bear rising from the sea to east of the most southern point of ViêtNam, has a surface area of approximately 20 square kilometres and is partially forested and the coastline is ringed with small bays, beaches and even some coral reefs,  including Dam Trau Hang Duong and Phi Yen where visitors can relax and enjoy the warm temperature
 
Over the centuries it has been variously occupied by the British East India Company, the French colonialists, the South ViêtNamese 'Puppet' Government and the Americans.
 
Con Son had a well-earned reputation for mistreatment and torture throughout its history beginning with the French. Following the French defeat in Dien Bien Phu and its fleeing of Indochina, the South ViêtNamese Government used its facilities for the same purposes including students, in fact more than 22,000 prisoners who dedicated their lives to national independence were incarcerated on these isolated islands.
 
There is a Revolutionary Museum that depicts the deprivations that prisoners suffered. A ditch, that was filled with cattle urine, and used to 'dip' Communists in (completely), can be viewed.
 
There is a hotel, Phi Yen Hotel, investors from HMC built the Phi Yen Sea Resort to accommodate visitors (Tel: +84-(0)-64-830-168), that rents twin air-con rooms for USD$18, with a sea view USD$25.
 
Transportation
Con Son has air transportation links - arranged from either Ho Chi Minh City/SaiGon or Vung Tau. Water transportation is arranged in Vung Tau.
 
Air
Vasco (ViêtNam Air Service Company) (Helijets)
114 Bach Dang Road
Ho Chi Minh City/SaiGon
Tel: +84-(0)-8-842-2790
Ton Son Nhut/Con Dao
3 times weekly.      27 Quang Trung Boulevard
Vung Tau
Tel: +84-(0)-64-856-100
Vung Tau/Con Dao Island on Saturdays

Water
The ViêtNamese Navy operates a ship between Vung Tau and Con Son Island with the 180 kilometre trip taking 12 hours. Foreigners need to get advance permission to travel.
 

Tourism of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province looks forward to 2010

On the threshold of potential advantages and challenges to the risk of lagging behind, direction and task to tourism development in the period 2006-2010 have just been formed by tourism branch of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province as follows: determinedly striving for welcoming 7.6 million visitors in 2010, therein about 360 thousand foreign visitors, turnover of VND 1,760 billion. To reach the target of double turnover at present, what will the tourism branch of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province do in coming period ?

Since 2001 and up to now, tourism activities of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province have reached prosperity and positive changes, many special subjects have been executed for the purpose of making tourism environment good. In the period 2001 – 2005, tourism operation always get effective, the planned norm is over-fulfilled; total estimated turnover reached VND 889 billion at “top ten” position in the country in 2005. Investment in tourism developed considerably within the past five years. In the period 1996-2000, there were 6 projects with the registered capital of nearly VND 600 billion. In the period 2001-2005, Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province attracted 64 investment projects for tourism with the total registered capital of about VND 5,000 billion…. At present, there are 90 hotels and tourism sites, which increases 20% in comparion with the year 2001, therein there are 14 hotels and tourism sites with standards of the 3 – 4 star categories all the province. The achievement was reached thanks to directions, clear strategies of tourism development from the provincial committee of the Party and People’s Committee of the province in every period.

Back Beach of Vung Tau City

However, tourism of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province has not yet developed in correspondence with potentialites and advantages of the province in past years. The growth rate still resembles the style of equal advance; the growth rate in the following year is higher than the one in the previous year; the growth rate in the following period is higher than the one in the previous period. There haven’t been great advances and breakthrough in the growth rate. The reasons why it is like that are the slowly - executed master plan for tourism, no considerable investment and no special large - scale projects for tourism, lack of the wonderful types of tourism with competitive ability to attract tourists and make great advances…Many infrastructure projects for directly serving tourism was slowly executed, haven’t been satisfactory and taken effect yet as required. Besides, there are deficiency of close co-ordination among relevant agencies in tourism development; the procedures for investment in eco-tourism sites relevant to forestry land are complicated; point of departure of the provincial tourism depended on almost small businesses with limited capacity for competition…Formerly, while tourism activities were dull in other localities such as Binh Thuan, Quang Nam, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa Province soared and reached a great achievement in Vietnamese tourism activities. This caused people not to have peace of mind and worry about Ba Ria - Vung Tau tourism’s lagging behind although quantity of visitors to the province and its turnover are many times as high as the ones of the other provinces. Solutions of Ba Ria - Vung Tau tourism to attracting the high-class visitors, increasing their expenses and stay presented in coming years are better than the ones to simple increase in quantity of domestic visitors. Therefore, the increase in the large-scale investment projects and clearer policies on land and tax is necessary. Land should be transferred to investors with real financial resources and capacity for business to increase the province’s ability for competiting and attracting the high-class visitors.

On the threshold of potential advantages and challenges to the risk of lagging behind, direction and task to tourism development in the period 2006-2010 have just been formed by tourism branch of the province as follows: striving for pushing Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province for a tourism centre in the country and the area until 2010 and orienting development until 2015. To reach the goal, the tourism branch had to understand clearly socioeconomic conditions of the province for the purpose of raising quality and effect of activities on pushing investment and developing advantages of nature, ecotourism, traditional culture. Relying on that, investing in infrastructure for tourism, developing and diversifying tourism services, raising quality of facilites and effect of state management on tourism, training and developing human resources, applying science and technology in tourism, strengthening propaganda and spread, protecting natural and social environments for tourism development are required.

http://www.bariavungtautourism.com/index.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Ria-Vung_Tau_Province

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