Get Outdoors! 7 Great Ways to Get Active in Vietnam

Windsurfing in Vietnam
Windsurfing in Vietnam. Photo: EpicStockMedia/Shutterstock


If you're looking for adventure, you've picked the right country: Vietnam is beautiful and bursting with life. Here's our pick of the most fun you can have in the sun – and in the water, on the golf course, and up in the mountains. Let's go!


1. Kiteboarding and windsurfing: Mui Ne

Mui Neis Vietnam’s premier watersports and dunesurfing capital. It's a day's bus ride from Ho Chi Minh City and it has one of the driest climates in Southeast Asia.

Kitesurfer at Mui Ne resort beach. Photo: Zhorov Igor/Shutterstock


2. Golf: Dalat and Mui Ne

Play a round at a highland course or a few holes among the ocean dunes. Some of the best courses are at Dalat Palace Golf Club (063-382 1201), Sacom Tuyen Lam Golf Resort (063-626 3000) and Royale City Golf Resort (063-388 8888).

Golf course in Mui Ne. Photo: Perfect Lazybones/Shutterstock


3. Snorkelling and diving: Nha Trang

Some of Vietnam’s best reefs are found in its surrounding waters. It's the ideal place to break a journey and soak up the sun and is serviced by daily flights from Danang, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Snorkelling in Nha Trang. Photo: soft_light/Shutterstock


4. Kayaking and trekking: Cat Ba Island

Explore this beautiful location in Northeast Vietnam from the water or on dry land. The landscape here is full of lush forrested hills, coastal mangroves and freshwater swamps, as well as lakes, waterfalls and reefs.

Kayaking around Cat Ba Island. Photo: Guillermo Pis Gonzalez/Shutterstock


5. Abseiling: Dalat

Experience Elephant Falls and other central highland waterfalls up close. Dalat, amid its pine-covered mountains and misty forests is a cool and tranquil retreat from the crowded lowland cities.  

Abseiling in Dalat. Photo: withGod/Shutterstock


6. Trekking: Sa Pa

Hike to the remote minority villages of the northern highlands. The far northwest of Vietnam is a wild, untamed land that demands exploration.

Sapa landscape. Photo: Nattee Chalermtiragool/Shutterstock


7. Caving: Tonkin

Experience Phong Nga, the worlds largest cave passage, in the seldom-visited Tonkin region, south of Hanoi.  

Phong Nga Cave. Photo: Dudarev Mikhail/Shutterstock


Read more: Vietnamese street food sensations

Book a trip: Cultural Saigon: From authentic street food to historic sites, Ho Chi Minh City is full of vibrant streets bursting with colonial charm. 

Buy a book: Insight Guides: Vietnam