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BEACHES
Coconut palms provide shekel for both Bathers and strollers along most of Nha Trang's 6km of beachfront. Beach chairs are available for rent - you can just sit and enjoy the drinks and light food that the beach vendors have on otter. About the only Hon Mieu All the tourist literature touts HonMieu (also called Tri Nguven Island) as the site of an outdoor aquarium (Ho Ca Tri Nguven). In fact, the 'aquarium' is an important fish breeding farm, where over 40 species of fish, crustacean and other marine creatures are raised in three separate compartments There is also a cafe built on stilts over the water Ask around for canoe rentals.
The main village on Hon Mieu is Tri Nguven. Bai Soai is a gravel beach on the far side of Hon Mien from Can Da. There are a few rustic bungalows on the island, Most people will take some sort ol boa' tour booked through a hotel, cafe of Khanh Hoa Tourist (left). Impoverished and less-hurried travelers might catch one of the regular ferries that go to Tri Nguven village from Cau Da dock.
Hon Tre (Bamboo Island)
Several kilometres from the southern part of Nha Trang Beach is Bamboo Island, the largest island in the Nha Trang area. Tru Beach is at the northern end of the island
Boats can be hired to take you then, and We can also recommend the day and overnight trips offered by Con Se Tre.
Hon Mun
Also called Ebony Island, Hon Mun is just southeast of Bamboo Island and is known tor its snorkeling. To get here, you'll probably have to hire a boat.
Hon Mot
Sandwiched neatly between Ebony Island and Hon Tam is tiny Hon Mot it's a another great place for snorkeling.
Monkey Island
Called Hon Lao in Vietnamese, Monkey Is¬land is named after its large contingent of resident monkeys, and has become a big hit with tourists. Most of the monkeys have grown quite accustomed to receiving food handouts from the tourists providing ample opportunity to take a memorable photo. However, these are wild animals and should be treated as such. Monkey bites are a fairly reliable source of rabies.
Aside from being unwilling to cuddle, the monkeys are materialistic! They will grab the sunglasses off your face or snatch a pen from your shirt pocket and run off. So far, we haven't heard of monkeys slitting open travelers handbags with a razor blade but keep a close eye (and hand; on your possessions
A word of warning: though the island itself can make for a fun visit, there's also a bear-and-monkey 'show' held there that you may want to avoid. Travelers have reported seeing the animals beaten by then trainers during performances.
Monkey Island is 12km north of Bamboo Island, and one-day boat tours can easily be arranged in Nha Trang. A faster way to get here is to take a motorbike or car 15km north of Nha Trang on Hwy 1 - near a pagoda and the pleasant Nha Trang Res¬taurant, from where boats will ferry YOU to the island in 15 minutes. Other destinations from here include Hoa Lan Springs on Hon Heo ( 45 minutes), and Hon Thi ( 20 minutes).

Bird's-Nest Island
Salangane Island (Hon Yen or Dao Yen is the name applied to two lump-shaped is lands visible from Nha Trang Beach. These and other islands off Khanh Hoa provice are the source of Vietnam's finest swiftlet (salangane) nests. The nests are used in bird's nest soup as well as in traditional medicine, and are considered an aphrodisiac. It is said that the extraordinary virility of Emperor Minh Mang, who ruled Vietnam
from 1820 to 1840, was derived from the consumption of swiftlet nests.
The nests, which the swiftlet- build out of silk like salivary secretions, are semi oval and about 5cm to 8cm in diameter. They are usually harvested twice a year. Red nests are the most highly prized. Anmial produc¬tion in Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen provinces is about 1000kg, At present, swiftlet nests fetch US$2000 per kilogram in the international marketplace!
There is a small, secluded beach at Salangane Island, The 17km trip out to the is¬lands takes three to four hour by small boat from Nha Trang.
