Things to do in Nha Trang, once you leave the beach

The things to do in Nha Trang go beyond the beach strip that Russian and domestic tourism built. The city has a Cham temple older than most things in Vietnam, a large bay full of islands, and hot mud.

What should you do in Nha Trang?

The beach in the morning, Po Nagar in the late afternoon, and one day on the water. The Nha Trang hub covers what the city is and when the season turns; this page is how the days fill.

What are the Po Nagar towers?

A Cham temple complex on a rise above the Cai river, built in stages between roughly the eighth and eleventh centuries, and still an active place of worship rather than a ruin behind a rope.

Four brick towers survive of an original larger group, and the largest holds a black stone goddess figure. It takes an hour, costs little, and is the most substantial Cham site until Phan Rang two hours south.

Go late in the afternoon. The brick warms in the low light and the coach groups have gone.

Are the boat trips any good?

The boat trips depend entirely on which boat. Nha Trang's bay has a genuine reputation for party boats — floating bars, loud music, a lot of drinking — and an equally genuine one for quiet snorkelling trips.

Hon Mun is a marine reserve and has the clearest water in the bay, though the coral has suffered in recent years and the honest expectation is decent fish rather than a reef. The diving guide covers what the underwater actually offers here against the rest of the country.

Choose by the boat. Twelve people on a small boat is a different day from eighty on a large one, and the price difference is smaller than the experience difference.

Is the cable car worth it?

Only if the theme park is. The cable car to Hon Tre island is long, strung across the water on towers, and genuinely a good ride.

What it delivers you to is VinWonders, a large resort and amusement complex. If that suits your group it is a full day; if not, the ride is not worth the ticket on its own.

What about the mud baths?

Do them, expecting an afternoon rather than a treatment. Several centres a few kilometres outside the city fill tubs with warm mineral mud, then move you through rinsing pools and hot mineral water.

The baths are cheap, popular with families, and mildly absurd in the best way. Two hours is right.

Go in the late afternoon. The mud is warm rather than hot, the pools afterwards are cool, and doing it before dinner rather than after the beach makes better use of the day.

When is the sea flat here?

February to August, and March to June above all. Nha Trang sits in a rain shadow that keeps it dry while much of the central coast is wet, which is why it is often the right beach when Da Nang is not.

The city's own wet season arrives late, roughly October to December, and that is when the boat trips start being cancelled. The month-by-month guide sets out how the coastal seasons stagger.

Is it worth leaving the city?

For two things. Phan Rang is about two hours south and holds the working Cham towers at Po Klong Garai, in the driest province in the country.

Da Lat is three to four hours inland and 1,500 m up, which is a complete change of climate in an afternoon's drive. Either makes a better third day than a second boat trip.