COOL BEACH BARS
The setting is perfect for romance. I’m setting beside the ocean with a cocktail in hand, salsa music playing and the breeze tousling my hair. Looking down the beach in Mui Ne, I see dozens of bars, some rustic and others modern, all overlooking the beach. Everyone around me seems relaxed, the clientele a mix of young locals and foreigners, everyone soothed by the sea. Planning a trip to Vietnam?
For many years, holiday-makers have gravitated to seaside bars in towns like Nha Trang, Da Nang, Quy Nhon and Phan Thiet. Some of Nha Trang’s most popular bars aren’t on land at all, but rather on small boats, with visitors swimming upto tiny floating “bars” for simple cocktails served by tour-guides-turned-bartenders. Here, tourists from all over the world relax, make friends, exchange email addresses, and from memories that will last a lifetime. Enjoy beautiful beach views from beach bars with Vietnam Travel in Mui Ne
Being on a boat bring a feeling of freedom. It is hard to imagine a more romantic setting than a bar on a luxurious boat in Ha Long Bay. In the city, I’d never have cocktail before dark but on board a boat, anything seems possible. There’s no noise to disturb me as I watch the sun sink behind the bay’s inlands. Surrounded by gleaming wood and bronze, shining glassware and stunning views, I savor a glass of fine whisky and forget the cares of the city. Later, up on deck, I watch the moon throw her light across the sea and marvel at the miracle of the ocean. Get the best Vietnam Travel Deals from Viet Vision Travel.
Back on land on Nha Trang’s Tran Phu Street, I sit and people watch. With more and more visitors flocking to this festive beach town, new bars keep opening, with names like Gecko, Malibu, Paradise, Guave and Tropicana, the bars opening along Vietnam’s South Central Coast evoke hot nights in the tropics. Here, foreign tourists and young locals can mingle and learn about each other’s cultures. I’ll raise a glass to that!
Mui Ne: Asia’s prime spot for summer
Known for its beaches, the town also has some of the most favourable wind conditions in Asia for water sports, including kite-boarding and kite-surfing.
Diehard sunbathers can relax at Doi Duong, Hon Rom and Ca Na beaches but more desolate spots like Suoi Nuoc Beach are for those who prefer solitude.
Around 230km north of HCM City, Mui Ne is a sheltered peninsula, 24km north-east from Phan Thiet City, the latter known for its fish sauce (nuoc mam) as well as its pink-coloured dragon fruit.
In the short span of a decade, Mui Ne has gone from a sleepy fishing village to a popular vacation destination, due in large part to the 1996 lunar eclipse, the natural phenomenon that led countless tourists to the beachfront in search of clear skies to witness the event.
Sand dunes, which are at the end of the peninsula, look as if they belong in the Sahara rather than Vietnam’s southern province of Binh Thuan. Among the other sites are the Suoi Tien (Fairy Spring), Lau Ong Hoang (King’s Villa) and the historic Cham Towers.
The shifting sands of Mui Ne
When city folk arrive at the beach, it’s usually with an audible sigh of relief. Thank heavens for the beach, you say. After four years working in Mui Ne Glenn McVeigh admits sometimes he feels the same way when he gets to the city. Life can be quiet here, but that suits him just fine.
“I first came to Vietnam 10 years ago with the intention of choosing either Saigon or Hanoi to return to live, but my underlying goal was to then find a job at the beach, which in those days were very limited,” he explains. “Then nearly four years ago, I received a call from a friend in Hanoi saying there was a job opportunity in Mui Ne, and here I am.”
Sitting in White Sands Resort’s beach bar, sipping a cold Larue beer and overlooking the gorgeous bay in the sunshine, I can’t say I blame him.
When McVeigh first arrived in Mui Ne it was a quiet, sleepy little place. Then there were a smattering of resorts, a couple of restaurants and shops; there were plenty of vacant blocks, which were home to grazing cows and grass huts. There were no street lights, sidewalks or taxi companies.
Ocean tips for Mui Ne
A day of discovery along the beach at Mui Ne revitalizes visitors after seeing the beautiful sand dunes and the other natural landscapes of the resort world, about a four-hour car ride from HCMC.
As in other coastal areas of Vietnam, a day begins in Mui Ne as early as before the sun emerges from the water. There, locals, both young and old, get up in the wee hours and approach the beach to wait for their relatives returning from the sea with catches of fish and seafood.
When a boat approaches ashore, a crowd of locals rush out and together with the fishermen put it on the beach. Then, they quickly sort the catches from the sea into types of fish and others before selling the fresh catches to traders right on the beach or bringing them to nearby markets for sale.
