Phan Thiet

Phan Thiet is 200km northeast from Ho Chi Minh City and lies south of Cam Ranh Bay on the southernmost stretch of Central Vietnam. Once a part of the Cham Kingdom, it’s now a perfect stop for beach holidays, an unremarkable town with a reasonable beach, some decent hotels, and a very good golf course. In a nice setting with white sand beaches and coconut trees, the beach resort of Phan Thiet is also endowed with amazing spots such as sand dunes, natural lakes and astonishing red canyons.

Phan Thiet still has sizeable populations of Cham and Raglai ethnic minority groups. The former are a part of the area’s Cham heritage.

Mui Ne Beach

Most visitors pass straight through Phan Thiet to the excellent 21km sandy beach of Mui Ne, about 20km further east. Mui Ne Beach is backed with trees and hotels facing a road that runs the length of the beach, with restaurants on the inland side. The hotels range from small ‘backpacker’ places to deluxe resorts. 

The development has been well handled: all the hotels are low-rise, and many have wooden or bamboo bungalows on the edge of the beach. Most have good to excellent gardens and tree screening, which gives a sense of seclusion. The beach is safe, and the facilities are good. 

On the northern side of the road there is a string of restaurants offering Vietnamese and international menus at a variety of prices. The local seafood is excellent. You’ll also find a few places renting bicycles.

The fishing village

At the far end of the beach, Mui Ne fishing village and several hectares of massive rolling sand dunes make a pleasant diversion from relaxing on the beach, swimming and windsurfing. 

The village is worth a visit for three reasons – firstly, very few tourists go further than the dunes, secondly, the small harbour is picturesque (there’s an excellent view from where the dunes road turns off) and thirdly, there’s an interesting pagoda where followers of Vietnam’s whale cult hold services and store skeletons of the massive sea mammals.

Cham Ruins

As you leave the town, you’ll see a more obvious manifestation Phan Thiet’s past prominence in the form of two Cham towers, immediately visible on a hill on the right. They’re somewhat degraded, but a long walk (or short drive) from the town rewards you with a good view and a super sunset if the sky is clear.