Phu Yen
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Phu Yen is the stretch of central coast between two places people have heard of. It has one genuinely unusual sight, a lot of empty sand, and a domestic fame that has never crossed over.
Is Phu Yen worth going to?
If you are travelling the coast between Quy Nhon and Nha Trang and want two quiet days, yes. Phu Yen has beaches that stay genuinely empty midweek, a coast road worth driving, and Ganh Da Dia.
If you are flying somewhere specifically, no. The province does not have enough to justify a dedicated leg, and it is honest about that in a way that resorts elsewhere are not.
What is Ganh Da Dia?
A field of basalt columns stepping into the sea, about 35 km north of Tuy Hoa. Cooling lava cracked into rough hexagons, the same process that produced the Giant's Causeway in Ireland.
The site takes an hour to walk and rewards an early start. The light is better, and Vietnamese visitors arrive in numbers later in the day. There is a small entry fee and a car park, and beyond that it is unimproved rock.
| What | Where | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ganh Da Dia | 35 km north of Tuy Hoa | An hour | Basalt columns, go early |
| Mui Dien lighthouse | On the cape east of Tuy Hoa | Half a day | One of the easternmost points of mainland Vietnam |
| Bai Xep | Near Tuy Hoa | A morning | The beach the 2015 film used |
| Tuy Hoa beach | In town | An afternoon | Long, flat, almost empty midweek |
| O Loan lagoon | North, near Ganh Da Dia | An hour | Oysters and blood cockles, eaten on the shore |
Why do Vietnamese travellers know it and foreigners not?
A film. "Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass" was shot here in 2015 and turned the province into a domestic destination almost immediately. Coach parties, wedding photographs and weekend traffic all followed.
None of that reached the international market. The result is a coast busy with Vietnamese visitors at weekends and empty of foreign ones at any time. Midweek it is quiet by both measures.
Tuy Hoa, or the beach?
Tuy Hoa for convenience, the coast for the point of coming. The provincial capital has ordinary, cheap hotels and a long beach of its own. It also has the practical things: the station, the airport, somewhere to hire a scooter. The small places strung along the coast north towards Ganh Da Dia have the emptier sand and almost nothing else.
Split the two nights if you can. The tiers in the accommodation guide apply, and Phu Yen sits at the bottom of them either way.
Weekends and Vietnamese public holidays are the exception, when the coastal places fill and prices rise. That pattern is the same one Vung Tau runs on, for the same reason.
How much cheaper is it than Nha Trang?
By roughly half, and by more than that on food. A hotel room runs 350,000 to 800,000 dong against Nha Trang's mid-range. Seafood at O Loan lagoon costs a fraction of the same plate on a developed beachfront. It is sold where it is landed rather than where the tourists are.
The entry fee at Ganh Da Dia is small and nothing else here charges. At about 26,000 dong to the dollar, two days in Phu Yen costs less than one down the coast.
The saving is not the reason to come, though. The reason is that the beaches are empty on a Tuesday, and no amount of money buys that in Nha Trang.
Does Tuy Hoa have an airport?
Tuy Hoa has an airport, with flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The Reunification railway stops here too, which makes Phu Yen one of the more reachable places almost nobody goes to. The rail guide covers which legs are worth riding.
By road it is about two hours from Quy Nhon and three from Nha Trang.
Renting something to drive matters here. The sights are spread along 60 km of coast, and the road between them is the best part of the visit: headlands, fishing villages, the climb to the lighthouse.
A car with a driver covers a day of it. A scooter suits anyone comfortable on one, and the motorbiking guide sets out what the licence requires.
FAQ
Is Phu Yen worth visiting?
For an empty stretch of the central coast, yes. Phu Yen province sits between Quy Nhon and Nha Trang, with long beaches that stay empty on weekdays, the basalt columns at Ganh Da Dia, and a provincial capital at Tuy Hoa. It is popular with Vietnamese holidaymakers and largely unknown to foreign ones.
What is Ganh Da Dia?
A field of interlocking basalt columns on the coast, formed by cooling lava and stepping down into the sea — the same geology as the Giant's Causeway. It is the province's best-known sight, about 35 km north of Tuy Hoa, and it takes an hour to walk.
How do you get to Phu Yen?
Tuy Hoa has an airport with flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The Reunification railway also stops here, which makes it one of the easier off-route places to reach. By road it is about two hours from Quy Nhon and three from Nha Trang.
Why is Phu Yen popular with Vietnamese travellers?
Largely because of a 2015 film, Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass, which was shot here and made the province a domestic destination almost overnight. That popularity is real and seasonal, and it barely registers with international visitors.
How many days do you need in Phu Yen?
Two nights. One day covers Ganh Da Dia, the Mui Dien lighthouse and the coast road between them; a second is for a beach. It works best as a stop on the way between Quy Nhon and Nha Trang rather than as a destination flown into.
When is the best time to visit Phu Yen?
February to August, the dry half of the central coast year. The wet season from September to December brings the rain and the storms that the whole central coast shares, and it is the wrong time for a trip built around beaches and a coast road.