Highlights of Danang, Vietnam

1. The Arrival

On January 16th 2020 I experienced the first time the highlights of Danang, a coast city of Central Vietnam. A friend in Hanoi recommended me to visit this place, which is the fifth biggest city in Vietnam by population. With more than a million inhabitants. Having started my Vietnam journey in the capital Hanoi where I´ve stayed for a few days, I was really looking forward to go to the sea. Away from the insanely noisy traffic and incredibly high air pollution in Hanoi. I didn´t have high expectations of Danang, just to enjoy sunshine and sea for a bit and continue traveling. I was traveling Thailand and Vietnam already for more than a month. And hadn´t been to the sea since the beginning of December, when leaving Barcelona towards Germany. For visiting family before starting my journey and flying to Bangkok on December 11th.

To be honest, I initially didn´t even have Danang on my list of places to visit in Vietnam. But my Vietnamese friend in Hanoi told me that it´s her favourite city in the whole country and highly recommended me to go there. So I took a flight from Hanoi to Danang. Arriving and walking out of the airport in Danang was such a joy. So much sunnier and warmer than in cold and rainy Hanoi. Getting to the hotel with Grab car and seeing parts of the city for the first time. The spectacular dragon bridge, typical Vietnamese street traffic with loads of motorbikes and street food stands on every corner. My positive excitement grew each second.

I think I haven´t had such a strong first impression when visiting a new place. Maybe also because of the big contrast to Hanoi. Since I decided to travel Vietnam in a spontaneous way, without making big plans ahead, I had lots of time. Soon I felt that I´m going to stay in Danang at least for a few weeks. To explore and enjoy my time as much as possible.

Danang Dragon Bridge
Danang Dragon Bridge

2. My Khe Beach

Right after checking in at my first booked place and having a delicious, typical local soup called Pho Bo (at Pho Container), I went to explore the area of My Khe beach. This huge and clean beach is 9km long and very wide. With a lot of space for sunbathing, beachvolleyball, swimming in certain areas with lifeguard observation. There are even small outdoor gyms (bars to do pull-ups, dips, handstands, etc) to stay fit and practice calisthenics. Which is a worldwide growing sport with your own bodyweight and fascinating to me.

Calisthenics Gym My Khe Beach Danang

Various surf board rental shops on the beach and more within short walking distance, make it possible to rent surf equipment and catch some waves in the ocean. Surfing in Danang is mostly for beginner and intermediate level. But during winter time there are also powerful waves which are up to two meters high. If you try surfing for the first time, I recommend in general to do it in a group with a surf school. Their teachers know the best spots and show you important techniques. They watch out for your safety and usually accelerate your learning progress. At least that is my experience when starting to surf in Portugal and Spain some years ago.

My Khe Beach Danang

In Danang I just rent a board and went out on my own, it´s the best way when having some experience and an intermediate level. Of course you also save money this way. Renting a board is much cheaper than booking a whole class, which lasts usually 60-90min. I totally recommend here Dana Surf Rental, located a 5min walk from My Khe Beach. Half day rental of high quality surf board costs here only 150k Vietnamese Dong, which is only 6€. In Europe usually I paid between 15-25€ for 1-2 hours of renting a board, huge difference! The surf shops on the beach are a bit more expensive than Dana Surf, around 200-250k for two hours. So if you want to avoid crossing the busy street, walking with the board, the beach shops are a more comfortable, but more expensive way 😉

My Khe Beach Danang

My advice is to never underestimate the power of the ocean, especially when starting with surfing. As you can see, I really like being active outdoors, especially practicing calisthenics on the beach and surfing. Combined with the calming sounds of the ocean this makes me feel most alive, energetic and just feel great. Temperatures were also perfect. Between 22-28 degrees in January and February, what a warm and sunny winter compared to Europe!

3. People and Quality of Life

I´m personally convinced that this city offers a really high quality of life. Of course, ones lifetyle and its quality criteria varies from person to person. And depends in general also on the financial situation. Here in Danang you can have a great life even with a low budget (compared to prices in Europe, for example Barcelona). I´ve spent around 1,5 months in Danang and could live with a total monthly budget of ~750€. Compared to Barcelona, where I have lived for four years in total and had monthly expenses of 1200-1500€, Danang is obviously much more affordable.

Cave at Marble Mountains, Danang
Cave at Marble Mountains, Danang

Of course there are big differences regarding culture, language, public infrastructure, social security and so on. But if you like to live an adventurous life by the ocean, being outdoors, exploring nature, sunny weather (warm winter!) and Vietnamese food, this is a great place to stay for some time. And in my opinion also long-term for years. I was not that much time in Danang and not working there. But several expats from different countries (like France, Phillippines, England, USA, Russia) living there for years told me that they love it. And don´t want to move to another place due to high quality of life.

Usually the expats also had similar interests like me and are living a happy life in Danang. As I found out when talking to them. Most of them are working as English teachers or in Online Marketing (remotely) and getting their salary in another currency than the local one.

Bun Cha Gio, typical Vietnamese food
Bun Cha Gio, typical Vietnamese food
4. Currency and Prizes

The Vietnamese Dong is one of the weakest currencies worldwide, for 1€ you get around 25.000VND (in February 2020). In the beginning it´s a bit confusing with all those zeros, you should check what you are paying. To avoid giving away 100.000 instead of 10.000 VND, this can happen 😉 On the other hand it is easy to become a millionaire, just 40€ and you have a million VND. So if becoming a millionaire is your life goal, go for it in Vietnam 😉

Almost everything is paid in cash, even many hotels (of lower budget) do not accept credit cards. So I regularly had to get cash out of ATM´s and pay a fee for every withdrawal, usually around 3-5%. Although I use credit cards of DKB and Comdirect (worldwide cash withdrawal free of charge), it was still necessary to pay this fee. In general for using that Vietnamese bank/ ATM.

