Phan Thiết

(In the Best Way – sand dunes, fish sauce, and a broken clutch)

📍 BÌNH THUẬN, VIETNAM · ⏱️ October 2024 (end of rainy season) · 5 days · $218 · 4 sunburns

📋 Jump to... (i have adhd, jump around)

→ How I ended up in Phan Thiết → Hoods: Mũi Né vs. Phan Thiết city → Food that broke me (bánh căn!!) → Tourist crap vs. actual gold → Getting around – xe máy hell → Where I crashed (Good, Bad, Lizard) → What surprised me → What I actually spent → My screw‑ups (don't be me) → Day by day chaos → Practical stuff (no lists, just stories)

How I Ended Up in Phan Thiết

Honestly? I only came because I found a $13 bus ticket from Saigon on vexere.com and I was avoidin' my landlord who kept asking about the late rent. Also I’d just watched some documentary about the fishing villages and thought, yeah, I need to eat seafood directly from the boat and cry about my life choices. So I booked it. No plan. No hotel. Just a backpack and a kinda stupid optimism.

First impression stepping off the sleeper bus at 6:47am at the Phan Thiết bus station (which is basically a dusty parking lot surrounded by coffee shops): the SMELL. Not bad, just STRONG. That specific sweet-and-salty fish sauce fermentation smell mixed with diesel and wet sand. It hit me like a wall. And the heat – even at 7am it was that wet, clingy heat that makes your shirt stick to your lower back. I stood there, blinking, while a lady with a conical hat yelled "BÁNH MÌ! BÁNH MÌ!" and I thought, okay, this is happening.

What went wrong immediately? I assumed Mũi Né was the same as Phan Thiết. It is NOT. It's like 15km away. I had no sim, no data, and my phone was at 12%. I walked to a random café, pointed at an iced coffee, and the owner – a guy named Mr. Trung – let me use his wifi and even called a xe ôm for me. The xe ôm charged me 150k to Mũi Né. Later I found out it should be 70k. Whatever. Mr. Trung saved my ass. I still remember the coffee: robusta, sweetened condensed milk, crushed ice. 15,000đ. I drank it while a stray dog slept on my foot. That's when I knew I was gonna be okay.

💡 Tip I learned on day 4: the Phương Trang bus drops you RIGHT on Nguyễn Đình Chiểu in Mũi Né if you book the "Mũi Né" option, not "Phan Thiết". I booked the wrong one. Add $3 and save the sweaty xe ôm negotiation.

The Neighborhoods: Real Talk

MŨI NÉ – the tourist strip, but don't write it off. I thought I'd hate it. I mean, the main road (Nguyễn Đình Chiểu) is packed with Russian restaurants, kite-surf schools, and souvenir shops selling the same mother-of-pearl chopsticks. At 8pm it's a honking parade of buses and motorbikes. BUT. Walk 200m toward the beach side and you hit these little alleyways where the real Mũi Né lives. I stayed on a tiny hem off Huỳnh Thúc Kháng – no street lights, but the sound of the waves at 5am? Unreal. And the coffee lady at the corner of Nguyễn Đình Chiểu and Nguyễn Công Trứ? She roasts her own beans in a wok. You can smell it at 6am. That's the good stuff.

🚫 TRASH ZONE: Central Phan Thiết city – the area around the market. It's fine, I guess, if you like waiting for drawbridges (the Hùng Vương bridge opens at weird hours) and honking that never stops. I went there for the seafood market and left within an hour. Overwhelming, dusty, and every tuk-tuk driver tried to sell me a "tour". But the market itself – Chợ Phan Thiết – is legit if you need dried squid or dragon fruit jerky. I bought a bag of dragon fruit jerky for 50k. Tastes like sweet, chewy nothing. Don't recommend.

