Located 10km from Da Nang’s centre to the Northeast, Son Tra peninsula stretches along the lower right bank of the Han River, with an area of more than 5,931 hectares, a length of 13km and a width of about 5 km. Its narrowest place is 2 km. Son Tra has many potentials for tourism and the marine economy. At the same time, it is an outpost, an important position in terms of national defence and security in the common defence position of the Central region and the whole country.

Initially, Son Tra was just a floating island with 3 mountains. Over time it was connected with the mainland by alluvium accretion to form the peninsula as it is today. Thanks to its unique and distinctive natural resource values, Son Tra is not only a "green lung" providing oxygen for Da Nang, but also an identity brand of the city. Son Tra Mountain on the peninsula which is nearly 700m high, is considered as a natural meteorological station of the region, where a diverse flora and fauna ecosystem is preserved, with many rare and endemic species. On the peninsula, there are nearly 4,000 hectares of forest with about 289 species of higher plants belonging to 217 genera, 90 families. It is also home to monkeys with more than 400 brown-shanked douc langurs, long-tailed macaques, and some species such as mink, wild boar, wild chicken, roe deer, etc.

In addition, Son Tra has a particularly important position in terms of national defence and security - which can control a large territorial sea and is a "fence" protecting Da Nang and Quang Nam. In this place, during the Nguyen Dynasty, King Minh Mang built a "fortress of maritime defence" to defend and control ships in and out the eastern flank of Da Nang Bay. In September 1858, the French and Spanish allied armies chose Son Tra peninsula as the first target to invade Vietnam. Troops and people on the Peninsula closely coordinated with the court, fought bravely and courageously, inflicting severe losses on the enemy, contributing to defeating their plot of "quick fight, quick victory". When the U.S sent their troops into Vietnam, they built Son Tra into a defensive stronghold, with Tien Sa military port, radar station, artillery base and many other modern war facilities. That further affirms the important strategic position of Son Tra peninsula for the cause of national construction and defence.

With a unique geographical location, mild climate, Son Tra has become a great destination for resorts, attracting tourists by its jade blue sea water with wild and beautiful beaches, such as: Da stream, But beach, Trem beach, Rang beach, South beach, North beach, Tien Sa beach, etc. Besides, the area around Son Tra is also famous for fishing villages with a long tradition, preserving folklore features imbued with unique identity of the central coastal region, such as: Nghinh Ong, Cau Ngu festivals with interesting and attractive sports activities. Therefore, developing sea tourism represents a strategic direction with diversification and improvement of product quality, combining Son Tra - Da Nang with other central tourist destinations, and international ones of foreign countries through the Pan-Asian route.

In the coming time, based on its inherent advantages and potentials, with appropriate solutions, Da Nang will focus on developing quickly and sustainably Son Tra with its constantly developing economy and infrastructure to make it truly "the eye of the sea", the "reliable steel fortress" for the cause of protecting the land, sea and airspace of the Fatherland in the central region.

CAO VUONG