Vietnam Diary - What to do in Hoi An

Hello there, travelers and adventurers! I hope you're enjoying my Vietnam posts so far. Every time I write travel posts I'm trying to explain our vacation days as best as I can throwing in some tips here and there. If you need any more advice on a specific topic or place let me know in the comments below or even send me a message on Instagram if you like :-)

What to do in Hoi An

Except for exploring Hoi An's exceptionally beautiful Ancient Town which you could read about in my last post, there are a lot more things to do in and around the city. One great option is spending the day at one of Hoi An's numerous beaches.

On our second day in Hoi An we decided to rent bikes from our villa to explore the city's surroundings. After a short morning stop in Hoi An's Ancient Town we paddled to An Bang Beach crossing rivers and passing rice fields, what a beautiful ride! I loved getting out of the city and admiring the surrounding green fields. Watching the local life is one of my favorite things to do when traveling. So seeing the Vietnamese people work on the rice fields made me very happy. 

It was an easy, only 20-minute bike ride from the ancient town to the beach. Once we got there we were asked to pay for bike parking but you can really leave your bikes anywhere on the street without paying. The beach was pretty crowded that day and since there were high waves we couldn't go swimming. Thus, we decided to get a sun bed in the shade for the day. A great choice, this turned out to be our most relaxed day in Vietnam, haha. We did nothing but sleep, read and watch the wild sea. For lunch we went up to the Dolphin Kitchen & Bar beach restaurant to enjoy our first European meal after spending more than ten days in Vietnam. I had tuna with mango sauce and Miguel had duck, both served with fries. It was delicious and the beach views from the restaurant were awesome! We decided to leave An Bang Beach in the afternoon to head back to the center and do some sunset shopping at the market before going home and enjoying a good night's sleep.

Long Tuyen Tu Temple

The next day we left for Da Nang to take a night train from there to our next stop Ninh Binh. When we headed to the local bus which would take us from Hoi An back to Da Nang we randomly passed by the stunning Long Tuyen Tu Temple. This temple doesn't seem to appear in any tourist guide or on any travel blog because there was not a single person. It was beautiful! We had the entire temple complex for ourselves and walked around a bit soaking up the Buddhist spirit and admiring the beautifully painted buildings, unique sculptures and plants. Undiscovered places like this little oasis of peace and tranquility make any trip extra special!

Vietnam Diary - Sao Beach

Hey everyone! I know it's been over a week since I last posted some pics of my Vietnam trip but I had so much stuff going on these last couple of days that I simply didn't have time to sit down and edit photos or write. But today I finally have some new pics for you!

Sao Beach on Phu Quoc Island

Today's post is about the stunning Sao Beach on Phu Quoc Island, where we spent a couple of quiet relaxing days during our three-week Vietnam trip. Long Beach may be the most popular beach on Phu Quoc but in my opinion Sao Beach and Starfish Beach are far more beautiful. Sao Beach is located in the south of the island, it took us only about 30 minutes to get there by scooter. Once there, we felt like we had found paradise. Powdery white sand, crystal clear water and surrounding lush mountains. Also, the beach was almost deserted early in the morning so we had it all for ourselves. I'm so happy we got to visit this picture-perfect beach now because it's still kind of virgin with no hotels or big restaurants close by. However, there was a lot of construction going on at one end of the beach so I really don't wanna know how it will look like in a few years after it's been exploited. 

We spent the entire morning at this beautiful beach relaxing in the shade and swimming a bit. We even spotted a dark blue jellyfish we had never seen before. Around noon it got crazy hot so we decided to head home after going on a short scooter tour along the southern tip of the island. 

Sunset Sanato

Since it was our last day on the island we wanted to watch another romantic sunset before flying back to the mainland the next day. Sunset Sanato and the Golden Sand Bar seemed like fantastic places to watch the sun dip into the ocean. We spent a few hours there (one is next to the other) enjoying our last sunset on Phu Quoc, chatting with other tourists and planning our next adventures in Vietnam...

Vietnam Diary - Phu Quoc Starfish Beach

Hello everyone from paradise island! During our Vietnam trip we spent almost four days on Phu Quoc Island and absolutely loved it. I already told you a bit about this little paradise in my last post. So today you'll get to see some more photos of a heavenly beach on the island we explored on our second day, called Starfish Beach.

How to get to Starfish Beach

Starfish Beach is an 'attraction' I had seen on Instagram when I was looking up places to see and things to do on the island. The beach is famous for its abundance of starfish you will find at the shore. It also looked like a beautiful tropical beach so we really wanted to see it. 

After googling the beach a bit we found out that it was about 40 minutes away from where we stayed so we decided to rent a scooter from our bungalow. It was the first time we would drive a scooter in Vietnam. And it surely wasn't difficult! Driving on Phu Quoc Island is super easy. There are just a few main roads, some smaller side roads and everyone is driving quite carefully and gives you space.

To get to Starfish Beach we had to pass Rach Vem, a very small seaside town. Once there, you'll easily find several signs telling you how to get to Starfish Beach. From the parking where we left our scooter it was only a one-minute walk to the beach. Starfish Beach is a stunning tropical beach with fine white sand, crystal clear water and swaying palm trees that provide shade to relax, take a siesta or read a book. One tip, the further you walk down the beach the less tourists you will see...

Staying at Starfish Beach

We stayed pretty much at the end of the beach where we found a nice spot under the palm trees. There were only very few people so we could fully enjoy the sound of the waves, go for a swim, have an undisturbed lunch and even a short siesta. Furthermore, it was a wonderful experience observing the red starfish in their natural habitat and admiring their beauty far away from the tourist crowds. I have seen many starfish on Mallorca before but those on Phu Quoc Island were bigger and different.

During the last few years the beach has gained popularity, especially among Russian and Chinese tourists. At the beginning of the beach we saw many of them taking photos with the starfish and then immediately leaving which I think is a pity because the beautiful beach has so much more to offer! Also, I was shocked when I saw tourists grab a starfish, take a photo and throw it back in the water. I hate to see people treat nature like this! If you ever find a starfish and would like to take a photo of or with it, please don't touch it but leave it where it is without disturbing it. It's an amazing living creature which can easily be harmed.

Sunset at Ocsen Beach Bar

After a wonderfully relaxing morning by the sea we headed back to the town to have a late lunch and change before watching the sunset at the beach. Ocsen Beach Bar at Long Beach is a fantastic place to grab a bite, enjoy a beer or cocktail, listen to some chill out music and admire the beautiful colors the sun paints when plunging into the ocean. This is how our second full day on Phu Quoc Island ended and I couldn't have imagined a better way!