What to See in Mui Ne: Dunes, Fairy Stream, Fishing Village and Day Trips

Mui Ne is known as a kite town, but there is plenty to see between sessions, and most of it is within half an hour of the beach. We live and work on this coast, so this is the list we give friends — including what is worth your time and what you can skip.

In short. Half a day covers the dunes, Fairy Stream, Red Canyon and the fishing village — one loop along the coast. Go to the dunes at sunrise or late afternoon; at midday the sand gets very hot. Ta Cu Mountain with the reclining Buddha is another half day. Full-day trips: Da Lat in the highlands, Vinh Hy Bay, the Mekong Delta or the Vinpearl park in Nha Trang.

Around Mui Ne: one loop along the coast

• Fairy Stream. A shallow creek has cut a small canyon through sandy hills, exposing red sand and white limestone. You walk upstream in the water — sandals or bare feet. Busy at midday; the best scenery is further in, not at the entrance.
• Red Canyon and Red Dunes. A crumbly red-sand cliff at the entrance to Hon Rom, and orange-red dunes on the hill between Mui Ne and Hon Rom — the easiest dunes to reach.
• White Dunes. A small white-sand desert with a lake, twenty-odd kilometres northeast of the centre. Jeeps and quad bikes; sunrise is the best time.
• Fishing village. A bay full of boats and round basket boats. Come early in the morning when the catch comes in.
• Po Shanu Cham towers. 8th-century brick towers on Ba Nai hill between Phan Thiet and Mui Ne, with a sea view. An hour is enough.
• Whale Temple in Phan Thiet. Fishermen here worship the whale as a guardian of the sea; Van Thuy Tu temple keeps the largest whale skeleton in Vietnam.

Ta Cu Mountain

A cable car takes you up to a Buddhist temple complex and a 49-metre reclining Buddha — the largest in Vietnam — with a viewpoint at about 500 m. Often combined with the Whale Temple and Ke Ga lighthouse south of Phan Thiet.

Full-day trips

Da Lat (about 1.5 km up, roughly four hours each way), Vinh Hy Bay with a glass-bottom boat and snorkelling, the Mekong Delta and Saigon (often as a two-day trip), and the Vinpearl park in Nha Trang for families.

Planning around the wind

From November to March the wind builds towards midday, so a morning trip and an afternoon session work well. Put full-day trips on a windless forecast — check our wind and webcam page. For getting around, see motorbike rental in Mui Ne. You can book all of these trips through us — the list with prices and departure times is below, with hotel pick-up; if you want to fit one around kite, surf or wing lessons, we will plan the days around the wind forecast.