Bay · Nha Trang
Nha Trang Bay
Vịnh Nha Trang
Nha Trang Bay (Vịnh Nha Trang), also called Binh Cang Bay, lies east of Nha Trang city in Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam, at about 12°15'N 109°14'E[1]. Vietnamese Wikipedia gives its total area as 249.65 km² (24,965 ha), of which 211.85 km² is water and 37.8 km² is island, and describes it as the second largest bay in the province after Van Phong Bay[1]. It holds 19 islands, the largest being Hon Tre at 3,250 ha (32.5 km²) and the smallest Hon Noc[1]. In 2003 the bay was admitted as the 29th member of the Club of the Most Beautiful Bays of the World[1].
The bay was declared a national monument on 25 March 2005 by Decision 14/2005/QĐ-BVHTT of the Ministry of Culture and Information[1]. Its Hon Mun Marine Protected Area, the first in Vietnam, was established on 18 July 2001 and its management area covers more than 16,000 ha across nine islands[1]. Vietnamese Wikipedia states that more than 40 per cent of the world's reef-building coral species occur in the bay[1], though the same article cites a peer-reviewed study, published in 2020 in the journal Marine and Freshwater Research, which found that average coral cover inside the protected area fell by 64.4 per cent between 2016 and 2019[1].
A cable car linking Nha Trang city to the Vinpearl Land resort on Hon Tre island opened on 10 March 2007; at 3,320 m it was reported at the time as the world's longest over-water cable car[2].
Geography and islands
Vietnamese Wikipedia gives Nha Trang Bay a total area of 249.65 km² (24,965 ha), made up of 211.85 km² of water and 37.8 km² of island, and describes it as the second largest bay in the province after Van Phong Bay[1]; its article on Nha Trang city instead gives the bay about 507 km²[4]. The Cai River empties into the bay at Nha Trang city[1]. The bay holds 19 islands, of which the largest is Hon Tre at 3,250 ha (32.5 km²) and the smallest Hon Noc at about 4 ha[1]. The source does not enumerate the other seventeen; names such as Hon Mun, Hon Mieu, Hon Tam, Hon Mot and Hon Noi appear in its sections on diving, tourism and marine surveys rather than in any list of the group[1].
The bay sits at about 12°15'N 109°14'E on Vietnamese Wikipedia's own reckoning[1], close to the coordinate pair of 12.25°N, 109.2333°E recorded for the bay on Wikidata[3]. Hon Tre, Hon Mun, Hon Tam and Hon Mieu are each covered in their own articles; this article treats the bay as a whole.
Recognition and conservation
Nha Trang Bay was admitted as the 29th member of the Club of the Most Beautiful Bays of the World in 2003[1]. It was declared a national monument on 25 March 2005 by Decision 14/2005/QĐ-BVHTT of the Ministry of Culture and Information[1].
The Hon Mun Marine Protected Area, Vietnam's first, was established on 18 July 2001, and its management area covers more than 16,000 ha across nine islands[1]. Vietnamese Wikipedia states that more than 40 per cent of the world's reef-building coral species occur in the bay[1]. The same article cites a peer-reviewed study, published in 2020 in the journal Marine and Freshwater Research, that found average coral cover inside the protected area fell by 64.4 per cent between 2016 and 2019[1].
Cable car and access
A cable car linking Nha Trang city to the Vinpearl Land resort on Hon Tre island opened on 10 March 2007, reported at the time as the world's longest over-water cable car[2]. Boats to the bay's islands leave from the Cau Da (Stone Pier) area of the city, also the site of the Institute of Oceanography[1].
Questions and answers
Sources
Every figure in this article is cited to one of these pages, listed in order of first use, with the date it was read.
See also
- Nha TrangFormer city
- Hon TreIsland
- Hon MunIsland
- Hon MieuIsland
- Institute of OceanographyInstitute
- Nha Trang BeachBeach