• Digital Nomad History
  • Digital Nomad Resources

Nomadic Notes

Travel blog and weekly travel newsletter

  • Blog
  • Travel Newsletter

Notes on Phan Thiet – Mui Ne Beach, Phan Thiet city, and riding along the Binh Thuan coast

October 9, 2020 By James Clark 6 Comments

Phan Thiet water tower

Phan Thiet is the capital of Binh Thuan province, located in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam. The main drawcard of Phan Thiet is the beach that runs from Phan Thiet city to Mui Ne town. The beach is marketed as Mui Ne, even though only a small section of the beach is in Mui Ne.

Mui Ne in relation to Phan Thiet
[Mui Ne in relation to Phan Thiet (via Wikipedia).]

Mui Ne/Phan Thiet is a popular beach destination from Saigon as it’s only a 4-hour van ride away. I’ve been to Mui Ne twice but I’ve never stopped to look around Phan Thiet city. For this trip, I wanted to see what the city is like, and also have a look at the beaches on the other side of Phan Thiet. This area is not as developed, but like everywhere in Vietnam, it’s only a matter of time before it’s discovered. There are some infrastructure projects planned for Phan Thiet, including a new airport and an expressway from Ho Chi Minh City. This may make Phan Thiet a bigger tourist destination in the future.

This map includes places referred to in this article.


[Map of Phan Thiet and Binh Thuan Province.]

To get my trip started I spent a night in Mui Ne to celebrate travelling for the first time in over two months. After the second outbreak in Danang in July I erred on the side of caution and limited my movements while the country got the virus under control again. A day by the beach was a good way to start travelling again.

Seahorse pool
[Pool by the sea at the Seahorse Resort & Spa.]

On my first trip to Mui Ne it was raining and the water was murky, which didn’t leave a good impression. This time around the sun was shining and the water was clean and clear.

Beach near Seahorse

Mui Ne is a popular destination for Russian tourists, and the main road behind the beach is lined with shops and restaurants reminding you of this fact.

Moskva restaurant

Like many other places I’ve visited in Vietnam this year, Mui Ne is struggling through the pandemic. Many of the hotels have been shuttered, uncertain if they are going to reopen. The main street felt like a ghost town with the tourist shops closed.

As an online publisher with most of my interests in travel, it’s been a depressing year. I don’t have many overheads though, so at least I can get by. I feel bad for the physical businesses that have fixed expenses. It’s going to take years to get back to normal.

Closed tourist shops

Having got my beach fix I moved camp into town. Phan Thiet is a fishing port city that doesn’t have much on offer to stop tourists on the way to the beach. As I mentioned on my visit to Tuy Hoa, I like visiting these unassuming provincial cities. The onus is on you to find points of interest.

Tran Hung Dao

Luckily I’m easily amused, so wandering the streets is a good day out for me.

Thai Phien -street food
[Motorbikes + little plastic seats = classic Vietnam.]

During the day the fleet of fishing boats is moored in the Ca Ty River. The city is famous for fish sauce, and with the right breeze, the smell of fermenting fish can be whiffed in many parts of the city.

Fishing boat

In the late afternoon, the boats start heading out of the river to begin their evening of work.

Fishing boats on river

Whenever I’m in a new city in Vietnam I head for the central market.

Central market

Even though I’m not buying anything I love wandering around to soak up the mayhem of a Vietnamese market.

Market traffic

Another site to be on the lookout for are war monuments. I didn’t have to look hard here as there is a glorious monument on one on the main roundabouts in the city centre.

Victory monument

The Victory Monument features a celebrating soldier with his family.

Victory monument - front

Behind them a soldier has their back with a grenade launcher.

Victory monument - side view

Behind the monument is a mural depicting scenes of people during the war. Here are civilians holding the flag of the National Liberation Front.

National Liberation Front flags

The mural here features women soldiers, reminding me of the monument in Ben Tre.

Women fighters

The water tower is the city logo and architectural highlight.

Phan Thiet water tower

There are a few old shophouses that are hanging in there. I wondered what Phan Thiet might have looked like if it had been able to retain a few streets of heritage buildings.

