Handpicked experience · Da Nang
Da Nang, Vietnam
An island that banned plastic bags in 2009 and made it stick, in waters that held a wreck which rewrote Vietnam's trading history.
Discover the natural beauty of Cham Islands in this day tour by speedboat.
Check out Hai Tang Pagoda, an ancient Buddhist temple frequented by locals.
Take a dip in the cool waters of Cham Islands and catch glimpses of the rich marine life below.
Fill up on grilled seafood and local dishes after touring the islands.
A working island rather than a resort strip
Reef close enough to reach from a short boat stop
A village where the markets serve residents first
Water clear enough to justify the crossing
A policy you can see the results of underfoot
Eight hours from Da Nang to Cu Lao Cham, the island group offshore: a boat crossing, snorkelling over reef with equipment provided, a fishing village, a beach and lunch on the island.
Cu Lao Cham stopped plastic bags before almost anywhere else on earth. The ban came in 2009, the same year the islands were designated a UNESCO biosphere reserve, and it is not a slogan — bags are checked for at the pier, shops use paper and baskets, and visitors are asked to leave plastic behind on the mainland.
It worked because the place is small enough to see the consequences. On an island of a few thousand people with one boat route in, waste does not vanish into a system; it sits on the beach you swim from. Sixteen years on, the difference between these shores and comparable coastline on the mainland is the argument for the policy, and it is visible without anyone pointing it out.
In the 1990s a wreck was excavated in the waters off these islands: a trading ship that went down in the fifteenth century carrying a vast cargo of Vietnamese ceramics.
Until then, Vietnam was treated as a minor player in the ceramics trade that ran between China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The cargo showed otherwise — tens of thousands of pieces, made for export, of a quality that had been attributed to other kilns. These islands sat on that route because they had fresh water and shelter, and ships had been calling here for centuries before that one failed to leave.
The route is exposed, and from roughly September to December the northeast monsoon can shut it down entirely. When the port authority closes the crossing, no operator sails — it is a maritime decision, not a commercial one.
Outside that window the sea is usually workable in the morning and rougher by afternoon, which is why these trips leave early. If you are prone to seasickness the outbound leg is the calmer of the two.
Lunch and water are covered, and so is the levy the marine reserve charges. Almost everything else you might want on the day is not.
Bring reef-safe sunscreen, a hat and a dry bag — and no plastic bags, which is the one instruction the island genuinely enforces. Reef shoes are useful at the snorkelling stop, where the entry is over rock rather than sand.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
Yes, and it is checked at the pier. Cu Lao Cham banned bags in 2009, the same year the islands became a UNESCO biosphere reserve, and shops use paper and baskets instead.
There is nowhere for it to go. Small islands import everything and export almost nothing, so a bag that arrives stays — either buried, burned, or in the sea.
Ask anyone who dives both. The reef here has been under a management regime for years, and the state of the shallows reflects that as clearly as the beaches do.
A merchant vessel that never completed its voyage, sitting in shallow enough water to be worked on properly rather than salvaged in a hurry.
Vietnam had been treated as a minor player in the ceramics trade between China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Tens of thousands of export pieces showed otherwise.
Fresh water and shelter. The islands sat on the trade route and vessels had been calling for centuries before that one went down.
Yes. From roughly September to December the northeast monsoon can close the crossing, and when the port authority closes it no operator sails.
The return. The sea is usually workable in the morning and builds by afternoon, which is why these trips start early.