Halong Bay

Halong Bay is bay full of legend.

Halong Bay is a bay, full of tall rock islands and formations, off the north-east coast of Vietnam, Southeast Asia.
‘Halong Bay’ is also known as ‘Ha Long Bay’ and ‘Vịnh Hạ Long’, which means ‘descending dragon bay’, referring to a Vietnamese legend.
The whole Halong Bay covers an area of 1,553 square kilometres (600 square miles) while the main central area covers 430 square kilometres (166 square miles).
Halong Bay boasts up to 3000 limestone formations and islands, with more than 1600 concentrated in the central area, some of which contain large caves.
Halong Bay is populated with approximately 1600 people that live in four separate floating fishing villages.

The main central area of Halong Bay became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 and the bay was included in the New Seven Natural Wonders of the World in 2012.
Halong Bay is the home to species of approximately 507 plants, 200 fish, more than 200 coral, numerous molluscs, 71 birds, 45 reptiles, a number of other land and sea creatures as well as many other species; a number of which are only native to the area.
Most of the islands and rock formations in Halong Bay are uninhabitable, due to the very high and steep nature of the islands, although the largest island in the bay, Cát Bà Island, has approximately 13,000 occupants.
Halong Bay attracts an abundance of tourists, with rock climbing, fishing, diving, kayaking, cruising and exploring as the main activities.
According to Vietnamese legend, Halong Bay was formed by the Mother Dragon and her children, who fought off the invading northerners by fire and emerald, and created an emerald wall barrier that eventually became small islands.

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