[Nha Trang Travel Diary] Day 1: An All-You-Can-Eat Sea Urchin Resort Trip | Vietnam

Xin chào! We're Yuki, a Japanese husband living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Ngoc, his Vietnamese wife. On this blog, we share information about moving to and living in Vietnam, as well as travel information from all over the country. If you find an article that interests you, please follow us first! ♪ Happy New Year! We'll continue updating with travel and lifestyle information about Vietnam this year as well, so thank you very much for your continued support.   So, as the first update of 2026, I'd like to update my travel journal. By the way, last time I published my Da Nang travel journal in November 2025, but this time I went to Nha Trang in the south-central region! If you'd like to check out the Da Nang travel journal, please click here! 『【Da Nang Travel Journal】Day 1 Morning: Staying at The Blossom Resort Da Nang』Xin chào!We are Yuki, a Japanese husband, and Ngoc, his Vietnamese wife, living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. On this blog, we alternately share information about moving to and living in Vietnam, as well as travel information from all over the country. Right now… ameblo.jp

From Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang: Just 1 hour by air

Nha Trang is a beach area you can reach from Ho Chi Minh City by a one-hour domestic flight. Before Da Nang became famous, Nha Trang was Vietnam's largest beach resort area. Even now, Nha Trang is actually more well-known than Da Nang among Westerners. By the way, in the past, America's CNN once ranked Nha Trang as No. 1 in "the city with the highest repeat-visit rate among all tourist destinations in Vietnam.   Personally, when I go to Da Nang, I like to take about a week for the trip including Hoi An, so it's not something I can go to that casually. But since Nha Trang has a much smaller area to get around, I can casually go for about 3 nights and 4 days. Arrived in Nha Trang! I was hungry, so first things first, let's eat some sea urchin♪

After arriving in Nha Trang, we were hungry, so we dragged our suitcase to this somewhat grubby-looking seafood eatery you see here. The seafood is swimming around in a live tank, so you point to what you want, put it on the scale, and check the weight. The price is set per kg or per 100g, so you'll need to do the math in your own head (this is a point where Japanese travelers often run into trouble over the price, so please be careful).

Ah, well. Personally, there are two dishes I absolutely have to eat whenever I come to Nha Trang. That's "sea urchin" and "multinational cuisine." I'll introduce the latter a bit later, so this time let's eat this sea urchin ♪ Japanese sea urchin has a lot more flesh packed into it, so it's probably a different species. The taste is different too — Vietnamese sea urchin is lighter and more delicate.   I ate mine raw, but it seems like the standard way other Vietnamese people eat it is grilled with scallion oil on top. By the way, the price of this sea urchin was 30,000 dong each (about 170 yen)! They were also selling oysters at the same price, so I ended up eating 10 raw oysters as well ( ;∀;) The key point is to go to a seafood eatery on the outskirts of town, like the one I visited.When I tried to eat sea urchin at a restaurant, it ended up being quite expensive after all. Starting my walk around Nha Trang! I can really soak up that tropical vibe here ♪

First of all, unlike Ho Chi Minh City, one of the good things about Nha Trang is that "the roads are clean and there's little traffic from motorbikes and cars." Cities like Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Hanoi are both tourist areas and business districts at the same time, so locals and travelers end up mixed together.   Nha Trang's tourist area centers on Tran Phu Street, which runs along the coast for more than 7 km from north to south, and as you head into town, you'll find hotels, restaurants, and massage parlors lining the streets. When you come to Nha Trang, be sure to try the multinational cuisine!

Nha Trang has long flourished as an Asian resort destination for Westerners. Quite a few of them, captivated by the charm of the town of Nha Trang, have relocated there and opened restaurants serving the cuisine of their home countries. Nowadays, the tourist area is lined with numerous multinational restaurants. Just from what I found on my own walks, there were restaurants from Russia, Ukraine, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Armenia, and more.The Mediterranean cuisine, which isn't very familiar to Japanese people, is something I really want you to try at least once. In Nha Trang, you can enjoy it for about half the price you'd pay in Japan. A few points to keep in mind for your Nha Trang trip

One thing that caught my attention a little while walking around the town of Nha Trang was that there are few convenience stores, and there are also few solid souvenir shops or proper spas. Because of this, I'd recommend that whenever you spot a convenience store, you mark it and save it on Google Maps (it may not be within walking distance of your hotel). Also, since the sunlight in Nha Trang is very strong, taking measures against UV rays is essential.Please also don't forget to put a hat on small children. As for my recommendation, rather than eating Vietnamese-style food at eateries in Nha Trang city, I suggest getting your fill of it at the hotel's breakfast buffet, and when eating out, not sticking strictly to Vietnamese food but eating whatever you like — that feels more like a tropical vacation, and that's what I recommend.   Actually, when eating out, aside from seafood, I hardly ever ate Vietnamese food myself — I was mostly having Greek food, Russian food, Armenian food, and pizza & steak (I feel like those gave me more satisfaction). Summary and preview of next time... Nha Trang lets you enjoy a different kind of tropical vacation than Da Nang. When it comes to Vietnam's beach areas, "Da Nang, Nha Trang, and Phu Quoc Island" are the famous ones among Japanese people.Among these, Da Nang and Nha Trang are often compared. Da Nang tends to suit people who want to fully experience Vietnam, while Nha Trang is more for those looking forward to a tropical Southeast Asian vacation. Until recently, people used to say, "Nha Trang is a great destination for your second trip to Vietnam," but that's no longer really the case.   If you're planning a trip to Vietnam, why not take a look at flights to Nha Trang? Coming up next... Introducing our hotel in Nha Trang Next time we'll introduce the hotel we stayed at. We'll take a good look at the things you're curious about, like what kind of hotels are available in Nha Trang and whether the service and facilities are up to standard.   If this piqued your interest even a little, please follow along so you don't lose track of the article, and stay tuned♪ Hẹn gặp lại! ※This means "See you again!" in Vietnamese (^^)/