I have been to Vung Tau before in 2019 when I visited some nice places in the city, but not all was discovered and explored at that time. So, I went back to Vung Tau in 2022 for a short Ho Chi Minh trip as Vung Tau offers the closest beach destination to the big city. Vung Tau offers some hills and nice viewpoints to trek to so this time that was basically what I did. Walk, and more walk to new viewpoints of the city where I haven’t been before.
They are not properly very close treks to the city center, but I had time so I walked these long distances. I stayed near Bai Truoc even though this is not the most popular place to stay in Vung Tau. The most crowded place would be the other side of the bay: Bai Sau, but from here, the treks would be even further…
Vung tau – Ho Chi Minh
To get from Ho Chi Minh to Vung Tau or Vung Tau Ho Chi Minh there are two options. You can either go by bus or ferry. The ferry will shorten the trip by about 30 minutes, depending on the day you go there because usually, Vung Tau is very crowded during the weekend and traffic gets pretty bad to get there or out of there on weekends. The ferry leaves from district 1 in Ho Chi Minh and stops in Bai Truoc near the cable car. This is not a very scenic boat trip, but still pleasant. The boat tickets can be more expensive on weekends too. The trip will never be less than 2h either by ferry or bus, so let’s say the average is 2h30. I paid 180K dong for one way ticket with Futa Bus. I’ve been there by ferry too but weekend prices are different from week prices.
Chon Khong Monastery or Thien Vien Chon Khong to Ho May Amusement Park
This was my trekking destination on my first day in Vung Tau. My first stop was Chon Khong Monastery where there is a huge golden Buddha statue and a very nice view of the city itself. There is a sneak peek into the sea, but the view is mostly of the city skyline itself. This is a very accessible place and walking to Chon Khong Monastery is not hard. It is a peaceful and beautiful place even though the weather was not the best when I visited. I bet the view can be better on a sunny day than the one I got on a rainy day.
From there I walked all the way up to the top of this hill to Ho May Amusement park. Apparently, this is a popular place for people to walk as unexpectedly I found many locals walking up this hill too. Seeing many Vietnamese people walking is not a very usual sight, but they were wearing sports clothes, so I think they were there really for the walk. As this is a hill, expect a steep and tiring walk but pleasant as traffic is not a problem here. And, this is a very nice walk as you go higher and higher and the views change with altitude too. From here you will see the cable car that connects the very bottom of the hill to Ho May amusement park on top of the hill. I have no idea how much is the cable car, but it offers another option for going up this hill. As on the top stands this amusement park, the area is private and there is a ticket to buy to continue the walk to the tip of the mountain.
This way, this trek is not the one that will offer a great view once you reach its end, unless you pay… In fact, there is no view at all, which was sad. I was expecting a nice view from the top and I was not expecting that I have to pay for it. It didn’t happen. Still, it was a nice walk. You can obviously pay the amusement park fee and get to the mountain view and surely engage in the activities the park offers. I decided not to do it. Expect this trek to take a few hours if you do the same as I did. It occupied my day and I ended it very tired.
Lo Cot Hai Dang and Bao Tang An Toan Hang Hai
On my second day in Vung Tau, I decided to trek to another hill that I could see from Chon Khong Monastery. I thought that on this side of the bay, there was only the hill with Christ the redeemer but I was wrong. There are two different hills even though the view might be similar. But I visited Christ the redeemer 3 years before, so it was fine if the view was similar cause I didn’t remember that well.
My first stop on this hill was Lo Cot Hai Dang, a viewpoint that is different from all the other ones cause it offers a privileged view of Bai Truoc, something that other viewpoints haven’t offered yet. This is a very beautiful viewpoint as down there is the bay with many docked boats that give a particular charm to this view.
On the same hill, I walked the way across to the other side of the mountain where the view is to the other side of the bay, a view to Bai Sau. This place is called Bao Tang An Toan Hang Hai on google maps and it is actually a touristy spot with several food and drink stalls, and lots of Vietnamese wandering around, not like the first spot where I stopped on my trek up.
From this viewpoint, I could see Christ the redeemer on a hill in front and discover that there is a lake in the middle of the city. The place offers a good view too. The day ended with rain when I was trekking all the way down. Fortunately, there was a local that noticed me walking down and as it was starting to rain, she offered me a ride down on her motorbike. So nice and helpful! This free ride came very handy even though I had a raincoat with me. It was a very nice gesture anyway. The lady dropped me near a place called Mountain Coffee and I couldn’t have been more pleased with it.
Mountain coffee
This is a great spot for a sunset drink but not only. This coffee shop, and others nearby, offer great views of Bai Truoc and its boats. Mountain coffee is placed at the beginning of the trek all the way up to this mountain so it is not hard to reach or far away for a walk. Definitely recommend! And this was where I ended up my day after this mountain hike.
And these were two days spent walking long distances but always with great views in between. I think they are great places to visit on a Vung Tau trip.
Check also the other places I have visited in Vung Tau HERE.
In case you don’t know, there is an island called Con Dao that is reachable from Vung Tau by ferry. It is an awesome island! Check it out here!
