Beach near HCMC?

Can Gio Beach, about 50km from HCM to Can Gio

it's a nice one?
You can go by bus?

Not sure it counts as a beach tbh. The land meets the sea. It is a nice ride through a Mangrove swamp though, and the monkey sanctuary is fun.

The nearest beach proper is Vung Tau.

Vung Tau is only 90 minutes from Saigon via hydrofoil ferry.

Like numituot talk
if you want to see the nature monkey , try to wild beach
and go to travel agency - Cần Giờ is the best
It's 1 hour from Ho Chi Minh city
But no bar , no dance. it is simply sad if you prefer a busy life

And tomorow i and my company familly will be come Cần Giờ the beach (Can Gio the beach)
because my boss and my morther didn't see it before

and Vung Tau is the best also

Happy place with the long beach , mountain behide - you can trikking if you want to
The sea food and bar is so cheap

I like to go to Can Gio , Vung Tau too. Because it's all close to my home town Ho Chi Minh city.

Kathy

I'm in Vung Tau right now... So what do you mean by "nice"?   Here is my experience with Vung Tau after a couple days here.

To me, Vung Tau is similar to Saigon but on a smaller scale and on the coast.  Still lots of trash, traffic, noise, and horn honking just like Saigon, but throw in a couple "beaches", higher prices for some things, and less selection than you have in a city of 12 million people.   This is just my opinion based on limited experience. 

Mai Linh Express (bus) from HCMC took about 2.5 hours to get here.  A one way ticket on MLE is normally 85000.

If you go to back beach in VT you can rent a chair under an umbrella for about 100000 dong.  There isn't much beach before you hit the water.  There is trash on the beach.  There is also some trash in the water, but I went swimming and it didn't bother me.  The water is warm, dark brown, shallow, and calm.

You probably won't see bikinis.  I didn't even see one-pieces.  If you plan to wear a western style swimsuit, expect to draw some attention. Everyone wears the same thing into the water that they wear to lunch, except with more straw hats and less shoes.  Out of maybe a thousand people on the beach with me I did not see any other westerners.  Maybe they go to the spas or pools?  No idea, it's not a problem for me and I prefer it this way but just letting you know. 

In summary, the beach in Vung Tau is not a clean, quiet, bikini filled island paradise like you would find in resort cities frequented by westerners, but it is a beach.  You can walk in sand and swim in ocean water.  You can find lots of seafood.

There are other activities here if you want to pay, I saw a couple jet skis, pools at some of the hotels, some nice places to eat, bars, etc.

There is a Vung Tau page on wikitravel with more comprehensive info.

I hear Nha Trang is nice, but that is much farther, I think 8 hours by bus or train?

Agree, I live in VT and the beach is ok, but sadly the locals dont give a damn and drop rubbish everywhere. If you can get there and you are looking just for a nice beach and thats all, try Long Hai area. The beaches are much nicer and less rubbish.Can Gio is basically as said, land meets water and lots of Saigonese on the weekends. It takes much longer then an hour to get there as you must cross the river at Nha Be.

I don't consider Vung Tau to be a resort town. I love living here but it's not the type of place I would choose to go on vacation. The water is "dirty" because of the sand and sediment suspended in the water from the outflow of the Saigon river.
It can become quite crowded on the weekends and especially so on long holiday weekends. If you visit during a normal weekday there would be no comparison between Ho Chi Minh City in Vung Tau. It is normally very quiet (except for the honking of the horns, can't get away from that in Vietnam) and can be very relaxing to just drive around by the beach in the evening.

Girls and some guys in Vietnam hate the sun and are terrified of turning black (their words, not mine) so you will definitely have a hard time finding any bikinis on the beach but not impossible, I have seen a couple over the last 4 years. I have never had people look at me strangely for wearing my board shorts at the beach.

If you want some "western" grocery items then you can visit Linh Phuong Market, near corner of Tran Hung Dao st. and Ba Cu st. (Near the big TV) It is a little overpriced but they have a good selection

I think my experience with Vung Tau is different from the norm because I came during a festival with many thousands of other folks from Saigon on holiday.

Who goes to the beach to gawk at bikinis? I liked Vung Tau beach though I had to go all the way to the end of the wall to get on the beach and my hotel was at the other end of the wall. Only spot that didn't charge for car parking. It was an awesome spot though. No one there lol. Noticed most Westerners swimming in the outdoor hotel pools though. The ocean water had dirty sediments but I don't mind it because I love swimming in ocean water.

Walking downtown Vung Tau after 8 ish was nice. Lots of shops and eateries to try out.

mtgmike wrote:

I'm in Vung Tau right now... So what do you mean by "nice"?   Here is my experience with Vung Tau after a couple days here.

