An Bang Beach: Why It's Hoi An's Nicest Swimming Beach (and Cua Dai Is Not)

An Bang is a 3-kilometre stretch of beach 4 kilometres east of Hoi An's Old Town, fronting the South China Sea. The sand is soft and pale, the water shelves gently, and a row of beach bars and restaurants spans most of the shoreline. The beach is fully public — anyone can walk in and lay a towel down — but the bar deck chairs are paid (50,000 to 100,000 VND for the day with a drinks minimum).

The beach has been the favourite local swim spot since the early 2000s. Before that, most Hoi An swimming happened at Cua Dai beach 4 kilometres south, but erosion (see the next section) made Cua Dai unusable. An Bang inherited the entire local beach scene.

For visitors staying in Hoi An, An Bang is the natural afternoon-after-the-Old-Town stop. For travellers based in Da Nang who want a quieter beach than My Khe, An Bang is 30 minutes' drive south.

March to September is the calm-water season. Air temperature is 28 to 35°C, sea temperature is 24 to 28°C, the water is mostly flat, swimming is safe along the entire beach. This is when An Bang is at its peak.

October to February is the rougher season. Northeast monsoon winds drive waves and currents along the central coast. Swimming is still possible but the sea can be choppy and undertow currents pick up. Most beach bars stay open but with reduced staff and outdoor seating moved indoors.

Best time of day: 06:00 to 09:00 for sunrise (the beach faces east), 15:30 to 18:00 for the late-afternoon golden hour. The midday window (11:00 to 14:00) has the strongest sun and least shade — the beach bars have umbrellas but most travellers find midday too hot for the sand.

At night the beach is dark and quiet — no nightclub scene at An Bang, which most locals prefer.

Three reliable beach restaurants. Deckchair Cafe is the original Western-friendly spot at the north end of the beach — sandwiches, salads, smoothies, Vietnamese coffee. Sunbeds are 70,000 VND for the day with a 150,000 VND drinks minimum. Open 08:00 to 22:00.

Soul Kitchen is one strip south of Deckchair — slightly more polished, live music several nights a week, brunch menu through 14:00. Same sunbed pricing.

La Plage is at the far southern end of the public beach — French-Vietnamese menu, the best food on the beach if you want a sit-down lunch (90,000 to 180,000 VND a main). Older and slower-paced; this is where locals eat.

Avoid the dolphin-statue-fronted seafood restaurants at the south end past La Plage — they overcharge for shrimp and crab. If you want seafood, Soul Kitchen does a fish-of-the-day for 220,000 VND that is fresher.

Vietnamese coffee at any of the three runs 35,000 to 50,000 VND. Beer (Tiger or Hoi An's own Hoi An Brewery) runs 30,000 to 50,000 VND for a draught.

Cua Dai beach, 4 kilometres south of An Bang, was the original Hoi An swimming beach. From 2012 onwards severe coastal erosion — driven by upstream Thu Bon river dams reducing sand replenishment, plus climate-change-driven storms — eroded most of the beach. By 2018 the southern half had no sand at all, just sea walls of sandbags.

A major sand-replenishment project in 2020-2022 restored part of the beach, but it remains narrower and rougher than An Bang. Most resorts on the old Cua Dai shoreline now offer pool access instead of beach access.

If you are staying at a Cua Dai hotel, the hotel will arrange a shuttle to An Bang for free. If you are visiting Hoi An for a beach day, go to An Bang directly — there is no reason to go to Cua Dai unless you specifically want a quieter (and rougher) stretch.

From Hoi An Old Town: 12 minutes by taxi (60,000 to 80,000 VND, about $3) or a 20-minute cycle along the country roads. Many Hoi An hotels rent bicycles for 50,000 VND a day.

From Da Nang: 35 minutes by car. If you are based in Da Nang for the trip and want a quieter beach than My Khe, An Bang is a reasonable half-day option, often paired with a Hoi An Old Town visit on the way back.

The beach has a small parking area with attendants (10,000 VND for a motorbike, 20,000 VND for a car). Most beach bars also handle valet parking for free if you spend at their venue.

The natural pairing: morning Old Town walking tour (08:00 to 12:00), lunch in town, afternoon at An Bang (14:00 to 17:30), back to the Old Town for the lantern evening (18:30 onwards). This is the day-cycle most Hoi An visitors enjoy.

Alternative: Cam Thanh coconut forest in the morning (09:30 to 11:30), lunch at La Plage on An Bang (12:00 to 14:00), An Bang beach time until sunset (14:00 to 18:30). Pairs the rural countryside stop with the beach without going back through town.

For families: morning Tra Que village herb-planting, lunch at Soul Kitchen on An Bang, kids in the water until sunset. The countryside-and-beach combination is one of the calmest family days in Hoi An.