Nha Trang is a popular beach resort 450km along the coast north of Ho Chi Minh City. The waters are warm and clear and there are excellent opportunities for snorkelling and scuba-diving (note that between November and December heavy rains can make the water murky). Altogether there are 6km of clean beaches and with every kind of facility available Nha Trang is an excellent place to either use as a base for a water-sports based holiday or to provide a break in a more culture based tour.

One of the best things to do in Nha Trang is visit one of the many islands that lie off the shore. Among these are Hon Mieu – where there is an outdoor aquarium with over 40 different species, Monkey Island, and Birds-Nest Island all of which can be easily reached by boat. On the edge of town are the Po Nagar Cham towers, a must see when in Nha Trang. Built between the 7th and 12th centuries these temples were used for worship by the Cham people, a civilisation that flourished from the 2nd to the 15th centuries in the southern part of the country. The Chams adopted Hinduism and used Sanskrit as their sacred language as a result of their commercial relations with the Indian sub continent. The Long Song Pagoda is another impressive sight and was founded in the 19th century and still has a resident community of monks.