Cau Hai Lagoon

Beyond its tombs, its pagodas and its palaces, Hue holds the largest lagoon system in Southeast Asia.

Its southern part is Cầu Hai Lagoon.

The Tam Giang and Cầu Hai lagoon system stretches nearly 70 kilometers from north to south, and its total area is about 216 square kilometers. The system has three parts. Tam Giang Lagoon lies in the north. Thủy Tú Lagoon lies in the middle. Cầu Hai Lagoon lies in the south. Cầu Hai alone covers about 112 square kilometers, more than half of the whole system. Its shoreline runs about 100 kilometers. It is larger than many cities.

Here is a sheet of water covering more than 100 square kilometers, with not one building and not one tower on it. There is only the calm surface, the sky, the floating houses of the fishermen, and the wings of water birds.

In the south, the lagoon opens to the sea through the Tư Hiền inlet. It is the southern sea mouth of the whole lagoon system. The Thuận An inlet in the north is where the Perfume River reaches the sea. The Tư Hiền inlet in the south is where all the water from the peaks of Bạch Mã National Park flows through the lagoons and out to the sea.

Every drop, from the mountaintop down to the shore, passes through here. It is a journey from high peaks to a calm, flat surface.

Seafood from Cầu Hai Lagoon was recorded as the best in Vietnam under the Nguyễn dynasty, and it was sent to the royal court at Hue. The Nguyễn were Vietnam's last royal dynasty, and they reigned from 1802 to 1945. The reason is not hard to see. The water is brackish, a blend of fresh water from the rivers flowing in and salt water coming from the sea through the Tư Hiền inlet. This brackish water supports a special ecosystem, with more than 100 species of fish, and shrimp, crabs, snails and clams that other places do not have. There are rabbitfish and striped shrimp, roe crabs, ốc hương snails and blood clams.

These floating houses are the raft homes of the fishermen. Thousands of families have lived here for many generations. They are born on the lagoon, grow up on it, marry on it and have their children on it. Many families have three or four generations living on this water. Every afternoon they go out to fish. Every early morning, at around 3 or 4 o'clock, they come back to shore. At that hour at the Tư Hiền inlet, the fishing boats come in one behind another, the fishermen sort fish that are still flapping fresh, and a faint lamplight shows before dawn.

Cầu Hai Lagoon is also a haven for water birds. Night herons, coots, wild geese, wild ducks and many other migratory birds arrive from the north in winter, from October to March. Bird lovers come from all over the world to watch them.

The lagoon also has a place in history. In August 1945, when the August Revolution broke out, revolutionary forces crossed Cầu Hai Lagoon to reach the coastal areas and rise up to take power. The wide water became a secret corridor, where small boats moved easily and were hard to spot. The lagoon has seen quiet moments of nature and moments of history alike.

Today, the government of Vietnam plans to develop the whole Tam Giang and Cầu Hai lagoon system into a National Lagoon Park, the first and only one in Vietnam. The aim is not to exploit the lagoon but to protect it, together with responsible ecotourism. It is a vision worthy of a lagoon that has fed hundreds of thousands of people over many centuries.

Cầu Hai Lagoon is the natural Hue, the Hue from before there were kings. It has 112 square kilometers of water, thousands of fishermen, and hundreds of species of fish and birds. On an early morning, the boats reach the shore before the sun has cleared the mountains to the east. The whole lagoon lies under a thin mist, the paddles dip softly, and the smell of fresh fish and salt blends together.