Hon Seo (Seo Island) is one of the six beautiful beaches with the pristine and attractive environment of Nhon Ly Commune (Quy Nhon).
According to the old books and documents of Maritime industry, Nghiem Kinh Chieu Island is a cluster of islands including 8 islets and 2 adjacent large islands, with an area of over 1km2 located in Ly Nhon commune waters.
Perhaps, the ancients based on natural conditions and geographical position to name this islands cluster Nghiem Kinh Chieu (monk Thich Dong Tin, Sa Phuoc Pagoda, Nhon Ly commune, roughly translated: Standing in flowing ocean currents). In Nghiem Kinh Chieu Islands Cluster, there are two largest islands of nearly 90 meters high, they are known as Hon Seo.
Seo Island is located near the village of Ly Chanh (Xuong Ly – Vung Nom), over 3km from Cam mountain through the strait, 6km from the coast and it takes about 30-50 minutes traveling by motorboat to reach. Seen from the South, Hon Seo is like a giant crenolanib emerging on the water, swimming straight ahead. So far, Hon Seo has been an unspoiled oasis with only weeds, rocks and been the habitat of many seabirds.
From the position of Seo Island, looking around 8-10 knots to the east and southeast, we can clearly see Hon Co on the left and Hon Can Islands Cluster on the. All the three islands of Seo – Co – Can are the peaks forming the “triangle of islands” in the sea of Nhon Ly.
In particular, Hon Can cluster consists of 5 large and small islands, Hon Ong Can is the largest island and is the A9 point in the 12 points to determine the “baseline” (boundary between the inner territorial sea and the outside of the internal waters, as the basis to determine the scope of the waters under the national sovereignty and jurisdiction).
About the name of Seo Island, the local seniors explain that, according to the legend, on Nghiem Kinh Chieu Island, there was a huge cave which could accommodate more than a hundred people to shelter. Suddenly one night, the sea and the sky moved intensely, there were billows, strong winds and pouring rain; people saw a lightning flash slashing the night sky, then they heard the thunder and the sound of rocks collapsing into the sea. Several days later, when the sun and the sea were calm, people went fishing in the sea and discovered that a large cave on the island had been disappeared, there was only a cobblestone background. The walls of the cave had created two separated large and small islands.
People found that on the large islands on the southwest side (the largest island here), the cliff was originally the wall of the caves, and was steep like a “cut” straightly from the top down to the water… Since then , locals called the two islands Seo Island.
Thanks to the location on the coastal ocean currents (as the name Nghiem Kinh Chieu) which flows from De Gi – Nui Ba (Phu Cat district) down to the south in the winter (the season of north- easterly wind); and flows from Xuan Dai Bay – Co Ngua Mountains (Song Cau, Phu Yen Province) upstream to the north in the summer (the season of south wind) of Hon Seo, there always occur underground whirlpools creating waters of 15-20m deep. This also creates multiple layers of beautiful coral reefs various in colors and shapes on the seabed.
It is the impact of natural factors that Seo Island owns diverse marine ecosystems, is the shelter and habitat for aquatic species, such as abalone, sea cucumbers, lobsters, snails, moon snail, skull pinch, black pinch (urchin) and a variety of famously delicious fish such as mackerel, fish eel… This is where local fishermen often come to catch fish to supply all kinds of fresh seafood for the restaurants to serve tourists going to visit and enjoy the special dishes of Nhon Ly sea.
