Phan Thiết travel guide
Fish-sauce port at the gateway to Mũi Né and the dunes
A fishing and fish-sauce port on the southeast coast, and the gateway to the Mũi Né resorts and sand dunes. December to April is dry and sunny. Spend a night in town and two or three along the coast. Costs are low, and every passport can apply for the e-Visa.
Phan Thiết is a fishing port on the southeast coast, a few hours by road from Ho Chi Minh City, and the town most travellers pass through on the way to Mũi Né, the resort strip that runs east along the shore. Fish sauce made it rich long before tourism did. Boats still crowd the river mouth in the centre.
Few people stay in town, and there is a case for doing so: rooms are cheaper than in Mũi Né, and the food is cooked for locals. Look in at Vạn Thủy Tú, a temple where fishermen honour the whale as a protector of boats. On the road to Mũi Né, the Cham towers of Pô Sah Inư sit on a hill above the sea.
The big draws lie beyond the centre: the red and white sand dunes past Mũi Né, the dragon fruit farms inland and the old lighthouse at Kê Gà to the southwest. Buses 1 and 9 link town with Mũi Né. Grab cars are scarce here, so motorbike taxis are often the quickest way around.
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A working port with a whale temple, Cham towers and the dunes and beaches of Mũi Né close by.
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Best time to visit Phan Thiết
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Dry, sunny and windy, the classic season for the coast and the dunes.
Afternoon showers and quieter resorts, with lower room rates.
Lunar New Year and Vietnamese public holidays fill Mũi Né with weekenders from Ho Chi Minh City; book ahead or stay in Phan Thiết itself.
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Getting there
Phan Thiết station, Bình Thuận station and the Lotte Mart bus stop
Phan Thiết has two railway stations, and people mix them up. Phan Thiết station, about 2½ km from the centre, gets only the daily train from Ho Chi Minh City, leaving around 6:30 and taking about five hours, then returning early afternoon. Through trains between Hanoi and Saigon stop at Bình Thuận station, around 12 km out, where taxis wait. Coaches and minibuses come along Highway 1 and the newer expressway to the bus station, with routes to Vũng Tàu, Da Lat, Nha Trang and Quy Nhon. For air travel, use Tan Son Nhat (SGN) in Ho Chi Minh City or Cam Ranh (CXR) near Nha Trang and finish by road.
- Phan Thiết station
- 2½ km from the centre; one daily train each way from Ho Chi Minh City, about 5 hours
- Bình Thuận station
- About 12 km out; all north to south trains, taxi into town
- Phan Thiết bus station
- Coaches to Ho Chi Minh City, Da Lat, Nha Trang, Vũng Tàu and Quy Nhon
- Nearest airports
- Tan Son Nhat (SGN) or Cam Ranh (CXR), then road
- Check the station on your ticket: arriving at Bình Thuận when your hotel expected you at the town station adds a taxi ride.
Where to stay
Cà Ty riverfront, Đồi Dương beach or the Hàm Tiến strip
Phan Thiết town has the cheaper rooms and local food, while resorts line the coast to the east. Pick the Cà Ty riverfront for the market and water tower, Đồi Dương beach for a town beach on your doorstep, or the Hàm Tiến strip toward Mũi Né if swimming and sea views come first.
- Cà Ty riverfront
- Budget hotels near the fishing boats, the water tower and local eateries; noisy with traffic
- Đồi Dương beach
- The town beach and park, with mid-range hotels; walkable to the centre, not a resort setting
- Hàm Tiến and Mũi Né
- Resorts, guesthouses and kite schools along the shore; a bus ride from town
- Tiến Thành coast
- Quieter resorts southwest towards Kê Gà; you need a taxi for everything
Getting around
Buses 1 and 9 along the Mũi Né coast road
Phan Thiết's centre is walkable: the riverfront, the water tower and the Vạn Thủy Tú temple sit close together. For the coast, public buses 1 and 9 run out to Hàm Tiến and Mũi Né from stops near Lotte Mart or the next large junction south, and some shelters post route maps. Metered taxis are plentiful but expensive for short hops, and Grab cars are rare, so locals and most visitors use motorbike taxis and agree the price first. A rented motorbike is the sensible choice for Kê Gà lighthouse, the dragon fruit farms inland and the dunes beyond Mũi Né.
- Buses 1 and 9
- Town to Hàm Tiến and Mũi Né along the coast road
- Motorbike taxi
- Quickest for short trips; fix the fare before setting off
- Taxi
- Waiting at both stations; costly for short distances
- In the wet season the showers come in the afternoon, so plan rides to Kê Gà or the dunes for the morning.
Know before you go
What makes Phan Thiết worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- The river mouth in the morning, when the fishing boats unload.
- Pô Sah Inư at sunset, the Cham towers looking over the bay towards Mũi Né.
- Bún đậu mẹt, a platter of noodles, tofu and pork rolled in rice paper, at the local favourite Bún Đậu Mẹt 62.
Good to know
- Two train stations: the north to south expresses stop at Bình Thuận station, 12 km out, not in town.
