Con Dao in spring

A foreign tourist lies on Dam Trau Beach in Con Dao - Photo: Mong Binh

The white and pink peach blossoms in Con Dao signal the beginning of spring and the market in town is vibrant with floral colors.

Spring is the windy season in Con Dao, the archipelago off the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. Strong winds increase the swell. The ocean is full of white caps and the crashing waves send white water high up the island’s many cliff faces. There are also havens for visitors to swim in the turquoise, calm sea.

Dam Trau Beach is one of the protected beaches on Con Dao, where locals and foreign tourists opt for relaxing strolls, rests and camping. This yellow-sand beach earned its name from an island legend about two lovers. The girl in the doomed love affair, Mai Thi Trau, committed suicide from the cliffs because she couldn’t tie the knot with the man she loved, who was revealed by her father to be her half-brother.

The love story has a sad ending, but a trip to Dam Trau Beach will certainly end in happiness for nature lovers. The small sandy bay is perfect for sunbathing, long walks and exploring the black cliffs that stretch into the water.

The cliffs divide Dam Trau Beach into two parts. The furthest beach from the road can be reached best at low tide. The tree-lined beach has a fresh water stream shadowed by a giant tropical almond tree whose leaves have turned red.

Red-leaved almond trees also line the esplanade and many of the streets in the sleepy little town on Con Dao. Most of them were planted over 100 years ago. 

The best time to tour Con Dao is summertime when the sea and the weather are calm, but a visit to the archipelago in the windy season promises a lot of excitement.

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The tragic love story of Dam Trau Beach

Dam Trau Beach is named after a village girl in a local legend - Photo: Tuong Vi

Dam Trau is a long deserted tropical beach on Con Dao Archipelago.

At one end is the Co Ong Airport runway where the occasional plane breaks the silence as it comes into land. At the other end is a rocky headland jutting into an azure sea. The white sandy beach is clean and backed by forested hills. It can be accessed from the road by a few rough tracks.

Tuan Anh, our tour guide tells us a sad love story about Dam Trau Beach where a clever, hardworking guy named Truc Van Cau who lived in Co Ong Village fell in love with a beautiful girl named Mai Thi Trau.

Everyone in the village thought they were a beautiful couple, until Cau’s father told him that Trau was actually Cau’s sister because the father had an affair with her mother many years prior. So the love was forbidden.

Knowing that they couldn’t love each other anymore, Cau left his village for a small island and lived there. People called this island Hon Cau (Cau Islet). Trau was pregnant with Cau’s child and she went to the cliffs where they used to meet and waited for him every day. Finally she committed suicide. The place where she died, people in Co Ong Village called Dam Trau Beach. Cau never returned and stayed on the island for the rest of his life.

A local saying goes, “Remember telling Cau, how far from Hon Cau to Dam Trau?”

The answer is 10km according to our tour guide.

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