An Bang Beach
The sand four kilometres from the old town, lined with unpretentious bars.
Duration
2 hrs – 5 hrs
Best time
Late afternoon
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
An Bang is the beach that stayed usable when its neighbour Cua Dai was taken by erosion — that one is now half gone behind sandbags. An Bang still holds, with a wide strip of sand and a row of solid beach restaurants.
You go by bicycle from the old town: four kilometres of flat paddy, twenty minutes. The ride back at sunset, the other way, is worth as much as the beach.
Getting there
Four kilometres north-east of the old town. Bicycle — most hotels lend them — or a ten-minute motorbike-taxi ride.
What to bring
- International driving permit
Rules on site
From October to December the sea is rough and the rip current dangerous: swimming is sometimes banned by flag. Loungers are free with an order and charged otherwise: ask before sitting down.
Other places in Hoi An
- Hoi An old townA fifteenth-century trading port left intact, silk lanterns and yellow timber houses.
- Japanese covered bridgeThe symbol of the town, built by the Japanese community around 1600, with a small temple inside it.
- My Son SanctuaryFourth-century Cham brick tower-temples in a jungle bowl, bombed and then restored.
- Central MarketThe herbs, the noodles and the fabric stalls where you order a suit in twenty-four hours.