A Ferry To The Beach: Our Weekend in Vung Tau

The floor in our condo got repaired on Friday and we had to be gone for a couple days. We knew this repair was happening at some point, so we had time to research different areas close by that we could explore. We decided to spend a long weekend at the beach in Vung Tau, and it was just what we all needed!

Ferry Ride Down the Saigon River

To add to the adventure of our weekend, we traveled by ferry boat to get the beach. The ride took about 2 hours and was a fun way to get there. The ferry travels down the Saigon River before entering the South China Sea. We started out with views of Saigon’s skyscrapers along busy waterways, then entered the Can Gio mangrove forests, and across open sea to reach Vung Tau. We saw a variety of different boats both big and small along the way, and luckily no one got seasick!

Welcome to Vung Tau

The first things we noticed during our Grab ride to our Airbnb was the lack of traffic. I read that this was a popular “escape from the city” for those living in Ho Chi Minh City, and we could quickly see why. It was calm, quiet, and I could feel myself slowly relaxing. Our Airbnb was a short walk to the beach and we had a great view from our patio.

Sandy Toes, Sea Breeze, and Sunsets

The beach had an amazing boardwalk, and the perfect packed sand for taking super long walks. The sounds and smells of the ocean are always so calming. This was not the most spectacular beach we’ve seen. Being so close to the Saigon River, the water was pretty dirty and this also resulted in a lot of trash on the beach. Nonetheless we enjoyed our time there immensely. It’s hard to compete when our last beach location was truly paradise.

The kids didn’t mind the dirty water and were happy to be back in the ocean! The cool 80 degrees and ocean breeze, made for the perfect temperature to spend hours at the beach without getting too hot.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on our last night there. The air was so crisp that Alexis and I needed jackets, which we were very excited about!

Back to Ho Chi Minh City

During the Grab ride to the ferry terminal I found myself wishing we had more time to spend in Vung Tau. It looked like it would be a fun city to explore. The ferry ride back was just as enjoyable as the ride there. Braxton was excited to have a window seat this time.

We are nearing the end of our time here in Vietnam, as we leave for Thailand Friday morning. This country feels similar to Japan to me in that we could spend another entire month here and still have things to explore. We plan to spend our last few days eating at the places we love, basking in the space of our condo, and maybe taking in a few more sites.