Skip to content What are the Binh Chau hot springs?
Binh Chau is a stretch of the coast in the east of Ho Chi Minh City with natural hot mineral springs, forest and the nearby Ho Coc beach. The water comes out at temperatures between 40°C and 82°C, according to Vietnam’s tourism authority. Most visitors go to Minera Hot Springs, a resort on Highway 55 in Binh Chau with pools, saunas, mud baths and a forest park.
It’s about 150 km from Saigon and, by the resort’s own description, 15 minutes from the sea. It sits close to Ho Tram, and people often visit them together. Since July 2025, Binh Chau has belonged to Ho Chi Minh City, after the old Ba Ria–Vung Tau province was merged in.
How long from Saigon to Binh Chau by car?
A private car from Tan Son Nhat airport takes about 2¾ to 3½ hours to Binh Chau, roughly 150 km. The resort says “about 2 hours from Ho Chi Minh City”, which holds on a clear run, but we’d plan on the longer range. The car goes east on the Ho Chi Minh City–Long Thanh–Dau Giay expressway, south on the Bien Hoa–Vung Tau expressway (open in full since 18 May 2026, for vehicles of fewer than 9 seats), and then along the coast roads.
Time of departure matters. Leave the airport after 5 pm on a Friday and the first hour is slow. The expressway is free for now, and our prices include tolls anyway.
Day trip or overnight?
It’s a long trip for a day: about 5½ to 7 hours of driving for a few hours in the water. If you only have a day, leave Saigon early, ask the car to wait, and eat at the resort before the drive back. We can do that with a wait-and-bring-me-back booking: the driver stays and returns you to your hotel. A night at Ho Tram or at the springs is gentler, and it leaves time for Ho Coc beach.
Bus, tour or private car to Binh Chau?
There are day tours and limousine combos from Saigon that bundle a ticket and a seat, and they’re fine for a solo visitor who doesn’t mind a set timetable and a shared group. The catch is the hours: you arrive with everyone else, leave when they do, and don’t see Ho Coc.
A taxi or app car will take you one way, but few drivers will wait for hours at a spa, and you can’t be sure of a way back. A booked private car solves that. The price is fixed before you go, the driver waits, and you can stop on the way. We hold our drivers to a standard: non-smoking cars, working seatbelts, no overpowering air freshener, a changed cabin filter and calm driving without leaning on the horn. For a 3-hour drive after a soak, a calm car matters.
What does Minera Hot Springs cost?
Minera’s ticket page lists adult entry from 155,000₫ on weekdays and 200,000₫ at weekends in low season (children from 120,000₫ and 150,000₫), with peak and holiday rates of 180,000–220,000₫ (checked October 2026). Spa services and meals are extra. The ticket page gives hours of 9 am to 6 pm, while some resellers show later hours, so check before you leave.
Which car for Binh Chau
A sedan or electric VinFast is fine for two people. A family of four or five, especially a tall one, will be more comfortable in a 7-seater such as an Innova or Xpander, which also has room for towels and wet swimming gear. Child seats are available on request when you book. Groups can book a limousine van or 16-seater, which take the slower highway and need extra time.
Meeting your driver at Tan Son Nhat
- Book in the box at the top of the page, with your flight number in the notes.
- The evening before, you get the driver’s name, photo and number plate.
- Walk out of arrivals and look for your name on a sign. Our Saigon airport transfers page shows where drivers wait.
- Pay the driver at your destination in dong or by VietQR. Tolls and parking are included.
A flight landing at Long Thanh, expected to open to commercial flights from about 1 December 2026, shortens the drive. See our Long Thanh airport page.
Things to do near Binh Chau
Minera Hot Springs
Minera is a 12-hectare complex with more than 30 bathing and spa services: pools, hot and cold saunas, mud baths, a Japanese-style onsen cave and a forest park. It describes the Springs Pool as the largest mineral pool in South East Asia. The “82 Degrees” zone is where visitors boil eggs in the spring water.
Ho Coc beach
Ho Coc is the beach about 5 km (10–15 minutes) from the springs and about 6 km from the Ho Tram resorts. It’s quieter and more rustic than the resort strip, so it’s the natural pairing with the springs.
Binh Chau–Phuoc Buu nature reserve
A forest reserve of about 11,000 hectares, designated in 1975, covers the area behind the coast and is home to birds and monkeys.
When to go to Binh Chau, and when to avoid it
Hot springs are pleasant all year. The dry season, roughly November to April, has the more comfortable beach weather, and weekdays are quieter and cheaper. At weekends, public holidays and Tet (early February 2027), the pools fill and ticket prices go up. The drive back to Saigon on a Sunday afternoon is slow.
Onward from Binh Chau
Ho Tram is the nearest resort strip, with beach and golf. Long Hai and Vung Tau lie back along the coast towards Saigon, which makes a natural way home. To book any of these, change the From and To in the booking box.