HON RỒM (Red Sand Dunes area): Okay, the dunes are touristy, but the neighborhood east of them? Just sandy roads, fishing boats pulled up on the beach, and women mending nets under coconut trees. I walked there at 8am and a fisherman gave me a cup of salty tea. Didn't speak English. We smiled. That's the vibe.

And HAM TIẾN – quieter, more upscale resorts. If you want peace and have a bigger budget, sure. But I found it soulless. Also, no good street food. I walked 2km to find a bánh xèo place and it was $8 for one pancake. Nope.

So yeah, my heart is in Mũi Né's back alleys. That's where the 20k noodle soup is and where the old ladies still use charcoal stoves.

Food That Made Me Emotional

1. Bánh căn – Quán Bà Năm, 42 Huỳnh Thúc Kháng. Fight me on this, it's the best bánh căn in all of Bình Thuận. Tiny little clay-pot pancakes with quail egg and a slick of scallion oil. You eat it with grilled pork patty (nem nướng) and a weirdly addictive green banana dipping sauce. I ordered 4 portions in one sitting. The auntie, Bà Năm, has one tooth and a laugh like a chainsaw. On my third visit she said "con ăn giỏi quá" (you eat so well) and gave me free sugarcane juice. I almost teared up over a pancake. 35k for 8 pieces.

2. Lẩu cá đuối (stingray hotpot) – Quán Ớt Hiểm, Nguyễn Công Trứ. Recommended by Mr. Trung (the coffee guy). I was scared – stingray? Isn't that like, cartilaginous? But the broth was tamarind-forward, sour and slightly spicy, and the stingray wings were tender, like the best skate wing you ever had. Dipped in a bowl of salt, pepper, and chili. I ate alone, sweating, happy. 180k for the whole hotpot – enough for two, but I demolished it.

3. DISAPPOINTMENT THAT STILL HAUNTS ME: "Seafood BBQ" on the main strip – I won't name names, but it had a neon lobster. I ordered grilled scallops with onion and peanuts. They came out dry, the size of a thumbnail, and they charged me 120k for 5 pieces. Later, a local told me that place changes menu prices based on your accent. Should've gone to the night market.

⚠️ HANGOVER CURE (even if you don't drink, you need this): cháo hào – oyster porridge from a cart on the corner of Nguyễn Đình Chiểu and Nguyễn Thái Học. The lady sets up at 5:30pm. She shucks the oysters right there, drops them into a bubbling pot of rice porridge, adds a dash of fish sauce and fried shallots. 25k. I had it three nights in a row. It fixed my sunburn, my loneliness, everything.

4. Street food that scared the hell out of me (then owned my heart): Ốc mỡ cháy tỏi – fat snails stir-fried with crispy garlic. I saw a group of guys in hammocks outside a random alley near the fishing port. They pointed at me, laughed (friendly), and gestured to sit. I had no idea how to extract the snail without making a mess. A guy named Sang (19, works on his father's squid boat) showed me the toothpick-twist-flick technique. It took me three tries. The snails were bathed in this buttery, garlicky, slightly sweet fish sauce. I ate a whole plate. 50k. Sang refused to let me pay. I bought him a beer. We're Facebook friends now.

5. Expensive mistake: A whole lobster at a "beachfront" place. 650k. It was overcooked and the garlic butter was clearly margarine. I should have stuck to the 30k bún chả cá. Regret.

Tourist Stuff vs. What Actually Ruled

🔥 HOT TAKE Skip the White Sand dunes at noon. It's a desert experience without the desert – sand as far as you can see, but also quad bikes roaring past every 30 seconds and ladies selling you plastic sleds. I went at 1pm (stupid). Sand was 45°C. My flip-flops melted. I paid 200k for a quad bike ride (overpriced) and got sand in every orifice.

What ruled instead: Sunrise at the White Dunes. I went with a xe ôm driver named Mr. Tính at 4:30am. Cost me 300k for transport + waiting. The light at 5:45am was liquid gold, hitting the sand and the small lotus lake in the middle. I walked away from the crowds, sat on a dune, and watched the sun rise over the desert. No quad bikes. No hawkers. Just me, the wind, and a heron. That was worth everything.

