Quy Nhon beaches in 2026: which one to pick, what it costs, when to swim

Quy Nhon has twelve beaches, coves and islands within forty kilometres of the centre, and on a weekday you can have most of them to yourself. There is Ky Co, the turquoise cove people fly in from Ho Chi Minh City to see. There is Bai Xep, a fishing village where backpackers book three nights and stay a month. There is a beach below a former French leprosarium, a shore made of basalt stones the size of hen's eggs, and a five-kilometre city beach where the first swimmers are in the water by 5:30am.

Lonely Planet put Quy Nhon on its Best in Travel 2026 list as "best for coastal adventures and seafood delights" (VietnamPlus, January 2026), and the beaches are the reason. This guide sorts them by what you actually want: easy swimming with kids, photographs, a wild stretch with nobody on it, snorkelling, a sunrise. For each one you get the 2026 entry fee in dong and dollars, the distance from the centre, what is there, what can hurt you, and when to go. At the end there is a month-by-month sea table, a section on rip currents and a straight comparison with Nha Trang. If you are still planning the trip, start with the complete Quy Nhon guide for flights, hotels and costs.

One thing before you open a map. On 1 July 2025 Vietnam merged its provinces and abolished districts. Binh Dinh province no longer exists: it is now part of Gia Lai, and Quy Nhon is the capital. Booking sites still say "Binh Dinh" and searching that way still works.

Prices and timetables checked in September 2026. Entry fees on the Phuong Mai peninsula have already changed twice this year, so treat every number as a starting point.

Map and summary table of Quy Nhon beaches

Quy Nhon's beaches fall into four groups. City beaches sit inside town, up to 6 km from the centre. The southern beaches line the QL1D coast road 10 to 15 km out. The Phuong Mai peninsula to the northeast, 20 to 35 km away, holds the famous coves. And two islands, Hon Kho and Cu Lao Xanh, need a boat. The city beaches are for a swim before breakfast, the peninsula is the big day out, and the islands are for when you have a spare day.

• City beach (Bãi biển Quy Nhơn): 5 km along the seafront — Free, showers by the water
• Queen's Beach (Bãi Hoàng Hậu): Shore of round stones — Ghenh Rang entry 25,000 VND (~$1)
• Quy Hoa (Quy Hoà): Quiet bay below the old leprosarium, 6 km — Free
• Bai Xep (Bãi Xép): Fishing village, 12 km south — Guesthouses, free
• Bai Dai (Bãi Dại): Long wild beach — Strong surf, swim with care
• Bai Bau (Bãi Bàu): 15 km south, white sand — Calm water in the dry season
• Ky Co (Kỳ Co): Turquoise cove — Gate 120,000 + shuttle 110,000 VND (~$9)
• Eo Gio (Eo Gió): Clifftop walk, no swimming — 30,000 VND (~$1.20)
• Nhon Ly (Nhơn Lý): Fishing village and pier — Seafood lunch, boats to Ky Co
• Trung Luong (Trung Lương): Glamping, closed after storm damage — Call first
• Hon Kho (Hòn Khô): Best snorkelling — Entry 60,000 + boat 150,000 VND
• Cu Lao Xanh (Cù Lao Xanh): Island with an 1890 lighthouse — Ferry 70,000 VND one way

All 12 in one table

Almost everything here is free. That is the real difference from Da Nang, where the best stretches of sand belong to hotels. You pay at Ky Co (private land with a gate and a shuttle), at Queen's Beach (it sits inside the Ghenh Rang park), at the Eo Gio headland and on Hon Kho. Everywhere else, you just walk in.

City beaches: a swim before breakfast

The city beach is a five-kilometre curve of sand from the port in the north to the Ghenh Rang headland in the south, with two more bays just past the headland. No taxi, no day bag. Walk out of the hotel, cross the road, and ten minutes later you are in the water. These are the beaches for your first morning, your last evening and any gap between trips.

The city beach

The main seafront runs 5 km along Xuân Diệu and An Dương Vương streets. The sand is yellow-grey and medium-grained. Not spectacular, but clean, because it gets raked every morning. Depending on where you stand it is 30 to 70 metres wide.

It is free and open around the clock. Freshwater showers stand along the promenade. Sun loungers are rare, so people lie on the sand or a towel. Cafés and shops are across the road: seafood, ice cream, coconuts, water, all at city prices rather than resort prices.

Three stretches are worth knowing. The north end near the Quang Trung monument is the widest and busiest, with exercise groups at dawn and wedding shoots at dusk. The south end towards Ghenh Rang is calmer, with fewer people and the hotels closer to the water. The fishing quarter by the port gives you boats at sunset and good photographs, but it is not where you want to swim.

