Discovery Great Reef

Discovery Great Reef ; Lớn Reef ; Mandarin, is a reef on the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The reef has been occupied by Vietnam since 1988. It is also claimed by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan.

Geography

By 2025, the three main islands will have a surface area of 75 hectares, most of which will have been artificially created by the Vietnamese government.
The coral reef of the island is enclosed, with a lake inside the reef. The lake has a length of approximately 10 km and a width of approximately 1 km. The coral reef area of Đá Lớn is approximately 20.7 km². When the tide is high, the entire reef is submerged in water. When the tide is low, there is still 0.5 m of water on the reef, with many isolated rocks protruding above the water surface.
Among them, Large Rock Island A has three buildings and a helicopter landing pad connected to each other by concrete bridges. Each island has a multi-purpose cultural center.
According to AMTI, since late October 2022, Vietnam has begun renovations at Large Rock Island A and dredging in the channel leading to the nearby bay, making this the sixth entity in Vietnam's land reclamation activities in the Spratly Islands since late 2021. By January 2025, Đảo Đá Lớn A is expected to be reclaimed into an artificial island spanning approximately 68 hectares, over 1.8 kilometers in length, and 400 meters in width. Since early October 2023, Vietnam has begun reclaiming Đảo Đá Lớn C and Đảo Đá Lớn B.