Vietnam is geographically blessed with a massive coastline that includes dozens of internationally famous beach destinations. But some of the supposedly best ones (especially the ones I covered in my post on the most popular beach towns in Vietnam) can be… a bit much.
Beach chalets, seafood skewers served on the sand, and tour agencies offering kayaking expeditions can be nice, but some travellers would rather go to a beach destination that’s remote, rustic, and totally untouristed.
For instance, I love Phu Quoc and I appreciate that there’s tons to do there, but I’m also aware when I’m there that I never experience real quiet anywhere on the island. There’s always distant noise of Vinahouse music drifting out of speakers or motorbikes whirring.
I just got back from Con Dao, though, and almost the entire island gave me the opportunity to wrap myself in unpolluted silence, backed only by the rhythmic crush of gentle waves and the occasional monkey’s shriek far away. No one in sight; just me, the shockingly white sand, and the thick greenery of the island’s natural park a few dozen metres away from the beach.
Each to their own, but I preferred the latter. I could give very similar comparisons about the pairings of Nha Trang/Phu Quy in Central Vietnam and Ha Long/Cat Ba in the North.
If you’re also one of those more independent-minded beach lovers who wants to break away from Vietnam’s “mainstream” beaches, this is the guide to consult.
For each of the three “hidden gem” islands, I’ll discuss why it’s so peaceful, what kinds of things you can do there, and even briefly touch upon logistics like how to get there and where to stay.
Quick comparison: which hidden beach is right for you?
| Island | Best for | Why it’s peaceful | Getting there | Vibe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Con Dao | Nature lovers | Nat’l Park protection, no nightlife | Short flight from Saigon | Wild, pristine |
| Phu Quy | Cultural immersion | No airport, fishing-first economy | 3.5hr bus + 3hr ferry from Saigon | Laid-back, immersive, local |
| Cat Ba | Scenic boat trips | Overshadowed by Ha Long Bay | 2.5hr drive + 45min ferry from Hanoi | Panoramic, outdoorsy |
1. Con Dao (a quieter alternative to Phu Quoc)
Con Dao feels like Vietnam before tourism happened. It’s an island located 90km (a 1hr plane flight) off Vietnam’s southern coast. It’s also an utterly unique beach destination with some of the cleanest and most undisturbed beaches I’ve seen – not just in Vietnam, but anywhere in the world.
I recently published an entire Con Dao travel guide and go into more details about why it’s unique and how to plan a trip there, but let me sum up my thoughts in one sentence: Con Dao is insanely underrated, but that might be for the best because it’s part of what makes the island so peaceful.
Why is Con Dao so quiet?
There are a few primary reasons why Con Dao has managed to avoid overtourism compared to somewhere like neighboring island (and A-list tourist destination) Phu Quoc:
✈️ Harder to reach
It’s more difficult to travel there. Whereas Phu Quoc and other large beach towns have international airports that get flights from nearby countries and all Vietnamese cities, the Con Dao airport only gets a few flights a day from Saigon.
The ferries to Con Dao are inconsistent and hard to ride, too. The easiest way to find tickets for either is 12go.
🚤 No water sports
Water sports are actually banned on Con Dao except on days when the government deems the rough currents near the island to be safe.
This has resulted in very few providers actually providing beachside activities like kayaking or parasailing, which tends to deter both international and domestic tourism.
🌿 National park protection
80% of Con Dao’s area is taken up by a National Park, and the Vietnamese government restricts any commercial development in that area. The result is that most of the island feels wild and undiscovered. Of course, there aren’t nearly as many hotels on the island as there are most places in Vietnam.
🌌 Silent nights, no nightlife
The island’s culture is very antithetical to a party atmosphere. There are virtually no bars on the island and nightlife is a foreign concept there.
Many tourists don’t care for that vibe, but I – and, I suspect, a lot of my readers – would rather relax under the stars with a friend and a few beers than go to a bar any night of the week.
All of these factors coalesce to make Con Dao feel like a clean and peaceful safe haven, away from the organized chaos that tends to define Vietnam.
Soo, what’s there to do on Con Dao?
You won’t find many organized urban activities on Con Dao; there are no malls, movie theaters, or flashy markets to explore like in many Vietnamese cities.
Instead, you should fill your time there by exploring the island’s nature, from white sand beaches to deep dark jungles to wind-swept bluffs perfect for an off-the-grid evening hang with your travel companions.
The headliner here is the beaches of Con Dao. There is absolutely zero trash on the sand or in the waters, and I’ve never seen surf so clear and blue outside an Instagram filter. The current in the area is strong so swimming isn’t a great idea, but beach-lovers will want to lounge on the sand for hours to take in the magnificent surroundings.
My favorite white sand beach on Con Dao is An Hai Beach, and my favorite for golden sand is Dam Trau Beach near the airport.
Con Dao’s forests are amazing, too. Hiking on the island is fantastic, whether it’s a guided hike or one of the unofficial trails. A hike guided by a ranger like this trek up So Ray Mountain to a panoramic viewpoint of the town is a good place to start.
