1. The Arrival
On January 16th, 2020, I experienced for the very first time the highlights of Danang, a coastal city of Central Vietnam. A friend in Hanoi recommended me to visit this place, which is the fifth biggest city in Vietnam by population with more than a million inhabitants. Having started my Vietnam journey in the capital Hanoi where I’ve stayed for a few days, I was looking forward to going to the sea. Away from the insanely noisy traffic and incredibly high air pollution in Hanoi. I didn’t have high expectations of Danang, just to enjoy sunshine and sea for a bit and continue traveling. I was visiting Thailand and Vietnam already for more than a month and hadn’t been to the sea since the beginning of December when leaving Barcelona towards Germany. I was visiting my family before starting my journey and flying to Bangkok on December 11th.
To be honest, I initially didn’t even have Danang on my list of places to visit in Vietnam. But my Vietnamese friend in Hanoi told me that it’s her favorite city in the whole country and highly recommended me to go there. So I took a flight from Hanoi to Danang. Arriving and walking out of the airport in Danang was such a joy. So much sunnier and warmer than in cold and rainy Hanoi. Getting to the hotel with Grab car and seeing parts of the city for the first time. The spectacular dragon bridge, typical Vietnamese street traffic with loads of motorbikes and street food stands on every corner. My positive excitement grew each second.
I think I haven’t had such a strong first impression when visiting a new place. Maybe also because of the big contrast to Hanoi. Since I decided to travel to Vietnam spontaneously, without making big plans ahead, I had lots of time. Soon I felt that I’m going to stay in Danang at least for a few weeks. To explore and enjoy my time as much as possible.
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2. My Khe Beach
Right after checking in at my first booked place and having a delicious, typical local soup called Pho Bo (at Pho Container), I went to explore the area of My Khe beach. This vast and clean beach is 9km long and very wide. With a lot of space for sunbathing, beach volleyball, swimming in certain areas with lifeguard's observation. There are even small outdoor gyms (bars to do pull-ups, dips, handstands, etc.) to stay fit and practice calisthenics, which is a growing worldwide sport with your bodyweight, which is fascinating to me.
Various surfboard rental shops on the beach and more within short walking distance make it possible to rent surf equipment and catch some waves in the ocean. Surfing in Danang is mostly for beginner and intermediate level. But during wintertime, there are also powerful waves that are up to two meters high. If you try surfing for the first time, I recommend in general to do it in a group with a surf school. Their teachers know the best spots and show you essential techniques. They watch out for your safety and usually accelerate your learning progress. At least that is my experience when starting to surf in Portugal and Spain some years ago.
In Danang, I just rent a board and went out on my own. It’s the best way when having some experience and an intermediate level. Of course, you also save money this way. Renting a board is much cheaper than booking a whole class, which usually lasts 60-90min. I recommend here Dana Surf Rental, located a 5min walk from My Khe Beach. Half-day rental of high-quality surfboard costs here only 150k Vietnamese Dong, which is only 6€. In Europe, usually, I paid between 15-25€ for 1-2 hours of renting a board, a huge difference! The surf shops on the beach are a bit more expensive than Dana Surf, around 200-250k, for two hours. So if you want to avoid crossing the busy street, walking with the board, the beach shops are a more comfortable, but more expensive way.
My advice is never to underestimate the power of the ocean, especially when starting with surfing. As you can see, I like being active outdoors, especially practicing calisthenics on the beach and surfing. Combined with the calming sounds of the ocean, this makes me feel the most alive, energetic, and feel great. Temperatures were also perfect. Between 22-28 degrees in January and February, what a warm and sunny winter compared to Europe!
3. People and Quality of Life
I’m personally convinced that this city offers a high quality of life. Of course, one’s lifestyle and its quality criteria vary from person to person. It also depends on the financial situation. Here in Danang, you can have a great life even with a low budget (compared to prices in Europe, for example, Barcelona). I’ve spent around 1,5 months in Danang and could live with a total monthly budget of ~750€. Compared to Barcelona, where I have lived for four years in total and had monthly expenses of 1200-1500€, Danang is much more affordable.
Of course, there are significant differences regarding culture, language, public infrastructure, social security, and so on. But if you like to live an adventurous life by the ocean, being outdoors, exploring nature, sunny weather (warm winter!), and Vietnamese food, this is a great place to stay for some time. And in my opinion, also long-term for years. I was not that much time in Danang and not working there. But several ex-pats from different countries (like France, Phillippines, England, USA, Russia) living there for years told me that they love it. And don’t want to move to another place due to the high quality of life.
Usually, the ex-pats also had similar interests like me and are living a happy life in Danang. As I found out when talking to them. Most of them are working as English teachers or in Online Marketing (remotely) and getting their salary in another currency than the local one.
4. Currency and Prices
The Vietnamese Dong is one of the weakest currencies worldwide; for 1€, you get around 25.000VND (in February 2020). In the beginning, it’s a bit confusing with all those zeros; you should check what you are paying to avoid giving away 100.000 instead of 10.000 VND; this can happen. On the other hand, it is easy to become a millionaire, just 40€, and you have a million VND. So if becoming a millionaire is your life goal, go for it in Vietnam.
