Entering the ship in Phuoc The commune fishing village, after 45 minutes seeing the immense landscape of sea and sky, tourists will reach Cau islet where there are totally no resort, spa and luxury restaurants but the simplicity, hospitability of islet’s people and sunshine, wind, rock and wonderful beaches.

Almost guests coming to Cau islet are interested in wild nature so they don’t mind sleeping in local houses or setting up tents on the beach or resting in a border defending post (the warm soldiers are pleasant to arrange vacancies for visitors to rest in the compound house). There is an unbelievable truth that except for the border post, Cau islet has only two families. Evenly, in the storm season, they also go to the land and just return to the islet after the end of season. However, every year in April 15^th (lunar calendar), ships of fishermen crowdedly gather in the temple worshiping “cá ông” (whale) on the islet to implement the ritual praying for good weather, productive fishing reason.

Before reaching the islet, the ship will take the visitors around the islet for sightseeing of white-rock fields along the beach. Plenty of big and small rocks having various strange shapes appear almost everywhere makes people imagine that there are hands of Mother Nature creating a rain of huge rocks onto the islet. That’s why the very first visitors of Cau islet named it “kingdom of rock”. Before jumping to the sea, guests need snorkel and swimming glasses to contemplate coral and colorful fishes freely swimming in the front coral.

Swimming, walking until the afternoon, it’s time for visitors standing together to enjoy fresh seafood: soc dua fish (cá sọc dưa), scallop, cuttlefish, bong mu fish (cá bống mú)… Especially, they can try two delicious dishes that are red shrimp and eel cooked with brine (cá chình kho tộ). Red shrimp looks like tiger shrimp but smaller, has dark-red cover, long mustache, is very tasty if being grilled then served with sweet sauce treated much pepper and young chili.

After dinner, visitors can stand near flickering fire listening to the sound of waves and communicate with border defending soldiers. The later, the colder it is. The fire is about to be off, making people closer to others. The singing voices mixed with beautiful sound of guitar seems to make time stop…   

Welcoming sunrise on the islet is an unforgettable experiment, especially for visitors who want to capture beautiful pictures of sunrise on the sea. Despite of holding the time to enjoy wonderful moments on the islet, it’s time for farewell because morning is the most suitable time to leave the islet when the sea is quiet and gentle. Saying goodbye to Cau islet, there is still a promise of returning, finding the peace in soul in “kingdom of rock”.

 Vietnam Tourism - Attractions in Binh Thuan 

Translated by S.F