Old Phan Thiet

I couldn’t find any old photos online of old Phan Thiet. There was an American base outside the city, but apart from the base being attacked there weren’t any references to fighting in the city.

Most of the American air bases in Vietnam were continued to be used by the People’s Army of Vietnam, and then shared or turned over completely for civilian use. The airport here was reverted to farmland. If they had of kept the airport then perhaps Phan Thiet would have grown as big as Nha Trang.

Cafe Sach 36

Another reason I wanted to stay in Phan Thiet was to eat at local restaurants. Being in a fishing city it seemed appropriate to have some kind of fish soup, and I found a good place near the central market.

Xiu fish soup
[Banh Canh Xíu – So 1 HA, Kim Dong, Phan Thiet.]

This is Banh Canh Cha Ca.

Banh Canh Cha Ca

If you are looking for dinner and see a busy street stall, my general rule is to take a seat and ask questions later.

Nem Nuong Minh Hieu street food

The answer was nem nuong from Nem Nuong Minh Hieu.

Nem Nuong Minh Hieu
[Nem Nuong Minh Hieu.]

Binh Thuan province is famous for its dragonfruit farms. On the train or drive to Phan Thiet, you can see rows upon rows of this cactus-like plant growing on concrete stakes.

As a result of the pandemic, dragonfruit farmers haven’t been able to export the fruit to China (the largest market). A bakery in Ho Chi Minh City made a banh mi with dragon fruit to help sell more dragonfruit. While a few dragonfruit-flavoured bread rolls are hardly going to put a dent in the stockpile, I appreciated the show of solidarity for the farmers.

In Phan Thiet I found a place selling dragonfruit bread, so I had to try it out. I wanted it as a banh mi, but the server was just confused with my order and was not entertaining my request. I ordered a banh mi in regular bread and a plain dragonfruit bread on the side. It turns out that the dragonfruit banh mi is more like a cross between bread and a pastry, so I understood why I was not being given one with filling.

Dragonfruit banh mi

It was very tasty as a bakery treat, with a slight hint of the fruit (of a fruit that only has a hint of taste in the first place). The Banh Mi was also excellent.

Banh Mi Nhi Nhi
[Lo Banh Mi Nhi Nhi.]

Cafes are also part of any city exploration plan, and there are some good cafes here. There are no Highlands here yet (the big Vietnam cafe chain), so there are some local cafes competing with each other with branches across the city.

Ta Coffee entrance

I enjoyed the coffee and vibes at Ta Coffee on Hung Vuong Rd.

Ta Coffee

Also on Hung Vuong Rd is Mr Bin Coffee.

Mr Bin

I wasn’t here to just eat street food and wander around to different cafes. My plan was to visit some of the construction sites in the city and on the beaches to the south. One of the big projects in Phan Thiet has been the conversion of a golf course into a new urban area. There are only a few houses here so far, so I would like to see how it turns out in the future.

Mini mansion

The next day I rented a scooter and drove along the coast. I had some places marked out that I knew were being built, but there are more planned developments that haven’t started yet. I from this trip I compiled a report on construction projects in Binh Thuan Province.

NovaWorld site

There are some big resorts planned along here, but for the most part it’s a peaceful stretch of coastline with some beautiful beaches.

Tan Thanh Beach

These secondary roads are a great place for cruising around on a scooter.

Road to Thanh Long Bay

Once you have discovered the joy of a hammock cafe it’s hard to go back to seated cafes.

Hammock cafe

A coconut break with a view.

Coconut view

And here is one of the aforementioned dragonfruit farms.

Dragon fruit farm

The architectural highlight along here is the Ke Ga lighthouse (the oldest lighthouse in Vietnam).

Ke Ga Lighthouse

It’s on a little island just off the coast, and there are boats that can take you over to visit.

Fishing boats at lighthouse

I was riding a bit further to visit the Thanh Long Bay development. I’ve seen pictures of this resort that looks like a new city, and I wanted to see it for myself. Here is my full report on Thanh Long Bay.

Beach at Thanh Long Bay
[Beach at Thanh Long Bay.]

From here I went back to Phan Thiet even though I would have gladly kept riding.

