HA LONG BAY, VIETNAM

Ha Long Bay (descending dragon bay) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a popular travel destination, located in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam. Administratively, the bay belongs to Ha Long City, Cam Pha town, and part of Van Don District. The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes. Ha Long Bay is a center of a larger zone which includes Bai Tu Long bay to the northeast, and Cat Ba islands to the southwest. 

The bay consists of a dense cluster of over 3,000 limestone monolithic islands each topped with thick jungle vegetation, rising spectacularly from the ocean. Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves. Hang Dau Go (Wooden stakes cave) is the largest grotto in the Hạ Long area. There are two bigger islands,Tuan Chau and Cat Ba, that have permanent inhabitants, as well as tourist facilities including hotels and beaches.

Vietnam’s Halong Bay, which was officially inaugurated as one of the New7Wonders of Nature at the beginning of May, has seen a considerable rise in the number of international cruise travelers during the first five months of this year. 

According to the Pattaya Daily News, statistics provided by Quang Ninh Province, the home of Halong Bay, showed that 30,000 cruise-ship passengers visited the natural wonder since the beginning of 2012, a 22 percent increase on than same period last year.

Among the popular cruise ships visiting the region are the Super Star Aquarius (Malaysia), the Princess Daphne (Australia), the Pacific Venus (Japan) and the Voyages of Discovery (UK).

http://nature.new7wonders.com/archives/wonder/halong-bay

http://world.new7wonders.com/2012/06/18/halong-bay benefits-from-thenew7wonders-effect-surge-in-cruise-visitor-numbers-at-vietnamese-site/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=halong-bay-benefits-from-the-new7wonders-effect-surge-in-cruise-visitor-numbers-at-vietnamese-site

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ha_Long_Bay#Location