Mui Ne is a sleepy little town in the South of Vietnam known for its sand dunes, fairy stream, kiteboarding and emerging backpacker party scene. Home to the TikTok famous iHome Backpacker Resort, Mui Ne is slowly becoming a popular destination for travellers. This guide will cover everything you need to know starting with is Mui Ne even worth it. Answer: it depends. The guide will also cover how to get there, how to get around, where to stay, where to eat, what to do and the best nightlife spots.
Is Mui Ne worth it?
Mui Ne is a nice little beachy stop-off between Ho Chi Minh City and Dalat. It has very similar vibes to Nha Trang and Quy Nhon, so most people will only visit one of these southern Vietnam beach towns. Even if you love a good beach, visiting all three (and they’re basically in a row) would be overkill and would mean less time enjoying other unique and special places in Vietnam.
I have been to all three (on different trips) and I would say Mui Ne has more small beach town party vibes. Nha Trang has a similar vibe but is much bigger and is much more of a touristy vacation spot, than a backpacker party destination. Both Nha Trang and Mui Ne also have great kite-boarding if that is something you’re interested in. Quy Nhon on the other hand, is much more off-the-beaten-track and not a party destination. It is perfect for people wanting a quiet beach break, with no partying.
Mui Ne has the famous dunes (which are all over TikTok) and a couple of other nice sights. However, it is skippable, if you are shorter on time. The main reason to visit Mui Ne is if you want a break from the cities and to chill on the beach and party a bit. Another reason to visit Mui Ne is if you have lots of time in Vietnam and want to experience a bit of everything. I’d visit Mui Ne again but I wouldn’t skip destinations such as Ninh Binh, Cat Ba, Dalat, Can Tho, Phong Nha or Hue in favour of Mui Ne.
How many days to spend in Mui Ne
Mui Ne really does not have a lot of sightseeing options, so it’s not a destination where you necessarily need to spend a long time to visit it properly. A lot of people only spend one day if they are super short on time. You can see virtually all the sights of Mui Ne in one full day; however, it would be a fairly rushed day and I don’t think you’d have the best experience of Mui Ne. While the dunes, fairy stream and fishing village are cool, the best part of Mui Ne is enjoying a slower pace of life and chilling on the beach for a few days.
I would recommend a minimum of two full days in Mui Ne (one to sightsee and one to chill), but if you have the time and want to properly relax allow 3 to 4 days. If you kitesurf or love a party and have heaps of time in Vietnam, you could easily spend a week here.
How to get to Mui Ne
Mui Ne is a small coastal town in the South of Vietnam. Most travellers will either come from Ho Chi Minh City or Dalat, but it’s also possible to come from Nha Trang (another beachy destination). It is possible to get from other destinations as well like Can Tho or Hoi An, but these are not direct services or will take 18+ hours skipping many popular destinations in between.
Train and bus services are running to Mui Ne, which you can book online at 12GOAsia. The buses are generally sleeper buses with reclined seats and A/C (even for day buses). The trains have a few different seating class options, such as non-A/C budget seating and A/C sleeper seating. However, the train stop isn’t actually in Mui Ne, but in Bin Thuan, which is a 45-minute taxi ride from Mui Ne town. The prices are similar between the train and sleeper buses, so honestly, there is no benefit in getting the train over the bus, given how far away the station is.
TIP: when booking the bus on 12GOAsia, make sure you book one that stops specifically at Mui Ne and not going to Bin Thuan. Some buses only stop at Bin Thuan, which is 45 minutes away, but they still come up when you search the route specifically for Mui Ne. If you book a bus bound for Mui Ne, the bus makes a few stops on the side of the main road. They will stop opposite iHome Hostel and in town at the actual bus terminal in Mui Ne.
How to get to Mui Ne from Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City to Mui Ne is a super popular travel route, so many buses are running between these locations. The first bus for Mui Ne leaves at 4:30 am and the last bus departs at 11:30 am, with services virtually every 30 minutes. The journey takes around 6 hours, with one stop for food and bathroom breaks. Different companies will have different departure points in Ho Chi Minh City so double-check that you’re booking a departure point closer to where your hostel is in the city. You can expect to pay between 220k-320k VND Vietnamese Dong ($9-$13 USD) for the journey.
