Mui Ne, Vietnam – Where to Stay ? Visit, Transport – Page 1

Mui Ne – Orientation – Maps

Map 1 :

Map 2 :

Map 3 :

Interactive Map : Tourist attractions + Transport

  1. Line in Purple : Mui Ne beaches
  2. Points in Blue : Tourist Attractions
  3. Points in Red : Transport – Train Stations

Explanation regarding the Maps :

  • The beach, where tourists usually live, is marked with a purple line. The area is called “Ham Thien”. It is 10 Km long.
  • To the right of the beaches, there is the small town of Mui Ne, tourists are usually not living there, just visiting.
  • To the left of the beaches (10 Km away), there is the city of Phan-Thiet, the train stations are there.
  • Mui-Ne belongs to the municipality of Phan-Thiet, so don’t be surprised to see the title “Phan Thiet” on maps.

How is Mui Ne ?

For tourists, Mui Ne is principally a long strip of Beaches (10 Km long).

There is one road parallel to the sea and in that road there are hotels and convenience stores and some restaurants. It is more or less the same in all the road.

Mui Ne is a calm place, without the attractions of a city.

There are 2 towns on the sides of the beaches but usually tourists are not staying there. On the right side there is Mui-Ne town.

and on the left side there is the city of Phan-Thiet, which is quite big.

The theme of Mui Ne (except the beaches) is the SAND. Even around the hotels you will see nice colourful sands, but if you will ride a motorbike (or use another transport) towards the north, you will arrive to places with dunes of sands in red :

and white :

Other attractions near town : there is a view point over fishing activity

and there is a shallow river to walk, with nice sands, it is called fairy stream :

How is Mui-Ne compared to Nha-Trang ?

For tourists, the 2 destinations are similar in some ways: Both are mainly “beach cities” without a lot of tourist attractions.

Nha-Trang is much bigger than Mui Ne. Nha Trang is a city with nightlife, coffee chains etc, Mui-Ne on the other hand is just a long road. In both places there is a high percentage of Russian tourists, who arrive for short or long stays. A lot of signs are written in Russian.  There are also a lot of Chinese tourists, of course, they are the number 1 visitors of Vietnam.
Mui-Ne is closer to Saigon, but it has no airport, so it is not necessarily faster to access compared to Nha-Trang.

How to arrive to Mui Ne ?

Look at the following Map :

Muine is situated 185 Km from Saigon (line distance), by road it is at least 250 Km.
Muine is 115 Km from Dalat and 175 from Nha-Trang (line distance).
Travelling by road from Saigon to Mui Ne, may take 5 hours.

By Flight

There is no airport near Mui Ne, you need to land in Saigon or Nha Trang or even Dalat and continue by land.

  • You can book Flights, Trains and Buses inside Vietnam with the site Baolau or  12Go Asia.  Choose the Origin city and Destination city and it will show you All the available Transports to destination.

By Bus

The best way to arrive to Mui Ne. Unlike the train, the bus will deposit you exactly in Mui Ne beaches (more or less in the middle of the strip, depending on the bus company). The bus also departs directly from the backpacker’s area of Saigon : Pham Ngu Lao, which is central, very convenient. The trip by bus takes about 5 hours with 1 or 2 stops. Some of the buses are with “sleeping seats”, also during the day.

  • You can book Flights, Trains and Buses inside Vietnam with the site Baolau or  12Go Asia.  Choose the Origin city and Destination city and it will show you All the available Transports to destination.
  • See what I wrote about the buses in Vietnam in the page : What to Visit in Vietnam.

By Train

There are 2 train stations near Mui-Ne and none of them is perfect. See location on the Maps, above.

  1. Train Station of “Muong Man – Binh Thuan” – 40 Km from Mui Ne town.
  2. Train Station of Phan Thiet – 20 Km from Mui Ne town (your hotel is usually closer)
Regarding the first railway station (“Muong Man – Binh Thuan” ) :

The advantage of this station is that it is on the main railway line Saigon-Hanoi, so there are several trains stopping here during the day.