Swimming is easy. The entry is gentle, the shallows run out 30 to 40 metres, and headlands at both ends of the bay take the edge off the swell. After storms in the wet season, though, expect seaweed and litter on the water.

This is a beach locals use, not a resort. Gymnastics by the water at 5:30, runners at 6:00, school football at 17:00, couples with a photographer at 19:00. It feels lived in, and that is the charm.

Queen's Beach, the shore of stone eggs

Three kilometres from the centre, inside the Ghềnh Ráng – Tiên Sa tourist area, is Quy Nhon's strangest beach. There is no sand, just a field of smooth basalt stones from egg-size upwards. In Vietnamese it is Bãi Hoàng Hậu, "Queen's Beach", or Bãi Đá Trứng, "the beach of egg stones". The queen is Nam Phương, wife of Bao Dai, Vietnam's last emperor, who holidayed here with her family in the 1930s.

Entry to the Ghenh Rang area is 25,000 VND (~$1), cash at the gate.

Do not plan on lying down. Walking barefoot is a foot massage you did not order. People swim between the boulders instead: at high tide the sea fills natural stone basins, and you get a free jacuzzi. Wear water shoes, since the stones are slippery and ankles twist easily.

Come early or at sunset. The headland faces into the bay, so in the evening the wet stones pick up the pink sky; at midday the light goes flat and the photos with it. An hour and a half is enough: the stones, a soak, the shot, then up the hill to the poet Han Mac Tu's grave and the viewpoint over the bay. It is all one ticket. The headland and the poet get their own section in our guide to things to do in Quy Nhon.

Reviews of Queen's Beach keep saying the same thing: it is more a natural monument than a beach. Lying down is awkward, you swim in the rock pools, and you come for the photograph.

Quy Hoa, the beach below the old leprosarium

Six kilometres south of the centre, past the Ghenh Rang headland, is the bay of Quy Hoà. Above it stands a leprosarium founded in 1929 by French missionaries. Today it is the working Quy Hoa National Leprosy and Dermatology Hospital, and its grounds feel more like a park: shaded paths, sculptures, pine trees by the sea. The poet Hàn Mặc Tử, one of the great names of 20th-century Vietnamese poetry, died of leprosy here in 1940. He is buried on the next headland, at Ghenh Rang.

The beach is free. The sand is cleaner than in town, simply because few people come. The bay is small, the bottom sandy, and on a calm day the entry is gentle. Remember that this is a hospital: keep your voice down and do not photograph patients.

Quy Hoa suits people who want a swim with some history attached. Ghenh Rang and the stone beach in the morning, a walk through the hospital park, a swim in the quiet bay, lunch at a café on the road. A slow day, and a good one.

The south: from Bai Xep to Bai Bau

South of town the QL1D road hugs the sea, and 10 to 15 km out it passes three beaches with very different personalities: the fishing cove of Bai Xep, the wild surf beach of Bai Dai and the calm white bay of Bai Bau. There are fewer tourists here, and the coast looks more like working Vietnam than the polished peninsula spots. If you have three days, give one to the south.

Bai Xep, the fishing cove

Twelve kilometres south of the centre, under the Ghenh Rang ridge, is Bãi Xép: a fishing village with a beach a few hundred metres long. No gate, no ticket.

It became famous in 2015, when director Victor Vu shot the childhood scenes of Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass here and the cove turned into a domestic pilgrimage. Western backpackers found it earlier; Tom Divers has included Bai Xep in his Vietnam Coracle guides to the central coast for years. Today a few guesthouses and backpacker places sit right on the sand (Big Tree, Haven), and the next bay south, a kilometre away, holds the AVANI and Anantara resorts with their own beaches.

The sand is yellow but the strip is short and rocky at the waterline. You can swim on calm days, ideally in water shoes. For an easy swim, the flatter bottom is at Bai Bau down the road. People come to Bai Xep for something else: a village that still looks like a fishing village. Round basket boats, thúng chai, pulled up on the beach, nets drying on bamboo frames, women sorting the night's catch. The boats go out before dawn and come back by 7 or 8, and the catch is sold right there on the sand.

Food and facilities:

• Guesthouse cafés serve coffee, breakfast, pizza and burgers, with working Wi-Fi.
• Family seafood shacks grill prawns and fish at catch prices. Often no menu, so agree the price first.

The cove faces east. Sunrise comes straight up out of the sea, which is the best reason to sleep here for a night. At sunset the sun drops behind the hills at your back and the boats go soft and golden.

