Trip overview – 6 days in Da Nang with friends

My wife and I were glad to join our old school mates for a trip to Da Nang and also Hoi An without having to do much planning ourselves. This is because one of the couple has relatives living in Da Nang and hence had visited Da Nang and Hoi An many times. So they volunteered to plan the itinerary for our trip. They also help to buy the tickets to Ba Na Hills, and arranged private vehicles with local drivers to ferry us around on some days. They even managed to secure some discounts for our stay at New World Hoiana Hotel in Hoi An.

We chose to go in March since March in Da Nang features pleasant, dry spring weather, making it one of the best times to visit. March is supposed to be the dry season but the weather forecasted was rain almost everyday during our stay. Fortunately, the rain in South East Asia is heavy but short in duration.

Getting to Da Nang

We travelled to Da Nang from Singapore via Vietjet Air. One key reason for choosing this airline was that Vietjet Air is not operating the dreaded Boeing 737-800 Max on this route. This was the first time we had tried this budget airline and all was good. The only letdown was that Vietjet did not use the aero-bridge when we arrived at Da Nang International Airport.

Disembarking from our plane at Da Nang International Airport.

Our hotels in Hoi An and Da Nang

We stayed at the New World Hoiana Hotel for the first 2 days. This hotel is one of the 4 hotels within the Hoiana Integrated Resort located by the coast near Hoi An. We enjoyed the facilities of this luxury Integrated Resort and used it as a base to explore the Hoi An area.

Casino at the Hoiana Integration Resort.

More details of our stay at this resort are described below:

Trip report: Our Stay at New World Hoiana Hotel in Hoi An.

After Hoi An, we returned to Da Nang and stayed at the Crowne Plaza Danang City Centre by IHG. We chose to stay near the city centre for easy access to shopping, restaurants and this hotel is close to the Han River, Han Market and Dragon Bridge.

View from my room at Crowne Plaza Danang City Centre Hotel.

 

This was how we spent our 6 days in Da Nang and Hoi An.

 

Day 1 (5 March 2026) – Arrival and travel to Hoi An

Our direct flight from Singapore to Da Nang took about 3 hours. We arrived as scheduled at about 1 PM. 

Our private van with driver picked us from the airport and brought us to Da Nang for lunch at An Thoi Restaurant. Our friends, who organised this trip, had dined at this restaurant before and told us this is a must-try restaurant when in Da Nang.

The restaurant serves authentic Vietnamese cuisine like Banh Xeo, various kinds of Vietnamese Spring Rolls, White Rose Dumplings, and seafood.

Trip report: Lunch at An Thoi Restaurant in Da Nang

After lunch, we proceeded to Hoi An. The drive from Da Nang to our hotel took about 1 hour. After check-in, we spent some time enjoying the facilities at the Hoiana Integrated Resort before having our dinner in Hoi An Ancient Town.

Dinner at Morning Glory Signature Restaurant in Hoi An

Hoi An Ancient Town is beautifully lit at night and we had time to enjoy a walk by the riverside after dinner.

The iconic Japanese Covered Bridge at the Ancient Town.

Trip report: Dinner at Morning Glory Restaurant in Hoi An 

 

Day 2 (6 March 2026) – Coconut Boat Tour and Hoi An Ancient Town

After breakfast in the hotel, we went to check out the private beach. We had the whole beach to ourselves.

Private beach at Hoiana Integrated Resort.

It was late morning when we travelled by private van to the Bay Mau Coconut Forest area. We did the Coconut Boat Tour in Hoi An in the late morning. This is one of Hoi An’s popular tourist activities.

We rode the iconic Vietnamese basket boat through serene waterways and coconut forest.

Trip report: Experiencing the Coconut Boat Tour in Hoi An

After our adventure riding the coconut boat, we proceed to Hoi An Ancient Town.

We had lunch at Madam Khanh (one of the best Banh Mi restaurants in town) and dessert at a roadside stall.

Madam Khanh’s banh mi – amongst the best.

Thereafter we spent the afternoon and evening exploring the old town.

Enjoy our drinks at the Cafe Street or Trần Phú Street in the old town.

The spa in Hoi An is quite affordable and having a foot massage is a good activity to do at the end of the day.

We enjoyed local cuisine at the MẸT Vietnamese Restaurant & Vegetarian Food located by the riverside. 

Cao Lau, a noodle that can only be made in Hoi An.

Many visitors enjoying boat rides on the Hoai River that flow through the old town at night.

The Hoi An Ancient Town is especially beautiful at night, when lanterns are lit all over.

