Welcome and thank you for visiting Co To island!
Please respect local culture and customs; protect nature, historical and cultural relics when visiting and taking photos; do not use single-use plastic bags and bottles to protect the environment; support locally produced products and souvenirs; do not use or purchase rare seafood and corals.
Co To is one of 12 beautiful tourist island districts of Vietnam, located in the northeast of Quang Ninh province, established on March 23, 1994. Co To is an archipelago of 71 large and small islands, of which, there are 03 islands inhabited (Large Co To island, Thanh Lan island and Tran island). It is located in the Gulf of Tonkin, 60 nautical miles from the mainland, with a natural area of 53.68 km2. The North of the archipelago borders the waters of Vinh Thuc island, Mong Cai city and Cai Chien island, Hai Ha district; the West borders Van Hai sea area, Van Don district; the South borders the waters of Bach Long Vi island, Hai Phong city; the East borders international waters, with a total length of sea border adjacent to China of nearly 200 km, from off Tran island to the east of Bach Long Vi island, Hai Phong. The district is the youngest, has the smallest population, the smallest area and the most complex terrain among all districts of Quang Ninh province, but always holds an important geo-political position because the islands and archipelagoes are the basis for determining national borders at sea and determining overlapping areas with neighboring countries.
The islands of Chang Dong and Chang Tay (Tran island) have certain effect in the delimitation of territorial sea. The area of Tran island and Co To archipelago contributes to determining the 9 locations (from No. 1 to No. 9, especially the easternmost point of Bo Cat island) as part of Vietnam's territorial sea. With 21 locations identified, Vietnam enjoys 53.23% of the bay area, about 8,205km2 larger than China. Thus, the presence of Chang Dong and Chang Tay islands (belonging to the Co To archipelago) has contributed to asserting sovereignty and protecting national interests.
Co To, whose ancient name is Chang Son (Chang Mountain), has long been the residence of fishermen's boats in the Northeast. In 1832, Nguyen Cong Tru as Governor of Hai An (Hai Duong - An Quang) asked the court to establish a village and appoint a ruler. The first village here was named Ly Huong Hoa by Nguyen Cong Tru in Hoa Phong district. At the beginning of the 20th century, Co To was a canton of five communes in Ha Coi, Hai Dong district, Hai Ninh province. After the Japanese coup d'etat, the French returned to occupy Co To. From Co To and Van Hoa port on Cai Bau island, French warships entered the waters of Hon Gai and Hai Phong port. In November 1946, Ky Con Liberation Company from Hon Gai used the newly captured battleship Le Créyac of the French Navy to liberate Co To but failed. At the end of 1955, implementing the Geneva Agreement, the French troops withdrew from Co To. At the beginning of 1954, Co To was a commune in Mong Cai district, then two special communes under the province. In 1964, the two communes merged into Cam Pha district.
Co To district is the only place in the country to get Uncle Ho’s permission to build his statue in his lifetime, and President Ho Chi Minh memorial site on Co To island was classified as a special national monument under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 93-QD/TTg, dated January 18, 2022, becoming a sacred spot of the island district, a historical landmark affirming the sacred sovereignty of the Fatherland, giving islanders the pride, faith and determination to stick to the sea. On the island, there is also the provincial relic of the Battle of Don Cao (High station) on November 13, 1945, which is the historical evidence of Ky Con Company in the battle against the French to liberate Co To. The battle of the army and people with the will to attack the enemy, protect the independence and sovereignty in the mine area is also an invaluable spiritual asset that the forefathers left to the islanders. Co To district is focusing on embellishing and establishing a variety of spiritual and cultural activities such as memorials, pagodas and churches (National flagpole on Co To island in 1:1 scale with Ba Dinh flagpole, Truc Lam Co To pagoda, Co To parish church, Thanh Lan church and Truc Lam pagoda on Tran island are under construction).
After nearly 30 years of construction and development, by the end of 2022, the whole district had 1,957 households with 6,778 people of 13 ethnic groups: Kinh, Thai, Tay, Muong, Khmer, Hoa, Nung, Dao, Gia Rai, Cham, San Diu, Hre and Giay. People of over 14 provinces and cities across the country have come here to build the economy, such as Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, Lang Son, Phu Tho, Bac Giang, Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, etc. In recent years, according to the policy of the district, the economy has had a new development, the economic structure has shifted to tourism and services - handicrafts - agriculture. Currently, the district has 3 commune-level administrative units including Co To town and 2 communes Thanh Lan and Dong Tien. The whole district has 13 villages and zones, of which, 5 villages belong to Dong Tien commune, 4 villages belong to Thanh Lan commune and 4 zones belong to Co To town.
