Prepare suitcases to go Every trip I prepare a check-in suitcase including clothes, accessories, milk … Besides, I prepare a carry-on suitcase of baby items for use on the plane as clothes that can be changed if dirty or hot, toys, crayons, travel bedding, hungry milk and candies, and a battery-filled phone for your baby to watch fussy cartoons. Moving on the island Small groups of 4-7 people can choose from 2 modes of transportation such as booking Grab or rent a package. If I move to nearby places, I will call Grab. Renting a car package, I feel more convenient when traveling with the baby because it can be stored in the car and do not have to wait. The price ranges from 600,000 to 1 million dong / day. Your family should arrange the schedule with the driver for a good price. Place of stay I experienced from homestay to resort. Here are 4 places to stay. April 4 Homestay : This location is located in the center of Duong Dong. The homestay has a unique sand yard, swing slide, large swimming pool … In the morning, the baby gets up playing sand right in front of the room. The downside is that there will be sand in the room, so some people don’t like it. The price is about 500,000 VND / night. Lotus homes : Located in Ham Ninh fishing village, the price for 1 night is about 1.8 million VND. This area is a villa on the sea, beautiful and unique. Each room is designed with enough kitchens, bathtubs, outdoor mesh beds, stairs to the sea … I find this villa more suitable for couples than families with small children. Around this place is a fishing village, so spoiled for eating fresh seafood. Fusion Resort is my favorite resort. Vinpearl Phu Quoc : I order a combo of 2.9 million VND / 3 days 2 nights / person. This price includes 3 meals a day and unlimited fun at Vin Safari and VinWonder. The hotel design is nothing unique, but I find it convenient to go with children. The babies will be able to play comfortably all day without spending extra money. The area provides tram shuttle. The family is allowed to borrow a stroller for free. Fusion Resort : I go urgently so I book a room with a fairly high fee of 3.3 million VND / 3 days 2 nights / person. This is my favorite resort in the resort locations. From design to service are okay, especially the resort serves breakfast at the swimming pool. Unique play spot Vin Safari or VinWonder : If traveling with the baby, families should come here. My baby went to 2 times but always wanted to come back. These two locations are quite large, so if you want to explore them all, each area will take a day. Because I don’t have much time, I go to Vin Safari in the morning and go to VinWonder in the afternoon. Going out with children, parents need to prepare a stroller, filtered water, an umbrella or a sun hat. Bai Sao : This site is famous for its fine sand and clear seawater. I spent all day playing here and still regretted when I got back. Rach Vem : Located in the North of the island, about 25 km from Duong Dong town, it is known as the “kingdom of starfish”. It rained the day I went, so the water was cloudy and many branches of the trees drifted ashore, not as clean as usual. Ocsen bar is quite crowded, so taking nice pictures is not easy. Hon Thom cable car : Starting from An Thoi station, you will pass Hon Dua, Hon Roi and end at Hon Thom. On the cable car journey, your family will enjoy the majestic, pristine nature of the tropical paradise south of the pearl island. Watching sunset at Ocsen bar : Personally, I do not like this place because it is too crowded and had to squeeze each other to take pictures. Smaller sand beach than I imagined. Employees are not professional and enthusiastic. Dining places must try On the rock restaurant : This is the place to watch the sunset that I find the most beautiful in Phu Quoc. The mother and daughter are not here, but set the table at 17:30 to watch the sunset. I find the tables of the restaurant are too close together, so it is difficult to take beautiful photos at sunset because of the large number of customers. The staff here are overloaded during peak hours, so everyone’s face is nervous. For dinner, I order pizza 4 cheese, salad, grilled ribs, fried seafood, fried water spinach, french fries, white rice. The food was delicious, but there were no special delicious dishes for me to recommend to everyone. Seafood Tinh Bien : This is a place for your family that should not be missed because fresh seafood is selected on the spot. Enthusiastic staff, delicious food and fast food. Seafood meal for 3 adults and 3 babies costs about 1 million VND. Giraffe Restaurant in Safari : The dining table is next to the giraffe area, so the kids love it. Just sitting and resting for lunch, the children have more time to play. The food I don’t feel is delicious. On the rock restaurant is the most beautiful place to watch the sunset in Phu Quoc. Vermicelli stirring Kien Xet : The shop has both fresh noodles and rolls. A bowl of fish cakes, shrimp rolls and squid. You can order more beef, but I don’t think it is suitable. Shrimp and squid pies are not already cooked. The seller will squeeze the bowl into the bowl then fill the bowl with boiling water to make it ripe, so it is still sweet. The shop is close to the night market so everyone is convenient to go out. The downside of this location is quite hot and squash. Buffet at Vinpearl Golf : This place will be for those interested when buying a package voucher at Vinpearl. Food variety from Asia to Europe. The restaurant has a food court for babies with porridge, small food … The menu changes by day, in the evening there is an outdoor barbecue area. In general, I think that if I just need to rest, the combo in Vinpearl is very reasonable. Do you have a trip this summer yet? Please share with us about the schedule, costs and beautiful pictures at: lifestyle@zing.vn The articles will be edited and published in the Zing Travel column.

