Great place to visit in Vietnam, Vung Tau

Frankly, I didn't expect that I would like to write about Vung Tau, 140km east from Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam even though I agreed to go there. I really enjoyed being in Ho Chi Minh City so I wouldn't mind to stay there a couple more days but my beach lover husband wanted to go somewhere near the beach just in case he could have some luck for surfing. Travelling to Vung Tau easily exceeded our expectations and I am very glad that we have been to such a beautiful place. So I would like to recommend Vung Tau to anyone who wishes to visit Vietnam. I am sure that you will have a very special experience in Vung Tau as we had. Hereunders are why I think you should put Vung Tau into your travel itinerary. 

1. A beautiful beach called 'Back beach': About 2km length of soft sand beach will immediately attract you when you arrive there. Water is so warm that anyone can enjoy swimming or body surfing in the ocean with local tourists. Walking on the beach will give you another pleasure as you can see so many interesting things which you can hardly see any other beaches. Fishing boats unload fish, small stalls sell freash seafood and fish dishes, local people pick up oysters and shells between rocks, etc.... It was definitely good fun to look around while walking on the beach. 

2. Not many foreign tourists : Maybe this reason would make someone to hesitate visiting Vung Tau but it was very special and unique experience for us. We did not expect there will be only small number of foreign tourists in Vung Tau. Vung tau seems to be more popular to local people than foreigners. Very early morning and late afternoon when the heat is bareble, many local tourist buses come to Vung Tau with full of local people and unload them next to the beach. Vung tau then suddenly become a lively city. Not many people can speak English so not expect that easy communication with locals but that can be another fun you can enjoy there. Negotiating with them by body language, finding out the price by showing the money and being not sure if the waitress will bring the right food ordered are definitely interesting experiences. You will see and feel real Vietnam there. 

3. Good local fresh seafood : As a professional eater, I liked most of local food there especially fresh seafood and fish barbecued on charcoal. You can enjoy many different types of fresh seafood. Go to the beach in the afternoon and choose one stall with good looking fresh seafood. Choose what you want to have. It can be fish, octopus, squid, oyster, shells and crabs, and ask them to cook for you. You can eat the fresh and yummy seafood on the beach until the sun goes down and cool sea breeze gently touches your face. You can add a local beer to enjoy the time more. It sounds not bad, does it? 

4. Great walking path along the beaches : If you like walking, you can take a long walk along the beaches. There is a well built and maintained footpath between Back beach to Front beach so you can enjoy the ocean view all the way through. On the way you can visit a place where the biggest statue of Jesus. It is very hot during the day so dont forget to wear hat and sun cream.

5. Safe : While we were in Vung Tau, I felt quite safe. I could feel that local people were very interested in us as they don't often see foreigners but there were no problems with anything we wished to do. I could enjoy my early mornings jogging as plenty of locals were always around. 

6. Cheap and good value hotels : You can easily find excellent value hotel in Vung Tau. The city is still not well known by foreign tourists, hotels are reasonably cheap and provide good services. We paid less than $40 for the ocean view room with big space which can be for a bed in Sydney backpacker. Value of your money can be very different in Vung Tau and it will make you feel quite relaxed on spending. 

There are plenty more things to add on the list but I don't want to spoil your expectations as you better find out more by yourself. 

To enjoy the time in Vung Tau more, you need to know make sure to eat at the right time. Locals seem to eat meals on a certain meal time so if you are bit late for the meal time, it is very hard to find anyone eating. As we didn't know which one is a good local restaurant, we normally based on how many people are sitting in the restaurant but this tactic didn't work there. Simply no one eats out of mealtimes so find a restaurant when mealtimes. One more thing, If you go to Vung Tau from Ho Chi Minh, better take a ferry instead of bus. Ferry will take only 1.5 hours when 3 hours by bus and drop you next to the beaches where most of hotels located. 

We absolutely enjoyed the time in Vung Tau and I hope you will have a chance to visit there and get unforgettable memories. While travelling, I constantly surprise how many beautiful places in the world where we need to visit and Vung Tau was one of them.

                                  Walking path between Back beach and front beach

 

 

                                            Back beach view from the hotel balcony

 

                                                      Yummy octopus  on the beach

Biggest statue of Jesus