Who once come to Phu Quy island, it is hard to miss the “tour” to enjoy fresh seafood in the cage that few places have. In addition to the rich and rare seafood specialties, this “rich – luxurious” island is also the only place in the province with unique works of seafood farming by a very unique coastal barrier, which is named by tourists. beautiful “Roman arena” Vietnamese version.
As a small island, about 120km from the mainland, surrounded by many creeks and bays, especially Lach Du area (Tam Thanh commune) is a place where all conditions are met for the development of marine aquaculture. . Therefore, since 1992, aquaculture in Phu Quy has gradually formed and developed. From only a few rafts with the main species of farming being grouper, cobia, etc., up to now, the whole district has 70 establishments cultivating seafood by means of cages with a total farming area of more than 10,000 m2 and a variety of species such as shrimp. Lobster, king crab, tiger grouper, seabass, snail … Aquaculture in Phu Quy is considered as one of the key economic sectors, creating jobs and increasing incomes for people. help many people get rich righteously. Since the introduction of speedboats, shortening the time between the mainland and the island district to only 2.5 hours instead of 6 hours as before, tourism in the pearl island has a positive development trend.
The transformation of the small island: the tourism potential here is considered by many to flourish.
Visitors are introduced by the islanders to cages in the island with many unique seafood. Visit Mr. Vo Sinh’s friend, one of the owners of the most cages in the region and has more than 20 years of experience in cage farming. Introduce us to see all kinds of specialties of Phu Quy from moon crab, king crab, red crab, baby lobster with countless types of snails with fancy names and shapes such as hand snails, foot snails, snails her breasts, iron snails, queen snails, urchin… Anh Sinh said: “Besides serving tourists, farmed products are mainly exported fresh to Taiwan and China. However, after 2 years of epidemic, this market gradually narrowed. Currently, I only sell in the domestic market like Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City, Khanh Hoa, Binh Duong… but the price is not stable. Meanwhile, the price is the same as the price of feed increasing, so the economic efficiency decreases, people also gradually reduce the farming area. Not only Mr. Sinh’s friends, the neighboring friends like Hai Thien, Mr. Trung, Mr. Lien, Mr. Chin… are full of visitors from the mainland to visit. On weekends or holidays, Lach Du cage area seems to be overloaded when one day welcomes hundreds of visitors to experience.
This service is enjoyed by many mainland tourists when going to the island because they can both scuba dive to see the coral, enjoy the cool sea breeze and use fresh seafood prepared on the spot. However, in order for this type of tourism to operate methodically and safely, in 2019, the People’s Committee of Phu Quy district required the owners of the cages to sign a commitment, fully equipped with rescue and rescue equipment, life jackets for guests. The means of transporting passengers to and from the raft must be registered and registered in accordance with regulations, and the drivers of high-speed canoe and motorboats must be trained and certified. In particular, the rafts have to install septic tanks, at the end of the day, they have to collect garbage ashore… to avoid indiscriminate littering that pollutes the marine environment. Up to this point, about 10 cages with basic tourism services have met all the conditions and become an indispensable destination in the island tour schedule of tourists.
Another unique point that tourists, especially young people cannot ignore, is the seafood ponds located in Long Hai commune. The whole district has 11 barrier ponds built of stone and cement right on the coast, thanks to the ebb and flow of the tides to get water in and out to raise seafood. These sea-retaining lakes are built side by side, viewed from above, forming a beautiful complex and are given the beautiful name of “Roman arena” by netizens in Vietnam. For a long time, these barrier ponds were abandoned, even though the sun, wind and sea water were eroded and mossy, creating an old, unique and very impressive beauty. In the last 2-3 years, tourists coming to Phu Quy, visiting the relics of Master Sai Nai’s tomb, stop by to check-in here because of the beautiful scenery. However, at the beginning of 2022, the lagoon owners started to raise seafood again, so they blocked this area. The walls, or places of “virtual living windows”, were rebuilt by fishermen into sturdy huts to house water pumps and other tools. Currently tourists want to visit this place, only taking pictures outside. If you know any fisherman who is raising seafood here, you can also apply to freely “hunt photos” – said the local people.
