Beaches In Mui Ne

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Rang Beach (Mui Ne Beach).

Mui Ne Beach is 16 km long, and a beautiful beach surrounded by groves of palm trees and miles of red and golden sand dunes.

The temperature is perfect at an average of 30 degrees Celcius. Mui Ne also has the lowest rainfall in all of Vietnam, making it a great beach (or perhaps the only beach) to visit even during rainy season. Mui Ne has the best conditions in all of Asia for water sports. Mui Ne has Asia’s strongest and most consistant cross-onshore winds.

Vietnam has two wind seasons, the North East Monsoon Season and the South West Summer Season.

The North East Monsoon Season starts around November and runs until April. The windiest months are December through February. The wind is a constant 20 – 25 knots, with some days up to 40 knots. As the wind increases so do the waves. There is a one-meter beach break to practise your surfing skills.

The South Western Summer wind blows from May to October and is a consistant 12 – 18 knots, with some days up to 25 knots. During the summer months there is a ground swell up to two meters.

Banc Rivier, a coral ridge with a depth of 12.8 m, and Banc Madge, a coral ridge with a least depth of 12.8 m, lie about 18 miles SE and 15 miles S, respectively, of Mui Ne Village. However, there is no organized diving done in Mui Ne.

Ganh Beach (Hon Rom Beach).

North East of Mui Ne Beach is Hon Rom Beach. The beach runs South West to North East and is on the “back side” of Mui Ne Village. It is accessible at a restaurant and a cluster of resorts on the cemetery point of Mui Ne Village; as well as along the highway past the Red Sand Dunes.

Windspeed on shore is around 30 knots. Waves break on shore, with no coral present. For Half of the year, this beach is used as a harbor for the Mui Ne Village Boats. During this time, this beach should not be used for kiteboarding or other water sports.

The beach at the Red Sand Dunes is known as Suoi Hong (Red Spring). The most notable resorts at this point are the Pandanus and Malibu. Further up the beach is the Red Sand Canyon. Most of the beach-extending North from Suoi Hong to Hon Rom Village–is undevelopable, or at least it would be criminally stupid to do so, as the sand dunes dive steeply into the beach. At Hon Rom Village in the protected cove area is another cluster of large hotels, typically frequented by caravans of large busses full of asian tourists on weekends.

There is a lovely little islet off the cemetery point. While this beach is spectacular–the scenery is better than Rang–swimming is not recommended. There are strong rip tides and swimming can be rather dangerous. A number of locals have died here. The Mui Ne Village Harbor alternates seasonally between the protected area near the cemetery at this beach, and the more famous harbor on the other side of the point on Rang Beach.

Suoi Nuoc.

This beach is the next beach on the way to the White Sand Dunes; North East of Hon Rom Beach. There is a long strip of hotels on a small road that runs along the beach (paralell to the new main highway), but one must ask “Why?” If you stop at any given hotel on any given day, chances are it will be closed and you will find a lone caretaker sleeping in a back room. This beach is spectacular–if you enjoy isolated, desolate, windy saharan landscapes. The area is a windswept desert. The inhabitants most commonly encountered are shepherd boys hearding goats and cows across the highway or the beach.

Suoi Nuoc is as long, if not longer than Mui Ne, and extendeds North to the village of Binh Tien (the turn off to head to the White Sand Dunes). At the village there is a new resort being built. Above the village looms a large (and odd) peak. At one side it appears to be an enormous dune, but on other sides appears as a rocky mountain. Near Binh Thien there is another small island (often called “Turtle Island”) which can be reached from the beach at low tide.

Ca Na Beach.

Ca Na, where the rocky mountains plunge deep into the sea, is 2 hours NE of Mui Ne and provides probably the best coral reefs and scuba diving or snorkeling in Vietnam. However, the facilities in this area are quite sparse and this is not a destination point on most tours. The vicinity is quite hot and the countriside is barren. Nearby is the Cham homeland of Phan Rang, and the Vinh Hao mineral water springs. Wind sports should not be attempted at this beach, due to the coral reefs.

Doi Duong (Phan Thiet Beach).

This is a lovely beach on the edge of Phan Thiet City. There is a wonderful cluster of local Vietnamese cafes, and several resorts, including the Novotel and Dunes Golf Club. It is a popular spot for lovers to sit in the evenings.

Tien Thanh Tien.

Thanh Beach, is just outside the city of Phan Thiet. This beach is normally not on official tours; probably because it was difficult to reach until recently. However, a new road along the beach has now made this accessible, and it now appears on some lists of attractions for the province. There are a number of incredible and very famous photos taken at this site. What were once small drainage ditches, in a few decades, have become enormous canyons winding through cliffs of red, golden and silver sands. The scenery is truly spectacular. You could spend a lovely afternoon here–or ruin your entire trip! This beach is extremely dangerous and is best avoided by tourists. The base of the canyons are covered in deadly quicksand. Locals tell stories of many people entering the canyons and never coming out. We do not recommend exploring them under any circumstances, and guides from anywhere but the village located here on the beach should not be considered reliable.

There is however an even deadlier hazard. The area above the beach was once the site of the American (and once the French) military base and air field “LZ Betty” (see links section under war era for more). Battles were fought here, and upon evacuation, the American military is known to have burried large numbers of unexploded ordenances-mine, bombs, grenades, etc at the site. The canyons have expanded quickly over time, and have likely swallowed up many of the ordenances and could potentially spill them out onto the beach. Ganh Son is a very unstable location.

There is one safe vantage point to view the canyons. The road from Phan Thiet to Khe Ga runs through a safe section of the abandoned airfield, and from the highway you can stand at the rim of the canyon and get a great view. You’ve got to wonder though–how long can the highway last as the canyon continues to inch its way closer to swallowing it up?… A similar though smaller landscape may be viewed at the Red Sand Canyon on Hon Rom Beach.

Khe Ga (Tien Thanh).

The island light house (about a 45 minute drive South West from Mui Ne) of Khe Ga is the tallest in Vietnam and was built by the French in 1897 (and it is still operating). Tien Thanh beach is the longest continuous beach in the province and is even hotter and sunnier than Mui Ne. There are a number of new resorts on the beach. It is spectacularly beautiful–and well worth a visit, but you should expect the worst sunburn of your life, at least if you do not take excessive precautions. The bare, windswept dunes (which often bury the highway) reflect the light, creating an intense glare. Unlike Mui Ne, there are no groves of palm trees for shade. Again, the view is incredible–we recommend you visit, but unless you are looking for isolation, you may not want to book your whole vacation here. Because of the isolation however, there is some rare wildlife at the beach, including otters.

A mined area lies 1.5 miles South of Ke Ga island; the area is charted and extends approximately 10 miles North to South and 7 miles Eeast to West. Another mined area lies 10 miles South West.