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What is Ho Tram?
Ho Tram is a long beach with a string of resorts about 130 km south-east of Saigon, and 35 km east of Vung Tau. It’s quieter and more upmarket than Vung Tau, built around large resorts rather than a town.
Since July 2025 Ho Tram has been part of Ho Chi Minh City, after the old Ba Ria–Vung Tau province was merged in.
The best use of Ho Tram is a few days of doing very little by the sea, with golf for those who play. It isn’t a place for nightlife or sightseeing. If you want restaurants and bustle, stay in Vung Tau and visit.
How long from Saigon to Ho Tram by car?
A private car from Tan Son Nhat airport takes about 2½ to 3¼ hours to Ho Tram, covering roughly 130 km. The car runs east on the Ho Chi Minh City–Long Thanh–Dau Giay expressway, south on the Bien Hoa–Vung Tau expressway (opened in full on 18 May 2026), and finishes on local coast roads. The expressway is open to vehicles with fewer than 9 seats, so sedans and 7-seaters use it, and limousine vans and 16-seaters take Highway 51, which adds 30–45 minutes.
What moves the range is where you leave Saigon. The airport is in the city, so the first stretch crosses town. Land at 10 pm on a weekday and you can be at your resort around 1 am. Leave at 5 pm on a Friday, and the first hour is a crawl. The last part of the drive is slower than the expressway, whatever the day.
From Long Thanh, which opens to commercial flights from about 1 December 2026, the drive is shorter. See the Long Thanh to Ho Tram page.
Free shuttle, bus or private car to Ho Tram?
The honest answer depends on where you stay and where you start. If you’re staying at The Grand Ho Tram or Meliá, are already in central Saigon and have time, the free resort shuttle costs nothing. The Grand says its shuttle takes about 3 hours, runs from set pickup points in the city, needs advance booking and carries only its guests. Meliá lists a free shuttle subject to availability, with a private car on request.
For anyone landing at the airport, staying at another resort, or travelling with children and luggage, a booked private car is simpler. It meets you at arrivals with a name sign, takes you straight to your resort, and doesn’t need a timetable. Limousine vans run from Saigon for 320,000–360,000₫ a seat (October 2026), but they leave from a city office, drop you on the main road and wait for a full load.
An app car or metered taxi will do it if you can find a driver willing to go 130 km. You won’t know the car or the driver until it arrives. With a booked car you do: a known driver, a known vehicle and a fixed price, plus flight tracking and 90 minutes of free waiting after landing. We hold every driver to the same standard: a non-smoking car with working seatbelts, no strong air freshener, a cabin filter that’s changed, and calm driving without the horn. On a trip this long it counts.
The case for the car at Ho Tram is privacy, timing and the airport pickup, not price: the free shuttles win on price for their guests.
Which car for Ho Tram
Pick by luggage and golf bags. A sedan or electric VinFast suits two people with normal cases. A family of four or five, especially a tall one, should choose a 7-seater such as an Innova or Xpander, which is also the car for a pram. Golfers with clubs should take a 7-seater or van, since bags don’t share space well with passengers. Child seats are available on request when you book. Groups can book a limousine van or 16-seater, which take the older highway.
Meeting your driver at Tan Son Nhat
- Book in the box at the top of the page. You get an email confirming your booking, and the driver’s name, photo and number plate the evening before.
- Give us your flight number. We track the flight, and the driver waits up to 90 minutes after landing.
- 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 resort, in dong or by VietQR. Tolls and parking are in the price.
You can add fast-track immigration when you book, since queues at Tan Son Nhat can run past an hour, and a SIM or eSIM can be waiting in the car. A stop on the way for a meal or a toilet is fine.
Things to do in Ho Tram
Ho Tram is a resort destination, so the main thing to do is use the resort. A few things are worth leaving it for.
Ho Tram beach
Ho Tram beach is the long stretch of sand in front of the resorts. It’s long and lightly used on weekdays, and the sea is usually calmest in the dry season.
The Bluffs golf
The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip is the Greg Norman course at The Grand Ho Tram, laid out along the coast. It’s the main reason many golfers come. The Grand is a large resort of 1,250 rooms or more on about 164 hectares, with a casino and 2 km of private beach.
Binh Chau hot springs
Binh Chau is inland, with natural hot mineral springs and the Minera Hot Springs complex. It’s an easy half-day outing from Ho Tram. See our Binh Chau page.
Ho Coc beach
Ho Coc is a quieter, more rustic beach about 6 km from the Ho Tram resorts, and a short drive from the Binh Chau springs. It’s less developed than the resort strip, which is the attraction.
Eating in Ho Tram
Most guests eat at their resort, where the restaurants and bars are the main option. Outside the resorts there are smaller local restaurants, and where seafood is sold by weight, ask the price per kilo before they cook it. A car to Vung Tau gives you far more choice for a night out.
Where to stay in Ho Tram
The strip’s best-known names are The Grand Ho Tram (an InterContinental, with a casino and The Bluffs), Holiday Inn Resort Ho Tram Beach, Meliá Ho Tram Beach Resort and Ixora Ho Tram by Fusion. Smaller options include Carmelina Beach Resort and Ho Tram Beach Boutique Resort & Spa. Rooms cost more at weekends and on public holidays, when Saigon drives down, and less on weekdays.
When to go to Ho Tram, and when to avoid it
Ho Tram is good all year, with two things to plan around. The dry season, roughly November to April, has the calmest weather. From May to October expect afternoon storms and some rain. Weekends are busy, and the drive back to Saigon on Sunday afternoon is slow. The long holidays at the end of April and early September, and Tet in early February 2027, are the busiest times: resorts sell out and prices rise. Midweek is the quiet time.
Onward from Ho Tram
Vung Tau is 35 km and 45–60 minutes back along the coast, with the beaches, the statue of Christ and seafood. Binh Chau is the hot springs inland. Long Hai, with its quieter beach, lies between Ho Tram and Vung Tau, and we cover it on our Long Hai page. Mui Ne and Phan Thiet are the next big beach stop, a longer drive east. To book any of these, change the From and To in the booking box.