Kitesurfing kites in the air above the waves off Mui Ne beach on a clear day
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg / CC BY 4.0

Beach guide · private transfers

Mui Ne & Phan Thiet

A long strip of low-rise resorts, cheap seafood and the steadiest wind in Vietnam. Since the expressway opened it's 3–4 hours from Saigon airport, and as little as 2½ on a clear run, with a private car dropping you at your resort's lobby.

  • From SGN2½–4 hours
  • Private car from$69
  • Kite seasonNov–Apr
  • ProvinceLam Dong (since 2025)
Book online

Tan Son Nhat airport (SGN) → Mui Ne

  • 2½–4 hours
  • 210 km
  • Door to door
  1. 1. Trip
  2. 2. Car & extras
  3. 3. Your details

Step 1 of 3: Trip

Vietnam time. We track the flight and wait 90 minutes after landing, free.
People
2
Suitcases
2
  • Free cancellation up to 24 hours before pickup
  • Confirmed within 12 hours by email, with your driver's details
  • 90 minutes' free waiting after landing, flight tracked
  • No card needed. Pay the driver on the day
Book a transfer to Mui Nefrom $69 · 2½–4 hoursBook

Fixed prices

Private transfer prices to Mui Ne

Every route we drive into Mui Ne & Phan Thiet, per vehicle. Tap a route to load it into the booking box.

Private transfer prices to Mui Ne & Phan Thiet
Route Drive time Sedan
≤3 people		7-seat MPV
≤6 people		7-seat SUV
≤5 people		VIP limo van
≤7 people		16-seat bus
≤12 people
Saigon airport or city → Mui Ne 210 km · Saigon airport transfers · Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) 2½–4 hours $691.800.000₫$751.950.000₫$832.150.000₫$1383.600.000₫$1193.100.000₫
Long Thanh airport (LTH) → Mui Ne 170 km · Long Thanh airport transfers 2½–4 hours $621.600.000₫$671.750.000₫$731.900.000₫$1233.200.000₫$1062.750.000₫
NovaWorld Phan Thiet → Mui Ne 30 km · NovaWorld Phan Thiet 40–60 min $17450.000₫$19500.000₫$21550.000₫$35900.000₫$33850.000₫
Ke Ga → Mui Ne 35 km · Ke Ga 40–60 min $17450.000₫$19500.000₫$21550.000₫$35900.000₫$33850.000₫
Ho Tram → Mui Ne 140 km · Ho Tram 2½–3½ hours $621.600.000₫$671.750.000₫$731.900.000₫$1233.200.000₫$1062.750.000₫
Phan Rang, Ninh Chuan & Vinh Hy → Mui Ne 160 km · Phan Rang, Ninh Chu & Vinh Hy 2–2½ hours $621.600.000₫$671.750.000₫$731.900.000₫$1233.200.000₫$1062.750.000₫
Da Lat → Mui Ne 165 km · Da Lat 3½–4½ hours $671.750.000₫$731.900.000₫$812.100.000₫$1353.500.000₫$1153.000.000₫
Vung Tau → Mui Ne 170 km · Vung Tau 3½–4½ hours $651.700.000₫$711.850.000₫$792.050.000₫$1313.400.000₫$1122.900.000₫
Cam Ranh resort coast (Bai Dai) → Mui Ne 200 km · Nha Trang 3–4 hours $882.300.000₫$962.500.000₫$1062.750.000₫$1774.600.000₫$1523.950.000₫
Nha Trang → Mui Ne 230 km · Nha Trang 3½–4½ hours $691.800.000₫$751.950.000₫$832.150.000₫$1383.600.000₫$1193.100.000₫

Per vehicle, not per person, for a daytime pickup. Tolls included. Night pickups (22:00–06:00) add 10% and Tết adds 30%. Other currencies are a guide; you pay in VND. Going to Phan Thiet instead? Pick it in the booking box for its own price.

Why people keep going back

Mui Ne is the easy escape when Saigon’s traffic and noise get too much. The resorts sit between the road and the sea, mostly low-rise bungalows in big gardens, so from the beach you hardly see how much has been built. It still feels quiet.

It’s busy enough for a long weekend and not so crowded that you can’t find a quiet stretch of sand. The seafood shacks serve some of the freshest, cheapest seafood in Vietnam, and there are good Italian, Indian and Thai places for when you’ve had enough grilled squid.

A kitesurf kite laid out on the sand at Mui Ne beach, with the beach strip stretching away
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0

Getting here from Saigon

The expressway changed everything. You used to spend five or six hours on Highway 1 behind container trucks. Now the route runs from Tan Son Nhat across the city, onto the Long Thanh–Dau Giay expressway and then the Dau Giay–Phan Thiet expressway, and comes off just north of Phan Thiet. From there it’s 20 to 40 minutes along the coast to the strip, depending on where your hotel is. On a clear run that’s 2½ hours; 3–4 is typical.

The slowest part is still getting out of Saigon. If you have any choice, avoid leaving the city between 4 and 7 pm on a weekday or on a Friday afternoon.

With a private car, the driver meets you at arrivals with your name on a sign, loads the bags and takes you to your resort’s lobby. Pick the vehicle by luggage and by people: kite bags and golf clubs need the 7-seater or the van, and so does a family of tall adults.

Which end of the strip to stay

The strip is long, and where you stay changes the trip.

  • The Phan Thiet end (the start of Nguyen Dinh Chieu, near Sea Links): bigger, newer resorts such as the Anantara, closest to the city and the expressway.
  • Ham Tien, the middle of the strip: most of the mid-range resorts, the kite schools, bars and restaurants. Walkable in the evening. In the windy months some stretches of beach get narrow at high tide.
  • The Mui Ne village end: the fishing harbour, guesthouses, the red dunes nearby and the seafood places along the seafront.
  • Beyond Mui Ne, towards Hon Rom and the headland: quieter beaches and a few resorts. You’ll want a car or a motorbike.
  • South of Phan Thiet, at Tien Thanh: the NovaWorld Phan Thiet development, a self-contained resort complex with golf and water parks. It’s 30–45 minutes’ drive from the Mui Ne strip, so it’s a different trip.

What to do

The sand dunes. No trip is complete without them (our dunes guide). The red dunes are close to Mui Ne village and easy to reach; the white dunes (Bau Trang) are about 30 km north-east, bigger, and have a lake ringed by pines. Local kids rent plastic mats for sliding down the dunes. It’s great fun: agree the price first and tip them.

Rippled golden sand dunes at Mui Ne
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0

Kitesurfing and windsurfing. Mui Ne’s steady wind made it the kitesurfing capital of Vietnam. From November to April you can watch people jump 20 or 30 feet into the air while you sit in the breeze with a drink. Jibe’s Beach Club, on the strip since 2000, is the longest-running school; Vietnam Kiteboarding School and C2Sky are IKO-affiliated and teach in English.

The Fairy Stream (Suoi Tien). A shallow stream you walk barefoot, past red and white sandstone cut into small canyons. Go in the morning before it gets hot.

The fishing village. At the harbour early in the morning, fishermen bring the catch in by round basket boat, and the beach turns into a fish market.

Round coracle fishing boats on the water and sand at Mui Ne fishing village
Photo: Michel Coutty, Public domain

Po Sah Inu Cham towers. Three small 9th-century Cham towers on a hill about 7 km from Phan Thiet, with a good view back over the bay.

Further afield. Ta Cu mountain and its reclining Buddha, and the lighthouse at Ke Ga to the south, make a good half-day trip with a car and driver. Further down the coast towards Saigon, Ho Tram has the quietest beaches.

Where next

Most people carry on up to Da Lat, about four hours inland over the Dai Ninh pass (Mui Ne to Da Lat), or take the expressway on to Nha Trang (Mui Ne to Nha Trang).

Eating

Grilled seafood is the reason to come: scallops with spring onion oil, squid, prawns and whole fish chosen from the tank and charged by weight. Ask the price per kilo before they cook it. Phan Thiet is also famous for its fish sauce (nuoc mam), and dragon fruit farms line the roads inland.

Weather

Mui Ne is one of the driest places in Vietnam. November to April is sunny and windy; May to October is hotter and calmer, with short showers. The sea is roughest from December to February.

Our driver standard

The car you'd want after a long flight

Car quality in Vietnam varies wildly: a driver smoking between jobs, seatbelts tucked away or missing, a car that's done half a million kilometres. This is the standard we hold every driver to, and what we ask you about after every trip.

  • Calm hands on the wheel. Smooth, unhurried driving. Safety comes before speed, every time.
  • The horn is for emergencies. Not a musical instrument. Anyone who has sat in Saigon traffic knows why we say this.
  • No smoke, no perfume bomb. Nobody smokes in our cars, and there's no air freshener strong enough to make your eyes water.
  • Air you'd want to breathe. Cabin filters changed on schedule, so the air-con blows clean, not twenty years of exhaust.
  • Newer cars, kind suspension. Cars in good condition, with seats and suspension made for a four-hour drive.
  • Seatbelts that work. In every seat. Child seats are free on request.