Red Sand dunes? Meh. They're smaller, convenient, and close to Mũi Né. But the "kids" who "help" you slide down and then demand 50k are annoying. I went at 5pm, the light was nice, but I left after 15 minutes. Skip.

Fairy Stream (Suối Tiên): Look, it's a little stream of reddish water running between sand dunes and odd limestone formations. You wade barefoot. It's kinda fun, I guess, if you like stepping on pebbles. BUT. I went at 8am, before the tour groups, and saw a kingfisher. Also the guy at the entrance tried to charge me 15k "parking fee" even though I was on foot. I said no. He shrugged. So it's free if you're stubborn.

The fishing village at sunrise? DO IT. I'm not a morning person, but I forced myself. At 5:30am, hundreds of colorful round boats (coracles) bring in the catch. Women sort squid and shrimp right on the sand. The smell is pungent, the noise is chaotic, and it's the most alive place I've ever been. A fisherwoman gave me a dried shrimp to try. Smoky, salty, chewy. I bought 200g for 60k. Best souvenir.

Poshanu Cham Towers: Small, brick, ancient. Entry 15k. I'm not a temple person, but the view from the hill over Phan Thiết is stunning at 4:30pm – the light hits the red bricks just right. I sat there for an hour. A cat slept on my lap. No one bothered me. Worth it.

Getting Around: What Google Maps Won't Tell You

Google Maps said: "Bus number 7 goes from Mũi Né to Phan Thiết market." I waited 40 minutes at a stop that had no sign. A local woman selling bánh tráng trộn told me the bus comes "maybe 1 hour, maybe 2." I took a Grab Bike. 85k. Later, I learned the bus route is actually used by school kids and fish sellers – it DOES exist, but there's no schedule. So, good luck.

⚠️ SCAM WATCH: At the Phan Thiết train station (yes, there's a train but it's slow), a guy in an "official" hat told me the only way to Mũi Né is his taxi, 250k. I laughed, walked 50m to the main road, hailed a Vinasun taxi, meter said 92k. Don't be intimidated.

I rented a motorbike from my homestay – 120k/day, automatic Honda Blade. Day 2, I ran out of gas because I thought "half tank is fine." It's not. Pushed the bike 1km to a gas station, sweating like a sinner in church. A xe ôm driver stopped and helped me push. I bought him a coffee. Lesson: Always top up when you see a Petrolimex. Also, the roads are generally fine, but the stretch from Mũi Né to the White Dunes has loose sand in some corners. I almost wiped out going 40km/h. Slow down.

Best transport decision: hiring Mr. Tính (Zalo: 0907xxx) for a full day. He charged me 500k for 8 hours, took me to the White Dunes, the Cham towers, and a dragon fruit farm. He also taught me how to say "Tôi bị lạc" (I'm lost). Which I did. A lot.

Where I Stayed: The Good, Bad, and Weird

Hẻm 134 Homestay – 134/5 Huỳnh Thúc Kháng, Mũi Né. I booked it on Agoda for $18/night. The photos showed a hammock and a glimpse of the sea. The reality: the hammock was frayed, the sea view was a sliver between two buildings, and the shower had a mind of its own – water temp fluctuated between "lukewarm" and "why is this suddenly boiling". BUT. The bed was firm in the way that saved my back, the AC roared like a jet engine but kept the room Arctic, and there was a resident gecko named Kevin (I named him Kevin) who chirped at sunset.

The noise? A rooster next door started at 4:30am. Then another. Then a third. I wanted to be mad, but honestly, it became my alarm clock. By day 3, I was waking up before the roosters, ready for bánh căn.