On October 16, 2013, Co To officially got electricity from the national grid when completing the project of bringing electricity to the island worth VND1,106 billion. Fresh water was also a big problem for Co To, especially after tourism started to develop. In 2012, Co To district was determined to shorten the construction period of Truong Xuan reservoir with a capacity of 170,000 m3 from 2 years to 1 year and completed it by the end of 2012. Along with upgrading and building new water reservoirs on Thanh Lan island, including Chien Thang 2 lake with a capacity of 76,700 m3, Bach Van lake with a capacity of 30,700 m3, and C4 lake with a capacity of 100,000 m3, 100% of residential areas in Co To island district are able to use clean water. Co To district is continuing to build freshwater lake C22 - the largest freshwater lake in the island district with a capacity of 300,000 m3.
Co To still retains the pristine natural beauty of the ecological environment, geological structure, fresh air and water, with natural beaches (Tinh Yeu, Hong Van, Van Chay, Bac Van, Ca Chep, Bay Sao, Ba Chau, Small Co To...) and primeval forests suitable for relaxing and experiencing tourism. Forest is a strength of the district. Before the establishment of the district, the forest was severely damaged. The district has advocated to focus on afforestation to cover bare land and hills; at the same time, propagate and educate people to protect forest areas and prevent deforestation and forest fires. By 2023, the whole district had nearly 1,700 hectares of forest land, with the coverage reaching over 60% of the district's area.
Located off the coast of the Gulf of Tonkin, the beaches on Co To Island also have a unique feature of quite deep underground slopes, diverse coral ecosystems, suitable for marine recreational sports. Especially with ecological diversity, the sea area of Co To - Tran island is one of 16 national marine protected areas approved by the Prime Minister. The marine economy is invested and developed into a spearhead economic sector of the district in a sustainable way in association with the protection of aquatic resources, and the protection of the living environment of all kinds of aquatic products for the sustainable development of the fisheries sector. The economy of Co To district has always maintained a high and comprehensive development rate, per capita income increased from USD 1,500/person in 2010 to USD 4,800/person in 2022. Services and tourism are gradually becoming an important sector of the economic structure of the district. From 2016 to 2019, Co To welcomed an average of over 300,000 tourist arrivals per year.
The transportation to the island is also much more convenient. In the past, the passenger ships to Co To were all wooden ships with low capacity, long transport time, causing many tourists to get seasick. To overcome this situation, Co To district has focused on developing high-quality high-speed passenger vessels, many modern 2-hull high-speed vessels that can carry over 300 passengers and can operate in the condition of level-6 waves, shortening the time from the mainland to the island to only about 70 minutes, about a quarter of the time it took before, shortening the distance between Co To and the mainland. In the second quarter of 2023, Co To will open a seaplane route connecting Ha Long - Co To, which takes only 20 minutes to reach the island. In addition, the road transport system has also been upgraded, including a 10.5km route across Big Co To island (11km route of Thanh Lan island) and more than 15km of rural transport routes. The main means of transport for tourists on the island is eco-friendly electric bus. By the end of 2023, Co To district strives to complete the goal of newly enhanced rural areas.
The security and order situation in the area is always stable, border security, economic and cultural security, religious security and rural security are ensured, and the people's security posture is maintained. The movement “All people protect national security” was implemented synchronously and effectively, contributing to raising the spirit of vigilance in crime prevention and protection of security and order among the people so that “Co To is always a bright spot in terms of ensuring security and order in the whole province”.
Co To island district is expected to become a national tourist area, a complex of unique, attractive, high-quality eco-tourism services, with attractive living environment, economic development, synchronous infrastructure, ecological values of the island system promoted and preserved in a sustainable way, and an important role in national security. It is developed to be a high-quality marine and island eco-tourism area associated with history, culture and natural landscapes with functions of general entertainment, sports, tourism services, high-class accommodation and resorts; scientific research on nature and ecological environment, in line with development requirements, attracting investment and contributing to the socio-economic growth of Quang Ninh province. The view in the Resolution of the District Party Committee is to develop Co To tourism in the direction of green tourism, sustainable growth, respect and protection of the environment, to minimize the generation of plastic waste in tourism activities; to develop tourism in association with conservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of marine biodiversity, landscape, natural environment, disaster reduction, climate change prevention and control; to maintain security and sovereignty of national borders; and to ensure social security and social order and safety.
Images:
