Yes, there are real beaches in Ho Chi Minh City now. A National Assembly resolution of June 12, 2025 merged Ba Ria-Vung Tau into the city, so Vung Tau's Back Beach, Ho Tram, Ho Coc and even the Con Dao islands are inside Ho Chi Minh City.
The nearest coast is Can Gio, about 50km from the center, but it's a mangrove reserve first and a beach second. Vung Tau is the classic day trip, Ho Tram and Ho Coc suit a weekend, Con Dao needs a flight, and Mui Ne, now in another province, is the long-weekend stretch. Below is what each one is really like, how to get there (the Vung Tau ferry moved piers in 2025) and which months to pick. For the rest of the country, see the best beaches in Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh City's Coast: What the 2025 Merger Changed
Most ranking pages still file Vung Tau under Ba Ria-Vung Tau province. That's out of date. Vietnam has had 34 provinces and centrally governed cities since the June 12, 2025 resolution, and one of those mergers joined Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Binh Duong into a single city. Ho Coc, once part of Xuyen Moc District, is now in Ho Chi Minh City, and so is Con Dao. The Con Dao boat operator's ticket office address now ends "Special Zone Côn Đảo, Ho Chi Minh City".
So what's the nearest beach to Ho Chi Minh City? The shortest trip to salt water is Can Gio. The nearest proper beach day is Vung Tau's Back Beach, about 2 hours away. Here's how the options compare.
| Beach | From Ho Chi Minh City | How to Get There | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can Gio | About 50km | Road and the Binh Khanh ferry, or the Vung Tau fast ferry | Mangroves and boat rides |
| Vung Tau (Back Beach) | About 2 hours | High-speed ferry or road | A day trip with a town attached |
| Ho Coc and Ho Tram | About 100km to Ho Coc | Road | Camping, resorts, a weekend |
| Con Dao | A short flight | Flight from Tan Son Nhat, or boat from Vung Tau | Diving and nesting turtles |
| Mui Ne | About 4 hours | Road, or train to Phan Thiet | Kitesurfing, a long weekend |
Can Gio: The City's Green Lungs on the Sea
Can Gio was the only stretch of coast the city had before the merger, and it's a protected one. The Can Gio Mangrove Biosphere Reserve has been on UNESCO's list since 2000, covering 75,740 ha south-east of the city, and UNESCO calls it the city's green lungs. Treat it as a mangrove trip with a sea view rather than a swim-and-sunbed day.
The things to do are on the water: boat rides, paddleboarding and crabbing at Vam Sat, on the Ha Thanh River and at Giong Ca Vo. If you'd rather someone else handled the logistics, our roundup of tours from Ho Chi Minh City is the place to start.
Getting there by road still means the Binh Khanh ferry. The 6.3 km Can Gio Bridge that will replace it was launched on January 15, 2026, with construction planned to run until 2029, so the crossing stays part of the trip for a while yet. The high-speed ferry to Vung Tau also calls at Can Gio, which saves the drive.
Vung Tau: Where the Whole City Goes on Holiday
Vung Tau is the beach Ho Chi Minh City actually uses. Back Beach, also called Bai Sau or Thuy Van, is a 3 km strip of sand, and on public holidays it fills. On April 30, 2026, tens of thousands of visitors packed it on the first day of the Reunification Day and Labor Day break, one family's 100 km drive from Di An took 2.5 hours, and traffic backed up for kilometers on Thuy Van Road. Go midweek if you can.
Off the sand, the Christ statue on the headland was built in 1974 and stands 32 meters tall. It's about 800 steps to its feet and another 100 to the shoulders. Entry is free, but it's a religious site, so cover your shoulders and knees. At the end of Back Beach, Hon Ba, a tiny island with the Mieu Ba temple, can only be reached on foot at low tide, so check the tide before you walk out and keep an eye on it while you're there.
For lunch, order banh khot, the bite-size shrimp pancakes. The national tourism guide sends you to Banh Khot Goc Vu Sua on Nguyen Truong To street.
The sea doesn't always deliver a clean beach, either. In November 2025, hundreds of tons of water hyacinth and ocean debris washed onto more than 3 km of Back Beach, in what's now Vung Tau Ward, Ho Chi Minh City.
⚠️ Back Beach has rip currents, and they kill swimmers. Rip currents in Vung Tau killed at least 60 people between 2010 and 2015, and the town marks danger zones with black flags. On busy days, lifeguards use loudspeakers to warn people away from dangerous currents. Swim near a lifeguard, stay out under a black flag, and if a rip takes you, don't fight it. More on staying safe in Vietnam.
Getting to Vung Tau: The Moved Ferry Pier and the Road
The quickest-feeling way is the water. GreenlinesDP runs high-speed ferries from central Ho Chi Minh City to Vung Tau via Can Gio, and the national tourism guide puts the trip at roughly 2 hours. Check the day's departures with the operator before you go.
⚠️ The Vung Tau ferry doesn't leave from the old Bach Dang terminal anymore. Since August 28, 2025, departures go from Pier No. 4, opposite Ham Nghi Street, 400 m from the old terminal. Plenty of guides, the national tourism site's Vung Tau page included, still send you to the old pier.
By road, plan on about 2 hours on a normal day and longer at holidays, as the 2.5-hour April crawl above shows. A May 7, 2026 report expected the last 16 km of the 54 km Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway to open by May 18. We haven't seen a later report confirming that it did, so don't count on the new road cutting your time until you've checked.
Ho Tram and Ho Coc: Casuarina Camping and a Low-Tide Sandbar
Ho Coc is the camping beach. It's about 100km from Ho Chi Minh City, and the journey takes roughly 2 hours. People pitch tents in the casuarina forest behind the sand, and at low tide you can paddle out to a strip of sand dunes about 500 m offshore. That walk is the reason to come, so time your day around low water and turn back before the tide does.
Ho Tram, also once part of Xuyen Moc District, is the resort version: a long coastline, resorts and a weekend crowd from the city. The Binh Chau-Phuoc Buu Nature Reserve is nearby if you want forest after the beach. Pick Ho Coc for a tent and quiet, Ho Tram for a pool and a restaurant.
Con Dao: Island Beaches on a Different Calendar
Con Dao is the far end of the city now. Since the merger, Ho Chi Minh City is the only locality in Vietnam with two airports, Tan Son Nhat and Con Dao, connected by commercial flights within the same city. You get there on a short flight from Ho Chi Minh City or Can Tho, or by high-speed boat from Cau Da Port in Vung Tau.
Dam Trau is the beach to know. It's a crescent of soft white sand about 15km from central Con Dao, ringed by mountains, with calm water, and it sits directly under the airport's flight path, so expect planes low overhead.
⚠️ Don't plan Con Dao beach time for October to December. Con Dao's best months are March to September, when calm seas suit diving and turtles come ashore to nest from May to September. From October to December it gets rougher seas and rain, so save it for spring or summer.
Mui Ne: The Long-Weekend Stretch
Mui Ne and Phan Thiet aren't in Binh Thuan province anymore: the former Binh Thuan coast is now part of Lam Dong. They're about 4 hours from Ho Chi Minh City by road, or you can take the train to Phan Thiet station, which makes this the only beach on this page with a rail option.
The season is November to April, when it's dry and windy enough for kitesurfing. At 4 hours each way, it's a long weekend rather than a day out, and our Phan Thiet travel guide has the detail. If an island appeals more than a drive, Phu Quoc is about 1 hour from Ho Chi Minh City by air.
When to Go: Dry Season on the Coast, Calm Seas on Con Dao
For Can Gio, Vung Tau, Ho Tram and Ho Coc, go in the dry season. The national tourism site gives Ho Chi Minh City's best months as December to April, with short afternoon showers from May to November. The city's 1991 to 2020 climate normals put February's rainfall at 8 mm and September's at 273 mm. Adding up the monthly figures ourselves, December to April gets 136 mm in total, against 1,517 mm from May to November.
Heat isn't the deciding factor, rain is. In the wet months the showers tend to come in the afternoon, so take the early ferry and be on the sand by mid-morning. Mui Ne's dry, windy months line up with the city's. Con Dao is the exception: its good months run through the city's rainy season, so it's the beach to pick for a June trip. Whatever the month, skip Vung Tau on long holiday weekends. For the whole country month by month, see the best time to visit Vietnam.
A Few Parting Notes
Every trip on this page starts at Tan Son Nhat, so the visa comes first. Citizens of every country and territory can apply for a Vietnam eVisa. A Vietnam eVisa can be valid for up to 90 days, and you can choose a single-entry or a multiple-entry eVisa. Some passports don't need one. If you hold a passport from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway or Finland, you can stay up to 45 days without a visa, for any purpose. The rule comes from Resolution 44/NQ-CP, and this 45-day exemption runs until March 14, 2028. Vietnam Visa by BDA is a private company, not affiliated with the Vietnamese government.
Once you're through immigration, the beaches are domestic trips, but keep your passport with you. Foreign passengers on domestic flights need a passport with its latest entry stamp, plus a visa unless they're exempt. And if you're connecting from an international flight straight on to Con Dao, you'll clear immigration at Tan Son Nhat first, so the visa or exemption has to be in place before that connection.