PO NAGAR CHAM TOWERS
The Cham towers of Po Nagar (Thap Ba, The Lady of the City) were built between the 7th and 12th centuries. The site was u.sed for Hindu wor¬ship as early as the 2nd century AD. Today, both ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhists come to Po Nagar to pray and make offerings, according to their respective trad¬itions This site has a continuing religious significance, so do remember to remove your shoes before entering. The towers serve as the Holy See, honoring Yang Ino Po Nagar, the goddess of the Dua (Liu) clan. which ruled over the southern part of the Chain kingdom cov¬ering Kauthara and Pan Duranga (present day Khanh Hoa and Thuan Hai province). The original wooden structure was razed to the ground by attacking Japanese AD 774 but was replaced by a stone-and-brick temple (the first of its kind) in 784. There are stone slabs scattered throughout complex, most of which relate to or religion, and provide insight into the spiritual life and social structure of the Cham. Originally the complex covered an area of 500 sq meters and there were seven or eight towers, four of which remain All of the temples face east, as did the original entrance to the complex, which is to the right as you ascend the hillock. In centuries past, a person coming to pray passed through the pillared meditation hall 10 pillars of which can still be seen before proceeding up the staircase to the towers. The 28m-high North Tower (Thap Chinh with its terraced pyramidal roof vaulted interior masonry and vestibule, is a superb example of Cham architecture. One of the tallest Chain towers, it was built in AD 817 by Pangro, a minister of King Harivarman I, after the original temples here were sacked and burned. The raiders also carried off a linga made of precious metal. In AD 918 King Indravarman III placed a gold mukhalinga in the North Tower, but it too was taken, this time by the Khmers. This pattern of statues being destroyed or stolen and then replaced continued (or some time until 965, When King Java Indravarman I replaced the gold mukhalinga with the stone figre Uma which remains to this day. Above the entrance to the North Tower, two musicians flank a dancing tour-armed Shiva, one of whose feet is on the head of the bull Nandin. The sandstone doorposts are covered with inscriptions, as are parts of the walls of the vestibule. A gong and a drum stand under the pyramid-shaped ceiling of the antechamber. In the 28m-high pyramidal main chamber, there is a black stone statue of the goddess Uma (in the shape of Bhagavati) with 10 arms, two of which are hidden under her vest: she is seated and leaning back against some of monstrous animal. The Central Tower (Thap Nam) was built partly of recycled bricks in the 12th century on the site of a structure dating from the 7th century. It is less finely constructed than ths other towers and has little ornamentation the pyramidal roof lacks terracing or pilasters, although the interior altars were once covered with silver. There is a linga inside the main chamber. Note the inscription or the left hand wall of the vestibule. The South Tower (Mieu Dong Nam), a one time dedicated to Sandhaka (Shiva still shelters a linga. The richly ornamented Northwest Tower (Thap Tay Bac) was originally dedicated to Ganesha. The pyramid shaped summit of its roof has disappeared The West Tower, of which almost nothing remains, was constructed by King Vikrantavarman during the first half of the 9th
century. Near the North Tower is a small museum with a few mediocre examples of Cham stonework; the explanatory signs air in Vietnamese only. At one time there is a small temple on this site. The towers of Po Nauar stand on a granite knoll, 2km north of central Nha Trang and on the banks of the Cai River. To get here from central Nha Trang, take D Quang Trung (which becomes D 2 Thang 4) north across Ha Ra and Xom Bong Bridges, which span the mouth of the Cai River. Po Nagai can also be reached via (lie new Tran PI u Bridge along the beachfront road
LONG SON PAGODA
Perhaps the most impressive sight in Nha Trang, aside from the beach and Cham towers, is Long Son Pagoda, also known as Tinh Hoi Khanh Hoa Pagoda and An Nam Phat Hoc Hoi Pagoda. It's about 500m west of the train station.
The pagoda, which has resident monks, was founded in the late 19th century and has been rebuilt several times over the year. The entrance and roofs are decorated with mosaic dragons constructed of glass and bits of ceramic tile. The main sanctuary is an attractive hall adorned with modern interpretations of traditional motifs. Note the ferocious nose hairs on the colorful dragons wrapped around the pillars on either side of the main altar. At the top of the hill, behind the pagoda is a huge white Buddha (KimThan Phat To) seated on a lotus blossom and visible from all over the city. The platform around the 14m-high figure, which was built in 1963, has great views of Nha Trang and nearby rural areas. As you approach the pagoda from the street, the 152 stone steps up the hill to the Buddha begin to the right of the structure. You should take some inns lo explore off to the left, where there is an entrance to another impressive hall of the pagoda.
PASTEUR INSTITUTE
Dr Alexandre Yersm (1863-1943) founded Nha Trang's Pasteur Institute ( 10D Tran Phu)in 1895. He was from among the tens of thousands of colonist' who spent time in Vietnam, probably silt Frenchman most loved by the Vietnamese Vietnam's two other Pasteur Institutes are in HCMC and Dalat.
Born in Switzerland, Dr Yersin came to Vietnam in 1889 afte working unck Louis Pasteur in Paris. He learned to speak Vietnamese fluently, and spend the next few years travelling throughout the central highlands and recording his observations During this period he came upon the site of what is now Dalat and recommended to the government that a hill station be established there. Dr Yersin also introducedrubber and quinine-producing trees to Vietnam. In 1894, while in Hong Kong, he discovered the rat-borne microbe that causes bubonic plague.