The disadvantage is, of course, that after a long journey of train, you will still be at a distance of 40 Km from your destination (imagine what the Swiss would say about this).
Also, there are no regular buses from this railway station to Mui-Ne and you need to pay for a Taxi.

Regarding the second railway station (Pham Thiet) :

Unlike the first railway station, this one is not on the main railway line Saigon-Hanoi, so there are not a lot of trains stopping here during the day.

In order to arrive to this station from Saigon, you will need to wake up very early . It takes about 4 hours.

Once you are arrive to this station, it is easy to reach Mui-Ne beaches. The distance to your hotel is around 15 Km, there are Taxis and there is bus number 9 that makes the trip in about 45 minutes and costs around 35,000 Dong.

  • You can book Flights, Trains and Buses inside Vietnam with the site Baolau or  12Go Asia.  Choose the Origin city and Destination city and it will show you All the available Transports to destination.
  • See what I wrote about the trains in Vietnam in the page : What to Visit in Vietnam.

Where to Stay in Mui Ne ? – Hotels

On the following map you can see the typical concentration of Hotels in Mui Ne :

Options 1 and 2 –  (Zone 1 and 2 on the Map above) – Mui-Ne beaches

The majority of the tourists are staying in Mui-Ne beaches.

The strip of the beaches is very long – 10 Km. There is only 1 road and most of the hotels are accessed from that road.

Usually, the hotels that are on the right side of the road, have a direct access to the beach, they are “resort” type with a swimming pool and sometimes bungalows.

On the left side of the road, the hotels are more “motels”, because of the road. Although these hotels are not far from the beach, there is still the noisy road that separates (vehicles are honking all the time in Vietnam). Note that from the road, there is not always an access to the sea, unless you pass via the garden of a resort. What I mean, is that is is better to be in a hotel that is on the “beach side” of the road.

As for the exact location of the hotel, on the strip :
The right side, what I call Zone 1 on the map above, is closer to the tourist attractions of the “fairy stream” and the “fishing point view” and also to the excellent food court.

The left side, what I call Zone 2 on the map above, has more luxury resorts and bigger beaches (beaches with a lot of sand, not narrow ones).

In any location that you will choose, you will find restaurants and convenience stores and cafés along the main road.
And, yes, it is better to have a swimming pool, in the hotel :

See Hotels in Mui Ne. After you click and fill the dates, you will see a Map icon. Click on the Map icon and look for hotels in the zone you want. The Map is a great way to search for the right hotel (you immediately see the price and the score received by visitors).

Option 3 –  (Zone 3 on the Map above) – Hon Rom

This is a not (yet) developed area but with beautiful beaches, It will surely get more development in the future . There are a few resorts and hotels here. If you choose to live here, you will be far from the tourists and far from restaurants and you will depend mainly on the resort for survival (unless you can ride a motorbike).

See Hotels in Mui Ne. After you click and fill the dates, you will see a Map icon. Click on the Map icon and look for hotels in the zone you want. The Map is a great way to search for the right hotel (you immediately see the price and the score received by visitors).

Option 4 –  (Zone 4 on the Map above) – Mui Ne town

Same as for Zone 3, there are no tourists staying here, except for a few resorts near the sea.

See Hotels in Mui Ne. After you click and fill the dates, you will see a Map icon. Click on the Map icon and look for hotels in the zone you want. The Map is a great way to search for the right hotel (you immediately see the price and the score received by visitors).

Option 5 –  (Zone 5 on the Map above) – Phan Thiet city

It is a medium size city, with a river, market, a shopping center and traffic.
It is very different from the strip of beaches in Mui-Ne, but you may want to stay here for a city experience, it is pleasant. The Train station is also here.

See Hotels in Phan Thiet. After you click and fill the dates, you will see a Map icon. Click on the Map icon and look for hotels in the zone you want. The Map is a great way to search for the right hotel (you immediately see the price and the score received by visitors).

How is the Climate in Mui Ne ?

Hot.

Mui-Ne is almost as hot as Saigon, day and night and during all year, so you better have the air-conditioned in your hotel room. In Mui Ne, you will feel the heat more than in Saigon because there are less covered areas, compared to a big city.

