My An and An Thuong: The Beach Base That Actually Works
- Best for: First-timers, beach lovers, digital nomads, anyone who wants everything within walking distance
- Vibe: Tourist-friendly, café-dense, walkable
- Nightly rate: VND 350,000–2,500,000
- Transport: Moderate — Grab is the main option; no reliable public transport, but the beach area itself is very walkable
My Khe Beach is directly across the street from the An Thuong strip — wide sand, clean water, and a walking path that runs north toward Son Tra. The An Thuong lanes themselves are narrow and busy with independent cafés, massage shops, small restaurants, and guesthouses at every price point. It’s the most tourist-concentrated part of Da Nang, which means convenience is high and authenticity is lower — but for a first trip, the trade-off makes sense.
- My Khe Beach is best before 7:30am and after 5pm — midday the sun here is serious and the beach vendors are persistent
- Book a hotel one block back from the main beach road for significantly lower prices and similar access
- The coastal walking path running north from An Thuong toward Son Tra is worth doing at sunrise — largely empty, good views, and cooler than any other time of day
Hai Chau and Han River Area: The City Side, Done Right
- Best for: Foodies, short stays, travelers using Da Nang as a base for Hoi An and Hue day trips
- Vibe: Local, commercial, river-lit at night
- Nightly rate: VND 300,000–2,000,000
- Transport: Moderate — Han Market, Da Nang Cathedral, and the Dragon Bridge are walkable; the beach requires a 10-minute Grab ride
The Dragon Bridge does its fire-breathing routine on Saturday and Sunday nights at 9pm, and if you’re staying on this side of the river you can watch it from the riverside promenade without planning anything. The street food here — Mi Quang, banh mi, bun cha ca — is cheaper and more local than anything in An Thuong. Han Market in the morning is worth an hour of anyone’s time: three floors of produce, dried goods, fabric, and coffee that costs a fraction of the café price a block away.
- The Dragon Bridge fire show runs Saturdays and Sundays at 9pm — the riverside fills up fast, arrive 20 minutes early for a clear spot
- Grab rides to My Khe Beach from here run VND 30,000–50,000 and take about 10 minutes — not a dealbreaker if you’re not planning daily beach trips
Son Tra Peninsula: Jungle, Luxury, and a 67-Meter Buddha
- Best for: Honeymooners, luxury travelers, anyone who wants nature immediately outside the door
- Vibe: Remote, forested, resort-island quiet
- Nightly rate: VND 3,000,000–15,000,000+
- Transport: Difficult — no public transport; private transfers or resort shuttles for everything, about 10–15 minutes from the main beach strip
Son Tra Peninsula sits around 10km northeast of the city center, a forested mountain that drops straight into the sea. The Lady Buddha statue at Linh Ung Pagoda — 67 meters tall, visible from the beach across the water — is a 15-minute motorbike ride from anywhere on the peninsula. The red-shanked douc langurs that live in the forest canopy are sometimes spotted on the road toward the InterContinental in the early morning, though not reliably. What is reliable: the quiet, the views, and the absence of anything resembling a street food stall within easy walking distance.
- Linh Ung Pagoda and the Lady Buddha are free to enter and open daily — shoulders must be covered, free sarongs are available at the entrance
- Automatic scooters are not permitted on the upper section of the peninsula road — manual motorbikes or a car are your options if you want to reach the summit viewpoints
- Factor in transport costs for every meal and excursion — isolation here is real, and Grab pricing to the city center adds up over a multi-day stay
Conclusion
For a first trip, My An and An Thuong is where most people should base themselves — the beach access, the restaurant density, and the walkability make it the most practical option. If you’ve been before or you’re here for more than a week, staying in Hai Chau for a few nights gives you a genuinely different reading of the city. Son Tra is for people who want the resort experience first and the city second. The best areas to stay in Da Nang ultimately divide along one question: do you want to walk to the beach, or do you want to look at it from a hillside?
