The Da Nang decisions worth getting right.
Da Nang is a working city with a beach along one side and a river through the middle. The international airport sits inside it, ten to fifteen minutes from the beach hotels.
Hoi An is 30 km south, forty minutes in normal traffic. Treat it as part of the same trip: tailoring, weddings, photography and most of the good dinners are there.
Start here
The decisions that cost the most to get wrong in Da Nang, in the order they come up.
Property
Beachfront, riverside and the Ngu Hanh Son side behave like three different markets.
Golf
BRG Da Nang, Montgomerie Links, Ba Na Hills and Laguna Lang Co. Which one you play depends on wind and budget.
Dental
Full implant and crown work, and enough clinics to choose the dentist rather than the price.
Luxury Villas
Resort villas along Non Nuoc and towards Hoi An. The further south, the quieter and the longer the drive to town.
Company Setup
Banks, accountants and an office market that exists.
International Schools
Curriculum, fees and the commute at 7:30.
Health Checks
Full-morning check-up packages, private hospitals, and English-speaking service if you choose carefully.
Weddings
Resort lawns in Da Nang, old town and riverside venues in Hoi An. Two different days.
Hoi An Tailoring
Forty minutes south. A good shop measures twice and fits twice. A bad one sells you a suit in four hours.
What Da Nang is good at
- Golf. Four courses within about an hour.
- Living here. International schools, hospitals, offices, supermarkets, a real rental market.
- Access. Direct flights, a city airport, and Hoi An and Hue as day trips.
- Space. The beach runs for kilometres and does not feel like a strip.
Where Da Nang will let you down
- The sea. Open coast, big surf from around October, and swimming gets flagged off when it turns.
- October and November are typhoon months. Flights and boats both get cancelled.
- Islands and boat days are weak compared with Nha Trang. The Cham Islands are seasonal.
- It is a city. To walk from the lobby into the sea and never take a taxi, choose Nha Trang.
Not sure it is the right city?
Nha Trang is the other option, and for some trips the better one.
Printed from nhatrangdanang.com/da-nang. Prices in Vietnam move; the date matters.