Around 165 hectares of coral with more than 200 species recorded, plus the swiftlet cliffs the islands are famous for, a…Around 165 hectares of coral with more than 200 species recorded, plus the swiftlet cliffs the islands are famous for, a 400-year-old fishing village and the ceramics of shipwrecked trading junks in the local museum. Snorkelling is right off the beach. Cù Lao Chàm was a water stop on the Champa and later Hội An trade route, and the seabed around it holds wrecks of trading junks, one 15th-century wreck yielded 250,000 pieces of Vietnamese ceramics. UNESCO listed the islands as a biosphere reserve in 2009, and the islanders' plastic-bag ban came with it. Anchorage: Anchor at Bãi Hương or Bãi Làng; the islands are the only sheltered stop between Đà Nẵng and Quy Nhơn. Hazards: Closed to boats in the Oct-Feb monsoon; the crossing gets rough fast. Meer