An Bang Beach

The main beach of Hoi An today has fine white sand, clear water and gentle waves. It is An Bàng. Many people want to know why it is this beach, and not the famous one of the past. The main beach of Hoi An before was Cửa Đại, about 3 kilometers to the south. The answer is not a happy one. Cửa Đại began to erode badly in 2012.

Before 2012, Cửa Đại had dozens of five-star resorts along its shore, the finest place to stay by the sea in Hoi An. Then the waves began to cut deeper into the shore, stronger with each passing year, and the coastline moved back by tens of meters every year. Many of the resorts there had to close, or hurriedly put up walls against the waves.

The causes added up. Hydropower dams upstream on the Thu Bồn River held back the silt that once built up the shore. Sand was mined, and the currents swept the sand away. Then came climate change. In the meantime, An Bàng, little known until then, quietly rose to take the place of Cửa Đại, from around 2014 to 2015.

Yet the fame of An Bàng came even before it became the main beach. In 2011, CNNGo, the travel site of the news network CNN, named An Bàng among the 50 best beaches in the world. It was one of two Vietnamese beaches honored that year, along with Mỹ Khê in Da Nang. The choice rested on white sand, clear water, moderate waves, little commercialization, and a natural look that had been kept.

Today An Bàng stretches for about 4 kilometers and faces east. The sand is white and fine, and the water is fairly clear. The waves here are gentler than those at Mỹ Khê, so the beach suits children and people who do not swim well.

The beach is also known for a mood of its own, which people often describe as a quiet, Western-style calm. Along the shore are many cafes, restaurants and small bars opened by foreigners, mostly French, British, Australian and Dutch. They came to live here for long stays and opened their places, and over time they have formed a distinct foreign community. The style is free and easy and tropical. Brocade cushions lie in the sun, soft music drifts through the air, and a gentle yellow light glows as evening comes. It feels like a completely different place from the lively Mỹ Khê, or from the grand resort beach that Cửa Đại used to be.

Because An Bàng faces east, the sunrise here is beautiful enough to tug at the heart. The sun comes up straight out of the sea, glowing red first, and then the whole surface of the water turns gold. In the evening the sun does not set into the sea. It leans toward the town of Hoi An, behind the beach. The last pink light of the day lies on the sand, soft and quiet, a different kind of beauty that not every beach has.

The sea has its seasons. From May to August the waves are still, the sun is golden and the warm water lulls the body. From September to November comes the rainy and stormy season of central Vietnam, with big waves and a rough sea. That is an An Bàng that is wild, and just as much its own.

An Bàng is a slow, clean and easygoing beach. It carries an international name, and it has kept its own simple, natural look all the same. Sand warm in the sun, waves washing the feet, the sea breathing in and out in the middle of Hoi An.