The Beaches in Nha Trang, Vietnam

In 2022, my wife and I spent a few weeks in Nha Trang. I suppose we were lucky to be there during this particular period, as with Covid measures still mostly in place, there weren’t many tourists around, and we had the beaches mostly to ourselves!

During normal times, Nha Trang is a popular tourist destination for both locals and foreigners, and the beaches are usually packed with people.

Nha Trang Info

• Official government tourism site: nhatrang.khanhhoa.gov.vn
• Geographical location: South-Central Vietnam
• Average temperature: 25°C - 30°C
• Current weather:
  Current Weather in Nha Trang
• Dry season: January - August
• Best time to visit: February - April
• Length of Nha Trang’s coastline: 7km
• Main economy: Tourism and fishing

Interesting Nha Trang Tidbit

From 1653 to the 19th century, Nha Trang was a deserted area rich in wildlife (animals like tigers) and was a part of Hà Bạc, Vĩnh Xương County, Diên Khánh Province. After just two decades in the early 20th century, Nha Trang underwent a rapid change.

[…]

The city is on the beautiful Nha Trang Bay, which was chosen by Travel + Leisure in two succeeding years as one of 29 most beautiful bays in the world. Nha Trang is surrounded on all three sides by mountains and a large island and four smaller ones on the fourth side (in the ocean directly in front of the city’s main area), blocking major storms from potentially damaging the city.
Wikipedia

The Beaches

As I mentioned in one of my recent posts, one of Nha Trang’s main attractions is it’s beaches. With the city being on the coast, you have a lot of options for beach activities, including swimming, snorkelling, scuba diving, parasailing, and more.

Now, despite what you might read in some reviews online, the beaches in Nha Trang are not quite “white sandy beaches”, and many of the beaches don’t have clear water unfortunately.

That said, the turquoise coastline stretches far along the city, and you do have a few choices of which beaches to visit, including the main Tran Phu beach, the beach on Hon Tam Island, and Hon Chong and Bai Tru beaches, among others.

The Boardwalk

Along Tran Phu beach, the main beach in Nha Trang, is a boardwalk that stretches for a few kilometres. It’s a great place to go for a walk, or just sit and enjoy the view. There are also a lot of restaurants and bars along the boardwalk, so you can grab a bite to eat or a drink while you’re there.

While we didn’t have a chance to explore all of the beaches in Nha Trang, we were there long enough to have amazing clear skies and beautiful hot sun every day. We were there in March, so we had the perfect weather, and the beaches were not crowded at all.

The palm trees along the boardwalk really give that relaxing tropical vibe, but they don’t offer much shade from the sun, so mid-day is definitely not the best time to be walking along the boardwalk, when the temperature was generally upper 30’s Celsius!

The Beach at Night

While you can stop off at the restaurants and bars along the beach during the day, it’s much much nicer to visit at night. The boardwalk is lit up with colourful lights, and the restaurants and bars are all open, with music and entertainment along the beach.

The water is also generally calm at night, so relaxing on some of the bean-bag chairs along the beach is an amazing way to wind down at the end of the day. A couple of drinks, the sound of the waves … I can’t think of a better way end the day!

Conclusion

I wasn’t actually familiar with Nha Trang before we went. I was familiar with the typical cities … Hanoi, Saigon, Da Nang, Da Lat, Sa Pa, etc., but my wife was the one who wanted to come, and we really had an amazing time!

It’s a beautiful city, and the beaches are great. I’d definitely recommend visiting Nha Trang if you’re in Vietnam. Just be aware that it is a tourist city, so it’s not exactly a “hidden gem” or anything like that, and as such gets quite packed full of tourists during normal times.