More about Mui Ne & Phan Thiet

Where to stay

Hotels we drive to in Mui Ne

Most resorts sit between the road and the sea along Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Any hotel or address on the strip or in Phan Thiet works: pick "Mui Ne" in the booking box and type the hotel name at the last step.

Getting there

Private car, bus or train: the honest comparison

We're not the cheapest way to Mui Ne. Here's what each option is actually like.

OptionTimeCostDoor to doorGood forThe catch
Private car (us) Typically 3–4 h door to door; 2½ h on a clear run Per car, see the table above; tolls included Yes Families, groups with boards or golf bags, late arrivals, anyone with luggage after a long flight More than a bus seat if you're one person travelling light
Sleeper bus or limousine van About 4 h on the bus; 5–6 h door to door From about 140,000₫ per seat No Solo travellers on a tight budget Leaves from bus offices in the city, not the airport, at fixed times. Bags go in the hold and the drop-off is on the main road, not at your gate.
Train to Phan Thiet About 4 h on the train; 6–7 h door to door About 170,000–420,000₫ per seat or berth No People who like trains Direct trains run mainly at weekends. Saigon station is across the city from the airport, and Phan Thiet station is 15–20 km from the Mui Ne strip.
Ride-hailing app (Grab and others) 3–4 h Often 2.4 million ₫ or more, plus tolls Yes Not much, for a trip this long Many drivers refuse a 200 km job or want the empty return paid. You don't know the car or driver in advance, there's no meet at arrivals and no child seats.
Your resort's own car 3–4 h Typically $110–160 per car (Anantara lists $120 for 2026) Yes Putting it on the room bill Usually the most expensive way to make the same trip in the same kind of car.
Why most of our travellers book a car

You know the driver and the car before you land. The price is fixed, with tolls included. Someone is waiting at arrivals with your name, the flight is tracked, and the car is clean and non-smoking with working seatbelts and child seats if you need them. After a long flight, that's worth more than the saving.

FAQ

Questions travellers ask us

How long is the drive from Saigon airport to Mui Ne?

Usually 3 to 4 hours, and as little as 2½ hours on a clear run, since the Dau Giay–Phan Thiet expressway opened in 2023. Older guides still say five or six hours; that was the old Highway 1 route. Leaving the airport between 4 and 7 pm, on a Friday or before a public holiday can add an hour getting out of Saigon, which is why we give a range, not a promise.

Is it Mui Ne or Phan Thiet?

Both. Phan Thiet is the city. Mui Ne is the resort strip that runs east from it for about 15 km along Nguyen Dinh Chieu street and ends at Mui Ne fishing village. Hotel addresses often say "Ham Tien, Phan Thiet". Since the 2025 reorganisation the area is part of Lam Dong province, the same province as Da Lat.

Is Ke Ga quicker to reach than Mui Ne?

It's a little closer in kilometres, but about the same time on the road: Ke Ga is reached on smaller roads south of Phan Thiet, so allow the same 3–4 hours.

When is the best time to go?

November to April is dry and windy: the best months for kitesurfing, with a rougher sea for swimming. May to October is calmer, with short afternoon showers. Tết (late January or February) is packed with Vietnamese families and prices go up everywhere, including ours.

Can we stop on the way?

Yes, it's your car. Tell the driver when you need a toilet, food or a photo stop; they know the clean stops on the way. For a longer stop, such as the sand dunes or lunch in Phan Thiet, add "Stop on the way" when you book.

What if immigration takes ages, or my flight is late?

We track the flight number you give us and wait 90 minutes after landing, free. Immigration at Tan Son Nhat can take an hour or more at peak times, so you can add fast-track immigration when you book: an agent meets you at the gate and walks you through a priority lane.

Which car for a family of five?

A 7-seater. A sedan or a VinFast is comfortable for two or three, but a squeeze for five tall adults with luggage for a four-hour drive.

Do you also drive Mui Ne to Da Lat or Nha Trang?

Yes, and it's the classic next leg: see Mui Ne to Da Lat and Mui Ne to Nha Trang. Ke Ga, Ho Tram and Vung Tau all have fixed prices too; change the From and To in the booking box.