Typhoon season in Vietnam, and what a storm actually closes
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Typhoon season in Vietnam is a real constraint and a badly understood one. It does not close the country. It does not last six months in any one place. And it does not fall equally along a coast this long.
What it does is take 2 or 3 days out of one stretch of coast at a time, and the rainy day guide covers what to do with those days. That happens several times in a season, mostly between September and November, out of the 10 or so storms that form in the South China Sea in an average year.
When is the season?
June to November, with the damage concentrated late. Storms form over the warm South China Sea and track west or northwest. The north takes the earlier ones, and the centre takes the worst of the later ones.
| Months | Where the risk sits | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| June to August | North and north-central coast | Heavy rain, occasional landfall |
| September to November | Central coast, Hue to Quang Ngai | The damaging storms and the floods |
| October to November | Central coast again | Flooding inland, Hoi An underwater |
| December to May | Nowhere much | Outside the season |
The month-by-month guide sets this against the dry seasons, which do not line up. The central coast is wettest exactly when the north and the south are pleasant.
What does a storm actually stop?
Boats, flights and roads, in that order. The port authority suspends Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba sailings 1 to 2 days ahead of a storm and keeps them suspended until it clears. That stops a cruise before anything else notices.
Airlines cancel domestic flights in blocks rather than one by one, and coastal roads flood in the hours after landfall. Trains run longer than either and stop last.
Cities carry on. Markets, museums and restaurants stay open through the rain before a storm. Two provinces away the practical effect is a wet afternoon.
What happens in Hoi An?
Hoi An floods, most years to some degree. The old town sits on the Thu Bon, and in October and November the water comes up through the ground floors. Shops move their stock upstairs and trade from the first floor.
In a serious year the lanes carry boats and the water stands 1 to 2 m deep in the lowest streets. That is an annual event the town is built around rather than a disaster story, and the flood marks painted at chest height are its own record of it. The three-day route is blunt about which months to avoid.
How do you plan around it?
Build slack, and keep the long hops flexible. A storm affects one stretch of coast for two or three days, so the standard response is to move. North to Hanoi, south to Saigon, or inland to the highlands, then come back.
Moving only works if the itinerary is not a chain of pre-booked one-night stops. Two or three bases with room to reorder them is the shape that survives. The two-week route is built on the same advice for entirely different reasons.
Book refundable rooms for the coastal legs from September to November, and leave the internal flight to the end of the trip rather than the middle. Warnings run 24 to 72 hours ahead of landfall, which is enough time to move once and not enough to rebuild a fortnight.
How do you follow the forecast?
Vietnamese reporting numbers storms by their order in the season rather than naming them. The news and your hotel will say storm number nine, not a name you can search for. The national hydro-meteorological service publishes the tracks, and international sites carry the same systems under their own names.
Take a hotel's advice seriously, particularly about boats. The people running a Ha Long cruise or a Cat Ba ferry know a suspension is coming before anyone announces it.
Is it worth travelling in the season anyway?
Usually. Prices drop across the coast, the crowds thin, and a September fortnight often meets no storm at all. The south and the far north stay usable through most of the season, which is why the direction guide matters more in these months than in any other.
What the season punishes is a rigid plan. Warning times are long and the infrastructure is used to storms, so the risk is rarely danger. It is a two-day hole in an itinerary with nowhere to put it.
FAQ
When is typhoon season in Vietnam?
Roughly June to November, with the peak from September to November. Storms form in the South China Sea and generally track west, hitting the north first in the early season and the centre and south later, which is why October and November are the exposed months for Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An.
Which parts of Vietnam are affected?
The whole coast, unevenly. The central provinces from Ha Tinh to Quang Ngai take the most damaging landfalls, the north gets the earlier storms, and the far south is largely outside the track and sees rain rather than wind.
What actually closes during a storm?
Boats first, then flights, then roads. Ha Long and Cat Ba sailings are suspended days before a storm arrives, domestic flights are cancelled in blocks, and coastal roads flood. Museums, markets and restaurants mostly stay open until the wind does.
Should you cancel a trip because of a typhoon?
Rarely the trip, often a leg of it. A storm affects a stretch of coast for two or three days, so the usual answer is to move inland or to the other end of the country and come back, which is only possible if the itinerary has slack in it.
Does Hoi An really flood?
Every year to some degree, and seriously in a bad one. The old town sits on the Thu Bon and takes water through the ground floors in October and November; shops move stock upstairs and boats replace bicycles in the lanes for a few days.
How do you follow a storm?
Vietnamese forecasts number storms by their order in the season rather than naming them, so a local will talk about storm number nine. Watch the national hydro-meteorological service and any of the international tracking sites, and take a hotel's advice seriously.
Is Vietnam worth travelling in typhoon season anyway?
Often yes, at a discount. The south and the far north stay usable through most of the season, prices drop, and a fortnight in September rarely meets a storm at all. What it needs is a plan that can lose two days without losing the trip.