How to get to Mui Ne from Dalat
Dalat to Mui Ne is another super popular travel route if you’re going from the north to the south of Vietnam. The first bus departs at 7 am and the last bus departs at 5 pm, with buses roughly departing every 1-2 hours. The journey takes around 5 hours, but most buses will be sleeper buses and include a break stop for food and bathroom. All the buses in Dalat depart from the An Phu office in the centre of town (you can find the exact location on your ticket or Google Maps). Expect to pay 295k VND Vietnamese Dong ($12 USD) for this ticket.
How to get to Mui Ne from Nha Trang
Nha Trang to Mui Ne is a less popular route, as both destinations have similar vibes and are beach towns, so many travellers visit one and not the other. However, there are still some direct bus services between these destinations. A few day buses depart Nha Trang between 7 am and 8:30 am and evening buses depart from 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm. The buses all depart from bus company agencies in Nha Trang, so make sure you double-check who you book with and where their agency is located. The sleeper bus journey takes 5-6 hours, with one bathroom/ food break. Expect to pay 368k VND Vietnamese Dong ($15 USD).
How to get around Mui Ne
Mui Ne itself is pretty compact. It doesn’t really feel like a town, more like a collection of cafes, restaurants and shops scattered along the main road and the beach. In Mui Ne itself, all the cafes, restaurants and bars are walkable either along the main road or walking along the beach. You can also walk to popular sights such as the Fairy Stream, Mui Ne Fishing Village and many of the beaches surrounding Mui Ne.
Getting around Mui Ne via tour
The majority of sights of Mui Ne are located outside of the town area, so you will need to arrange transport. The two most common ways to get to places like the dunes are by a shared tour. Hostels and other travel agencies run daily half or full-day tours which include the following sights: the red dunes, the white dunes (usually with either a sunrise or sunset), the fairy stream and Mui Ne fishing village. These tours can be as low as 200k VND Vietnamese Dong ($8 USD) per person for transport between the sights, which is quite affordable. This excludes activities like quad biking or dune boarding, which you pay extra for at the dunes if you want to do these activities.
Getting around Mui Ne via Motorbike/Moped
The other popular way to visit these sights and get around is by renting a motorbike/moped. Rentals for an automatic bike in Mui Ne are usually around 130k VND Vietnamese Dong ($5 USD) a day. This is only slightly more affordable than the hostel group tours, but you have the added benefit of the flexibility to spend as long at each sight as you want. The roads around Mui Ne are easy to navigate, with no off-roading required and not much traffic. However, a lot of people get fined around Mui Ne for not having the correct license. The police in Mui Ne are much stricter than everywhere else in Vietnam and they’re hard to avoid, given there are not many alternative routes you can take to get to sights to avoid police checkpoints.
Where to stay in Mui Ne
Mui Ne is a fairly off-the-beaten-track location in Vietnam, as it has only started gaining popularity in recent years. That means that there are very few hostels in Mui Ne. The one hostel that everyone knows is iHome Backpackpackers Resort, but this is not ideal if you don’t fancy the party vibe and/or like your creature comforts. At this stage, there are no other hostels to suit a more flashpacker kind of backpacker or that don’t have a party vibe and that are in a central location. Ideally, you want to be close to iHome so you can participate in events and use their common areas. There are other hostels on Hostelworld, but they are further away in the hill area of Mui Ne, which is a good 10-minute drive from iHome and all the other restaurants, cafes and bars. You can book all accommodation online here.
Is iHome Backpackers Resort worth it?
iHome truly has a great atmosphere and great amenities in the common area, such as hammocks, wooden bar games, day beds and a great pool. However, it is definitely a party hostel and more of a budget party hostel at that. The dorms are located in a big bamboo hut building, thin walls are separating the building into “rooms” but it’s all open at the roof, so you can clearly hear people staying rooms away. The beds are basic bunk beds with no curtains, no security lockers and no A/C, but mosquito nets and small fans are provided with each bed. The bathrooms do have hot water and are generally pretty clean, but there is often a queue at busy times.
It is a case of you get what you pay for, but the value lies in their social events and common areas. iHome was a really get place to make friends and it was comfortable to chill by the pool or in the bar area of a day. As there’s not a heap of things to do in Mui Ne, there were always lots of people around enjoying the facilities, so it was social even during the day. They also had reasonable drink specials and pretty good food available all day/ night. In my opinion, iHome caters to budget travellers, people who love a good party hostel and generally a younger backpacking crowd.