Getting there: 20–25 minutes by scooter on QL1D, or around 150,000 VND (~$6) return by Grab. Our Quy Nhon transport guide covers the road. For where to sleep in the village, see the section on Bai Xep in our Quy Nhon hotels guide.

Bai Dai, the long wild beach with surf

Right after Bai Xep, about a kilometre south, begins Bãi Dại: a long curve of pale sand with jagged rocks at each end. Booking sites usually write it "Bai Dai", which is why the resorts next door give it as their address.

It is free. It is also open to the sea, and the waves are clearly bigger than in the neighbouring coves. Vietnamese guides are blunt about it: swim close to shore, stay out of deep water, and do not swim at all in the rainy season (September to January). There are no lifeguards.

💬 "Tắm biển, bơi lội gần bờ, tránh khu nước sâu, khi sóng dữ" ("swim near the shore and keep out of deep water when the waves are rough") — Bai Dai travel guide, vinwonders.com, 2025

Facilities are close to nil: a couple of seafood places by the road, then wild shore. People come here for the rocks, the sunrise and a quiet place to pitch a tent. Choose Bai Dai for space and emptiness, not for an easy swim.

Bai Bau, white sand and flat water

A couple of kilometres further south on QL1D, 15 km from the centre, the road drops to the bay of Bãi Bàu (also spelled Bãi Bầu). Technically this is no longer Quy Nhon: since the 2025 reform the bay belongs to Xuan Loc commune in Dak Lak province, the former Phu Yen. In practice it is the same road and the same 20 minutes from town.

Granite ridges close the bay on both sides, so in the dry season (April to August) the water is calm and clear, the sand white and fine, the entry gentle. For swimming this is the best beach in the south and one of the best in the area for families. Between the boulders at the edges there is some decent snorkelling.

A few seafood restaurants sit by the water, cooking the morning's prawns, crabs and clams. Local families arrive at weekends; on weekdays it is nearly empty. Next door, at Bai Bang, is Life's a Beach, one of the best-known backpacker hostels on this stretch of coast.

The Phuong Mai peninsula: the big beach day

The Phương Mai peninsula runs northeast from Quy Nhon across the Thị Nại bridge, about 2.5 km long and the longest sea bridge in Vietnam when it opened in 2006. On the far side a coast road winds through fishing villages, sand dunes and rock headlands. Quy Nhon's headline spots are here: the turquoise cove of Ky Co, the Eo Gio headland and the village of Nhon Ly. This peninsula is why most people come.

Ky Co, the turquoise cove

A small enclosed cove on the peninsula, 25 km from the centre. Cliffs 20 to 30 metres high wall it in on two sides, the open sea is on the third, and a strip of white sand about 50 metres wide runs along the fourth. The water is clear enough to see the bottom at five metres and more.

Vietnamese bloggers started calling it the "Maldives of Vietnam" in 2016. The colour does not come from reef. It comes from pale sand under water the cliffs keep sheltered. It is also the most expensive beach in Quy Nhon: the cove is private land, you enter through a gate, the last steep descent is closed to private vehicles, and the operator's shuttle takes you down.

Most English guides still say Ky Co is boat-only, from Nhon Ly. That stopped being true years ago. A sealed road runs to the gate, which is why road tours keep going on windy days when the boats stay in port.

Going independently, budget 230,000 VND (~$9) a head just to get in and down to the water, before you eat or rent anything. Children under 1.2 m go free. On a group tour both tickets are included. The same day is also sold on Klook and GetYourGuide, with card payment and free cancellation; our guide to tours from Quy Nhon compares the channels.

On the beach there are seafood cafés, loungers, mask rental, a shower and a toilet. Shade is scarce and gone after 11am. Arrive at opening to claim a spot under the cliffs, because around midday every group tour lands on the sand at once.

Swimming is safe: the cove is sheltered and the bottom shelves gently. Snorkelling is poor, as there is hardly any reef. For coral, go to Hon Kho.

Two points come up again and again in Ky Co reviews on TripAdvisor: you pay to enter private land, and the last stretch down is shuttle-only. A motorbike is the easy way to get here; a taxi there and back is the expensive one.

Eo Gio, the windy headland where nobody swims

A couple of kilometres from Ky Co is the rock headland of Eo Gió, "the windy gap". A path about a kilometre long follows the ridge, with viewpoints 30 to 80 metres above the water. Entry is 30,000 VND (~$1.20). In June 2026 the operator tried to raise it to 50,000; the Gia Lai authorities pushed back and it settled at thirty.

You cannot swim here. There is a strong rip along the cliffs. Come for the sunrise instead: the sun comes straight out of the sea, and the headland is nearly empty until the first coaches arrive around 7am. After 2pm the wind starts taking hats. Ky Co and Eo Gio belong in the same outing, and half a day covers both with time for a swim.

