The Binh Thuan Province, known for its cluster of resorts in Mui Ne in Phat Thiet City, had earlier set end-1009 as the deadline for all resorts to build their own wastewater facilities. A new deadline will be given, which will be followed by tough punitive sanctions and even shutdown if resort operators fail to comply, Chinh said.

“In the coming time, we will put heavier fines on any resort failing to treat wastewater properly. If resorts do not build a wastewater facility, we will go after them with a forced closedown,” he said, without giving a timeline.

Binh Thuan, with a coastline stretching 190 kilometers, is an ideal destination for both domestic and international tourists. According to the province’s tourism department, the tourism industry is expected to generate total revenue of some VND2.5 trillion this year.

However, Chinh said the coastal tourism sector there was being threatened by the rampant development of other industries including industrial manufacturing, aquatic processing, and titanium exploitation. As these industries are causing adverse impacts on the environment, the tourism department is preparing a revised plan for tourism development till 2020, Chinh said.

The revised tourism plan will call for zoning suitable sites for fishing boats, limiting the exploitation of titanium at places near resorts, and building facilities for waste and wastewater treatment at resorts and tourism places. “The department is fielding suggestions from other departments for this revised plan, and we hope to complete it within this year,” said the department’s director.

Asked to comment on the fact that Mui Ne, together with Khanh Hoa Province’s Nha Trang, is bottom rated in this year’s Destinations Rated survey conducted by the National Geographic Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations and published in National Geographic Traveler magazine, Chinh did not go straight to the point but said Binh Thuan would organize a seminar on January 17 to provide an insight into beach tourism development in the province.

The province will invite many local and international tourism experts to this seminar to give clearer information on the beach tourism for their judgment, he said.

It is located on an elevated land next to Cau Da Wharf, about 6km from the centre of Nha  Trang. Nha Trang is an excellent location for tropical oceanographic research because it is close to the ocean, of course, and the waters are deep. Coming to the Institute of Oceanography, tourists will have a chance to visit the Marine Creature Museum, which shows more than 80,000 sea and freshwater specimens, as well as living creatures that are kept in glass tanks.

Coming to Whale Island Resort, you will learn about the fishing work of the inhabitants, the habits and customs of minority living in Van Phong Bay. Moreover, you can conceive vacations as relaxation and conviviality.

For entertainment, you can play some fantastic water sports such as: Catamaran, Windsurf, diving, or snorkeling to discover diverse coral reefs and marine life in turquoise sea. After wonderful time of exploiting the ocean, you can walk along the beach of soft white sand and coconut trees or climb the mountain to watch lovely animals living in Whale Island’s forest. Especially, you will stay in very nice bungalows along the beach, have meals with Vietnamese and seafood specialties while seeing some whales.

One of good point at Whale Island is definitely in its underwater landscape. Vietnam starts to be a diving destination. The diving is practically to conduct from January 15 to October 15 annually. The diversity of the coral as well as the other components of submarine fauna like nudibranches contribute to the reputation of the resort. Some reefs are accessible only with palms, masks and tubas. This sites permits to some beginners to familiarize themselves with the submarine motricity in all security for them self and the fauna & flora that they will be able to admire.

There is a pleasant bamboo restaurant serving a limited mixture of Vietnamese and international cuisine with a decent wine list. Catering standards are high, but expect plenty of
seafood as all other provisions have to be transported from Nha Trang. A bar on a rocky promontory serves drinks at sensible prices, and an adjacent lounge and terrace overlooking the sea has billiard tables and other indoor pastimes.

The unique is that Whale Island Resort is in the middle of no where, is an ideal place to escape from the hustle & bustle of city life. It is here that you just hear the sound of ocean and wild life. Its pristine transparent water and offshore corral reef is great to go for swimming, snorkerling or scuba diving.

The bay is surrounded by a peninsula which is a 18-km—long sand dune lying between the shore and two islands – Gom and Lon. With the water area of 43,544 hectares and the depth of 20-37m, the bay is an ideal shelter for ships and boats in stormy days. The entrance is 6km wide, reaching standards for an international-level entrepot harbor. It is possible to organize different tourist and  sports activities in the water and on the mountains (diving, surfing, sailing, hunting, mountaineering, bathing in mineral water, etc.
From the quay, you can take a boat trip to Dam Mon, a part of the Van Phong Bay. The sea in Dam Mon is beautiful. Here, there are also fishing villages under the rows of green coconut trees, white sand dunes and mysterious rocky cliffs. All these form a picturesque, landscape.
From Dam Mon, one can continue to Xuan Dung. On the way, you will have opportunities to visit Hon Ong tourist zone, mother—of-pear raising farms, mountains, and white sand dunes. Xuan Dung Sea is waveless, green and limpid, with white fine sand grounds. You can have a bath here before returning DamMon to visit the Whale Mausoleum.

Mun Island is situated on the south of Nha Trang Bay, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province. Named Hon Mun because in the south east of the island, it has high-rise cliffs with dangerous wattles forming caves and grottoes, especially its stones are as black as ebony, which could rarely be found in other areas.

In the black-stone caves of Mun, every year flocks of swallow migrate to the area and build their nests. Due to the island’s location adjacent to the hot sea-currents from the equator, suitable to the development conditions of corals and various types of tropical sea creatures, the sea bed of Mun is home to an abundant and diverse group of marine species, an interesting and useful place for researchers, oceanographers and tourists to observe and explore more of the sea creatures’ life.

In Hon Mun, visitors can dive or take grass-bottom boat to admire the colour coral and sea creatures.