Where to stay if iHome isn’t your vibe
If iHome does not sound like your thing for the sleeping conditions, you’re not alone. A lot of people stay elsewhere in Mui Ne and visit iHome for the bar, pool and events. As there are no other hostels nearby, you’ll have to treat yourself to a private room, but you can find affordable stays as Mui Ne is such a small lesser-known place. Just make sure you check the location to see if it is walkable to iHome.
What to do in Mui Ne
Mui Ne is not the kind of place where there are a million things to do; most people come to Mui Ne just to chill by the beach and party at iHome. If you’re here, there are a few sights that are well worth seeing. You could do them all in one day on a tour or spread them over a few days. The Fairy Stream, Mui Ne Beach and the Fishing Village are walkable from most accommodations in Mui Ne. For the dunes, you will need to get there either via motorbike or a tour.
Visit the Dunes
The sand dunes surrounding Mui Ne are easily one of the most famous things to do in the area. There are actually lots of different sand dunes surrounding Mui Ne, but the two most popular are the white sand dunes and the red sand dunes. You can find the locations easily yourself on Google if you’re self-driving as those are their literal names.
The white sand dunes are ideal for quad biking and watching the sunrise and sunset. Entrance is free, but you will have to pay a small parking fee if you drive yourself. These dunes are packed at sunrise and still fairly busy at sunset. Quadbiking costs around 270k VND Vietnamese Dong ($11 USD) for around 15 minutes, with you being on the back with a local driver. You don’t have to quadbike though, you can walk up and down the dunes if you prefer.
The red dunes (really they are more dark yellow in colour) are also a great spot to experience more dunes and here you can duneboard. Again no entrance fee, but you will have to pay to park your bike if you’re not on a tour. Duneboarding rental at the Red Dunes is around 20k VND ($1 USD) for 30 minutes. Even if you don’t go duneboarding, the red dunes are still a great stop.
Visit Mui Ne fishing village
Mui Ne Fishing Village is a great stop to get a glimpse into local life. The village is just near the main area of Mui Ne, but wasn’t very crowded with tourists. You can go any time of day and watch the local fisherman in their colourful circle boats. There’s no entrance charge to visit here. Most people spend less than 30 minutes here walking along the beach and admiring the boats. If you’re into photography, you may want to spend a bit longer.
Walk the Mui Ne Fairy stream
Walking the Fairy Stream is a random and cute activity in Mui Ne! Be warned though, it is pretty busy at most times of day. The Mui Ne Fairy Stream is a walk through a shallow stream while admiring a pretty unique nature. On one side of the stream is a lush forest and on the other side red rock like a miniature Grand Canyon. You must take off your shoes and walk barefoot through the Fairy Stream (be careful of slippery and sharp rocks). The walk takes around 30 minutes to return and is flat and along the stream the whole time so you cannot get lost. There is a 20k VND Vietnamese Dong ($1 USD) entrance fee and an additional small charge for scooter parking. The entrance staff won’t let you bring shoes; you’ll be instructed to leave them on a shoe rack at the entrance.
Visit the Beach
There are quite a few beaches in the surrounding areas of Mui Ne, all accessible on foot. The main beach at Mui Ne is near the Sailing Bay Beach Resort and is partly a fishing boat beach, partly a tourist beach. There is also another beach out the front of iHome hostel, which has no fishing boats and is a much better swimming beach. By Southeast Asian standards, neither of the beaches is amazing, but Vietnam isn’t really known for beaches like other countries in the region are. The beaches are still nice to walk along, people watch and watch the sunset.
Where to eat
There are a few restaurants and cafes around Mui Ne, but given how small it is, none of them have much of an atmosphere. Most of the eateries are connected to accommodation and mainly for the convenience of people staying there. iHome has a full restaurant menu and has pretty decent food for a budget hostel. For all other meals, I highly recommend Dong Vui Food Court. It’s an outdoor beer garden/ night market with loads of different food options and cuisines. They have cute fairy lights, music and a nice ambience, particularly of a night. They open from 8 am to 11 pm every day and are about a 3-minute walk from iHome Hostel.
Nightlife
Nightlife in sleepy Mui Ne is partying at iHome Hostel. They do nightly events, have drink specials like free-flow beer hour and play loud music until around 2 am. iHome is a really fun place to come to party as it’s busy every night of the week.
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