Traveling to Vietnam from the States isn’t easy. We all know that. When traveling through Southeast Asia, one often chooses to explore the continent's pleasures over several weeks, even months. If you are planning one of these eye opening adventures and Ho Chi Minh City is already on the books (if it isn’t, it should be!), there is a place I demand you visit. Even if for one night, it will be worth the travel.
Jungle Beach Resort, Nha Trang, Vietnam is the perfect place to escape, relax, and break up the constant 'go go go' that trips abroad often require.
Nha Trang city is a short one hour flight from Ho Chi Minh. The city is a much more low-key version than the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh. It's nestled on a remarkable beach front filled with hotels, restaurants, and open markets and more. If you like beach towns with city culture and energy, Nha Trang is a great place for your trip. I recommend the Sailing Club for a healthy breakfast or lunch on the beach and the Louisiane Brewery for happy hour and/or dinner. The passion fruit beer is delicious.
Sixty five kilometers from Nha Trang city sits the hidden gem that is Jungle Beach Resort. Owned and operated by a Canadian, the resort is a perfect mix of minimalist that Steve Jobs would admire, and rustic escape that backpackers and corporate executives alike can shut off and recharge in perfect seclusion. For $25 a night, travelers receive a bamboo hut bungalow, 3 meals a day, and access to 3 miles of gorgeous white sand beach. If not for the occasional local fisherman, the beach feels like your personal private backyard oasis. The calm clear turquoise water that trumps the ocean front in Leonardo Dicaprio’s The Beach is perfect for a morning swim, afternoon refreshment, and a midnight romance if one so chooses. In fact, regularly phosphorescent plankton can be seen for those daring enough to take the nighttime swim.
For those looking for more adventure, be sure to ask about the nearby waterfall. A short fifteen minute hike from the resort and you reach a towering waterfall with seven levels of fresh water pools and various rocks to jump off into the clear water. With jumps ranging from three feet to thirty feet, there is something for everyone, depending on the level of daredevil inside of you.
The small resort offers only a few open-air bamboo hut bungalows equipped with electricity and mosquito net beds, meant to give the guest the calming feeling of an intimate stay in the beachside jungle. Local Vietnamese make up the staff and they are kind and helpful in ensuring your stay is as comfortable as possible. Breakfast and lunch are served upon request and dinner is family style for all residents to enjoy together. After dinner, guests can relax in the common area listening to music, playing cards, and connecting to the free wifi.
During my visit, I spent the evening playing a variety of card games while drinking Saigon beer and laughing with three backpackers from France and Spain and the resort handyman Stoyd, a Scottish friend of the owner who is currently building a two level bamboo house for larger groups. Be cautious when drinking with Stoyd as he’ll pick up the pace and quickly trade in the beer for Vietnamese sweet rum before you know it.
If there ever was the perfect place to cure a hangover, Jungle Beach is it.