Trip report: Afternoon and Evening in Hoi An Ancient Town.

Day 3 (7 March 2026) – Travel from Hoi An to Da Nang. Shopping, Seafood dinner and see the Dragon Bridge.

We travelled by chartered van from Hoi An to Da Nang in the morning.

After check-in, we had time to explore Da Nang city for the rest of the day by ourselves. We spend some time shopping for local products at Vincom Plaza before enjoying dinner at Moc Quan Seafood. Da Nang is an excellent place to enjoy a value-for-money seafood feast and one of the best seafood restaurants in town was MỘC Quán Seafood.

Must eat the seafood at Da Nang.

We took the opportunity to celebrate a birthday at Moc Quan Seafood.

At night, we went to see the Dragon Bridge and enjoyed the fire and water show that takes place at 9 PM every weekend. 

Da Nang’s Dragon Bridge that breathes fire and spew water every weekend at 9 PM.

We also had time to check out the Son Tra Night Market, located next to the Dragon’s head.

Trip report: Exploring Da Nang – Shopping at Vincom Plaza, Dinner at Moc Quan and fire and water show at Dragon Bridge.

 

Day 5 (8 March 2026) – Shopping and Sightseeing in Da Nang

This is the day to explore Da Nang city on foot and by taxis. We planned to do more shopping and sightseeing on this day. Plus, enjoying the good food that this vibrant Vietnamese city has to offer.

After breakfast at Banh Mi Co Tien, we did shopping at Han Market, one of the largest traditional markets in Da Nang with lots of things to buy.

Entrance to Han Market.

We had lunch at An Thoi Restaurant (again). This restaurant is located next to Han Market.

After lunch, we visited the Ling Unh Pagoda located in Son Tra Peninsula and My Khe Beach by taxi.

Linh Ung Pagoda is a famous spiritual site in Da Nang. The most important and visible highlight of the Linh Ung pagoda is the statue of Lady Buddha.

Impressive statue of the Lady Buddha or Guan Yin at the Ling Unh Pagoda.

My Khe Beach is located on the east of Da Nang City and it made sense to see this beach after our visit to the Son Tra Peninsula.

Enjoying a stroll at My Khe Beach.

We had more of Da Nang’s cheap and good seafood for dinner at a restaurant near My Khe Beach.

Trip report: Exploring Da Nang – Shopping, Sightseeing and Good Food.

Day 6 (9 March 2026) – Day trip to Ba Na Hills 

Ba Na Hills is a popular tourist destination in Vietnam featuring a replica of a France medieval town with beautiful flower gardens and the famous Golden Bridge.

The Golden Bridge has two giant hands holding the walkway and is one of Da Nang’s most famous attractions.

As it is an extremely popular attraction, we chose a weekday to visit Ba Na Hills so as to avoid the massive crowds on weekends.

Ba Na Hills is located 1,487 meters up in the Da Nang mountains and about 25 kilometres from Da Nang city center. We booked a private van with local driver for our daytrip to Ba Na Hills.

There was a Tulip Festival when we visited.

Trip report: Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge

We ended the day with Korean BBQ dinner back at Da Nang city. 

Trip report: Korean BBQ in Da Nang

Day 7 (10 March 2026) – Free and easy morning before leaving

We had a nice breakfast at Bun Cha Ca 109 and coffee at La Bicicleta before leaving Da Nang.

Bún chả cá 109 is actually a Michelin Bib Gourmand awarded restaurant and only serves Bun Cha Ca(Vietnamese Fishcake Noodle Soup), their house specialty.

Bun Cha Ca with a mixture of fish cake, crab cake and crab paste.

Trip report: Morning at Da Nang City.

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Lunch at An Thoi Restaurant in Da Nang

5 March 2026

We had our first taste of authentic Vietnamese food in an excellent restaurant in downtown Da Nang right after our arrival by Vietjet Air from Singapore. Our friends, who organised this trip, had dined at this restaurant before and told us this is a must-try restaurant when in Da Nang.

An Thoi is a two-storey restaurant in a shop-house with a blue and yellow façade. The restaurant is situated in the Old Town area, overlooking the Han River. Google Map Location here.

Due to its popularity, this Michelin Bib Gourmand awarded restaurant is always busy. Be prepared to wait, as they do not accept reservations

Even though we arrived at 2.30 PM, past the peak lunch time hours, there was a queue at the entrance.

8 hungry souls waiting for a table outside An Thoi Restaurant.

