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:
Seahorse Resort & Spa Phan Thiet
The top-rated luxury resorts include:
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 I remember 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, though I can’t ascertain if they were here before the seawall. 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 is the capital of Binh Thuan Province. I have stayed in Phan Thiet before, mainly because I am an urban connoisseur that likes to explore provincial capitals. There is a seafront, but it’s near the mouth of a river that is home to the provincial fishing fleet.
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.
