This guide on where to stay in Phan Thiet lists the best beach areas on the Mui Ne/Phan Thiet resort coast.

Phan Thiet is a coastal city in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam. It’s a popular beach area due to its proximity to Ho Chi Minh City. Phan Thiet is also referred to as Mui Ne, and the two names are used interchangeably.

Phan Thiet isn’t the best beach resort area in Vietnam, but its a good option for an easy beach getaway from Saigon if you don’t want to fly. There is a train from Saigon to Phan Thiet that takes 4 hours, and it’s timed perfectly for short trips.

The main tourist beach faces south, and the coastal breeze that blows from east to west has made it a popular kite surfing destination. There are also some impressive sand dunes that have formed on this dry and windswept coastline.

Having been based in Saigon for years, I have made many trips to Phan Thiet. Like my other Where To Stay guides, I have picked the best area for first-time visitors to save you time. In the case of Phan Thiet, it’s important to pick the right area if you are looking for an actual beach break, because some beaches have lost their sand.

Where to stay in Phan Thiet guide

Map of Phan Thiet hotels
Quick Guide: Best area to stay in Phan Thiet
Is it Phan Thiet or Mui Ne?
Where to stay in Phan Thiet
Ham Tien Beach (The best beach area in Phan Thiet)
Ham Tien Market (Local area popular with backpackers)
Fairy Stream (Guest house options)
Mui Ne (The real Mui Ne)
Phu Hai (Resorts and future new urban areas)
Phan Thiet City (Provincial capital, fishing port, street food)
Tien Thanh (Developing coastal area)

Map of Phan Thiet hotels

Hotels mentioned in this article are pinned on this map.

[View map of Phan Thiet hotels.]

Quick Guide: Best area to stay in Phan Thiet

Best area to stay in Phan Thiet is at Ham Thien.

Top local resorts in this area include:

Sailing Club Resort Mui Ne

Seahorse Resort & Spa Phan Thiet

The top-rated luxury resorts include:

Anantara Mui Ne Resort

The Anam Mui Ne.

The rest of this guide breaks down the main areas to stay in Phan Thiet.

Is it Phan Thiet or Mui Ne?

There is some confusion about the difference between Phan Thiet and Mui Ne. Phan Thiet is a city, which is divided into wards. One of the wards is Mui Ne. This map shows where Mui Ne is within Phan Thiet.

[Phan Thiet Wards Map via Wikimedia Commons.]

Phan Thiet and Mui Ne were put on the tourist map when it was calculated that it would be one of the best places in Vietnam to watch the solar eclipse on October 24, 1995. Guidebooks referred to Mui Ne Bay as ‘Mui Ne Beach’, and the name has stuck ever since. Even now, new hotels and resorts that are not in the administrative ward of Mui Ne brand themselves as Mui Ne.

If you say you are going to Mui Ne but aren’t in Mui Ne, no one will care. For the purpose of this article, I have grouped hotels in their correct wards.

Where to stay in Phan Thiet

These are the main areas in Phan Thiet.

Ham Tien Beach

[Ham Tien Beach, Phan Thiet.]

Ham Thien is where most of the beach action is in Phan Thiet. It has the best stretch of beach, but even here you have to be selective. There has been a lot of coastal erosion over the years, and the steady wind that powers the kite surfers has also piled up the sand to the western half of the beach.

[Kite surfers on the beach in Phan Thiet.]

There are gigantic sand bags that have been placed to stop the sand disappearing completely, making parts of the beach less aesthetically pleasing.

[Sand bag on the beach in Phan Thiet.]

There are some sections of the beach where buildings that were built too close to the sea have crumbled into the sand. The sand bags have stabilised the erosion for now, but this might become a familiar sites on beaches in the future.

Another factor to consider is that shops and restaurants are thinly spread out along one main road (Nguyen Dinh Chieu). This road goes from Phan Thiet to Mui Ne, and there is not really a town centre on the beach area.

Like other beach towns, the big resorts are on the beach side of the road, while the cheaper hotels are on the other side of the road. Arriving from Phan Thiet City, Ham Tien Beach starts at Ong Dia rock beach and goes to about Sunny Beach Resort & Spa.

The widest section of beach is at the western end, with Ca Ty Mui Ne Resort (4-star) and Allezboo Beach Resort and Spa (4-star) marking the start of the beach resort area.