Nhon Ly, the fishing village and pier

Nhơn Lý is a fishing village on the peninsula, 22 km from the centre and next to Eo Gio. Boats to Ky Co leave from its pier. The beach by the pier is a working beach, not a resort one.

It is free. The sand is mixed with shells and bits of fishing gear, and swimming among the boat traffic is not much fun. The point is the scene: in the morning the boats come in and a fish market sets up on the sand straight off the hulls. Prawns, clams and fish cost well under city-market prices, and family seafood restaurants will feed you lunch for 250,000–400,000 VND (~$10–16) a head.

Stop in Nhon Ly for the atmosphere and for lunch after Ky Co: basket boats, haggling over prawns, a coffee in a plastic-chair café.

Trung Luong, the glamping site that is closed

The Trung Lương area, 35 km north of Quy Nhon, is a glamping site with tents and bungalows on a grassy slope above the sea, swings over the drop and terrace restaurants. Half the "things to do in Quy Nhon" lists in English still include it.

The islands: Hon Kho and Cu Lao Xanh

Two islands off Quy Nhon are set up for visitors. Tiny Hon Kho sits 1.5 km off the peninsula, and big Cu Lao Xanh lies 24 km from the city. The first is for snorkelling and a half day, the second for a night and an end-of-the-world feeling.

Hon Kho, the best snorkelling around

Hòn Khô is an uninhabited islet 1.5 km off the fishing village of Nhơn Hải, which is 16 km from the centre by road. About a hectare of land with nothing on it: no café, no toilet, no shade.

You come for the reef. Off the north shore of Hon Kho is the best living coral near Quy Nhon, with 8 to 10 metres of visibility in the dry season. Brain, branching and table corals, butterflyfish and parrotfish, starfish and urchins on the bottom. No need for fins near shore; it is shallow.

Cu Lao Xanh, the green island with a French lighthouse

Cù Lao Xanh is an inhabited island 24 km offshore; officially it is the commune of Nhơn Châu. White beaches, clear water, a fishing village and a lot of quiet.

On its highest point stands a lighthouse the French built in 1890, still working. Climbing it is free, but you arrange it with the keeper on the day: there are no opening hours and no tickets. Inside is a narrow cast-iron spiral stair; from the top you get 360 degrees of mainland on one side and open sea on the other.

Getting there:

• Wooden ferry from Hàm Tử pier in Quy Nhon: 70,000 VND (~$2.80) one way, 1 to 1.5 hours. Two sailings a day, early morning (around 06:00–06:30) and around 13:00–13:30. Return sailings leave the island at 07:00 and 15:00, so the ferry alone does not allow a day trip.
• Speedboat: about 300,000 VND (~$12) return, 45 minutes. For a same-day visit you need it on at least one leg.

Where to sleep: a handful of family guesthouses, from about 300,000 VND (~$12) a night. Most take bookings by phone or Zalo; find the numbers on Google Maps. There are no ATMs on the island, so bring cash.

Cu Lao Xanh is for switching off. The signal is patchy, the island goes dark and silent after 10pm, and the night sky has no light pollution at all. Stay the night: you get two unhurried days and a sunrise on the east shore. From September to November sailings are cancelled whenever the swell is up.

When to go: seasons, swell and sea temperature

Quy Nhon's beach season runs from March to August. From September to December the sea gets rough, island ferries are cancelled and boats to Ky Co stay in port. If the beach is the point of the trip rather than the Cham towers, skip October and November.

Month by month

Best months: April, May and June. Warm sea, light wind, almost no rain, air at 27–30 °C. Resorts near Bai Xep fill up in May and June, so book a month or two ahead.

Worst months: October and November. It rains four to six days a week, ferries and speedboats don't run, seafront cafés close. Ky Co is still reachable by road, just without the snorkelling. If you land in Quy Nhon then, plan around the Cham towers and pagodas. Our Quy Nhon weather guide goes month by month.

In between: December to February. You can swim, but evenings drop to 22–24 °C, so pack a light jacket. Fewer visitors and hotels 20–30% cheaper.

The typical November story: island boats cancelled, rain most of the week, and a beach holiday that turns into a sightseeing one.

Beach safety in Quy Nhon

Most of Quy Nhon's city and sheltered beaches are safe: headlands shield the bays and the bottom shelves gently. There have been no reported shark attacks off Quy Nhon in recent years. Three risks are real: rip currents on the open coast, jellyfish, and sea urchins on the rocky stretches.

