Far about 25km from Bai Chay Wharf, Cong Do Island is located in the southeast of Halong Bay. It belongs to Bai Tu Long Bay in the area of world natural heritage. With an area of approximately 23.26 km2, it is one of the most beautiful island retaining winding beaches creating amazing natural lakes. Cong Do Island is also home to the great number of marine species. Together with multi-shaped rocky islands, Cong Do Island is one of the appealing tourist attractions in Halong Bay in general and Bai Tu Long Bay tour in particular increasingly alluring tourists. Tourists will certainly get exciting experiences when exploring the wonderful island. The journey exploring the island thus will be much more memorable to tourists in mind.
Cong Do Island is one of particular islands with the system of lakes. The island consists of 5 large lakes with an area of approximately 4 ha each. Among them, the most prominent is the lake located in the middle of the island. The lake owns an area of about 5 hectares with its water surface connecting with the sea. The lake is surrounded by high limestone mountains (the highest peak is 172m). Also thanks to the unique topography, the ecosystem of Cong Do Island is extremely diverse. In terms of vegetation, stretching from the foot of island to the mountain's peak is home to large kinds of tree (with the diameter of 30-40m), small trees interspersing with vines. Around the sides of the mountain and lakeside are bushes of cycads, cymbidium... clinging to the cliffs. These kinds of plants have become characteristic features of Halong Bay's ecosystem attracting tourists to Bai Tu Long Bay travel.
The aquatic ecosystem is extremely rich with wide range of algae, seaweeds, bivalve molluscs and shrimps... In particular, the southwest area of the island is also known for large coral reefs (up to 700m long) in a myriad of colors. It is home to the great number of rare corals such as forest corals, red corals... Cong Do Island also houses a seagrass bed including a kind of higher plants belonging to monocots class. The existence of seagrass beds in Cong Do Island is related to animals such as dugong or sea turtles. These animals have appeared in the area with relatively high density since decades and having been in danger of extinction. Discovering Cong Do Island is definitely one of the most unforgettable things to do in Halong Bay.
Cong Do Island Valley is also home to many species of reptiles such as lizards, cobras, sea turtles and crustaceans, for instance, long-eyed crabs, square-shelled crabs, stone crabs... In addition, it also houses many species of precious birds such as hornbills, big kestrel, Burmese eagles... As one of the most pristine islands in Halong Bay, Cong Do Island Valley is the convergence of large old trees. In particular, there is the large number of precious timber trees, namely Chukrasia velutina, Fagraea fragrans, Nageia fleuryi... together with the extremely diverse vegetation. It is the unique feature that has brought Cong Do Island to become one of the most tourist Halong Bay attractions alluring tourists.
In addition, the vegetation for pharmaceutical materials in the area of Cong Do Island is extremely special. Thanks to the rising and lowering of the tide daily, the vegetation for pharmaceutical materials becomes richer by the plants living in the water. On account of this vegetation retaining the water, it is a great shelter of sea crabs and sea snails. Currently, this area is home to at least 7 species of square-shelled crabs. Besides, there are also other types such as long-eyed crabs, black-lipped pearl oyster, and snails... According to the statistics of Halong Bay Heritage Conservation and Marine Recreational Center, the terrestrial vegetation on Halong Bay (on the island and coastal) consists of 435 species, 45% of which are valuable medicinal plants. Discovering this unique vegetation will definitely leave unforgettable impressions in the journey of exploring Bai Tu Long tours.
With the characteristics of biodiversity, natural landscapes and unique coral reefs, Cong Do Island in particular and Bai Tu Long Bay in general promisingly brings the fascinating discovery for tourists when participating in Halong Bay tours. Owning an airy space and fresh atmosphere, Cong Do Island deserves to become a bewitching tourist site attracting both domestic and foreign tourists. Staying away from the noise of the urban life, tourists feel like to feel a tranquil and peaceful life and forget the tiredness from their work. Cong Do Island significantly contributes to promote Halong Bay tourism and Bai Tu Long to numerous international friends.