Seahorse Resort & Spa Phan Thiet (4-star) is an independent hotel resort that is on the best section of beach.

[Seahorse Resort & Spa Phan Thiet.]

The Seahorse Resort is on a big property with a great pool overlooking the beach.

[Swimming pool at Seahorse Resort & Spa Phan Thiet.]

Sailing Club Resort Mui Ne (4-star) is a part of the Sailing Club Leisure Group of Vietnam, who have become an institution at beaches across the country. They began in Nha Trang in 1994, and the “Mui Ne” hotel opened in 2001. As the name would suggest, the resort has beach club vibes, and the restaurant is one of the best-located bars on the beach.

[Swimming pool at Sailing Club.]

The pick of the 5-star luxury resorts on this section of beach is the Anantara Mui Ne Resort and The Anam Mui Ne.

Budget accommodation is on the other side of the road. There are some hostels and guesthouses in alley 69, including the Huyen Tran Bungalow.

[Read my review of Huyen Tran Bungalow.]

Delight Hotel Mui Ne is on the main road and close to shops and the good stretch of beach.

[Read my review of Delight Hotel Mui Ne.]

One thing that is remarkable about this beach is that it has managed to stay low-rise. Most beach resorts of Vietnam have big hotels and apartment towers now.

The Vipol Muine (4-star) is in the tallest building on Ham Tien Beach. It’s on the main road, but you will get a good view of the sea from here.

[Vipol Muine (in the background) on Nguyen Dinh Chieu.]

The sandy beach section at Ham Tien goes up to about Sunny Beach Resort.

[Sunny Beach Resort.]

Beyond Sunny Beach Resort the beach thins out dramatically and there are sand bags trying to rebuild the coastline. I went for a coffee at Cafe Sunset on the beach, and this section is a seawall with no beach.

[Seawall at Cafe Sunset on the beach.]

Despite the lack of beach, there are many bars and restaurants in this area and I noticed foreigners who looked like long-termers. If you find a place to stay further along, just know that there is no beach.

Ham Tien Market

Ham Tien Market (Cho Ham Tien) is further along the coast towards Mui Ne. It has a different vibe to the resort area of Ham Tien so I am giving it its own section. Ham Tien Market has a more local feel as it’s the site of the central market of the ward. There are little alleys off the main road with home stays and garden villas. It’s just a shame about the beach.

I stayed here on my first visit to Phan Thiet, and there was a beach lined with fishing boats. I hadn’t been there for a decade, so I was surprised to find that there is now a seawall and most of the beach has gone. At least they have made a walkable seaside promenade here, which is lacking at the resort end of the beach.

[The seaside promenade built along the seawall in Ham Tien.]

This area is popular with backpackers, and it includes the Pineapple Mũi Né beach bar. iHome Backpacker Resort is one of the main backpacker hostels, and there are other guesthouses in this area.

[iHome Backpacker Resort.]

The thing with Phan Thiet is that there are activities in the area such as the sand dunes and fairy stream. If the beach isn’t your priority then this is a place to meet fellow travellers on your Vietnam trip.

Fairy Stream

The Fairy Stream (Soui Tien) is a stream that flows on a sandy river bed through a canyon. The stream is only centimetres deep and it feels more like a walk on a pleasant beach. It is a highlight of visiting Phan Thiet.

[Walking through the fairy stream in Phan Thiet.]

On the main road near the stream are numerous guest houses (look for the “Nhà Nghỉ” signs). I’ve not stayed here before as it is not near a beach. I put this here as an option if you have your own transport and are looking for a cheap room. For example if you are doing a motorbike trip around Vietnam you could just turn up here and ask for a room.

Mui Ne

Mui Ne is the fishing port town at the other end of the bay. Mui Ne is a typical Vietnam fishing township and there are very few places to stay in the town itself. The beaches of Mui Ne aren’t as good as Ham Tien, but the highlight of Mui Ne is the Red Sand Dunes area.

[Red Sand Dunes of Mui Ne.]

Mui Ne starts at Centara Mirage Resort Mui Ne. This overlooks the bay with the fishing boats, and there is no beach here. The resort is rated for being family friendly, so it attracts people looking for a villa with access to kid-friendly swimming pools.