Today, the Pasteur Institute in Nha Trang coordinates vaccination and hygiene for the country's southern coastal region. The institute produces vaccines ( eg for rabies and Japanese B encephalitis )and carries out medical researching and testing to European standards. Physicians at the clinic here offer medical advice to around 70 patients a day.
Dr Yersin's library and office are now an interesting museum on the 2nd floor in an adjacent building. Items on display include laboratory equipment (such as his astronomical instruments), books from his library, a fascinating 3-D photo viewer and some of the thousand or so letters written to his mother! The model boat was given to him by local fishermen with whom he spent a great deal of his time. Tours of the museum are guided in French, English and Vietnamese, and a short film on Dr Yersin's life is also shown.
At his request, Dr Yersin was buried near Nha Trang.
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LONG THANH - PHOTOGRAPHER
Most of the 500-odd members of the National Association of Photographers are based in Hanoi or HCMC, and most choose color film as their medium. Long Thanh, a photographer born in Nha Trang in 1951, is a rare exception. A family man, Long Thanh has managed, with limited resources and a geographical disadvantage, to establish himself as Nha Trang's most acclaimed local shutterbug. He has been taking pictures since the 1960s, when at the age of 13 he learned to use a camera while working in a local photo shop.
Purist that he is. Long Thanh religiously uses biack-and-white film and laments the fact that so many great photographers prefer to shoot in colour. He works out of a makeshift darkroom in his simple kitchen, mixes his own chemicals, and awaits the day when professional quality biack-and-white photographic paper will be sold in Vietnam (for now, he relies on friends from abroad to keep him stocked).
if you've got the time, it may be possible to visit Long Thanh's home-studio and talk pholog raphy; that is, if he's not out on the toad looking to capture the next great shot. Long Thanh is an incurable traveller and has been known to happily accompany new friends on excursions into the Vietnamese countryside. For fellow photographers, who could be a better travel companion.
KHANH HOA MUSEUM
This sleepy local museum (16 D Tran Phu) features displays such as Chain statutes and costumes, and artefacts of the ethnic minorities in the province. The Uncle Ho room features several of Ho Chi Minh's personal effects, such as cloth¬ing and the actual microphone with which he made his famous independence speech in Hanoi on 2 September 1945.
LONG THANH GALLERY
The work of Nha Trang's most prominent photographer. Long Thanh, is shown at Long Thanh Gallery (126 D Hoang Van Thu
Long Thanh shoots extraordinary black and-white images of everyday Vietnamese moments. Though he
has shown his photo1-in group exhibitions abroad more than 50 times and had his first international solo exhibition in Hamburg, Germany in 1999 Long Thanh's talents remain relatively un¬discovered outside Vietnam.
Long Thanh's powerful images capture the heart and soul of Vietnam. Among his most compelling works, Under The Rain is a perfectly timed shot of two young girls caught in a sudden downpour, with a mysterious beam of sunlight streaming down on them. Afternoon Countryside is another rare scene - a boy dashing across the backs of a herd of water buffalos submerged in a lake outside Nha Trang.
For more information see above. You can also view Long Thanh's
photos on the walls of his favourite watering hole, the Nha Trang Sailing Club ( 72 D Tran Phu) which feature an ongoing exhibition of his work.
NHA TRANG CATHEDRAL
Built in the French Gothic style, complete with medieval-looking stained glass win dows, Nha Trang Cathedral stands on a small hill overlooking the train station. It was constructed of simple cement Nock-between 1928 and 1933. Today, the cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Nha Trang. In 1988 a Catholic cemetery not far from the church was disinterred to make room for a new train-station building, The ashes were brought to the cathedral and reburied in the cavities
behind the wall of plaque-that line the ramp up the hill. Masses are held daily.
HON CHONG PROMONTORY
The narrow granite promontory of Ron Chong juts into the turquoise waters of the South China Sea. The views of the mountainous coastline north of NhaTrang and the nearby islands are fine, and the beach here offers a more local flavor than the main beach in the town centre.
There's a gargantuan handprint on the massive boulder balanced at the tip of the promontory. According to local legend,
drunk giant male fairy made it when he h II while spying a female fairy bathing nude at Bai Tien (Pain' Beach),
the point of land closest to Hon Rua. They fell in love and began a life together, but the gods inter¬vened punishing the male fain by sending him away. The lovesick female fairy wailed patient h for her husband to come back, but after a very long time, despairing that he might never return, she lay down in sorrow and turned into Nui Co Tien (Fairy Mountaisn) Looking to the northeast from Hon Chong Promontory, the peak on the right is supposed to be her face, gazing up towards t if sky; the middle peak is her breasts and the summit on the left (the highest) terms her crossed legs.
To the northeast is Hon Rua (Tortoise Island), which really does resemble is tortoise.
