Mui Ne, where the Sand Dune Haven of Vietnams lies. Take a look at the yet undiscovered ocean of sand in Vietnam.
Perhaps the most popular places in Vietnam will either be Ho Chi Minh in the South or Halong Bay in the North, but what’s not known to many is that somewhere in between these popular spots lies an ocean of sand that is truly unique in its own form.
Located 223km north of Saigon, Mui Ne will surprise you with amazing sand dunes that varies in color from red, yellow and white. Colors of sands changes depending on the season.
Sand Dunes in Vietnam!
This trip’s highlight is definitely the Red Sand Dune! I surely had a great time covering my entire body with sand in the Red Sand Dunes. Rolled over like a kid not minding the heat of the sun for it was almost past 3pm when we got there.
Give your self that adrenaline rush by riding the ATV while you feast your eyes in the beauty of the Red Sand Dune. ATV costs VND300,00 ($15) for a 30 mins ride (see below)
Tours You Can Do in Muine
We availed the Sinh Tourist Tour Package “White Sand Dunes 1/2 Day Tour” for a cost of $5. Package includes 25 mins stop in Fishing Village, 1 hr 45 mins in the Red Sand Dunes and 45mins in the White Sand Dunes. Tour will last for about 3 1/2 hours including travel time. In our case we left Mui Ne proper to head to the Fishing Village around 2:30pm and arrived back in Sinh Tourist around 6:00pm, fortunately our hostel is just right infront of Sinh Tourist office so it wasn’t much of a hassle for me.
Other Things To Do in Mui Ne
My Personal Take
According to the book Lonely Planet and some articles online, Mui Ne is known to be the beach destination of Vietnam. But relatively for me I was more attracted to the sand dunes there than the beach frontier. I’m not quiet sure if it’s just because of my high standards for beaches that I don’t find the coastline of Mui Ne attractive. Rang Beach (Mui Ne Beach) runs a shore of 16km where resorts and hotels line up like mushrooms. What I don’t like about it thou is that the resorts were situated almost right in the shore leaving no ample space for you to enjoy a walk by the beach or to play volleyball. Perhaps it was high-tide when I went there. You might also re-consider walking along the beach for it’s usual that you’ll see a lot of dead animals somewhere along the coast, perhaps this is due to residential houses just across the beach. I hope that in the future the local tourism board of Mui Ne will take a look into this and do something about it, because I think in general Mui Ne is still very promising and can serve as a tourist attraction for Vietnam
How to Ge There and How Much
With a modest estimate of 3 hours 50 minutes by bus you can get a ticket to Mui Ne from Saigon for $5 (regular bus) or $6-8 for a sleeper bus. Be cautious thou on which travel agency you would like to book your ticket from, scan and fraudulent tourism transaction in Ho Chi Minh can be very pertinent. I suggest take Sinh Tourist, the trustful and well-known agency all over Vietnam. You can easily spot their office in the busy backpacker area of Pham Ngu Lao. Here is Sinh Tourist’s exact address and contact details:
Me&MyChucks 
Great Kat!
thanks Rodel! 🙂
Hi! When you bought the voucher in Sinh Tourist is the bus trip readily available as well as the tours? It is online or you visited the office of the travel agency. We’re planning a walk-in package availment to Sinh tourist on our trip to Vietnam. Is that possible?
Hi Ian,
They have fixed bus schedule and yes you can also opt for a tour package. They have several schedules so it won’t be a problem if you just walk-in and pick a schedule. However, be sure you end up going to the real Sinh tourist. If you will be in Ho Chi Minh, the official Sinh Tourist is the one in this address: 246-248 De Tham in the backpackers district.
Be careful with the fake ones.
Thanks for the reply. Are the bus pick-up is at the Sinh Tourist office or there is a designated streets for pick-up. Is it also the same going back from Mui Ne.