
Mui Ne is a small coastal town, recent seaside resort (since the total solar eclipse of 1995) which enjoys a warm, dry climate all year round.
Known in particular for its beaches where strong winds delight windsurfers and other water sports enthusiasts. It is also a fishermen village, and you can visit the “fairy river” and stroll along its sand dunes along the coast.
These assets undeniably make Mui Né an essential stop on a north-south journey in Vietnam (or vice versa since that was our case).
Mui Ne port, what a slap!
We disembark after nearly 7 hours of travel (including stops). From there, touts offer hotels in the area. We follow one who takes us barely 1 km before our drop-off point (the Singh Tourist) Hai Yen Guesthouse Hotel. At $15 a night with a pool and by the sea, well, why not.
We also rent a scooter to be independent, as we are not in the city, the traffic is much more relaxing. Expect to pay $8 to $10 to rent a small motorcycle. (manuals are cheaper but until now, I preferred to take automatic…)
And here we are on the roads, what a surprise it was to see this panorama appear before me as I arrived at the main village.
A sea of moored boats, what a slap! Plus the fishermen at work, it's perfect to immerse yourself in the atmosphere! Here, we dry the small shrimps directly on the concrete part leading to the beach.










On the way to the red dunes!
After this first good impression of the atmosphere of Mui Ne, I was impatient, because it was the reason for me for this stop here in Mui Ne, to go to the sand dunes, giving the surroundings a desert feel.
The region is very dry and arid and the landscape is far from the rice fields and the landscape that we tend to have of Vietnam. For this first day on Mui Ne we feel a little because we do not have a map of the surroundings (but the next day either, everything by guesswork...).
We first land on a dune next to a large deserted 2x2 lane, the sand dunes in the area being just as deserted.
After this impromptu stop, we finally reached the "red" dunes by following the sign. The color of the sand actually gives a reddish, ochre tint, while there are also white dunes in the region, where we will go the next day.
I really recommend you to stop at another dune at random like we did, it's a good experience to find yourself alone in the middle of all that sand.





The red dunes of Mui Ne
At the "official" red dunes, there are more activities, a few souvenir shops, restaurants. You almost come across more locals than tourists.
Among the locals, children; who offer to slide down the dunes using a kind of sled. As I was in favor of trying, I told them that we wanted to walk around a bit first, take our photos, but they didn't let us go...
















It was also an opportunity for them to chat in their English, which was not too bad for some, and to have fun with our cameras as much as was reasonable. We liked this special atmosphere, like a desert air, with this breathtaking view of the sea. So we stayed there until sunset.
We then tried a massage (with oil) on the way back to our hotel, before going to eat (and trying the local beer as always!) at Smocky house, a local restaurant. It's off to a good start. This is the kind of holiday we like!