As for the rain, like in all Vietnam, there is the dry and the rainy season that lasts from May to December. Already in April, the low season begins, and all the hotels are just waiting for you, with nice bargains.
Here are the average temperatures and rain in Mui-Ne :

Month
Max (C)
Min (C)
Rain (mm)
January 27 21 44
February 28 22 17
March 30 23 28
April 31 24 59
May 32 25 150
June 31 24 181
July 30 24 183
August 30 24 189
September 30 24 217
October 30 23 255
November 29 22 209
December 28 21 127

How to Move in Mui Ne ?

By Foot

Let’s face it, there is nowhere to go In Mui-Ne. I mean after the first day, after you have seen the sand dunes.
If you stay more that 2 days in Mui-Ne, it is for relaxing and you will find everything you need around your hotel : Beach and restaurants.

By Rented Motorbike

It is a good idea. You will be able to arrive to the sand dunes outside town and you will be able to move along the beach road to other restaurants, far from your hotel. You can rent one from your hotel or a shop. Price is around 150,000 a day.

Gasoline is cheap, around 25,000 Dong per liter. It is common in Mui-Ne to fill the gasoline from the little shops and not from big stations.

By Taxi

There are enough Taxis in Mui Ne and they can take take you everywhere. A ride along the main beach road, for about 5 Km has cost me 50,000 Dong.

By Moto-Taxi (if you are single)

There are “freelancers” with a motorbike who will propose you a ride . You need to negotiate the price. Grab is very limited. I found on my screen just 2 Grab motorbikes, but it works, I used it (In Saigon there are thousands).

By Bus

The frequency is low (around every 30 minutes) but there is Bus number 1 that runs along the beach road. You can stop it at any point and get down at any point. The price is around 15,000 Dong. You know that it is a bus because it is written in red : BUS   😉

Also bus number 9, that goes to the railway station in Phan-Thiet is passing along the main road and you can stop it.

What to Eat in Mui Ne ?

There are plenty of restaurants along the beach road and in the hotels but the star of Mui-Ne is this food court called  “Dong Vui”. See location on the Maps, above or on Google Maps.

It is an amazing place, a sort of Beer Garden with good western food from many stands. Because of this food court I have stayed in Mui-Ne more days than planned.

First of all, the atmosphere is very pleasant, with good music and nice surrounding.
Secondly, there is a stand with imported cheese like Camembert, Brie, Gruyere + special bread. You should already know how this stuff is appreciated in Asia.

Third, there is a Vegetarian stand with Falafel, Mexican burritos, chickpeas salads and more.

Fourth, there is a stand with a big variety of draught beers and wines (it goes well with the cheeses, mentioned before)
There is also a stand with excellent Pasta

and a stand with Indian food.

And a stand with bowls of Cereals :

There are also stands that sell meat of animals, but I cannot write about it because of my Vegetarian nature (visit my vegetarian page).
Something that caught my attention in one of the non vegetarian stands:

What is that Kangaroo doing in this poster, are there kangaroos in Vietnam, and are Kangaroos being eaten by humans ? Just some thoughts of a typical Vegetarian.

This is ice cream (Apple strudel with ice-cream) also from the food court :

The all amazing place is managed by an english man with collaboration of other foreigners in the different stands.
Prices are very reasonable and there are no waiters to bother you,  you pay in advance at the stand.
To conclude : 5 stars for this food court.

Other options for eating In Mui-Ne :

Russian restaurants. There is a Russian community in Mui Ne and there are many Russian restaurants serving mashed potatoes (and other stuff).

The default, in Mui-Ne is to eat “Sea Food”, in one of the many restaurants, along the main road :

Where to go out at Night in Mui Ne ?

Mui-Ne is not a place to party. There are restaurants and bars along the main road and in the hotels and resorts but the music ends early in order to let the hotel guests some rest.

You can walk in the evening along the main road, it will keep you busy for hours (very long road)

You can also do a massage in the evening, there are a lot of Spas in Mui Ne.

Continue to Page 2 – What to Visit in Mui-Ne ?

More on Vietnam :

  On Thailand :

Other Stuff :

If you find incorrect data on this page, like a restaurant that has closed or a big river that has moved or you want to tell me something, please write me to contact.

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