As an island in Cam Ranh city, Khanh Hoa province, Binh Ba is 60 km south of Nha Trang city, 400 km from Ho Chi Minh City. The island has an area of about 3 km2, with a pristine sea, clear blue water, friendly people, affordable prices, and convenient transportation.
What season is beautiful in Binh Ba?
The best time to go to Binh Ba is from March to October. This is the season when the sea is calm, clear, and sunny. Weekends and Binh Ba holidays are usually very crowded, you should go in the middle of the week to avoid overcrowding.
Move
After arriving at Nha Trang city center or Cam Ranh airport, visitors take the car to continue to Ba Ngoi port to Binh Ba island. If you have a motorbike or a car, you can park your car near the port.
Boats to the island usually run at a fixed hour: 7am – 10am – 13h30 – 16h. The opposite direction from Binh Ba to the mainland starts at: 5am – 9am – 12h30 – 16h30. The travel time is about 30 – 60 minutes, and the ticket price is 25,000 – 40,000 VND one way, depending on the type of train.
Binh Ba Island is not too big, visitors can walk or rent a motorbike to explore the island. If you want to go far to scuba dive, or see coral, you just need to go to the marina to find a boat to join a tour, the ticket price is about 50,000 VND per person. In addition, you can rent a boat to go fishing and swimming for about 800,000 to 1,000,000 VND.
Hotels, homestays
Although Khanh Hoa province does not encourage tourism development in Binh Ba, motels and hotels on the island are built quite spaciously. Some hotels that are popular with tourists are Blue Anchor, Lobster Palace, Bai Nom Hotel, Beach Pearl Hotel… Room rates here are not too expensive, ranging from 200,000 to 400,000 VND per double room. In the high season, visitors should call to book in advance because the hotels here are not many, or the rooms are full.
One option that many people love is the homestay – which is actually a normal house of the people, not intentionally built to serve tourists. In high season, you can apply for a stay and send some money to the landlord. The price of a homestay room here is also not fixed. Many hosts are also willing to cook and take tourists around the island.
Where to play?
Binh Ba is not too big, the road is also small, so you can comfortably drive around the island without fear of getting lost. The road running to the top of the island is quite steep and zigzag. Most tourists follow this road to see the whole island from above, so the number of cars up and down is a lot, you should be careful when going up here.
If you have finished exploring the nooks and crannies on the main island, you can go to the pier to go to the remote islands, snorkeling, and swimming. In the afternoon, you can walk around Binh Ba market to find some snacks or buy gifts for your loved ones. In the evening, you can follow the people to the sea to fish for shrimp, and squid, check cuffs or walk to Nom beach to enjoy seafood and immerse in the sea atmosphere at night.
Bai Nomis faces the south of the island so you can’t watch the sunset or sunrise here, but that doesn’t mean this place has lost its irresistible charm. Bai Nom is hugged by two mountain ranges on both sides, forming an arc shape all year round with smooth waves, plus fine sand.
Around 4 pm, when the sun is soft, tourists and locals come to bathe and have fun. The beach has a lot of services on the sea for you to experience such as riding a motorbike or riding a banana float at an affordable price. Along the beach are seafood restaurants one after another.
Bai Nha Cu has almost the clearest water compared to the beaches on Binh Ba island, but it is quite rocky so you cannot swim. In return, this place is a territory of colorful coral. Just sitting on the basket boat of the nearby fishermen, you will be able to see the coral until your eyes are tired without having to swim and dive. Note, you should not sit on, step on or touch corals and starfish to protect the natural ecosystem.
Bai Chuong is beautiful, peaceful and poetic, where you can observe the daily life of fishermen. Welcoming dawn on Chuong beach is one of the most memorable experiences in Binh Ba. In the early morning, the sea surface is usually as calm as a mirror. The rising sun brings with it interesting changes of scenery.
Sa Huynh beach is shaped like a piece of a crescent moon with fine white sand embracing the calm sea. Clean, smooth sandy beach, gentle slope. The two sides of the beach are sheltered by rows of ancient stones with magnificent and diverse shapes. The water is clear to see the bottom, convenient to see corals.