Hotel prices vary a lot, from low budget to luxury, many skyscrapers are currently being build in Danang it is developing fast. As I was traveling on my own with former savings and no income during these 3,5 months, of course I had to consider my budget. And often compared prices of accommodation, food, transport acivities and so on. Doing less touristic tours, and eating like a local in Danang and former places I visited, made me save lots of money. Also it showed me the authentic life of the locals.

Often I ate in local food places where no English is spoken nor written on the menu. So even ordering a meal can be a challenge, but at the same time an opportunity to connect with locals. Even though there are communication barriers, you can still understand each other. By using gestures/body language and a smile. Much more often than I initially thought. And in case I still was clueless, the internet translator on my phone finally helped me out.

Dalat Coffee House in Danang
Dalat Coffee House in Danang
5. Friendly Locals

Spending many afternoons at the outdoor/calisthenics gym at the beach, next to a volleyball field where a group of locals regularly was playing on the sand. I often talked to people in between the workouts/while resting. Only of a few of the locals spoke English and I don´t speak much Vietnamese, so the communication was limited in many situations. But one curious guy called Minh, who is from Danang and studying in Hanoi, started speaking English to me. Which was my first conversation about different topics with a local in Danang, lasting longer than exchanging just one or two sentences.

Minh is really curious about others and improving his English fast by practicing a lot. We met several times during the afternoon workouts at the beach and soon became friends. He even invited me to try typical local food, so one day we went eating snails. Which I´ve never tried before. Interesting taste and food experience, but not my favourite Vienamese food as there are many delicious dishes.

Danang, Vietnam
6. Where to Stay

I met really friendly and helpful locals in Danang. On the beach, in the local food places but also at hotel´s receptions. There are two particular hotels I really want to recommed. The first one is OYO 658 Euro Gold House, a small hotel run by a super friendly, young local family. At first booked for three nights on booking.com because of superb reviews. I finally stayed here for two weeks in total.

Apart from basic requirements like cleanliness, comfortable beds, room size and so on, this hotel has an amazing terrace on the 4th floor. Great place to enjoy breakfast in the morning or just relax at sunset time. Super calm and peaceful in a quiet street. Compared to other hotels being surrounded by construction work and lots of noise. Additionally, the owner speaks very good English, which was not always the case in my experiences with highlights of hotels in Danang. And the best, I often got fresh fruit plates for free when ordering a local soup (for only 50.000VND) for breakfast. Watermelon, pineapple, papaya, lots of good energy to start the day. And at the end of the day I could watch some sports on TV for free. As there were many international sports and news channels.

Terrace on Hotel OYO 658 Euro Gold House
Terrace on Hotel OYO 658 Euro Gold House

After these two weeks I moved to another place called Zalosea Hotel to stay closer to the beach. A three-star hotel which is very new (February 2020) and offers outstanding value for an incredibly low price. I paid for a big room (at least 20sqm) around 200.000VND(8€) per night. Which would cost me in Western Europe probably 50€ if not even more. Zalosea Hotel is located a three minute walk from the beach. Surrounded by many restaurants, local food places and fresh fruit stands. Spacious rooms, huge modern shower, international TV channels. And spectacular views really made me wonder why it is available for such a low price.

But after staying for some days and extending for several times I didn´t experience negative aspects and finally ended up staying for almost a month. Always for the same price I got from my initial reservation with booking.com, I was never asked to pay more! Very welcoming receptionists with good knowledge of English and a smile for the guests made my stay at Zalosea very enjoyable. I totally recommend these two hotels to anyone who likes to stay in a high quality place for a very low price.

View from my room in Zalosea Hotel
View from my room in Zalosea Hotel
7. Be Smart and Compare

After my first days in Danang and deciding to stay for a longer time, I thought about renting a room/studio for a whole month. There are many offers in the Danang Expats Facebook group, to rent a room for 250-300US$ per month. I visited two of them to have a look, but decided to stay in hotels. Due to room size, location, total value in comparison. Regarding costs I would have had almost the same, there wouldn´t be a much lower price with the “long-term” rental.

In general there are many attractive rental options in those Facebook groups for apartments/studios, for a longer stay of several months. But for some days or weeks, you can find lots of great and very affordable hotels in Danang. Especially during winter time. In summer it seems to be more expensive and busy, that´s what some locals and expats told me. Booking.com is the best website to compare all the options, from my point of view.

8. Conclusion: Visit Danang

Danang with its highlights is my favourite place I´ve visited so far, even more than Barcelona which I like a lot. And where I´ve lived for several years. Waves for surfing, warm winter, outdoor sports and great food are important to me for living a life full of positive energy and good experiences. Being in Vietnam showed me how people make the best out of their situation. It seems to me that the locals don´t care as much about objects/things as in our Western societies (especially in Germany where I grew up). I guess this could be a consequence of the (former) socialist system, being focused less on individualism and carreers. But more on creating family friendly living conditions.

Especially in Danang I noticed these strong ties within families. At local food places where several local families throughout three generations, from young children to parents and grandparents, work and live together. I had an incredibly positive time in Vietnam and I´m sure to be back one day, also to discover more highlights of Danang and the South of Vietnam. The sooner the better 😉

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