Fishing village from SOHO COFFEE MUI NE

Mui Ne and I have shared a complicated history for years. With one of my sisters living in Phan Thiet, I have navigated this stretch of coastline more times than I can count, yet I must admit I never truly fell in love with it. For the longest time, it was simply a place I was “passing through” rather than a destination to be experienced. For this blog, however, I decided to set aside that familiar lens. I returned with the intentional eyes of a traveler looking to genuinely enjoy the shoreline, lean into the sightseeing, and perhaps find that perfect moment with a cocktail in hand as the sun dips below the horizon.

To be honest, I am not naturally a beach person; I much prefer the quiet rebellion of a mountain trail or the cool mist of the Highlands to the salt and sand. Yet, when preparing these articles, I feel a responsibility to push past my own biases. I specifically wanted to see if there was something to really do here, or if the whispers of its unique atmosphere were true. Being not far from Ho Chi Minh City, Mui Ne offers an accessible getaway from the urban rush. Despite being quite a small coastal fishing town, it has undergone a sophisticated evolution; I began to see the parallels in its growing spirit with a blend of world-class kitesurfing and high-design resorts that set it apart from the rest of the coast.

Even for someone who usually avoids the shore, the surrealist pull of the landscape is undeniable. Wading ankle-deep through the red-orange silt of the Fairy Stream, flanked by dramatic limestone walls, felt more like exploring a canyon than a coastline. When you combine that with the Sahara-scale of the White Sand Dunes at sunset, Mui Ne shifts from a simple “beach trip” into a study of nature’s most striking textures. It is a place where the earth seems to be performing, and for a photographer, that is impossible to turn away from.