What photos don't show: the owner, Cô Minh, age 72, who spoke zero English but would bring me jackfruit from her garden every morning. She pointed at the fruit, then at me, and said "ăn đi" (eat). I ate. It was the best jackfruit of my life. Also, the electrical panel in the hallway sparked once. I told Cô Minh; she nodded and handed me a mango. Everything is fine.

Price paid: $86 for 5 nights (paid cash, no tax). Worth it? Absolutely. Because of Cô Minh's handwritten map – "places I like" – which led me to the oyster porridge and a family-run bún riêu that wasn't on Google Maps.

The Thing That Surprised Me

I expected Phan Thiết to be all about the beach – lying around, reading, drinking coconut water. But what surprised me was how much it felt like a working town, not a resort. The fish sauce factories, the dragon fruit farms, the fishing boats leaving at dusk with their bright green lights to attract squid. One night, I walked to the Mũi Né harbor at 10pm. Dozens of boats were lit up like floating cities. I sat on a concrete block and just watched. A fisherman offered me a cigarette. I don't smoke, but I took it. We sat in silence. That's something you can't plan.

Also surprised: the lack of English. In Saigon, everyone adapts to you. Here, I had to adapt. I learned "cái này là gì?" (what is this?) and "ngon quá!" (so delicious!). It made the trip harder, but also more mine. I wasn't just a tourist; I was a clumsy guest trying my best.

And the friendliness. When my bike clutch cable snapped (yes, day 4), I pushed it to a repair shop. The mechanic fixed it in 15 minutes with spare parts, charged me 80k. I tried to give him 100k, he gave me 20k back and said "bạn bè" (friends). I almost cried.

Money: What I Actually Spent

I'm obsessive. I track every single dong. Here's the breakdown for 5 days / 4 nights. All in USD for y'all, but I paid in VND.

Category	What I Paid	Worth It?
Accommodation (4 nights, private room)	$86	Yes, for Kevin the gecko alone
Food & non-alc drinks	$74	best money ever spent
Transport (bike rental, xe ôm, gas, Grab)	$52	Mr. Tính was worth half
Attractions/entrance fees	$18	skip the quad bikes
SIM card (Viettel, 50GB)	$6	essential, bought at airport
Souvenirs (dried shrimp, ceramic fish)	$22	shrimp is already gone, fish is on my shelf
TOTAL	$258	cheaper than a weekend in Vũng Tàu

💰 Day 1 spending was $47 because I overpaid for the xe ôm and bought a "vintage" fishing net decoration (turns out it's just net, 200k). Day 5 I spent $14, mostly on coffee and banh mi. It balances out if you're not an idiot every day.

Mistakes I Made So You Don't Have To

• ✖ 1. I packed zero repellent and zero long pants. October is still mosquito season, especially near the fishing port. My legs looked like I had chickenpox. Buy repellent at any pharmacy – 35k for a small bottle. Also, the sandflies at sunrise? They feast. I used tiger balm as repellent. It burned. Do not recommend.
• ✖ 2. I booked my return bus only the night before. Everything was sold out except the 4am bus. I had to wake up at 2:45am. Cô Minh made me a coffee at 3am and I cried a little. Book at least 2 days ahead, especially on weekends.
• ✖ 3. I wore flip-flops to the sand dunes. This is like wearing high heels to a marathon. The sand was so hot I had to run to shady patches. My soles were red for a day. Wear closed shoes or those aqua socks.
• ✖ 4. I assumed all seafood places are equal. They are NOT. If the menu is laminated and has pictures of lobsters, it's for tourists. If it's handwritten in Vietnamese and there are no foreigners, it's probably gold. I learned this after three mediocre meals.
• ✖ 5. I didn't bring a power bank. My homestay had one outlet, behind the bed. I had to charge my phone on the floor. Also, long days with GPS drain battery. Buy a 20,000mAh one. Your future self will thank you.

I also accidentally called a woman "Bà" (grandma) and she was probably 50. She laughed, but I wanted to disappear. Lesson: "Chị" (older sister) is safer unless they're clearly 80+.