The queue is orderly and systematic. The highly trained, customer oriented staff will give a ticket with your queue number and update the queuing status on a flipchart.

Simple but effective queue tracking system.

Plastic chairs and large umbrellas made the wait more comfortable. The staff even offered complimentary bottles of cold water to those in the queue.

Since we came during non-peak dining hours, we only waited for about 20 minutes. It could be up to 1 hour during peak time. However, my friend who recommended this restaurant assured us it was well worth the wait! Let’s see.

We were seated upstairs, on a long table for our group of 8. The interiors were nicely decorated and air-conditioned. Artificial windows on the wall together with artificial plants and bamboo-weaved lanterns hanging from the ceilings gave an al-fresco dining vibes.

The An Thoi menu features a wonderful selection of local Vietnamese cuisine, including seafood. It was good that we were a fairly large group and could order a variety of cuisine to share.

These were what we ordered: 

8 pieces of grilled oysters with scallions and peanuts for 139,000 VND.

8 pieces of grilled scallops with cheese for 175,000 VND. 4 pieces had been taken by the time the plate came to me for the photo!

2 x Banh Xeo or crispy Vietnamese pancakes with rice paper, sliced mangos, herbs and dipping sauces.  The savory pancake was filled with shrimps, pork, and bean sprouts

How to eat the Banh Xeo:

• Place the lettuce on a sheet of dry or slightly damp rice paper.
• Add fresh herbs like the sliced mango, bean sprouts,
• Add a piece of the hot, crispy pancake on top of the lettuce.
• Roll the rice paper into a tight cylinder. Dip the roll into the sauce before eating.

The lazy ones could just take a piece of the pancake, add the herbs and veggies onto the plate with the pancake, mix a little of the dipping sauce and eat it like that.

Goi Cuon or Vietnamese spring rolls with dipping sauce for 115,000 VND.

Cha Gio or Vietnamese fried spring rolls for 135,000 VND.

Banh Hoa Hong Trang or Hoi An White Rose Dumplings for 109,000 VND. These steamed, translucent dumplings shaped to look like rose petals are filled with savory minced shrimp and pork, topped with crispy shallots, and served with a special dipping sauce.

2 x Pineapple seafood fried rice for 129,000 VND. The rice is served in a half pineapple. The friendly and “ever-happy-to-serve” staff even cut the pineapple into cubes for our dessert after our meal. 

We also had a pomelo salad for 165,000 VND which were devoured by the hungry souls before I could I get a photo!

For drinks, the gents in the group had the local Vietnamese beer. They were really cheap but not that good. The ladies had the fresh coconuts which were cheap and good. Fresh coconut imprinted with the restaurant’s logo.

The staff split the coconuts for us and provided spoons to scrap the white fleshy parts inside.

All of the dishes we tried at An Thoi were delicious and we all agreed that we should eat here again. There is so much more in the menu that we had not tried.

Entrance to the Han Market.

The restaurant is conveniently located next to the Han Market, so those who like shopping can couple a visit to this excellent restaurant with a visit to the market that offers a large range of high quality but faked branded goods.

Alternatively, go take a walk along the promenade by the Han River in front of the restaurant.

Sculptures decorate the waterside by the Han River.

We did not have time to do the above or explore Da Nang on this day. After lunch, we made an hour long journey to Hoi An, where we would stay for the next 2 nights.

But we will be back!

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Our Stay at New World Hoiana Hotel in Hoi An

5 and 6 March 2026

A visit to Da Nang must include a few nights stay at Hoi An, located approximately 25 to 30 kilometers southeast of Da Nang city center. Hoi An is an old trading port in Southern Vietnam, with well-preserved buildings that reflects both indigenous and foreign cultures, especially Chinese, Japanese and later European. The famed UNESCO World Heritage ancient town features exceptionally preserved 15th-century buildings, lantern-lit streets at night, unique local cuisine, interesting cafes and riverside shops.

In my previous visit to Hoi An, I stayed 4 nights in a boutique guesthouse within walking distance to the ancient town. In this trip with my friends, we stayed two nights in the more luxurious Hoiana Integrated Resort set on a secluded stretch of Vietnam’s central coast just south of the Hoi An's Cua Dai estuary.

Hoiana opened in 2020 as a world-class integrated resort featuring championship golf, luxury accommodations, and state-of-the-art entertainment facilities.

The integrated resort consists of several hotels:

• Hoiana Hotel & Suites

• New World Hoiana Beach Resort

• New World Hoiana Hotel

• Hoiana Residences

We stayed at New World Hoiana Hotel but could use the facilities within the integrated resort. There is free buggy service so travelling within the integrated resort was pretty convenient. Most times, we chose to walk between the hotels and the beach.

