Location: South-east of Nha Trang city, on Hon Mieu Island. Also named Bong Nguyen Island - Island of Immortals Distance from central Nha Trang: 7 kilometers.
Tri Nguyen Aquarium was built in 1971, a highly inventive work of distinction, by Le Can, a fisherman who was fond of nature very much with goodwill and proud of his homeland. With his own money, he hired local inhabitants to block the sea and build a dam for the construction of a large pond 160m in length and 130m wide.
The pond consists of three compartments, one for breeding savage fishes, one for aquarium fishes, shrimps and turtles of different kinds and many other species of sealife to breed in his aquarium. Therefore, the aquarium creates a unique world of multifarious aquatic animals, a living museum of the marine life in Nha Trang. This splendid work is highly entertaining, for it has been much visited and lauded by tourists from far and near. The sea-water has an easy circulation into and out of the pond, for the banks were built of stones which had been so cleverly arranged as to provide sufficient spaces for the water to flow in and out, and thus providing sea conditions quite suitable to the marine animals in the compartments.
From the Aquarium, a short walk up and down a small hill will take you to a gravel beach (motor-boats are also available). The beach faces south-east, Hon tam is in front and a little farther on are two other small islands, Hon mot and Hon Mun. With the monsoon winds fanning all year round, there are always fine weather here, and the sea is calm. The beach is really ideal for holiday-makers; it is formed not by sand but fine layers of pebbles and round-shaped cobblestones of various sizes, which are finely mingled together, a splendid work achieved through ages of erosion by the sea-waves...
At noon you can come into a gorge to have a rest out of the dazzling sunshine. Or, in the shade of some overhanging branches of bush, you can lie down, completely relaxed on a large and smooth stone-flat, amuse yourself listening to the ever-lasting sounds of music coming from the sea. Certainly you are having exquisite moments on your trip to this beautiful city.