Do Son

Đồ Sơn is a small peninsula, yet four layers of history lie one on top of another along this single strip of land facing the sea.

The first layer is the French colonial period, at the end of the 19th century. The French developed the place as a bathing beach and summer retreat for their officials and officers. Đồ Sơn is one of the oldest seaside resorts in the north of Vietnam. Sầm Sơn in Thanh Hóa is another. So is Cửa Lò in Nghệ An. French-style villas rose along the beach and on the hilltops looking out over the Gulf of Tonkin.

The second layer is 1955. The Geneva Accords, signed in 1954, set a provisional military demarcation line at the 17th parallel. A year later, the last French troops left the north. They boarded their boats at a small pier in Đồ Sơn called Bến Nghiêng. That departure marked the end of nearly a century of colonial rule, as quietly as an ebbing tide.

The third layer is a story that many people may never have heard. From this very peninsula, a secret sea transport route ran for 14 long years. On October 23, 1961, Group 759, a sea transport unit, was founded at Bến K15. The harbor is a small, sheltered cove at the foot of Nghinh Phong Mountain, at the far end of the peninsula. From this harbor, and later from other harbors too, more than 1,800 voyages set out in the dark. The ships carried no hull numbers and were disguised as ordinary fishing boats. They crossed thousands of kilometers of sea under the watch of the American fleet. Together they carried more than 150,000 tons of weapons to the battlefields of the South. They also carried more than 80,000 cadres. That is why the route was named the Hồ Chí Minh Trail at Sea. It ran parallel to the Hồ Chí Minh Trail on land, through the Trường Sơn mountains. Bến K15 is now a national historic site. The Prime Minister has ranked the whole system of the trail at sea as a special national monument.

The fourth layer is 1995. That year the Đồ Sơn Casino opened. It was the first legal casino in Vietnam, and it served only international guests. The building was once a symbol of a special period of development. Then, little by little, it stopped operating and fell into disrepair. Today it stands silent on the peninsula, an architectural trace of the 1990s.

There is one important thing to know about the sand here. The sand of Đồ Sơn is not white like the sand of Phu Quoc or Côn Đảo. It is a little darker, mixed with silt that the Red River and the Văn Úc River carry out to sea. That is not pollution. It is a natural geological feature of the river mouths of the northern delta. Anyone expecting fine white sand will find it strange. Seen as the northern rivers leaving their mark on the sea, it becomes rather interesting.

Đồ Sơn has three beach areas, simply called Area One, Area Two and Area Three. Area Two is the center, with many hotels and restaurants. Area Three is quieter. There, on Vung Hill, stands the Bảo Đại Villa, a piece of colonial-era architecture. Bảo Đại was the last emperor of Vietnam. And at the end of Area Three, at the foot of Nghinh Phong Mountain, lies Bến K15, the harbor of the secret route.

One more thing is for those who come at the right time. Every year, on the ninth day of the eighth lunar month, Đồ Sơn holds its Buffalo Fighting Festival. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognized it as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2012. Legend says the festival goes back to the time of Emperor Lý Thánh Tông, nearly a thousand years ago. It was officially revived in 1990. The festival asks the water god to protect the fishermen who go out to sea. After the fights, the winning buffalo and the losing buffalo alike are offered up in sacrifice to the god. It is a festival with a strong communal spirit, typical of the fishing people on the northern coast.

On July 1, 2025, after an administrative reorganization, the former district of Đồ Sơn became two wards of the city of Hải Phòng. Đồ Sơn ward has more than 36,000 residents. Nam Đồ Sơn ward has more than 30,000. The place name Đồ Sơn remains, but the administrative units have changed.

Đồ Sơn is not only a beach. Stand at Bến K15 early in the morning, when the waves break against the rocks at the foot of Nghinh Phong Mountain and the sun has just risen over the Gulf of Tonkin. The weight of history lies right beneath your feet. This is where ships without numbers slipped away into the night, carrying a country on their decks.