My top recommendation for an activity on Con Dao, though, is renting a motorbike or ebike (the latter doesn’t require a licence) and driving around the island’s southwestern loop, stopping at all the natural landmarks along the way. You’ll see beaches, lighthouses, and ancient monuments.
End at Con Dao Sunset Getaway to watch the sun sink below the horizon while you hang out with the monkeys there.
Con Dao also has a very nice War Cemetery, a lot of old colonial prisons that inform the island’s history, and some snorkelling or fishing tours.
Phu Quoc, another island in Southern Vietnam (check out my Phu Quoc guide for more info) tends to be the go-to for tourists finding island getaways in the area. If you value pristine nature and silent nights where you can see thousands of stars over convenient infrastructure and vibrant nightlife, I’d HIGHLY recommend Con Dao as an addition or substitute on your itinerary.
These beaches are just the start – explore Vietnam’s hidden side
If these hidden beaches have you rethinking the typical Vietnam trip, this off-the-beaten-path itinerary is a great place to start.
It’s a full 3-week route through lesser-known cities and regions that offer a rawer, more authentic side of Vietnam.
2. Phu Quy (a more authentic alternative to Mui Ne)
Phu Quy hasn’t changed itself for tourists at all, which is a big part of its appeal. It’s also an island off the coast of Southern Vietnam. While Con Dao is a purposely preserved and curated nature destination, though, Phu Quy is a small tropical island with a few culturally authentic fishing villages spread around its coast.
It’s a much better representation of what typical South Vietnamese fishing villages are like, too, and the island’s extreme isolation (3-hour ferry from the mainland and no airport) has preserved its culture in a sort of time capsule. In my opinion, this is Vietnam’s best beach destination for true cultural immersion.
Why is Phu Quy so authentic?
⛴ No airport, no impulse tourism
As I mentioned, Phu Quy is very isolated. It’s a 3 hour ferry ride from Mui Ne, which is a nice beach resort town that itself is a 3.5 hour drive from Saigon with no airport.
There are a handful of providers that run ferries there during the months of December-July when the seas are traversable – my recommendation for a ferry to Phan Thiet is Superdong, which charges $15/person for reclining seat VIP tickets.
Given the long, multi-leg journey taken to come or go to Phu Quy, there’s very little traffic there from the mainland for tourism or business, and that’s kept the island culture much the same as it has been for decades – a rare quality in the rapidly changing social fabric of Vietnam.
🎣 Fishing comes first, tourism second
Many fishing villages that get a taste of tourism and the money that can come with it partially pivot their economic focus from fishing to hospitality.
It feels like that never happened in Phu Quy; there are a few local families who’ve converted their land into guest houses, but, other than that, you get the vibe that locals don’t give a thought to tourism. Fishermen go about their day like no one is watching, street food vendors never provide English menus… tourism hasn’t changed Phu Quy’s fishing culture even a little.
🌏 Almost zero international visitors
Phu Quy may be the most unknown-to-international-tourists place I’ve ever written about on Indie Traveller.
I virtually guarantee you and your travel companions will be the only non-Vietnamese people you see on the island, and everything will be in Vietnamese. It’s extremely immersive, and that kind of unwavering resolve not to cater to foreign tourists is one of the reasons Phu Quy has held onto its identity.
🛕 Deep religious tradition
Unsurprisingly given its social and geographical isolation, Phu Quy’s religious communities are deep and devout.
They’re also pretty diverse; there are traces of the Mahayana Buddhism and Catholicism you’ll find in most places in Vietnam, but there are also worshippers of the ancient Cham religion and those who worship ocean protectors and whales. The prevalence of religious traditions on Phu Quy form another layer of deep cultural immersion.
What is there to do on Phu Quy?
The beaches on Phu Quy are excellent; very clean and the water is bluer than anything you’ll find on the mainland. They’re not quite as manicured as the almost supernaturally spotless beaches in Con Dao because Phu Quy’s population is larger and its fishing industry is more active, but that gives the beaches a touch of rugged character that I appreciate.
For example, there are colorful wooden fishing vessels floating in the distance at nearly every beach on Phu Quy, something not generally present on Con Dao.
The water is great for sports like kayaking or swimming, though the snorkelling on Phu Quy is not very good because there are no reefs. My favorite fishing village beach on Phu Quy is Hon Den and my favorite secluded beach is Bai Nho.
Circling the island’s coastal road on a motorbike (or ebike if you don’t have a licence) is the best way to take in the vibe of the area. There are villages every few km along the loop, so you’ll never be far from civilization like on Con Dao’s loop. You’ll still pass a lot of really bucolic scenery, though, from dusty trailheads to rocky spits.
Touring temples is another highlight on the island. Lots of religions are practiced on Phu Quy, so you can see places of worship dedicated to Buddhism, Catholicism, or even the local whale protector religion.
FEATURED EXPERIENCE
If you’d prefer to be shown around Phu Quy by a local guide, a Jeep tour is a fantastic option. The open-air Jeeps used are a great compromise for those who want to ride something a little sturdier than a motorbike, because they still allow you to feel the sea breeze and smell the ocean air.