Bike at Thanh Long Bay

Transport – getting to Phan Thiet

Limo van to Phan Thiet

From Saigon I got a limo van to Phan Thiet. This is a quicker option than the bus, and they have big seats with lots of leg room. I went with G5 Car, and they delivered me directly to my hotel on the beach.

Search for transport to Phan Thiet.

G5 Car

For the return leg I got a train from Phan Thiet station. This takes 4 hours and this is my preferred option for travel. Here is the review of my previous train trip to Phan Thiet.

Ga Phan Thiet
[Phan Thiet Railway Station.]

Filed Under: Travel Blog Tagged With: binh thuan, mui ne, phan thiet, vietnam

Comments

  1. Huw Gillard says

    October 10, 2020 at 8:35 am

    Another excellent report. Brought back good memories of our fantastic stay in a beach front hotel in Mui Ne. Watching the wind and kite surfers all along the shore front in the afternoon breezes. Visiting Phan Thiet and the local market was a delight. Was funny eating out in the evening surrounded by Russian tourits each with their bottles of vodka on the table. Hope Mui Ne tourism returns to its former heights. Excellent clean, family friendly chill out or sport oriented beach resort holiday destination in Vietnam. Thanks James.

    Reply
    • James Clark says

      October 13, 2020 at 3:38 am

      Thanks Huw!

      Reply
  2. Marian D says

    October 11, 2020 at 3:00 pm

    Funny about hammock Cafe, all lads.

    Reply
    • James Clark says

      October 13, 2020 at 3:37 am

      Yes that was a group of dudes, but there were women there also

      Reply
  3. Jessica Syme says

    October 19, 2020 at 8:49 pm

    I love the photo of the coconut break – glad to see you are moving around and getting some interesting shots.

    Reply
  4. Tom Byrne says

    January 14, 2021 at 2:58 am

    Thank again for your post.Pity about Mui Ne being so quiet.Last time I was there it was busy with gold chains and knuckledusters drinking Irish whiskey.I,almost lost my head on the beach a cord from a kite while lying down-got up too quickly/not looking around.Saw very little of Phan Thiet enroute by coach.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Weekly Travel Newsletter

Sign up for the weekly travel newsletter for the latest posts, and a roundup of best travel reads from around the web.
Subscribe For Free Here [No spam, unsubscribe anytime.]

About Nomadic Notes

James Clark from Nomadic Notes

Hi, I’m James Clark, and I've been travelling the world since 2003 while running a location independent travel business. Nomadic Notes is a travel blog featuring travel guides and notes from my travels.

More about me and Nomadic Notes.

Follow Nomadic Notes

Recent Posts

  • Laos-China Railway – A review of the Vientiane to Boten train
  • Notes on Sihanoukville – After the gold rush
  • Where I’m At: June 2022 – Vientiane
  • Notes on Phnom Penh – Revisiting after the reopening
  • Where I’m At: May 2022 – Saigon
  • Notes on Ko Samet – The closest beach-break island from Bangkok
  • Where I’m At: April 2022 – Melbourne
  • The desolation of Khao San Road
  • Notes on Bangkok – Thailand’s cautious reopening
  • Notes on Dubai – Expo 2020, South Asia food paradise, Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah and more

European Rail Travel

Eurail Pass Travel Guide

Europe Rail News – The new newsletter for train travel in Europe

Southeast Asia Rail Travel

Southeast Asia current and proposed railways

A complete guide to train travel in Southeast Asia

Featured Posts

Top 200 Travel Books
How to find cheap flights
Best new banks for travellers, expats, and nomads

About Nomadic Notes

About
Advertise
Contact
Contribute
Press/Media Mentions
Where I've Been

Search Nomadic Notes

Travel Notes

Travel Notes

Travel Resources

Long-term Travel
Travel Blog Directory
Travel Gear
Travel Insurance
Travel Sites

Where To Stay In…

Bangkok
Chiang Mai
Da Nang
Ho Chi Minh City
Hong Kong
Jakarta
Kuala Lumpur
Macau
Penang
Singapore

Travel Newsletter

Sign up for the weekly travel newsletter for the latest posts and a roundup of best travel reads from around the web.

Copyright © 2022 Nomadic Notes · Site Map | Privacy · Log in