Day 2 of my motorbike trip from Nha Trang to Phu Yen was dedicated to Van Ninh peninsula. Day 2 was also tiring but very rewarding. I rode from Doc Let to the next peninsula on the map on the way north where Van Ninh is located.
My first stop of the day was a restaurant: Quan 6 Trinh, that I was lucky to find. Restaurants around are those big seafood ones that usually families frequent. They frequently serve only these big family portions so I didn’t even dare to stop in one of those even though I saw several along my way south of the peninsula.
Hon Ngang beach
I stopped at Hon Ngang to check what the beach looks like on that side of the peninsula. The beach looks great. It is very wide and doesn’t provide any sort of shade. Not the spot where I could stay or I would die in the sun haha. Vietnam was under a heat wave those days…
This whole peninsula is so sandy! There are sand dunes everywhere!! Very tall ones, smaller ones, what a landscape. Pretty cool. Feels like a desert.
Ben Tau Dam Mon
I then went to this area near Ben Tau Dam Mon, but this is a fishing area. The views are pretty with all the typical boats and stuff, but very dirty water. Trash floating everywhere. There is no beach here. Just views to admire, and surprised locals haha.
I still had to find a beach to spend my day so I kept on my ride south on the peninsula.
Chua Thien An
The next stop was Chua Thien An and wooow, I didn’t see this coming haha! WOW such a beautiful view before arriving at the temple itself. A deep blue is mixed with a lighter blue in a very beautiful and unique way. There is a clear separation of colors. What a stunning sight. I wasn’t expecting this place to have such a beautiful viewpoint. Again, forget the map, here you have to discover things on your own. Views along the street are not marked on the map.
The temple itself offers beautiful views too. All the floating houses, the boats, the mountains, what a view in Van Ninh. Paradise! Better than many islands. The temple had a Japanese-inspired part, with “fake snow” decorating the Japanese-like structures. People were there taking lots of pictures, of course. The place looks charming and I don’t blame them for it! What a beautiful spot!
From the temple, I saw some beaches and I hoped I could stay there cause I hadn’t seen another beach to spend my day yet.
Son Dung Beach
So, very near the temple is this beach Son Dung that seems accessible. There is a resort there and I was afraid it would be a private beach. Maybe it is, but I walked through the entrance confidently and talked to no one. I found myself a cool beach umbrella and that was my spot for the day.
Very quiet beach with beautiful views! Mountains all around, perfect water temperature, clean, no waves, perfection. The water is clear even though the color isn’t the most beautiful one. Kinda greenish, and brownish, but still a beautiful beach with several coconut trees. It is possible to stay there in the resort, but I’m sure it was over my budget. I didn’t bother asking the price though.
From Son Dung, I saw some stairs going up the rocks. It felt like they connected to the next beach. I decided to give it a try and I was right. There was another beach next door. This one was absolutely empty even though there were some good bungalows right at the beach. The water was this pretty greenish tone too. Very beautiful and peaceful.
Apparently, there are monkeys living here as I heard their screams in the trees. I had no idea about it.
I stayed in Son Dung for sunset and that was a great idea. This beach is turned right towards the sunset, so watching it here was delightful. Van Ninh might be one of the best sunset spots in mainland Vietnam as I was turned to water. There was this mountain with a spinning cloud around it all afternoon. All the clouds on its way would be swallowed by this spinning cloud that turned bigger and darker with time. WOW, I have never seen such a thing. The massive cloud looked like a sucking machine attracting everything on its way, and it never left the same spot, always spinning around the same mountain top haha so cool to witness. I wondered if this is how storms brew… but apparently, this phenomenon is called cloud cap.
I ended up giving a small ride to a local guy walking on the street and stopping at the best viewpoint I saw on Van Ninh peninsula to watch the last pink clouds in the sky. What a stunning sunset this one was! So worthy!!
Already in the dark, I rode about 30 min back to the mainland to sleep at Dai Lanh Resort. Streets on the Van Ninh peninsula are very good and riding here at night with such warm weather was absolutely magical. Felt so free and awesome. I could ride a motorbike like that forever haha.
Van Ninh seems to have many more beaches to explore but I don’t think there are many proper streets to get there, or at least they aren’t on the map, which means that if there are streets, they are dirt paths where only motorbikes fit. I was happy with Son Dung and tired of riding my motorbike so I didn’t explore much more. After all, I have done approximately 100km that day. But I think there might be more hidden gems in the area.
Next day was the last one on this trip and it was a beautiful day too! Read more about day 3 HERE.
You can also read about day 1 of this motorbike trip HERE!