Mui Ne is a very popular beach destination in Vietnam, so many tourists head there. But those looking for a peek into the REAL maritime culture of Vietnam’s Central Coast rather than the resort-tinged tourist culture of Mui Ne should consider hopping on a ferry to Phu Quy, the deeply authentic island just a few hours away.
3. Cat Ba (a less touristy alternative to Ha Long Bay)
Cat Ba is the savvy traveller’s Ha Long Bay. It’s an island just across the bay from Ha Long, and it has access to Lan Ha Bay, which is just as amazing and beautiful as Ha Long but without all the tourists. In fact, the sentiment that Ha Long Bay is way over-touristed and you should take a cruise from Cat Ba instead is the Vietnam tourism take I’d be most willing to go to war for.
The island of Cat Ba is great, too. The inland area is packed with rich forests, limestone crags, and hidden valleys. There are only a handful of actual sandy beaches, but the ones that are there (especially the hidden ones) are more than good enough to make up for their scarcity.
Cat Ba Island is one of my favorite places in Vietnam; I love it so much, in fact, that I published an entire Cat Ba Island guide last year.
Cat Ba is still more touristy than the other two beaches in this article, but it’s way less touristy than the alternative that many tourists fall into.
Why is Cat Ba less touristy?
📸 Ha Long Bay gets all the attention
The main reason Cat Ba is still not too touristy is that Ha Long Bay is slapped on every Vietnam tourism brochure, included in every packaged itinerary in northern Vietnam, and always talked about as THE place to see one of Northern Vietnam’s most amazing landscape types, limestone karsts that just out of the water.
Ha Long Bay has so much positive PR surrounding it that most tourists, even the ones cautioned by locals that it’s way overtouristed, go there just to have the iconic experience and be able to say they’ve been to Ha Long Bay.
Meanwhile, the superior experiences of Cat Ba and Lan Ha Bay sit just an hour away, serving the few tourists who value genuinely special travel experiences over name brand hype. The scenery in Lan Ha Bay is virtually identical to Ha Long but the boat traffic is noticeably lighter. You’ll still kayak through caves, drift past floating fishing villages, and anchor near vine-choked limestone karsts, but without dozens of other boats idling nearby.
It’s one of the easiest travel hacks for Vietnam.
🚍 Just inconvenient enough
Are you beginning to see a common theme in why these beach destinations remain hidden?
To get to Ha Long, you have to take a 2.5 hour bus or minivan ride from Hanoi – I’d recommend 12go for this trip.
That’s where a lot of tourists stop, taking a cruise ship directly from there. But getting to Cat Ba takes just a bit more effort: a 45-minute ferry (also bookable on 12Go), followed by a 30-minute cab ride into town. The added steps in between might not seem like much, but it’s just inconvenient enough to deter the package-tour masses who prefer direct coach-to-boat itineraries.
For independent travellers, though, going the extra mile (so to speak) to get to Cat Ba is straightforward and well worth the extra time.
🌿 National park protection
Like Con Dao, Cat Ba has a huge area that is protected as a National Park. That designation has limited development and ensures forests, wetlands, and ponds covered in floating lotus flowers can thrive.
This is in contrast to Ha Long City, which has grown rapidly to service cruise tourism, Cat Ba’s interior remains wild and its beaches remain rugged. There isn’t enough room or demand for mega-resorts or shopping malls.
What is there to do on Cat Ba?
My first piece of advice would be to spend as much time outside the main town as possible. Cat Ba Town is the one part of the island that is overtouristed and feels a bit sleazy, and it’s best not to stay there at all. If you do, though, head out of town early and try to come back late.
There are a few very nice beaches on Con Dao. My recommendation is Chut Chit Beach, which is hidden on the less populous west side of the island (which means it’s almost always empty) and has a ton of rustic charm. Tung Thu Beach is much closer to town but is still cleaner and less crowded than the main Cat Co Beaches.
But, unlike Con Dao or Phu Quy, the oceanside of Cat Ba is not best enjoyed by going to the beach. Instead, taking a tour of Lan Ha Bay with a local operator is the better option.
For a cheap private tour, you can do what I did and wait until you’re on the island, pull aside a local tour guide when he’s off duty, and ask if he can take you and your travel companions around the bay for a few hours. We ended up getting a culturally immersive and casual tour where the tour guide took us to his floating house for lunch and showed us some hidden fishing villages.
JOIN A TOUR OR EXPLORE SOLO
If you’d rather go for an organized tour, try out Cat Ba Eco-Tours’ 2 day, 1 night cruise of Lan Ha Bay or Halong Dolphin’s single-day Lan Ha cruise for a more laid-back vibe. Both also include a bicycle trip in An Hai fishing village on Cat Ba and a jaunt through part of Cat BA’s huge National Forest, both things that you could do independently.
Cat Ba also has some amazing caves to explore and hiking for all levels, from intense jungle treks to light walks on paved trails along the coast.
