Nha Trang

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My next stop ended up being the coastal city of Nha Trang. I had heard differing opinions of Nha Trang, but in my mind it was still worth giving it the benefit of the doubt. The positive reviews generally spoke to the natural beauty of the bay (consistently voted as one of the most beautiful in the world) as well as activities such as snorkelling and boat tours which are a draw. On the other hand, the drawbacks that I knew of included the Russian/British party scene and the Miami-like vibe I had heard about. I arrived via bus which unfortunately only had one departure from Mui Ne at 1:30pm and arrived at roughly 7pm. I walked about 25 minutes to my hotel (I decided to book a hotel as it was only $12 a night with breakfast and I had read a few reviews of hostels in Nha Trang which included details that would be quite inappropriate for this sort of article). The hotel was called Truong Giang and the staff were very friendly and cheerful. The room was clean, had air conditioning and I was even bumped up from a basic to a deluxe room for the same price.

I took a walk around to explore and find something to eat. I had a cheese craving and decided on pizza and a beer. It would be a day to indulge I decided ($12 on a hotel and $10 on dinner was indulging for me). Good thing that I had a cheese craving because I must have received the cheesiest pizza I've ever had. Nonetheless I left satistified and had a nice long chat with Molly that night over FaceTime. Certainly another advantage of having a private room for the first time was the ability for us to have a solid catch-up.

The hostel offered $5 US motorbike rentals per day so I took advantage of that come morning. After breakfast at a local Vietnamese restaurant, I took the seaside route to the north to visit a beautiful pagoda and gardens while taking in the bay view. I then doubled back and carried on the southbound coast road out of town. I would say this route is a must do for those visiting Nha Trang. As soon as you out of the confines of the city, the highway turns dramatic. I was riding along high cliffs that plunged steeply onto white sand beaches and into emerald seas all surrounded by coconut trees and other jungle flora. 25 kilometres away the bay of Nha Trang was in clear view. On the other side was Long Beach or Bai Dai, a known surf spot.

After a few missed turns (there are no signs directing to the beach), i got to Bai Dai and found a small surf rental shop with about 10 boards. I took a 6'8" fish with a thruster set up and went out for a couple hours. The waves were decent, in the 5-6' range but dumpy and it was quite windy by the time I was there. Nevertheless it was great just being able to go out; it felt like a luxury not needing a wetsuit.

The beach was beautiful and seemed to be mostly a local spot, save for a few Russians there. I grabbed a fried rice dish and enjoyed it on the beach. Bai Dai is definitely a place I would suggest visiting one is frequenting the area.

In essence this was my whole day as I had an overnight bus to catch to Hoi An at 6:00pm. If you are looking for Nha Trang advice I would look elsewhere :P as my stay was short lived and I would not be able to provide a fair assessment!

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