Virtual life and death! Recently on many travel forums, the story of a tourist posting photos of starfish dying dry due to being taken ashore to take pictures of “virtual life” in Rach Vem, Phu Quoc has attracted a lot of attention. Most of the comments are outraged by the ignorant actions of some young people that lead to the undue death of the marine species that is the symbol of this sea. Getting starfish ashore has become a “habit” of some tourists. On websites, many accounts constantly share check-in pictures of celebrities who use starfish as virtual living tools without knowing that just a few dozen seconds from the water surface, the starfish will die now. Prof. Dr. Do Cong Thung, Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Marine Resources and Environment, said that starfish breathe through the legs and papillae (tiny particles spread all over the body). These tubular legs and papillae are equipped with a very thin layer of tissue, allowing gases to pass easily, whether inhaling oxygen (O2) or exhaling carbon dioxide (CO2), in a process known as is diffuse. Unlike fish with only two gills, the starfish is covered with papillae throughout the body. In other words, their “noses” or “gills” are scattered all over the body surface. When not in water, starfish not only cannot absorb the necessary oxygen. Therefore, they cannot remove carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide (CO) from the body. This leads to carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide poisoning and causes death. Most starfish can only hold their breath for less than 30 seconds. Sea stars, sea cucumbers and corals, are naturally born with fragile, fragile creatures. Just a light touch can hurt them. The act of bringing them out of the water is a brutal act of killing this endemic aquatic species. “When taken out of the water, starfish will die within about a minute. The act of catching starfish out of the water to take pictures is very dangerous. It threatens the life of this species. Beaches with starfish need to give warnings, otherwise starfish species will be in danger of scarcity and extinction, losing the value of marine habitat “, Prof.Dr Do Cong Thung said. And Mr. Nguyen Linh Ngoc, a marine conservation expert in Phu Quoc, said that many tourists take starfish out of the water to take pictures, then drop them right away. But when left in the sun on the shore, they die quickly. Starfish have no economic value like sea cucumber or seahorse. Starfish are normal seafood objects. It is not an ecological indicator animal of little scientific value. It is a crustacean that no one eats because it doesn’t have meat. Tourists like mainly the shape it looks like a star. In terms of marine conservation, there is also no regulation prohibiting the exploitation of starfish because this species is not included in the conservation list. But starfish create beautiful scenery for the marine environment, attracting huge visitors. Therefore, the protection of starfish mainly depends on the awareness of visitors as well as reminders of the resorts. An important role in the ecosystem Vietnam has 60 different species of starfish distributed along the coast from North to South, Nha Trang Bay alone has discovered 20 species belonging to 16 genera, 11 families and 4 orders. In Cat Ba, Hai Phong, a starfish beach with an area of ​​up to 5 hectares is home to shallow trench starfish and deep-trench starfish with a high density of about 20 individuals / m2. Starfish food is fish, snails, clams, squid, shrimp and other molluscs. Some starfish species have the ability to turn their stomachs out to cover large foods and then digest themselves outside of their bodies. Vietnam has species such as starfish, blue starfish, pillow starfish, crunchy starfish … Each different species has a certain role, contributing to the general ecosystem, especially creating continuity in the chain. Food that once this food chain is destroyed will have a little or no impact on an entire ecosystem. Mr. Le Chien, Head of Sasa Marine Life Rescue Center, said that touching, holding, touching and catching starfish and sea creatures ashore is extremely offensive. It is being strongly condemned in many countries around the world. When people touch marine organisms, bacteria and chemicals from sunscreen, soap … on their hands can attack directly on their soft tissue. Organisms that have never been exposed and that do not have immune systems to bacteria from humans will be severely affected, even if they may not die immediately. In addition, starfish are only capable of sun exposure for a certain period of time, so bringing them ashore is extremely dangerous. In addition, not all marine life is harmless to humans. If you touch the wrong starfish species, people can be burned, shocked and killed. Not to mention there are many other toxic species such as snail. This job is also playing with their lives and loved ones. Prof.Dr Do Cong Thung said, starfish is a key species (keystone species) in the ecosystem. They are omnivores that feed mainly on scavengers, molluscs, small fish, algae or organic residues. There are more than 1,900 species of starfish around the world, living in all depths of the oceans. They play a very important role in the organic circulation, operating the ecosystem in which they exist. Therefore, the absence or degradation of starfish can lead to the collapse of the marine ecosystem.