[Centara Mirage Resort Mui Ne.]

There are some hotels and resorts that are along the coast on the other side of Mui Ne town. These are popular with domestic tourists, and on the weekend the roads can be jammed with buses parked on the side of the road.

There are some big resorts being built along the coast, and like so many places in Vietnam, there are abandoned hotel projects everywhere. At far end of Mui Ne (and the northern boundary of Phan Thiet) is the incongruous Mandala Cham Bay Mui Ne, Phan Thiet. The hotel complex has four towers standing high on top of a sand dune overlooking the sea. They have built a platform on the roadside cliff to access the beach.

[Mandala Cham Bay Mui Ne, Phan Thiet.]

Phu Hai

Phu Hai is the area between Phan Thiet City and Ham Tien Beach. The coastal section is off the main road and it has a rocky coastline compared to Ham Tien. There are small beaches that are broken up by retaining walls to hold the sand.

[Beach road in Phu Hai, Phan Thiet.]

There are mainly resorts along here, such as The Cliff Resort and Residences and Victoria Phan Thiet Beach Resort & Spa.

On the other side of the main road is Sea Links City. This is the largest resort complex in Phan Thiet (or Mui Ne as they refer to themselves). This complex includes hotels, villas, apartments, and an 18-hole golf course (Sea Links Golf Country Club). The beach is accessible via a pedestrian overpass.

Hotels in this complex include Ocean Vista Resort & Residence Mui Ne (4-star) and Sea Links Beach Resort (5-star), which is better positioned for the gold course.

At the top of the hill there are some new urban areas being built. One of the big projects is Mui Ne Summerland. These are future residential areas that are being promoted as second homes or holiday homes. There is nothing here of interest for short-term visitors, though its fortunes may change in the future. The Summerland project sits about midway between Phan Thiet City and the future Phan Thiet Airport.

Phan Thiet City

Phan Thiet City was the capital of Binh Thuan Province before it was merged into Lam Dong Province in 2025. I have stayed in Phan Thiet before, mainly because I am an urban connoisseur that likes to explore provincial cities. There is a seafront, but it’s near the mouth of a river that is home to a fishing fleet.

The Phan Thiet train station is on the outskirts of the city, and most people just get a taxi to the beach area.

The main reason to come to the city of Phan Thiet is for the markets and street food. It’s hard to find proper street food in the beach resort areas. Apart from that, there is no reason to stay here for the casual visitor.

TTC Hotel – Phan Thiet is by the coastal part of the city.

Tien Thanh

Tien Thanh is the ward to the Southwest of Phan Thiet city. You might be looking at the map of Phan Thiet wondering what the beaches are like there, and why there are some familiar brand-name hotels. I don’t recommend this area but I place this here for your understanding.

This stretch of coast is mainly made up of small houses in villages that stretch along the coastal road. It’s a beautiful coastline, and the big property developers have staked out beachfront land for resorts and new urban areas.

The big project in this area (and I mean BIG) is the NovaWorld Phan Thiet development by Novaland. This is a new urban area that is being built from nothing. It looks like a suburb from Florida was placed on the coast, and the main beach here is called Bikini Beach.

At the entrance to NovaWorld is Mövenpick Resort Phan Thiet. This is a family-friendly hotel that features a pirate ship as the centrepiece of swimming pool area. There are theme parks being developed in this area, so it might become a theme park area, even if the residential area remains empty for years.

[Check rates for Mövenpick Resort Phan Thiet.]

The other familiar name here is Radisson Resort Phan Thiet.

The coast of Tien Thanh is littered with unfinished projects, ruining what might have otherwise been a great area to stay if it had been planned better.

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. This beach is the most popular area to stay in 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.

[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.

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.

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.

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.

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

[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.

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

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

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

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.

The Victory Monument features a celebrating soldier with his family.

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

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

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

The water tower is the city logo and architectural highlight.

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.

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.

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.

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

This is 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.

The answer was nem nuong from 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.

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.

[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.

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

Also on Hung Vuong Rd is Mr Bin Coffee.

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.

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.

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

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

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

A coconut break with a view.

And here is one of the aforementioned dragonfruit farms.

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

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

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.]

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

Transport – getting 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.

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

[Phan Thiet Railway Station.]