Binh Chau Hot Springs

A warm mineral pool lies under the canopy of the primary forest. Birds call from the trees, and warm steam curls around the people soaking in the water. This is not a resort sealed in concrete, and it is not a city spa. It sits in the middle of the forest, among the trees and the birds, under an open sky.

That is the feeling of Bình Châu Hot Springs, which goes today by the brand name Minera Hot Springs Bình Châu.

Bình Châu is the only natural hot mineral spring in Nam Bộ, the southern region of Vietnam. It is not the only one in the whole country, since the central region and the Central Highlands have many other sources. But across the entire Southeast and Southwest regions, no other place matches its scale.

The reason for the hot water lies underground. The Bình Châu area sits on a geological fault line, where groundwater meets hot rock deep below and rises to the surface through more than seventy natural springs. Hot rock warms the water below, and the water finds its way back up. Their temperatures run from 37 to 82 degrees Celsius. The water is reported to contain twenty-four minerals.

The hottest spring is in the area called the egg zone, at about 80 degrees. There, eggs are put in bamboo baskets and hung down into the spring. After about ten to fifteen minutes, they are cooked. It is not that the minerals make the eggs any more nutritious. What makes the moment rare is simply the feeling of eating an egg that the earth itself has boiled.

The main hot mineral area, called Minera Springs, covers twelve hectares and has more than thirty different soaking and bathing options. There are Japanese-style onsen pools, a sauna with rock salt, mineral mud baths, a large lake, and baths set aside for particular uses.

The hot mineral water here helps relax the muscles and supports circulation.

Bình Châu lies about six kilometers from the beach at Hồ Cốc. The springs sit right inside the Bình Châu and Phước Bửu Nature Reserve, where 10,537 hectares of primary forest surround the springs. That is why people speak of soaking in minerals in the middle of the forest. It is not a figure of speech. It is literally true.

Since July 1, 2025, the commune of Bình Châu has kept its boundaries but no longer belongs to Bà Rịa and Vũng Tàu. It is now a commune of the enlarged Ho Chi Minh City.

A day here brings a feeling that is hard to name, both hot and cool, both natural and restful. Birdsong still carries from the forest while warm steam curls around the bathers. The ground here is boiling, and the water invites people to slip into it.