Almost everything is paid in cash, even many hotels (of lower budget) do not accept credit cards. So I regularly had to get some money out of ATMs and pay a fee for every withdrawal, usually around 3-5%. Although I use credit cards of DKB and Comdirect (worldwide cash withdrawal free of charge), it was still necessary to pay this fee.
Hotel prices vary a lot, from low budget to luxury, many skyscrapers are currently being build in Danang it is developing fast. As I was traveling on my own with former savings and no income during these 3,5 months, of course, I had to consider my budget. And I often compared prices of accommodation, food, transport activities and so on. Doing less touristic tours, and eating like a local in Danang and former places I visited made me save lots of money. Also, it showed me the authentic life of the locals.
Often I ate in local food places where no English is spoken nor written on the menu. So even ordering a meal can be a challenge but, at the same time, an opportunity to connect with locals. Even though there are communication barriers, you can still understand each other. By using gestures/body language and a smile. Much more often than I initially thought. And in case I still was clueless, the internet translator on my phone finally helped me out.
5. Friendly Locals
I was spending many afternoons at the outdoor/calisthenics gym at the beach, next to a volleyball field where a group of locals regularly are playing on the sand. I often talked to people in between the workouts/while resting. Only a few of the locals spoke English, and I don’t speak much Vietnamese, so the communication was limited in many situations. But one curious guy called Minh, who is from Danang and studying in Hanoi, started speaking English to me, which was my first conversation about different topics with a local in Danang, lasting longer than exchanging just one or two sentences.
Minh is curious about others and improving his English fast by practicing a lot. We met several times during the afternoon workouts at the beach and soon became friends. He even invited me to try typical local food, so one day we went eating snails, which I’ve never tried before. New taste and food experience, but not my favorite Vietnamese cuisine, as there are many delicious dishes.
6. Where to Stay
I met friendly and helpful locals in Danang. On the beach, in the local food places but also at the hotel’s receptions. There are two particular hotels I want to recommend. The first one is OYO 658 Euro Gold House, a small hotel run by a super friendly, young local family. At first, I booked for three nights on booking.com because of excellent reviews. I finally stayed here for two weeks in total.
Apart from basic requirements like cleanliness, comfortable beds, room size, and so on, this hotel has a fantastic terrace on the 4th floor. Great place to enjoy breakfast in the morning or just relax at sunset time. Super calm and peaceful in a quiet street. Compared to other hotels being surrounded by construction work and lots of noise. Additionally, the owner speaks very good English, which was not always the case in my experiences with highlights of hotels in Danang. And the best, I often got fresh fruit plates for free when ordering a local soup (for only 50.000VND) for breakfast: watermelon, pineapple, papaya, lots of good energy to start the day. And at the end of the day, I could watch some sports on TV for free as there were many international sports and news channels.
After these two weeks, I moved to another place called Zalosea Hotel to stay closer to the beach. A three-star hotel, which is very new (February 2020) and offers outstanding value for an incredibly low price. I paid for a big room (at least 20sqm) around 200.000VND(8€) per night. Which would cost me in Western Europe probably 50€ if not even more. Zalosea Hotel is located a three-minute walk from the beach, surrounded by many restaurants, local food places, and fresh fruit stands. The hotel has spacious rooms, substantial modern shower, international TV channels. And spectacular views made me wonder why it is available for such a low price.
But after staying for some days and extending for several times, I didn’t experience negative aspects and finally ended up staying for almost a month. Always for the same price I got from my initial reservation with booking.com, I was never asked to pay more! Very welcoming receptionists with good knowledge of English and a smile for the guests made my stay at Zalosea very enjoyable. I totally recommend these two hotels to anyone who likes to stay in a high-quality place for a meager price.
7. Be Smart and Compare
After my first days in Danang and deciding to stay for a longer time, I thought about renting a room/studio for a whole month. There are many offers in the Danang Expats Facebook group, to rent a room for 250-300US$ per month. I visited two of them to have a look but decided to stay in hotels due to room size, location, total value in comparison. Regarding costs, I would have had paid almost the same; there wouldn’t be a much lower price with the “long-term” rental.
In general, there are many attractive rental options in those Facebook groups for apartments/studios, for a more extended stay of several months. But for some days or weeks, you can find lots of great and very affordable hotels in Danang. Especially during wintertime. In summer it seems to be more expensive and busy, that’s what some locals and ex-pats told me. Booking.com is the best website to compare all the options, from my point of view.
8. Conclusion: Visit Danang
Danang, with its highlights, is my favorite place I’ve visited so far, even more than Barcelona, which I like a lot. And where I’ve lived for several years. Waves for surfing, warm winter, outdoor sports, and great food are important to me for living a life full of positive energy and enjoyable experiences. Being in Vietnam showed me how people make the best out of their situation. It seems to me that the locals don’t care as much about objects/things as in our Western societies (especially in Germany where I grew up). I guess this could be a consequence of the (former) socialist system, which is focused less on individualism and careers, but more on creating family-friendly living conditions.
Especially in Danang, I noticed these strong ties within families. At local food places where several local families throughout three generations, from young children to parents and grandparents, work and live together. I had an incredibly positive time in Vietnam, and I’m sure to be back one day, also to discover more highlights of Danang and the South of Vietnam. The sooner, the better.