Nha Trang’s main beach runs six kilometers along Tran Phu street, and most visitors never go further. That is a mistake. Water off the city beach is not the cleanest, especially after rain. Yet 20 to 50 km away there are shores with white sand and clear sea where on a weekday you may see nobody at all. I lived in Vietnam for several months and drove the coast around Nha Trang from Cam Ranh up to Doc Let. Below are all the beaches worth the trip, with how to get there, what they cost and an honest note on what is wrong with each.
The City Beach and Its Three Sections
One strip of sand, three different characters. Its southern part, from Cau Da port to Gorky Park, is closest to the hotels and the busiest. Sunbeds rent for 50,000 to 80,000 dong, there are beach cafes and board rental. Waves break closer to shore here. Depth drops fast. Water is murkier because of the Cai river.
Between Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Yersin streets lies the best-equipped stretch. Showers, toilets, lifeguards from 6 am to 6 pm, and in the evening the promenade fills with walkers and vendors. I like this stretch early in the morning, when locals come out to swim and exercise before sunrise and are gone by eight.
North of that, by Hon Chong cape, is Bai Duong. It is narrow but has the rocks for a backdrop, and the water is the cleanest in the city because it is furthest from the river mouth. Cafes right behind it charge 25,000 to 30,000 dong for a coffee instead of 60,000 to 70,000 on the central promenade.
City swimming works from March to August. From October to December the sea is brown, red flags go up, and everyone who booked two weeks for the beach sits by the hotel pool. Know that before you buy tickets.
Bai Dai by the Airport
Nearest clean beach is Bai Dai, also called Long Beach, 25 km south of the center on the airport road. Ten kilometers of wide sand. Gentle slope into the water. Resorts are going up here, but most of the shore is still open, and there are three or four cafes along the entire length.
A taxi costs 250,000 to 300,000 dong one way, or take bus 18 to the airport and a ten-minute taxi from there. A sunbed with an umbrella at a cafe is 50,000 to 100,000 dong, but if you order food they usually do not charge for the seat. Go on a weekday morning. At weekends Vietnamese families come out, and by noon the cafes are full.
Surf on Bai Dai is bigger than in the city, and in May and June people ride boards here. That is a minus for children and a plus for adults. There are no lifeguards, so on windy days with flags out, stay close to shore.
Doc Let and Bai Ho in the North
Doc Let beach, 45 km north, is the white sand from the postcards. It is shallow, the water is warm and calm most of the year, and the shore is lined with casuarina trees with sunbeds in their shade. Entry is 100,000 to 120,000 dong per person and includes the sunbed. Beach cafes cook fish and crab brought in that morning from the village next door.
Driving takes an hour. A scooter is the best way, the highway is good, but you need an international driving permit with a motorcycle category, and police on the way out of town stop tourists regularly. A taxi for the whole day costs 1.2 to 1.5 million dong. For a day with no logistics, a half-day trip to Ba Ho waterfall on the same road is easy to combine with an afternoon on the sand.
Bai Ho is the next bay further north, with no facilities and almost no people. You come by scooter and bring your own water and food. This is where I suggest spending a day if you want the sea without sunbeds and vendors.
Jungle Beach
Jungle Beach is a place rather than a beach. Sixty kilometers north, past the village of Ninh Van, a family guesthouse sits on a wild shore reached by a dirt track over the hills. No cafes, only mountains, sea and fishing boats. People stay the night here, and a bed with three meals a day costs 25 to 30 dollars per person. It is the best way to see this coast as it was before the hotels.
A taxi from Nha Trang charges 700,000 to 900,000 dong, and by scooter it is two hours. Swim in the morning; the wind picks up in the afternoon. Rain closes the track from October, so plan it between February and September.
Beaches on the Islands
Cleanest sea of all is not on the mainland. It is out on the islands. Hon Mun is a marine reserve with coral, no beach, and the snorkeling every boat in the bay heads for. Park fee: 22,000 dong. Neighboring Hon Mot is a sand spit where boats stop for a swim.
Hon Tam is an island with a resort and a managed beach: sunbeds, a pool and mud baths. A day ticket costs about 400,000 dong including the boat from Cau Da port. Bai Tranh on Hon Mieu, the island nearest the shore, is the beach for quiet: white sand, sunbeds in the shade, a few cafes, and boats are the only way in.
Boat tours cover all the islands, and I recommend one tour with proper snorkeling over three separate trips; the full comparison of routes and operators is in our guide to the Nha Trang islands by boat. The three-island tour with lunch gives half the day to the beach rather than to transfers. A group tour with lunch costs 500,000 to 700,000 dong, boats leave the port at 8:30 am and return by four. For the coral itself, the half-day snorkeling trip to the marine park spends its time in the water at Hon Mun.
All the Beaches in One Table
| Beach | Where | From the center | Entry | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City beach | Tran Phu street | On foot | Free, sunbed 50,000 to 80,000 | A day with no transfers, evening walks |
| Bai Duong | By Hon Chong cape | 10 minutes by taxi | Free | Cleanest water in town, cafes with a view |
| Bai Dai | 25 km south, by the airport | 40 minutes, 250,000 to 300,000 | Free | Families in the morning, surf in May and June, departure day |
| Doc Let | 45 km north | 1 hour, taxi for the day 1.2 to 1.5 million | 100,000 to 120,000 with sunbed | White sand, shallow sea, children |
| Bai Ho | 50 km north | 1 hour 10 minutes by scooter | Free | Empty shore, bring everything |
| Jungle Beach | 60 km north | 2 hours, taxi 700,000 to 900,000 | Bed and meals 25 to 30 dollars | A night on a wild coast |
| Hon Tam | Island in the bay | Boat from Cau Da port | About 400,000 with the boat | Managed beach, mud baths, pool |
| Hon Mun | Island in the bay | Boat tour | 22,000 park fee | Snorkeling, no beach |
A few practical notes that apply to every beach. Sun is fierce by nine in the morning, and Bai Dai and Bai Ho have no shade at all, so bring an umbrella and SPF 50; on the spot they cost three times as much. Jellyfish appear in late summer, in August and September. Stings hurt but are not dangerous. Every beach cafe keeps vinegar. Cash is needed everywhere outside the city; the cafes at Doc Let and Bai Dai do not take cards. And a plastic pouch for your phone and money costs 20,000 dong at any market and saves a lot of worry on a boat.
Where to Stay With the Sea Next Door
If you want the beach across the road, choose Tran Phu street. Five-star hotels on the seafront such as Sunrise Nha Trang Beach Hotel start at 90 to 110 dollars a night in March, and four-stars on the second row like Golden Rain 2 Hotel cost 40 to 55, five minutes’ walk from the water.
If the beach matters more than the city, look at the resorts outside it. Mia Resort Nha Trang on Bai Dai has its own cove, Vinpearl on Hon Tre has private beaches, and Amiana Resort on the north shore of the bay keeps its own beach and a seawater pool. All of these run 150 to 250 dollars a night, and the sea there is a different sea from the one in town.
In short: one beach day with no transfers means the center or Bai Duong. One day with a drive means Doc Let on a weekday. With children, Bai Dai in the morning or Hon Tam. For snorkeling, only a boat to Hon Mun. And in October and November, do not plan Nha Trang’s beaches at all. How the beach days fit around the city, the islands and Dalat is laid out in our five-day Nha Trang plan.
