Only four hours away by bus from Ho Chi Minh City, Phan Thiet is a quiet little beach town with a charming fishing village atmosphere. The town is surrounded by a string of rolling hills, green vegetation and a sheltered shoreline covered with sand dunes.

Even though more and more tourists arrive, most of the 200,000 residents still make their living from the fishing industry, be it as fishermen or manufacturers of nuoc mam, the pungent fish sauce that is a staple of Vietnamese cooking.

Phan Thiet serves as a popular sanctuary for many visitors who stay for the weekend to trade the stress and commerce of the city with the calm of a hotel on the beach, and delicious seafood. It is certain that Phan Thiet will further grow in line with the country’s overall tourism development.

Fortunately, the increasing number of classy beach resorts has so far not had much impact on the slow pace of life in Phan Thiet. The beaches are still very quiet and there are no hassling hawkers to fend off. This place is not for those looking for excitement, but the relaxed atmosphere attracts tourists looking for peace and relaxation.

Attractive colonial villas line Phan Thiet’s main streets, some of which feature glazed ceramic tiles for decoration, while most have louvered windows and colonnaded facades. Culture fans will enjoy visiting the Khmer style temples and palaces, while Vietnamese style pagodas can also be admired. The Ho Chi Minh Museum is another interesting sight. The main attraction, though, are the nearby beaches, especially Mui Ne Beach, which is a popular venue for windsurfing and kite surfing competitions.

Mui Ne fishing village is also a favourite destination for day-trippers from Phan Thiet. Continue east and north along the coast and you’ll come across vast sand dunes, much like a beachside Sahara, while inland the well-known and extraordinarily fertile Silver Lake makes for a good day outing amid the soaring, shifting sands.

Phan Thiet, like the rest of Vietnam is rapidly changing, and the biggest change of all is its growth in the hospitality industry. This is an increasingly popular beach resort in the south and new hotels are opening all the time. The standard is remarkably good value and some enjoy beachfront locations. Quieter than Nha Trang, Phan Thiet is a well kept secret with some nice hotels to recommend.

Binh Thuan province, where Phan Thiet is located, formerly belonged to the Cham kingdom. The region was conquered by Lord Nguyen Phuc Chu in 1692, and named Binh Thuan Dinh.

Binh Thuan plays a pretty significant role in the history of Vietnam, as it was on account of this area that King Tran Nhan Tong consented to the marriage of Princess Huyen Chan and King Jaya Sinhavarman III of the Cham Kingdom in 1306. During the revolution against the French, it was in this area where the two nationalists Tran Quy Cap and Phan Chu Trinh got going. As said by local legend, the region surrounding Phan Thiet is where the disfigured poet Han Mac Tu desolately spent his time waiting for the lady of his dreams, Mong Cam.

Phan Thiet was home to Ho Chi Minh for one year. He taught at Duc Thanh School on Trung Nhi Street in 1910, then known as teacher Nguyen Tat Thanh.

The province was home to a number of military installations during the Vietnam War, including those located at Thap Cham (Prince’s Castle) as well as Whiskey Mountain, a hill not far away and Landing Zone Judy close to Muong Man. Landing Zone Betty was the biggest, first occupied by the French during the Indochina War and later held by the Americans during the Vietnam War. It was situated South-West of Phan Thiet, close to present-day Ganh Son. An attack was launched on Landing Zone Betty during the course of the Tet Offensive, and a huge battle was later fought at the base.

Phan Thiet as a city is quite new and the area has only seen recent settlement during the last century. The city celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1998 and was formally promoted from a town to a city in 1999.

The capital city of Binh Thuan province, Phan Thiet has an extensive shoreline with a hot and mostly dry sub-equatorial climate. The province is located in the tropical monsoon area with two distinct seasons and is renowned for its endless sunshine and fresh ocean breezes.

The wet season begins in May and continues to November, with June and August being the wettest months which get heavy, though brief downpours, typically in the mid-afternoons. These however bring some relief. The dry season starts in November and lasts until April with late February to May seeing serious heat and humidity.

The average annual temperature hovers between 25 to 35ºC and the yearly rainfall amounts to 800mms to 1,500mms.

Occasional droughts can be followed by flash floods, once the wet season takes over from the dry season. Floods can also be caused by high waves and rough seas, particularly in January, making beach life a risky adventure. A microclimate forms an oasis all along the beach where the dunes function as buffers, blocking the wind to trap humidity in the moist air.