Ha Long Bay in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh has been named amongst the 50 most beautiful natural wonders on Earth selected by US-based magazine Insider.

Ha Long Bay (Photo: VNA)

An article recently published on the magazine informed that the bay’s natural beauty makes it one of Viet Nam's number one tourist sites, adding that it is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.

“The best way to see Ha Long's awe-inspiring limestone towers is by boat. In fact, many tourists stay overnight on a boat in the bay,” the article said.

Other destinations on the list include Caño Cristales River in Colombia, Tianzi mountains in China, Antelope Canyon in the US, Badab-e Surt in Iran, and Socotra Island in Yemen.

Ha Long Bay literally “descending dragon bay”, was twice recognised as a World Natural Heritage site by UNESCO in 1994 and 2000.

The bay spans 1,553 square kilometres and includes 1,969 islands of various sizes. It features thousands of limestone karsts and islets in various shapes and sizes. The limestone in the bay has gone through 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments.

The geo-diversity of the environment has created biodiversity, including a tropical evergreen biosystem, oceanic and sea biosystem.

In 2018, Ha Long Bay made it into the top 15 Instagrammed global cruise destinations based on a survey of 1.8 million posts tagged on various ships and ports by travel cruise site SeaHub.

Source: VNA