A disadvantage and also an advantage of Sa Huynh beach is that it is not located on Binh Ba island, but on the Cam Ranh peninsula in the military area. So from Binh Ba, you can only go to this beach by boat or canoe.
The hill of reeds is located near Turtle Island – a small rocky area jutting out into the sea shaped like a turtle. From March onwards, the hill is filled with pink reed flowers, creating a highlight for the blue sky and sea. To come here to take photos, visitors can walk from Binh Ba port in the right direction of the road around the island, to the top of the slope.
Around the island, there are Bo De beach, Reef Beach, Me beach … beautiful to see corals. Some other attractions are Quan Am Palace, Dia Tang Palace, Ngoc Gia Huong Tinh Xa, Nam Hai Mausoleum …
Eat what
Binh Ba’s specialty is seafood, in which lobster is the most famous dish. Try steamed, grilled lobster, lobster porridge or lobster blood wine. Compared to other places, Binh Ba’s lobsters are famous for being fresh, but the price is cheaper because they are farmed right on the island.
The price of lobster is usually divided into 2 types: live shrimp and just drowned shrimp. Fresh lobster costs about 1,500,000 – 2,000,000 VND per kg, depending on the season, size and size. The price of waterlogged shrimp is less than half. If you stay in a homestay, you can ask the host to buy it and cook it as you like.
Apricot fish salad is also Binh Ba’s specialty. Fish salad must be fresh, just caught. The process of processing apricot fish takes a long time because this fish is only as small as a finger, and each fish must be filtered from the bones. The apricot fish, after being cleaned and drained, is mixed with spices and served with raw vegetables wrapped in rice paper.
In addition, specialties in Binh Ba also have steamed crabs, fried squid, grilled rice paper with fish sauce, grilled blood cockles with onion fat, Huynh De crab, sea urchins, fish vermicelli, pancakes, grilled tilefish…
If you are a foodie, don’t miss ” Binh Ba Snack Street “. Located near Binh Ba port, this place is the culinary paradise on the island. You can find specialties here without having to worry about being “hacked”.
In the evening, visitors often walk to Nom beach, sit by the beach to enjoy seafood, and sip a few bottles of beer. Seafood bars serve from early afternoon to late night. A full menu of famous island dishes, all fresh and prepared on-site. You should go around to check the price first.
Binh Ba market sells a lot of delicious and cheap authentic dishes, so visitors can freely choose dishes such as Banh Can, shrimp and squid cake, egg cake, snails, rice paper with fish sauce, spring rolls…, price of knives. 3,000 – 20,000 VND. In addition, fresh seafood is always available, especially cobia and lobster (priced at about 900,000 to 1,200,000 VND per kg). Visitors should buy seafood at the market instead of choosing to buy at the beach.
estimated cost
Although limited, the services on Binh Ba island are quite complete. The cost of living is also affordable, with almost no “hacking” phenomenon. Some basic expenses for Binh Ba tourism you can refer to include:
Boat ticket to the island: 60,000 VND
Accommodation: 200,000 – 500,000 VND
Meals: 1,000,000 VND
Motorbike rental: 200,000 VND
Incidental expenses: 500,000 VND
The total cost for a short trip is about 3,000,000 VND per person, excluding airfares and train tickets if you are departing from Hanoi or other provinces.
Suggested schedule
Day 1: Move to Nha Trang, and board the boat to Binh Ba island. Dinner on the beach.
Day 2: Catch the sunrise on Chuong beach, scuba diving to see corals. Squid fishing, watching cuffs, enjoying seafood on Nom beach.
Day 3: Join the sea games. Moving to the city
Note
Binh Ba is a military island, you should not go to areas with prohibited signs, foreign visitors are not allowed to enter the island. Vietnamese tourists must bring identification documents such as ID card, CCCD, passport. If traveling in a large group, visitors should prepare a list with ID number, address, and date of birth to submit to the border guard station when required.
There is no ATM on the island, visitors should prepare cash. Fresh water on the island is very rare and needs to be used sparingly.
In the summer and holidays, tourists flock to Binh Ba very crowded, visitors should book rooms in advance or avoid traveling at peak times.
Binh Ba is facing the problem of waste and environmental pollution. Visitors should limit littering and negative impacts on the landscape.