- Taxis are pricey for short hops and Grab is thin on the ground; agree motorbike taxi fares first.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Phan Thiết, month by month
Phan Thiết is one of the driest stretches of Vietnam's coast, with a long dry season and most rain in summer and autumn. Tap a month for long-term averages.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Phan Thiết (Vietnam Institute for Building Science and Technology, via Wikipedia).
Whale bones at Vạn Thủy Tú and sunset at Pô Sah Inư
A day in Phan Thiết runs neatly from the fishing harbour to a Cham tower. Start at the Cà Ty River mouth as boats unload, walk to the old water tower that serves as the town's emblem, and visit the Dục Thanh school, where the young Hồ Chí Minh taught in 1910, now a small museum.
Finish the morning at Vạn Thủy Tú, the fishermen's temple to the whale, where a huge whale skeleton is kept in a hall beside the altar. Coastal communities here treat whales as rescuers of boats in storms, and when one washes ashore it is buried with ceremony.
Afternoon. Eat lunch in town, then sit out the heat. Around 15:00, ride or take a taxi southwest to Kê Gà, where a stone lighthouse built in the French period stands on a rocky islet off the cape; boats cross at calm times.
Evening. Head back past town and up the coast road to Pô Sah Inư, a cluster of Cham brick towers on a hill between town and Hàm Tiến. Come an hour before sunset for the view across the bay. Buses 1 and 9 pass the foot of the hill, so you can carry on to the Mũi Né seafood shacks for dinner or return to town.
Lẩu thả, gỏi cá mai and the fish sauce of Phan Thiết
Phan Thiết cooks around its catch and the fish sauce that built the town; near the old factories you smell it before you see them. The dish to share is lẩu thả, a platter of shredded egg, pork, shrimp, fish and herbs laid in a circle, which diners pile into bowls and finish with hot broth.
It takes time to prepare, so look for it in family restaurants; street stalls rarely make it.
Gỏi cá mai is the local raw fish salad: small, translucent fish cured in lime and mixed with roasted rice powder and herbs, eaten in rice paper with a thick peanut-based sauce. For breakfast, look for bánh căn, little rice-flour cakes cooked in clay moulds and dipped in fish sauce, sold from smoky stalls in the early morning and again at dusk.
Bình Thuận's odd speciality is dông, a sand lizard from the dunes, grilled or fried with lemongrass; it tastes much like chicken. For something calmer, the local favourite Bún Đậu Mẹt 62 serves a crowded platter of noodles, tofu and pork for rolling in rice paper. Dragon fruit from the farms inland is sold everywhere, cheap and very fresh.
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How we research our Phan Thiết travel guide
Phan Thiết's two stations, coast buses and Cham sites are checked against the city's Wikipedia entry and Vietnam Travel; for visas we rely only on the official Vietnam e-Visa portal.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Phan Thiết.
General
No. Mũi Né is the beach and resort strip running east of Phan Thiết; the town itself is the fishing port and commercial centre.
Local fishermen honour the whale as a protector of boats at sea. The temple keeps a large skeleton and holds ceremonies for whales that wash ashore.
Only sporadically. Motorbike taxis are the usual alternative, and metered cabs wait at the stations.
Take a taxi or motorbike southwest along the coast to the cape, then a short boat crossing to the islet when the sea is calm.
A Phan Thiết sharing dish of egg, pork, shrimp, fish and herbs arranged in a ring, served with hot broth poured over at the table.
Pô Sah Inư stands on a hill on the coast road between town and Hàm Tiến; buses 1 and 9 pass below it.
Town is cheaper and better for local food; Hàm Tiến and Mũi Né suit beach time and kitesurfing. Many people do one night in town before moving out to the coast.
Phan Thiết's centre is walkable: the riverfront, the water tower and the Vạn Thủy Tú temple sit close together. For the coast, public buses 1 and 9 run out to Hàm Tiến and Mũi Né from stops near Lotte Mart or the next large junction south, and some shelters post route maps. Metered taxis are plentiful but expensive for short hops, and Grab cars are rare, so locals and most visitors use motorbike taxis and agree the price first.
Getting there
The daily direct train uses Phan Thiết station, 2½ km from the centre. Through trains on the Hanoi line stop at Bình Thuận station, about 12 km out.
Both run along the coast road from town to Hàm Tiến and Mũi Né. Board near Lotte Mart or the next big junction south of it.
Phan Thiết has two railway stations, and people mix them up. Phan Thiết station, about 2½ km from the centre, gets only the daily train from Ho Chi Minh City, leaving around 6:30 and taking about five hours, then returning early afternoon. Through trains between Hanoi and Saigon stop at Bình Thuận station, around 12 km out, where taxis wait.
Timing & weather
December to April. February averages almost no rain, while May to October bring around 140 to 190 mm a month.
Booking
Spend a night in town and two or three along the coast.
Visa & documents
Citizens of a number of countries, including the UK and many EU states, can visit Vietnam visa-free for up to 45 days. All nationalities can apply for a single or multiple-entry e-Visa valid for up to 90 days on the official portal.
Health & safety
Vietnam is generally safe. Traffic is the main hazard, and bag snatching from motorbikes occurs in cities.
