I'm not the fondest person of visiting cities while being on the road. The exception to this are the cities that are close to the sea. Even though if you don't have the intention to go beaching, still the sea as a backdrop gives the most beautiful sights. Whether this is in the harbours, or looking from some rooftop over the sea, it still draws some magical vibe to it. Did I mention that places with harbours are also guaranteed for sea food bonanza? Well, here in Vung Tau it was the same.
Not a lot of people travelling to Vietnam visit this city, which is actually a bit of a pity. Because Vung Tau has everything to become a sweet hotspot and it deserves to be more on the chill list of people.
Firstly the location. Vung Tau is located about 2 hours per ferry but also per car from Ho Chi Min city. That means it is a decent small ocean getaway from the city if you would like this. This is also what you see a lot of people who live there doing. The prices on the weekends for the boat rides for instance go up a lot, but this is still only a ride for about $10. Housing is easy to find, and for transportation the Grab app also works perfect here.
Every morning I would see the small fishing boats docking onto the shore to bring out their fresh goods, and just a block away fom the beach was the sea food market. It doesn't get any fresher than this so foodwise you are totally set here. Also in terms of nightlife there are plenty of bars here, just watch out you don't walk into the bar where you get a girl with your drink if you know what I mean
For sightseeing there is a cable car up the mountain and a gigantic statue of Christ there which would seem familiar with the Brazilian one. I didn't visit this because I had plenty of views from all of the rooftop bars. But most of all...I really liked the vibe here. There was enough hussle and bussle, but there was also enough chillness to just walk around.
The main reason why I was here was to catch the ferry to the 'Con Dao' islands. You can only get to these islands from 3 different harbours (one of them is in Vung Tau) and by plane as these islands are a bit more remote. But because the winds were strong in the december season this ferry line was not running at all, and I decided to not head out to the Con Dao islands. A pity, but one has to make choices and the weather sometimes changes your choices.
But hey...maybe when you are there the weather is perfect. I would surely recommend you when you are in south Vietnam and you have some time to take the ferry to Vung Tau if this is the direction where you want to be heading. Since a new airport is being built in Ho Chi Min city more east of the city and there is a decent highway towars the city, I guess will get a whole lot more popular at that time.
So might as well check it since it still is a bit more quiet than you average hot spot!