Cua Dai Beach, about 4km from Hoi An ancient town in Quang Nam, is considered one of the most beautiful beaches not only in the central region but also in Vietnam. It is over 3km in length and up to 300m in width. The beach boasts fine white sand, clear and blue water, moderate slopes and small waves, which make it ideal for recreational activities like swimming and other sea sports. This special beach stands out with restaurants, hotels and newly-built modern resorts. Roads are lined with colourful clusters of wild flowers planted to relax visitors.
After checking in the hotel in the centre of Hoi An city, tourists often decide to head to Cua Dai Beach immediately in a bid to steer clear of the scorching heat of the centre. However, some others, after visiting the relics in the old town, they go to Cua Dai Beach to enjoy sea food specialities in an ideal environment of immense sky and sunshine.
At the low cost of VND15,000 per day, renting a bicycle is popular among visitors to Hoi An City. Beach goers, especially foreign visitors and young people, tend to enjoy pedaling a bicycle the short distance from town to Cua Dai Beach. It took us about 30 minutes to pedal. Motorbikes and taxis are also available for families with children and elders.
The beaches are stretches of white sand, with moderately salty, shallow water which stays a lovely shade of blue year-round. You can lie on canvas chairs to breath in the sea air and sunbath or do other beach activities such as volleyball, football or building sand-castles. Cua Dai’s waters are plentiful with sea life, making fishing a popular form of entertainment for tourists. Visitors can hire small boats to go fishing. Afternoon seem to be the best time for visitors to swim and relax in the soft waves. At night, the surface of the sea is filled with the pinpoints of lamps from thousands of fishing boats. It was imagined as a lantern city on the sea.
Sea food dishes prepared by local cooks are excellent and especially fresh. The foods were fresh-caught and purchased from local fishermen on Cham Island in the early morning. The taste was different from other places. The sea air and the skills of the local cook brought the fresh flavours of the sea. In addition, prices here were reasonable.
Many people like Cua Dai Beach because it was not overloaded with visitors and the local people are warm and honest. It is also found that the local people are trained and cultivated with the essential skills needed to serve guests, including foreign visitors.
Friendly young female servers with healthy sunburn complexions talked easily with foreign visitors in English, happy to take the opportunity to introduce their home town.
"They (local villagers) are friendly and speak English very well. The beach is clean and the sea is blue. I will come back," an Australian visitor said with a smile.