Vietnam Get Wet

Vietnam is a long, skinny country with 3444km of coastline, dominated by river deltas and rice paddies—if there weren’t water activities galore, something would be seriously wrong. The natural place to start is the Mekong Delta . Take boat tours to the floating villages near Chñu #c and floating markets near C<n Th£ for proof that dry land is overrated. Phú Quốc Island features beautiful strips of sand, as well as snorkeling and scuba diving among the underwater denizens of the Gulf of Thailand. The cheerful seaside towns of Hà Tiˆn and Råch Giá are also some of our Mekong favorites. Moving up from HCMC, life becomes one enormous beach along the southern central coast, starring Saigonese favorite V´ng Tàu , resort-happy M´i Né , and beach party town Nha Trang , filled with floating wine bars. Farther north, the shoreline becomes more popular with domestic vacationers and less so with foreign tourists, but the beaches remain first-class. We recommend China Beach near à N{ng, Cua Dai next to Hÿi An, Lng C® under lofty Hai Van Pass, C¸a Lò near Vinh, S<m S£n near Thanh Hóa, and the distant, sun- and seashell-dappled Trà C% down the road from Móng Cái. In from the coast, the floating tours of Kˆnh Gà and of the caves near Tam C#c are spectacular. For boat rides across lakes in the north, try the man-made duo of Núi C®c , and S®ng à . Finally, the 1969 islands and islets of Hå Long Bay and Bái T Long Bay create a labyrinthine paradise; tour the grottoes, go for a swim, or relax on the sand. For a method to your beach-crazed madness, try our Go Coastal itinerary .

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