Layout of Hoiana Integrated Resort in Hoi An.

        

Getting there from Da Nang

It took us about an hour’s drive to get to Hoiana from Da Nang city center. Although the distance is less than 30 km, the speed limit on the single lane coastal road is low and the driver of our chartered van was careful.  

Once there, checking in was fast. Our luggage was handled by the hotel staff and brought to our rooms.

Spacious lobby in New World Hoiana Hotel.

View of the swimming pool and restaurant where we had our breakfast as viewed from the lobby.

Nicely lit at night.

Decent sized and well appointed rooms in this luxury hotel. 

View from my room. The hotel is quite isolated. Guests had to dine within the hotel’s many restaurants or take a short trip to the ancient town.

Casino

One of the highlights of staying in Hoiana is their casino. Actually not for me but my travelling companions loves visiting casinos at Genting Highlands in Malaysia. So the first thing we did was to take a short walk to the casino, located in Hoiana Hotel & Suites. 

The casino is located at the Hoiana Hotel & Suites. 

To enter the casino, we had to sign up as a member. There was a promotion for new sign ups during the month of March.

We are to choose one of the following freebies for new members.

We were each issued a personal membership card that is used to pass through the gantry at the entrance of the casino. This card is also used as a cash card at the slot machines. Each card was also loaded with free USD20 credit that we had chosen.

In my previous visit to Macao (another place with plenty of casinos), we stayed clear of the casinos due to cigarette smoke. On this visit, there was only slight smell of cigarette smoke as the casino was not very crowded when we visited. The interior of this casino was quite nice with crystal chandeliers, many gaming tables and more than 200 slot machines.

We used the credits to introduce ourselves to playing the slot machines and roulette. Free flow of drinks and beer are provided for the players at the slot machines and tables.

We did not spend too much time in casino as we planned to go to the Hoi An ancient town for dinner in the evening although there are some nice and probably pricey restaurants in the resort.

One of the fancy restaurants in the resort.

Breakfast and morning at the beach.

Our stay at Hoiana included daily buffet breakfast at Aroma Restaurant, an all-day dining restaurant located on the ground floor of the New World Hoiana Hotel. The buffet spread is good, including pho at the noodle station and pastries. The highlight for me was the classic butter croissants in the pastries section. 

It was raining while we had breakfast on the first morning but fortunately the rain stopped by 10.30AM and we could take a walk to the resort’s private beach.

There was no one there at the beach, except us and a lifeguard stationed on the beach. A red flag fluttering on the flagpole warned that sea activity and swimming is not allowed.

The friendly and probably very bored lifeguard offered to help us take photos. He did a great job, recommending the best shots and best pose for us. 

 

The Edge – infinity pool and bar

Another recommended place to visit within the resort is the infinity pool and bar located on the 16th floor of the Hoiana Hotel & Suites. We could enjoy the sea breeze and excellent views of the coast. This is a good place to chill till it was time for our next activity.

Hoiana Hotel & Suites as seen from the beach.

View from the 16th floor of Hoiana Hotel & Suites.

Chilling on the swings and nest chairs until it is time to go for our coconut boat ride and visit to Hoi An ancient town. 

Swinging nest chairs.

Infinity Pool. It started raining again when we left.

Coconut Boat Ride

One of Hoi An’s popular tourist activities is to the coconut boat tour and there are many operators offering this activity in the Bay Mau area, just north of the Cua Dai Estuary and 5 minutes drive away by private van from our hotel.

I will describe more about our adventures on coconut boats and afternoon in Hoi An Ancient Town in a separate post.

Entertainment Hub 

Besides visiting the casino on both nights, some of us went to check out the Entertainment Hub. It is located at Lower Ground Floor of Hoiana Residences and opens from 10:00 AM till 2:00 AM. This place offers bowling, pool, karaoke, arcade games, virtual golf, sports bar and games zones.

  Large TV screens showing live sports at the bar.

Mini putt – 9 Holes.

The staff manning the place is quite friendly. She allowed one of my friends to try the virtual golf machine.

Cyber Golf Lounge

Overall, Hoiana is a nice place to stay while visiting Hoi An. The only downside is that it requires a 20 minutes drive to get to the ancient town. The hotel provides free shuttle services to and from the old town (and also the Da Nang International Airport) but the service runs on a fixed schedule and requires prior reservation. For us, we had booked a private van with driver to ferry us to and from the old town during our stay.

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