Hon Ong Travel Guide

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The only food option on the island is provided by the Whale Island restaurant... and it is inclusive in the room price - that is three meals a day. Drinks are extra. While the food is plentyful, the cuisine is very much French-oriented, which one may or may not like.

One negative aspect is that you don't have a choice, so what they serve you is what you get... the restaurant staff speaks almost no English at all, which means that asking for something as simple as a mango or pineapple rather than dessert can be quite hard.

Favorite Dish: Generally you will be served a salad, a starter (a soup or some hors d'oeuvres), a main dish and a dessert... fish is not always part of the meal, strangely, and occasionally it may be three half prawns in the salad. I was not really impressed.

My favourite food ended up being a fish curry rather than their French cuisine... a lot of curry and very little fish,, but nonetheless it was delicious.

Whale Island is a privately-owned island, hence no transportation is available unless you stay on the island. In this case, included in the price, you have transportation from Nha Trang to Dam Mon pier by car, and then from Dam Mon Pier to the island by boat.

The boat trip takes only 20 minutes in sheltered waters and it's possible at any time you desire, including at night-time, when it's particularly suggestive. Private boats cannot dock on the island... some day tours to Whalle Island are sold in Nha trang, but they can't actually take you to the island, you just admire it from a distance.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: If you go to Whale Island do not forget to bring "coral shoes"... there are many massive sea urchins which can be painful if you step on them. Aside from this you'll only need a swimsuit.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Bring all the medicines you may need, as there is nowhere to go and buy some

Photo Equipment: An underwater camera can be useful and it is not on sale.

Miscellaneous: Bring a torch, too... the paths to the bungalows are poorly lit at night, and anyway you'll need one to place your key in the locker and open the door.

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Dam Mon must be the smelliest place in Vietnam... in its harbour the smell - actually stink - of fish is unbearable... because of the fish sauce factories located there... and yet it's one of the most scenic spots I have seen in the country...

Forget Mui Ne... it's not the only place to see sand dunes in Vietnam... for a more "private" dune experience Dam Mon, where the boats leave for Whale Island, it's perfect... tall dunes of white sand with no one in sight, and a most blue and turquoise sea... just amazing.

Don't worry, the farther you go from the pier and harbour, the least you'll smell the fish sauce.

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Favorite thing: Hon Ong is the local name for the French-run Whale Island/Ile de la Baleine Resort. It's a beautiful private island of serene beauty, isolated... peaceful and regenerating, with an excellent beach, pristine waters, corals and coconut trees. Background music: the sound of the ocean.

Fondest memory: My fondest memory is having the beach to ourselves, in the morning... swimming and snorkeling, admiring the colourful fishes and the corals... in particular seeing my first clown fishes, in a coral close to the shore.

Another fond memory is at night, when in the bay we could hear some really big fish (a dolphin? a whale?) swimming and leaping happily... we never saw them in the darkness, but it made us happy just to know that they were there.