One Week in Vũng Tàu — Vietnam

Following my New Year’s holiday in Mexico I made the long journey to Asia for a much anticipated return trip to Vietnam. People have asked why I have been so keen on Vietnam—well, it was the first country I traveled to on my 3-month South East Asia backpacking trip in 2022 and it left a big impression. I loved the healthy traditional foods, diverse cultural regions, friendly locals, and the considerable value against the USD.

Through the latter half of 2025 I’d began to contemplate transitioning my music performance career partly to remote-music teaching, this would allow me to move abroad. Therefore I felt it was time to return to Vietnam to seek a possible spot to put down some roots. I chose a few different cities to try out, all of them coastal. Once in Vietnam I made my way to the first city on my list — the southeastern coastal city of Vũng Tàu.

A bus trip from Saigon to Vũng Tàu takes about 2.5 hours. Wrapping alongside coastal roads and beneath moderate hills towards the small cove known as Front Beach, I knew pretty much immediately that this was a special place. I peered up in wonder at contemporary buildings such as the Fusion Suites tower. I was obsessed with the tidy and pristine promenade park. Overall I felt I was in the presence of some incredibly attractive person. Everything about this neighborhood was beautiful, and better yet – it was quite small. Vũng Tàu possesses a few distinct neighborhoods, but in this post I will focus on my time primarily in and around Front Beach.

Incredible bargain hotels were pretty easy to find around Vũng Tàu. Upon arrival I checked into the Mercury Hotel, just a block away from the promenade. It cost a very whopping $9/night. One of the things I’m trying to do on this trip is to prioritize hotels over hostels, partly because I find them affordable in Vietnam, but more importantly because they’ll help me gage how it feels to live alone.

On my first evening I put my towel out across the narrow promenade sea-wall to watch the sunset. There a lively scene unfolded around me. To my left, tucked along these bizarre & straggly looking trees was a calisthenics park. Here a community of young guys gathered to train. Directly in front of them, occupying a large open expanse of the promenade, a group of mostly middle-aged men arrived to kick around a football. Locals walked around the game, all of them within target of the balls—which, always at some point or another were destined to fly out into the sea (another one typically appeared out of nowhere). Others gathered on the ledge as I did and observed, this was mostly locals with a modest number of foreigners. To my right, and out to sea, was a scattering of fishing boats. Beyond those, on the horizon, was a continuous conveyor-belt of freight barges. Birds flew uncomfortably close past my ears and all around in rapid succession. Small waves made thunderous crashes along the wall to my side. I ultimately spent every evening here, partly in an effort to slow down and observe the environment, and to practice mindfulness. Of the things I did in Vũng Tàu, these simple, repetitive evenings helped me feel at home for the week.

Through the week I stayed in two different hotels, both in Front Beach. A perk of the first stay was the access to free bicycles. I still haven’t gotten on the motorcycle bandwagon, but I love to get on a bicycle. The cliff routes to the north and directly south of Front Beach were really enjoyable at this speed. Otherwise I appreciated the wheel-assistance getting out to a good Bahn Mi shop a few blocks from the hotel, and for casual night rides while enjoying the warm sea air. January in southern Vietnam feels similarly pleasant and comfortable to South Florida’s weather in the same month.

Vũng Tàu has an abundance of both Christian worship spaces and Buddhist temples, especially within the hillsides throughout town. Part of why I love Vietnam is because they have a flair for the dramatic – whether it’s the architecture, parks, or religious spaces. The grounds of Our Lady of Bai Dau Shrine were worth a stop simply for the photogenic imagery and the serenity far from the incessant noise of motorbikes. Here prayer-flag type banners hung from sanctuary buildings and across to nicely-presented gardens. The flags rustled in the wind, creating a gentle background noise. A walk up the zig-zagging stone staircases showcased further rows of colorful flowering plants. All this led to a large statue of Mary and baby Jesus.

During my week in Vũng Tàu I found myself making light comparisons to Rio De Janeiro, mostly because there’s a similar Christ the Redeemer statue atop a hill on the southern corner of the city. Unlike the one in Rio this one isn’t so dramatic, it doesn’t tower over the city to the same effect. Once in a while though I’d catch a glimpse of it as I cycled or walked into a neighboring part of town.

In the middle of the week I “hiked” the paved road up to the statue. (There isn’t much of a hiking scene in Vũng Tàu, paved roads cater to motorcycles and cars for tourist spots such as the popular Vung Tau lighthouse). Unlike the statue in Rio, here you can walk up an internal stairwell to Christ’s outstretched arms. On my visit I was turned away from entering because I wasn’t wearing pants (which are typically mandatory for temple spaces throughout south and south-east Asia). I imagined a Christian space would be treated differently—as I’m not accustomed to such spaces requiring pants in the west. Ultimately though I found it was an interesting point of broader Asian religious and cultural influence. I came back the next day, donning the current attire.

If my only consideration for a place to relocate was genuine beauty and a small-town environment with relatively minimal tourism, I would’ve immediately began looking into an apartment rental. However, as a single person in his early 30’s, Vũng Tàu’s expat presence left something to be desired. It took a few days for me to notice, but soon I realized the primary foreigners here were western white men in the 55+ age demographic. It reminded me of that one episode of The White Lotus season 3 where the trio of ladies (in their mid-40’s) find themselves at a beach resort full of retirees instead of people their own age!

Vũng Tàu had been a popular R&R spot during the Vietnam war, and since then it has continued to attract men from that generation and those approaching retirement. One particular street, extending south along the hillside inland from Front Beach was especially popular, lined with expat-friendly bars such as Down Under Bar. But what most surprised me was the number of these men with younger local women. I knew this was a phenomenon in South East Asia, but I’d never personally witnessed it. Here it was such a frequent sight that it became abnormal to see western men with other western women!

Knowing I wasn’t going to be staying in town beyond the week, I made sure to sample as much of the seafood as I could. Popular here are Báhn Khot — small fried pancakes with either shrimp or squid in spices, later folded between lettuce and dipped in fish sauce. This was a really nice sweet/savory flavor experience. I also took a liking to snails fried in a combination of butter and garlic, something that sounds gross but that has a phenomenally chewy texture. A more frequent meal I had (besides a daily dose of Bahn Mi) was Bun Ca, which are your basic fish noodles.

On one of my last nights I tried a local specialty – sting ray hotpot. Meals like this are intended to be shared, so I had a lot of food to eat on my own – and I had no idea how to go about it! The entire family running the restaurant had to help me in the preparation of the hot pot. I can’t say I loved the sting ray, which was more or less cartilage with bits of actual meat, but the broth was really flavorful. Sitting there alone in that restaurant and tearing up over the chili spice all-while sorting through fish bones in my mouth is a memory I won’t forget.

I left Vũng Tàu feeling that I’d gotten to spend quality time in a city that is not on the typical Vietnam traveler’s radar. The sunsets each night by the sea and hours spent casually cycling the busy Vietnamese streets were a great start to my trip. Up next, Nha Trang …