The image of starfish dying dry on the sand after tourists arranged for pictures (Photo: NVCC)

The female tourist thought that some people wanted beautiful photos, so they arranged starfish to take pictures. But when they finished shooting, they left the starfish that burned dry in the sun. Frustrated by the lack of awareness of a part of tourists, she decided to share this story on travel forums. Since then, most of the online community have expressed their dissatisfaction and criticized the above behavior.

Over the past time, the trend of “taking photos with starfish” has become a “hot trend” today. Just type the keyword “starfish Phu Quoc”, within 0.64 seconds, google gave 48,300,000 related results. This shows how much interest and searching internet users have for this marine species.

In fact, it is normal to take pictures with the natural landscape in each trip and then share and introduce them to everyone. The incident is not worth criticizing if the photographer respects and does not affect the natural environment. Putting starfish on the sandy beach and then leaving it not only shows a lack of awareness in public (creating more trash for the beach), but more harmful than affecting the environmental ecosystem and marine resources.

Whether carefree or intentional, bringing starfish ashore to take pictures and then “neglected” is difficult to accept. Not to mention, the “holding, holding, touching” starfish can also cause negative effects if human hands carry viruses and bacteria harmful to marine organisms. Even so, many opinions even say that bringing starfish to the sandy beach to take pictures and then released back into the seawater is also harmful to starfish.

Starfish is the common name for the echinoderms of the class Asteroidea. There are currently about 1,800 living starfish species present in all oceans of the world. Starfish are present in a wide range from tidal flats to abyss (6,000 m). Most of them have a symmetrical 5-armed star shape with a central center point. However, there will be individual starfish species with up to 10, 20 and even 40 arms.

Starfish as well as other types of marine life contribute to the general ecosystem, creating continuity in the food chain. Once this food chain is damaged excessively, it will reduce the number of populations in the ecosystem, reduce biodiversity, loss of landscape.

In many countries, even tourists will be severely fined for touching marine creatures such as corals to take pictures. In Vietnam, the application of sanctions like this in tourist destinations is not much. However, the Law on resources and environment of sea and islands No. 82/2015 / QH13 passed by the National Assembly on June 25, 2015 clearly states the rights, obligations and responsibilities of agencies, organizations and individuals in the general management of natural resources, protection of the environment of the sea and islands of Vietnam. In which, content No. 5 in Article 8 of the Law clearly shows the prohibited acts: Destroying or degrading the environment, marine and island ecosystems.