How It Actually Went: Day by Day

Friday, October 11: Meant to arrive at 11am. Bus got delayed near Long Khánh – flat tire. Arrived 2:30pm. Already sweat through my shirt. Checked into Hẻm 134, met Kevin (gecko), collapsed on bed. Walked to bánh căn Bà Năm on Huỳnh Thúc Kháng. Ate 16 pieces. Walked back, passed out at 8pm. Woke up at 2am to a karaoke bar across the street playing "Độ Tộc 2". Not mad, actually catchy.

Saturday, October 12: Woke up at 5am (roosters). Rented bike. Rode to the fishing village for sunrise. Watched boats come in. Ate bún riêu from a cart. Drove to the White Dunes – got there at 9am, already hot. Regretted flip-flops. Drove back, napped, then met Sang at the snail alley. Ate ốc, drank Saigon Red, became Facebook friends. 10/10 day.

Sunday, October 13: Planned to do Fairy Stream and Red Dunes. Instead, Mr. Tính picked me up at 7am and took me to a dragon fruit farm. Farmer named Mr. Sáu showed me how they pollinate at night (bats do it, but he also hand-pollinates). Ate fresh dragon fruit. Sweet, mild, nothing like the ones at home. Then he took me to Poshanu Towers. Sat with cat. Then cháo hào for dinner. Best day of the trip.

Monday, October 14: Slept through my alarm – missed sunrise entirely. Didn't care. Spent the morning on the beach near the Mũi Né harbor. Swam in brownish water. Read half a book. Afternoon thunderstorm – took shelter at a café, drank cà phê sữa đá, watched the rain flood the street. The barista played a Spotify mix; "See Tình" came on. I laughed. She laughed. It's a law, I swear.

Tuesday, October 15: Last day. Ate bánh căn one last time. Bà Năm pinched my cheek and said "ma uống cà phê không?" (you want coffee?). I said yes. She gave me a phin filter coffee with condensed milk. Sat on her plastic stool, watched motorbikes go by. Felt a pang. Took the 2pm bus back. Watched the dragon fruit farms fade into suburbs. Already planning my return.

Practical Stuff (Without the Boring Lists)

This almost happened to me: At the entrance to the White Dunes, a guy in a makeshift booth tried to charge me 100k "environmental fee". I'd read online it's 15k. I said "không, 15k thôi". He argued. I walked past him. He didn't follow. So, yeah, be politely stubborn.

Health thing that went wrong: Not me, but a French girl at my homestay. She stepped on a sea urchin at Bãi Đá Ông Địa. The spines broke off in her heel. Cô Minh took her to the clinic on Nguyễn Đình Chiểu. $30 for removal and antibiotics. Wear water shoes if you're not confident. The seabed here is not all sand.

Thing I wish I'd packed: A dry bag. It rained suddenly three times, and my backpack got soaked. Also, a small flashlight. The alley to my homestay had no streetlights and I nearly stepped on a toad every night.

One random hack: If you need a bus ticket, don't go to a travel agency. They add 30-50% markup. Go directly to the Phương Trang office on Nguyễn Đình Chiểu (near the roundabout). I saved 80k on my return ticket. Also, the Viettel store on the same street sells SIM cards with no passport scan – just handed me a card, 120k for 100GB.

Final, most important thing: Learn "cảm ơn" and "xin chào". Use them constantly. People appreciate the effort. One night, I said "cảm ơn nhiều" to the oyster porridge lady and she gave me extra oysters. It's that simple.

Still have questions? Wanna fight about bánh căn?

Drop a comment below – I read every single one. Even the trolls.

Last updated: October 2024 · prices might have gone up (everything's gone up)

❤️ If you see Mr. Tính near the Mũi Né roundabout, tell him the Aussie with the broken clutch says hi. And give Kevin the gecko a cricket for me.