My Khe Beach

A stretch of fine white sand runs for 10 kilometers. It reaches from the foot of a deep green peninsula to the foot of a range of stone mountains. The sea here stays warm all year, up to 28 degrees Celsius in places. And in 2005, a well-known American business magazine put this place on its list of the six most alluring beaches on the planet. The magazine was Forbes.

This is Mỹ Khê Beach.

The main bathing stretch of Mỹ Khê is about 900 meters long and has three swimming areas. Taken as a whole, though, the unbroken stretch of sand runs for about 10 kilometers. To the north it rests against the Sơn Trà peninsula. To the south it leads down to the foot of Ngũ Hành Sơn, the Marble Mountains. Along the beach runs a wide road named Võ Nguyên Giáp. The center of Da Nang is only about 2 kilometers away. The way here crosses one of the city's well-known bridges: the Hàn River Bridge, the Dragon Bridge or the Trần Thị Lý Bridge.

The sand here is so white and fine that walking on it barefoot feels as soft as walking on flour. Along the water's edge, the sand runs on and on without a break. To the north lies the dark green shape of the Sơn Trà peninsula. To the south, far off at the end of the sand, stand the stone mountains of Ngũ Hành Sơn. Waves roll in, slide up over the sand and draw back again. All year round, the water stays between about 22 and 28 degrees Celsius.

The year 2005 was a turning point. After the Forbes list came out, many more international visitors came to know Mỹ Khê. Then in 2024, TripAdvisor named it among the ten most beautiful beaches in Asia. Two honors on the world's travel map, nearly twenty years apart.

But the most interesting part of the story of Mỹ Khê lies in the past. During the Vietnam War, American soldiers stationed in Da Nang gave this beach an English name. They called it China Beach.

The soldiers made the beach a Rest and Recreation stop. They came here in turns for two to four days before going back to the fighting. And right here, in 1967, they founded a surfing club called the China Beach Surf Club. It was probably one of the first surfing communities in the area.

The official name, and the only one Vietnam recognizes, is Mỹ Khê. China Beach is simply a memory from that time.

Mỹ Khê faces east, out to the sea. That is why the sunrise here is so beautiful. The sun climbs straight up out of the water, and the first light turns the sand an orange gold. Far off to the left, the Sơn Trà peninsula juts out like a giant sleeping turtle. On a clear day, a white statue at Linh Ứng Pagoda stands out against the green mountain. It is 67 meters tall and shows Quan Âm, the bodhisattva of compassion.

There is one thing many visitors get wrong. At Mỹ Khê, the sun does not set into the sea. Because the beach faces east, the evening sun goes down over the city, behind anyone looking out at the water. The sky turns orange gold above the sand instead. It is a different kind of beauty, but the sun never drops below a sea horizon here.

Mỹ Khê offers many ways to spend a day. Early mornings are for swimming and watching the sunrise. A group of amateur surfers comes out regularly, because the waves are moderate in the afternoon. There is paragliding, jet skiing, kayaking, and stand-up paddleboarding. In the evening, fresh seafood is served along the beach road and on Hồ Nghinh and Trần Bạch Đằng streets.

The surface of the sea at Mỹ Khê looks gentle and calm. Below it, though, hidden currents quietly pull away from the shore. That is why people should swim only in the lifeguarded zones, and young children always need an adult right beside them in the water. In the storm season, from September to November, the sea runs rough and the waves run high, and the beach is a place to watch from the shore. To love this sea is to admire it and to respect it.

Early in the morning, bare feet press into white sand as fine as flour. A deep red sun rises straight out of the sea and gilds the whole 10 kilometers of shore. Far away lies the Sơn Trà peninsula, and warm waves lap softly at the walker's feet. Mỹ Khê is still there, whole and as alluring as it was decades ago.