To me, Vung Tau is similar to Saigon but on a smaller scale and on the coast.  Still lots of trash, traffic, noise, and horn honking just like Saigon, but throw in a couple "beaches", higher prices for some things, and less selection than you have in a city of 12 million people.   This is just my opinion based on limited experience. 

Mai Linh Express (bus) from HCMC took about 2.5 hours to get here.  A one way ticket on MLE is normally 85000.

If you go to back beach in VT you can rent a chair under an umbrella for about 100000 dong.  There isn't much beach before you hit the water.  There is trash on the beach.  There is also some trash in the water, but I went swimming and it didn't bother me.  The water is warm, dark brown, shallow, and calm.

You probably won't see bikinis.  I didn't even see one-pieces.  If you plan to wear a western style swimsuit, expect to draw some attention. Everyone wears the same thing into the water that they wear to lunch, except with more straw hats and less shoes.  Out of maybe a thousand people on the beach with me I did not see any other westerners.  Maybe they go to the spas or pools?  No idea, it's not a problem for me and I prefer it this way but just letting you know. 

In summary, the beach in Vung Tau is not a clean, quiet, bikini filled island paradise like you would find in resort cities frequented by westerners, but it is a beach.  You can walk in sand and swim in ocean water.  You can find lots of seafood.

There are other activities here if you want to pay, I saw a couple jet skis, pools at some of the hotels, some nice places to eat, bars, etc.

There is a Vung Tau page on wikitravel with more comprehensive info.

I hear Nha Trang is nice, but that is much farther, I think 8 hours by bus or train?

We often go Vung Tau and spend there one or two days maximum. Cannot say it's a fantastic beach as it's not too long beach area and lot of unhygienic situation. 100,000 for chair? unbelievable! We just paid 15-20 maximum(should bargain)! Anyway seafood is better if we go non season time. We go by motor bike or by boat. Motor bike is convenient  to roaming around in VT. Otherwise we need to rent some or hire some 'Xich lo' or bicycle. Visiting the church on the hill is interesting at early morning.
Yeah, Nha Trang is better, people say. But I never been there because of distance! Can go by train,car, bus or flight. I think flight may be better. It's nearly 500 km from Ho Chi Minh city.

If you are talking about going as far as Na Trang and want an "unspoiled beach" then try Ho Tram. That is where MGM came unstuck building a casino resort. Slightly further up the coast there is a nice government owned resort with 2k of relatively clean beach. It is very (almost too) quiet though - I was stationed there for a few weeks and maybe saw 20 other guests max.

Or Mui Ne. That's where I'm going to spend my honeymoon. Can't remember what the beach is like but I think it's 3 hours east of Saigon. I picked that spot because I hear the beach is right at the door step of your room unlike Vung Tau where you have to cross the street or walk a while to get to the beach.

If I was going to stay on at a beach resort for my honeymoon I would go to Thailand. Went to Koh Chang a few years back and it was awesome

yes Thailand was nice. I went to the Phuket beach. But since my wedding would be a week before the Lunar New Year I think air travelling would be chaotic. So we chose something simple as motorbiking out there for 4 days and than heading back to Can Tho.

She's never been to Mui Ne and she loves swimming in the ocean. I did promise her I'll take her to every major touristy destinations when I relocate to Vietnam though.

tuoitrenews.vn/society/9191/tourists-ripped-off-over-seating-fee-in-nha-trang

Interesting article about tourist being ripped off

Interesting 5000 dong a chair is the supposed price.

I've been ripped off before similar to the one in the article where you find out after the receipt is handed to you. Was at Mui Ne beach can't remember exact spot but I had a simple lemonade. How I know it was a straight forward lemonade? Because I was charged for all the ingredients including the ice and glass lol.

Mui Ne is nice, but you have to stay at a beach ressort, otherwise you have to go to the public beaches whitch are often to dirty. Problem is, you need more then one day, maybe a weekend and its not that cheap. We paid around 80 US$/Night for a tripple room.

Can Gio is dirty beach, can not swim. Vung Tau or Muine is fine

Cheers

numituot wrote:

Can Gio Beach, about 50km from HCM to Can Gio

I recommend you to go Phan Thiet, there are many beautiful beaches in Nguyen Dinh Chieu street and also have a lot, a lot of foreigner living on this street.

thx

To be honest, the only clean decent beach I have found is either Long Hai or Ho Tram,and they are not as easy to get to.Any beach that is near a town will have rubbish, as the locals leave their rubbish where they sit, which is sad.

colinoscapee wrote:

.... as the locals leave their rubbish where they sit, which is sad.

Yep. Welcome to Vietnam. I have seen locals walked straight up to the edge of the water on the beach, pulled their weenies out in public and take a piss. What do u say? It's their country.

Yes thats right,but keeping the place clean doesnt take too much effort.

There are now a lot of water problems here due to polluting, its now costing money to start clean the rivers and canals, so its a good start, even if its only small.