The seaside city of Vung Tau

On the outskirts of Ho Chi Min city, Vung Tau offers a look at life in a Vietnamese seaside city. Whether you end up in Vung Tau on a short break from Saigon, as a quick cruise stop over or as a destination of its own, our Vietnam team has some tips to making the most of your time.

Why visit Vung Tau in Vietnam?

With the hydrofoils currently out of action I haven’t been getting to Vung Tau as much as I used to with guests or with my family. The good news is that the new highway between Saigon and Long Thanh (half way to Vung Tau) is now completed and making a huge difference in travel time. Reduced to only a 2.5hrs road journey this destination is now once again within easy reach of Saigon. So here is a quick insight in to some ideas for what to see and do in this quiet seaside town.

For Families:

Beach – “Bai Sau/Back Beach” is the best of the beach areas at the moment. Depending on where your hotel is then you would need to arrange transport or local taxi transfer. Next to the beach is a swimming pool area with restaurant. On the beach there are umbrellas and deckchairs for hire. Seafood is excellent here and the area is safe for young children. There is a small charge to swim and for use of chair and umbrellas (under $2 per person) so this activity won’t break the bank.

Ho May Park – Located on the hillside and accessed by cable car it has many attractions for families: farm animals, rides, swimming, zipwiring, paintballing, horse riding. Cost is again under $2 per person — this includes the cable car, tram, all other activities. This doesn’t include meals & drinks.

Veterans of the Vietnam War or history buffs:

18^th August 2016 will be the 50^th anniversary of the battle of Long Tan in Ba Ria formerly “Phuoc Thuy” province. The Americans, Australians and New Zealand served beside each other as they battled to push back around 1500 North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong (guerilla fighters supporting the NVA) from their progression southwards. This proved a major local set back for the Vietnamese forces and it stopped their movement to take Nui Dat and any subsequent progress on to the US Headquarters at Long Binh (the largest base for the US). Today, the Long Tan Cross is still standing and is a place where overseas veterans choose to reflect on the time they spent during a period of conflict.  For many it is a release and a chance to move on from the past. Surrounded by rubber trees, these trees are now being felled and replaced by Tapioca fields. So those who come to visit will soon find the memorial cross in very different surroundings.

The Peter Badcoe Club near Vung Tau port was the rest & relaxation venue. Americans, Australians and New Zealand air forces worked together on missions. Flying out of Vung Tau they dropped troops in to battle, flew helicopter gunships  and directed artillery fire.

Nui Dat was the operational control centre for the 1^st Australian Task Force and assisted by the Royal New Zealand Artillery 161 Battery from June 1966 and later in 1969 the Royal New Zealand Infantry Victor and Whskey companies joined them. Finally, 1968 to 1971 the 4 Troop Special Air Service (SAS) Squadron worked with the Australian SAS at Nui Dat.