Protection of marine environment contributes to ensuring the diversity of marine ecosystems (Artwork: Phuquocxanh.com)

Looking at the world wide, the issue of environmental protection, marine and island ecosystems has also been noticed for a long time. Many international conventions on the protection of the marine environment have been established, creating a basis and legal corridor for preserving the marine environment and preventing pollution at sea. In particular, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982) has established the basic provisions for the conservation of marine life. UNCLOS 1982 not only defines the obligations of countries to protect the marine environment, but also dedicates a separate section on the protection and preservation of the marine environment.

Perhaps it’s time to change our perception, behavior, and habits while traveling. Instead of littering and affecting the living environment, it is necessary to consciously preserve and protect the landscape and the diversity of the ecosystem. The story of starfish in Phu Quoc is just one example, a testament to the “carefree”, “carefree” of people in front of nature. The time has come, each of us needs to contribute and join hands to build a healthy and sustainable ecosystem, for our own health, our lives! ./.

According to the owner of the photo, the scene of starfish dying dry, lying on the sand was taken at noon on April 2. Previously, this female tourist and her family were transported by the taxi driver and introduced it as “a beach with many stars and arranged into a heart shape”.

Upon arrival, this visitor was surprised to witness the scene of a dead starfish basking in the sun. This person then took the photo and posted the story on social media.

The photo of dry starfish on the coast of Phu Quoc

Frustrated by the above incident, Mr. Le Chien, representative of Marine Life Rescue Center, said that this situation happened a few years ago, not just recently.

We need to know that starfish play an important role in the ecosystem. People call starfish a key type. Without such a key species, the surrounding ecosystem will collapse.

Starfish has the characteristic of being alive above all temperatures. No matter what environment they live in, they play an important role in that ecosystem, but many people take starfish ashore to take pictures and let them die. This situation has a very low general assessment of Vietnamese people’s consciousness.

“We have many foreign volunteers, sometimes they come to Vietnam to play and meet the scene where Vietnamese people catch sea animals and leave them on the shore, all foreigners have a very offensive impression. jobs on.

However, this work with Vietnamese people is as natural and innocent as meals. That is really sad, expressing the common sense of society “-anh Chien shared.

According to the representative of the Marine Life Rescue Center, people in the countryside or the city when traveling are the same, it is lack of knowledge about the sea.

The story of the starfish is like the story of the coral, really to solve the above problem requires handling sanctions. Although the Marine Life Rescue Center has repeatedly proposed this issue to higher levels, it still cannot solve it because there is no penalty.

Our country needs a penalty to strictly punish violators. If Thai and Filipinos just touch the coral and be photographed, that tourist will be ordered to deport and pay a large fine. However, in Vietnam, there is no force to check.

Bringing starfish to shore and then letting them die for photography is very offensive. (Illustration)

“Summarizing to solve and limit the above things, we have to do in 3 aspects. The first is the community communication aspect by giving scientific knowledge to tourists, especially people. local people.

Only local people who understand, they will work enthusiastically and supervise closely. The second is in terms of education, it is necessary to provide more information about the environment, about marine life and forests in order to make tourists travel for civilization.

Finally, it is imperative to have a sanction against both foreigners and Vietnamese when violating “-anh Chien emphasized.

In addition, the representative of the Marine Life Rescue Center shared more about the current tourism situation in our country.

According to Chien, 90% of tourism businesses make mistakes and put visitors at risk. For example, if you go diving to see coral, they will give you a life jacket, diving goggles, and a breathing tank, that’s absolutely wrong and internationally forbids it. When guests wear life jackets into the water, the body will be difficult to control and even people die in the coral reef because corals cut into arteries.

“When in the water, all the tourists trampling on we must accept and correct mistakes, even go to replant the coral, but will not interfere at that time because it will affect the customer’s lives and of ourselves.

Not to mention that there are many types of corals, some are poisonous and many tourists do not necessarily understand this. The image of starfish dying dry on the shore made many people get up, but looking at the tourist picture of Vietnam, it was really bad, ugly …