O Loan Lagoon

O Loan covers around eighteen hundred hectares behind the Phu Yen coast, a brackish lagoon with branching arms that from the Quan Cau pass on national road 1 lays out below in a shape people compare to a bird with spread wings - which is the standard photograph, taken at sunrise. It is a working water: floating rafts and stake lines for aquaculture, and above all so huyet, blood cockles, which are the region's speciality and are grilled with spring onion oil at the shore restaurants. A boat race is held on the lagoon on the seventh day of the first lunar month.

What you actually see

• A branching lagoon - about eighteen hundred hectares.
• The view from Quan Cau pass - the standard sunrise photograph.
• Blood cockles - the local speciality, grilled at the shore.
• A boat race in the first lunar month - on the seventh day.

When to go

February to August; sunrise from the pass. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The pass viewpoint is a roadside pull-off on a busy national road. At low tide in the heat the exposed mud smells strongly. Aquaculture structures are visible throughout. Blood cockles carry the usual raw shellfish risks if undercooked.

Nearby

Ganh Da Dia is north; Tuy Hoa is south.