My Khe Beach — a City Beach You Can Walk to From Your Hotel

My Khe lies in Sơn Trà district, a few minutes from central Da Nang. Fine white sand, a gentle slope, reasonably clear water — and, most importantly, it is inside the city.

The real advantage is the location

Vietnam has beaches better than My Khe if you judge only sand and water. What My Khe has over them is convenience.

You stay at a hotel in town, walk a few minutes to the sand, swim, come back and shower, and go out to dinner a kilometre away. No car to rent, no tour to join, no isolated resort.

For anyone spending a few days in Da Nang and wanting to fit swimming between other things, that is hard to replace.

Three stretches side by side, differing mainly in how busy they are

The coast east of Da Nang is really one continuous beach, named in sections. Three of them get most of the visitors:

For a lively beach, My Khe. For something quieter that is still close, a few kilometres south changes the atmosphere completely.

What time to go

People from Da Nang go to the beach at quite different hours from visitors.

• 04:30 – 07:00 — the local hours. Cool, calm water, the sand full of people exercising and swimming. This is the best part of the day.
• 16:30 – 18:30 — the second peak, the busiest and the liveliest.
• 10:00 – 15:00 — harsh sun, hot sand, few swimmers. Worth avoiding, especially in summer.

Walk north along the sand and you reach a section where basket boats and fishing boats are still pulled up on the beach — what is left of the fishing life between the hotel blocks.

The swimming season, and the season to avoid

Da Nang has a longer beach season than most of central Vietnam, but there are still months when you should stay out of the water.

• March to August — the season. Sunny, gentle surf, clearest water around May to July.
• September to December — rain and storm season. Rough sea, heavy surf, and many days flying the red flag that closes the beach.
• January to February — cool weather, relatively calm sea, but cold water.

Always check the flag before you go in. Red means closed, and there is a reason for it — this coast develops rip currents in the heavy-surf season.

Fitting it into a day

Standing at My Khe and looking north you see the Sơn Trà peninsula, with Linh Ứng Pagoda and old-growth forest, about fifteen minutes away.

A neat way to fill a day:

• Swim at first light, then head up to Sơn Trà later in the morning
• The Marble Mountains in the afternoon, then the Dragon Bridge in the evening for the fire show (Saturdays and Sundays)
• Or go further afield: Hoi An, Ba Na Hills, Cu Lao Cham

Eating at the beach

Directly behind the sand is a row of seafood restaurants. The food is fresh and cooked quickly, but this is also a heavily touristed strip, so a few things are worth doing before you order.

Ask the price before ordering. Many seafood dishes are priced by weight rather than by plate, so the name of the dish alone does not tell you what it will cost.

Watch the scales. When you pick a particular fish or crab, stand there while they weigh that one — it avoids mix-ups and shows you what you are paying for.

Prefer places that display prices. If the menu board is at the door you can check for yourself instead of asking dish by dish.

Da Nang dishes worth trying: bánh tráng cuốn thịt heo (pork rolled in rice paper), mì Quảng, bún mắm nêm, and gỏi cá Nam Ô.