Da Nang is the third largest city in Vietnam and most people visit here for the amazing beaches.  Its close to Hoi An and Hue.  It has a great laid back atmosphere and also offers a range of accommodation from luxury to budget.

We drove from Hue with Hue Private Tours again and this time went through the tunnel.  Arriving at our hotel – Belle Maison – too early to check in, we looked for a place for lunch.  Strangely the manager would not recommend any seafood restaurants around the hotel as he said the fish might not be too fresh!  So we headed away from the beach across the river to the Waterfront restaurant.  A great find and we had a gourmet lunch.

Burrato cheese and tomato salad with mango

fresh rice paper rolls

Crab cakes with chilli and mango salsa

Back to the hotel for check in and found we had been upgraded to a family size room with ocean front views!

Heading down to the beach to check out the water we found there was not much room to move!  There were a crazy amount of people in the sea, most could not swim as they were all in rubber rings, there was a small mountain of them on the beach for hire.  This part of the shoreline is extremely popular with local families.  Also hardly any wear swim suits!  Just swim in their clothes.
Later we went up to the 21st floor to have cocktails at the Sky Lounge.  Stunning views!

Passionfruit Mojito

Sky 21 Lounge

For the next couple of days it was just going to be relaxation – no more trips.  So the next day we tried further down the beach where it seemed less crowded and found some nicer sunbeds in front of the Holiday Beach resort.  Great service from the staff on the beach there.
Da Nang has the most amazing coast line and it goes on for miles.  The sea is lovely and warm and not rough at all – just the way I like it!

More cocktails that night and then dinner at Madam Lan’s with a couple of fellow Australians who we had met at the hotel.  After reading good reviews about this restaurant must say we were all a bit disappointed with the blandness of the food.

The next day we headed off to the Novotel for breakfast, as breakfast at the Belle Maison was so busy, a table was an hour long wait! Took some snaps on the top of the hotel there.

So after breakfast we thought we would have a look at another beach much further along the coast.  The Centara Sandy Beach Resort offered day tickets for a reasonable price where we got to spend the day around the pool and their beach front.  Had an incredible afternoon here and I think it will be our next holiday destination.
Finally finished off our three days here with dinner at the Waterfront restaurant.

To sum up Da Nang will definitely be on my list again and I can honestly say that Vietnam is now my favourite country in Asia.