Island · Nha Trang Bay and islands
Hon Tre
Hòn Tre
Hòn Tre is the largest island of Nha Trang Bay, Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam. It covers over 32.50 km² and lies 5 km east of the city of Nha Trang and 3.5 km from the port at Cầu Đá[1]; the bay article gives it 3,250 ha out of the bay's 3,780 ha of islands[3]. The French Wikipedia article gives 30 km²[4] and the provincial party committee's site 36 km²[5], so three figures are in print.
About 1,500 people live permanently on the island, in the hamlets of Bích Đầm and Vũng Ngán[1]. Bích Đầm, on the far side of the island about 15 km from the city centre, covers 250.91 ha and had 228 households and 867 people in March 2025[6]. The island was part of Vĩnh Nguyên ward until the ward was merged into Nha Trang ward on 16 June 2025 by Resolution 1667/NQ-UBTVQH15; the new ward has operated from 1 July 2025[6][7].
Vinpearl opened a five-star resort on the island in 2003, the Vinpearl Land amusement park in 2006 and, on 10 March 2007, a 3,320 m cable car from Cầu Đá across the bay[9][10]. Wikidata records the island under Q32200450 at 12.209722 N, 109.284722 E, with an elevation of 400 m[2].
Geography
Hòn Tre stands in the middle of the bay and shelters the city shore from the open sea; it is the largest island of the bay's 19[3]. The Vietnamese Wikipedia article gives its area as "trên 32,50 km²" and places it 5 km east of the city and 3.5 km from Cầu Đá[1]. The French article gives 3,000 ha, 1,500 inhabitants and a density of 50 per km²[4], and the provincial party committee's site gives 36 km²[5]; the sources do not explain the difference.
No fetched page names the island's highest peak. Wikidata carries an elevation of 400 m without a source[2]. The Hòn Lớn lighthouse above Bích Đầm, built in about 1890, stands 16 m tall with its light 102 m above the sea and a range of 26 nautical miles; the climb from the hamlet to the lighthouse is about 4 km[11].
The island's named shores include Vũng Me, Bãi Trũ, Đầm Già, Bãi Rạn and Bãi Sỏi[1]. A 2008 planning article set the north of Hòn Tre aside for high-end resorts and the island as a whole as one of the bay's tourism centres[13], while the 2023 provincial plan for the bay includes restoring forest on the west of the island[14].
Settlement
The permanent population of about 1,500 lives in Bích Đầm and Vũng Ngán, on the side of the island facing away from the city[1]. Bích Đầm, about 15 km from the city centre, had 228 households and 867 people on 250.91 ha in March 2025, living mostly by inshore fishing; the Nha Trang City People's Committee approved a plan that month to develop community tourism there, aiming at 45,000 visitors a year, 8 to 10 community tourism businesses and 200 direct jobs by 2030[6].
Vinpearl and the cable car
The company behind the resort, Công ty TNHH Đầu tư Phát triển Du lịch, Thương mại và Dịch vụ Hòn Tre, was founded in Nha Trang on 25 July 2001; it opened the five-star Vinpearl Nha Trang Resort in 2003, the Vinpearl Land park in 2006 and in 2007 a 3,320 m cable car joining the island to the mainland[9].
The cable car was inaugurated on 10 March 2007. It runs 3,320 m on nine towers, seven of them in the sea, the tallest 54.65 m and the shortest 7.96 m, with 65 cabins carrying up to 1,500 passengers an hour in each direction on a crossing of about 9 minutes 20 seconds[10]. At its opening it was recorded as the world's longest sea-crossing cable car, a title that passed to the Hòn Thơm cable car in 2018[10]. In 2025 it ran from 09:00 to 22:00, with speedboats every 15 minutes after hours[10].
Administration
Bích Đầm was a residential quarter (tổ dân phố) of Vĩnh Nguyên ward until the 2025 reform[6]. Item 49 of Resolution 1667/NQ-UBTVQH15, adopted by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on 16 June 2025, merged Vạn Thạnh, Lộc Thọ, Vĩnh Nguyên, Tân Tiến and Phước Hòa into Nha Trang ward; the resolution took effect on the day it passed and the new ward operates from 1 July 2025[7]. Nha Trang ward covers 47.12 km² and had 136,118 people on 31 December 2024, and its list of quarters includes Bích Đầm and Vũng Ngán[8]. Wikidata describes Hòn Tre as an island in Nha Trang ward[2].
The island is one of the nine inside the Nha Trang Bay Marine Protected Area, established in 2001 as Vietnam's first, with Hòn Miễu, Hòn Tằm, Hòn Một, Hòn Mun, Hòn Cau, Hòn Vung, Hòn Rơm and Hòn Nọc[12].
Timeline
The dated events in the fetched sources are set out below.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| about 1890 | Hòn Lớn lighthouse built above Bích Đầm[11] |
| 2001 | Hòn Mun Marine Protected Area set up, Hòn Tre among its nine islands[12] |
| 25 July 2001 | Hòn Tre tourism company (later Vinpearl) founded[9] |
| 2003 | Vinpearl Nha Trang Resort opens[9] |
| 2006 | Vinpearl Land opens[9] |
| 10 March 2007 | 3,320 m cable car from Cầu Đá inaugurated[10] |
| March 2025 | Bích Đầm community tourism plan approved[6] |
| 16 June 2025 | Vĩnh Nguyên merged into Nha Trang ward; in operation from 1 July 2025[7] |
Questions and answers
How big is Hon Tre?
Sources
Every figure in this article is cited to one of these pages, listed in order of first use, with the date it was read.
- Hòn Tre (Khánh Hòa)
- Hòn Tre (Q32200450)
- Vịnh Nha Trang
- Hòn Tre
- Chung tay gìn giữ vịnh đẹp toàn cầu
- Bích Đầm trên vịnh Nha Trang trở thành điểm du lịch cộng đồng
- Toàn văn Nghị quyết số 1667/NQ-UBTVQH15
- Nha Trang (phường)
- Vinpearl
- Cáp treo Vinpearl Land
- Khám phá hải đăng Hòn Lớn
- Khu bảo tồn biển Hòn Mun
- Sử dụng vịnh Nha Trang theo hướng bảo tồn, phát huy giá trị sinh thái biển
- Bảo vệ, phát triển hệ sinh thái tại Khu bảo tồn vịnh Nha Trang
See also
- Nha Trang BayBay
- Hon MunIsland