Rip currents

A rip is a narrow channel of water flowing away from the beach and out to sea. It forms on open coast once the waves reach about a metre. Around Quy Nhon, watch out at:

• Bai Dai: open shore and big waves, especially September to January
• Eo Gio: along the cliffs at any time; nobody should swim there
• Bai Xep: rarely, in storm winds

If a rip takes you:

1. Don't panic and don't swim against it; it is stronger than you.
2. Swim parallel to the beach for 30–50 metres until it lets go.
3. Then head back in at an angle.
4. If you're tired, float on your back, raise an arm and wait.

Keep children out of the water on open beaches when there is swell. A dark or murky strip heading straight out from the shore, with no breaking whitewater, is what a rip looks like.

Jellyfish, urchins and coral

Jellyfish turn up in spring, mostly off the Phuong Mai peninsula. A sting usually fades in an hour or two. Rinse with seawater, not fresh, and apply vinegar; the cafés at Ky Co usually have some.

Sea urchins live on rocky patches: at Queen's Beach, the edges of Bai Xep and Bai Bau, and around the boulders at Ky Co. Wear water shoes. If you get a spine, don't yank it with tweezers; soak the foot in hot water and ease it out.

Coral grows at Hon Kho and Cu Lao Xanh. Don't stand on it. You will kill the coral and cut yourself. Snorkel floating.

Swimming with kids

Best beaches around Quy Nhon for small children:

1. City beach: gentle entry, a bay closed by headlands, showers and cafés at hand.
2. Bai Bau: sheltered bay, white sand, flat water in the dry season.
3. Ky Co: no waves, with a toilet and shower (but pricey and crowded at lunch).
4. Quy Hoa: quiet, few people, sandy bottom.

Avoid Bai Dai (open shore, surf), Queen's Beach (slippery boulders) and Eo Gio (cliffs and current).

What to pack and where to rent

The basic Quy Nhon beach kit:

• Water shoes, a must for Queen's Beach, Bai Xep and Hon Kho. 80,000–150,000 VND (~$3–6) at the market in town.
• Mask and snorkel for Hon Kho and Cu Lao Xanh. Rentals cost 30,000–50,000 VND (~$1.20–2), but your own fits better.
• SPF 50 sunscreen. A tube costs 300,000 VND and up here, so bring it from home.
• Water: at least two litres each for the far spots (Hon Kho, Bai Dai). A 1.5-litre bottle is about 10,000 VND in a shop and triple that from a beach vendor.
• A hat, because there is no shade at Ky Co after 11am.
• Cash in small notes. The gates at Ky Co, Eo Gio and Ghenh Rang and the boatmen don't take cards and often can't break a 500,000.
• A rubbish bag, since wild beaches have no bins.

Scooter rental for beach days:

• Through your hotel: 150,000–200,000 VND (~$6–8) a day
• From rental shops in the centre: 100,000–150,000 VND (~$4–6) a day, usually against your passport or a deposit

Grab works well in town but thins out on the Phuong Mai peninsula and in the far south. Riding out with Grab and hoping to catch one back is how people end up walking. Agree the return trip with your driver.

Changing and rinsing off: the city beach has cabins and showers along the promenade, Ky Co has its own facilities, and everywhere else it's a café or back to the hotel.

Which beach for what: our picks

The short version, for when you don't want to read the whole guide.

One day: go to the Phuong Mai peninsula. Eo Gio at sunrise, Ky Co in the morning, lunch in Nhon Ly, the stones at Queen's Beach in the evening. Two days: add the south, with Bai Xep, Bai Bau and a night in a guesthouse by the sea. Three: add Cu Lao Xanh overnight or half a day snorkelling at Hon Kho.

Quy Nhon or Nha Trang: which has better beaches?

It's the most common question on the forums: Quy Nhon or Nha Trang? Short answer: Quy Nhon wins on nature and quiet, Nha Trang on infrastructure and things to do.

Verdict: first time in Vietnam, and you want English menus everywhere, packaged island tours and a water park by the beach? Nha Trang. Been before, and you want quiet, untouched coast, lower prices and beaches where nobody fights for a lounger at dawn? Quy Nhon. What a week in Vietnam costs in 2026 is in our breakdown of Vietnam prices for rooms, food and transport.

Choosing between the neighbours? See Da Nang beaches for an active city break or Hoi An beaches for slow days next to the old town. For the whole coast, read our ranking of the best beaches in Vietnam, and for getting here, the guide to flights to Vietnam. Entry rules depend on your passport; check our Vietnam visa guide before you book.

FAQ: Quy Nhon beaches

Read next: Things to do in Quy Nhon · Tours from Quy Nhon · Quy Nhon weather by month · Nha Trang beaches

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