The two islands of Hon Yen are off in the distance to the east.
OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE
Housed in a grand French-colonial building 6km south of Nha Trang's main post office in the port district of Can Da (also called Cau Be) is the Oceanographk Institute (Vien
Nghiem Cuu Bien Cau Da. Founded 11923, it has an aquarium and specimen loom open to the public; it also has a library. The 23 tanks on the ground floor are home to a variety of colorful live specimens of local marine life, including seahorses
Behind the main building and across the volleyball court is a large hall filled with
60,000 dead specimens of sea life, including stuffed seabirds and fish, corals and the cor¬poreal remains of other marine creatures preserved in glass jars.
As nice as the Oceanographic Institute is, if you really want to see an aquarium lake a boat across to nearby Hon Mieu.
BAO DAI'S VILLAS
These villas (Biet Thu Cau Da, usually free for restaurant patronss) were formerly the retreats of Bao Dai, Vietnam s own 'last emperor', who abdicated in 1945. Between the mid-1950s and 1975, the villas were used by high-ranking officials of the South Vietnamese government, including President Thieu. This all changed in 1975 when the villas were taken
over for use by high-ranking officials of the South Vietnam includ¬ing the prime minister, Pham Van Dong. Today, low-ranking 'capitalist tourists can rent a room in the villas.
Built in the 1920s, Bao Dai's live villas ari¬se! on three hills south of town, and have brilliant views of the South China Sea, Nha Trang Bay (to the north) and Cau Da dock (to the south). Between the building are winding paths lined with tropical bushes and trees. Most of the villas' furnishings' have not been changed in decades.
To get to Bao Dai's Villas from Nha Trang, turn left off D Tran Phu just past the white cement oil-storage tanks (but before reaching Cau Da
village). These villas are several hundred metres north of the Oceanographic Institute.
Activities
BOAT TOURS
Virtually even' hotel in town books island boat tours. You can pay more for n less-crowded and more luxurious boat that takes you to more islands. Indeed, you will have to do this if you want to get in much snorkeling. The place to charter boat is at the Cau Da dock, south of Nha Trang. If you're not with an organized group, yon'd better book the day before or go to Cau Da dock early in the morning by 10am all the boats are gone. One attractive alternative is joining up with one of the local
dive boat; most of which will take nondivers along for a discounted rate.
Shallow water prevents boats from reaching shore at some of the fishing villager on

rang the islands. In this case, you must walk perhaps several hundred metres across floats. The floats were designed for Vietnamese people, and weightier Westerners might get wet - balance carefully and take care with your camera. Nevertheless, it's all good fun and a visit to these fishing villages is highly recommended
Mama Linh's Boat Tours (2A D Hung Vuong) are now the hottest ticket for island
hopping, guzzling fruit wine at the impromptu 'floating bar' and deck-side dancing. Daily trips last from 8.45am until 4.30pm, and typically include stops on Hon Mun (Salangane Island), Hon Mot, Hon Tam and Hon Mieu. Tickets are sold at the office, but you can easily book at your hotel for a dollar or two more.
Of course all of this fun in the sun, let's just say, might not be the best environment for families with children (or for reover¬ing alcoholics). If the cultural fanfare of the
Mama Linh experience does not sound up your alley, there are other more orthodox boat tours around.
Con SeTre ( 16 D Tran Phu) offers interesting boat tours to peaceful Hon Tre (Bamboo island).
In the interests of environmental preservation, when booking a boat tour you might consider asking if the captain anchors his boat to a buoy as opposed to dropping anchor directly on the coral. Of course, when booking a tour through hotel or tourist operator it s hard to know if you'll get a truthful or informed answer to this question.
DIVING
Nha Trang is Vietnam's premier scuba diving locale. Visibility averages 15m bill can be as much as 30m, depending on the
season (late October to early January is the worst time of year).
There are around 25 dive sites in the area, both shallow and deep. There are no wrecks to dive on, but some sites have good drop-offs and there are a few small underwater caves to explore. The waters support a good variety of soft and hard corals- and a reason¬able number of small reef fish.
A full-day outing includes
boat transport, two dives
and lunch typically. Most dive op¬erators also offer a range of dive courses, including a 'discover diving' programme for uncertified, first-time divers to experience the thrill under the
supervisesion of a qualified dive master.
It is difficult to recommend one dive op¬erator over another: our best advice is to shop around, speak to a few different opera¬tors and use your better ) judgment With that caveat in mind, consider the following outfits, all long-running operators with en¬vironmentally responsible diving practices.
Blue Diving Club

(12B D Biet Thu) French-British owned and operated.
Jeremy Stein's Rainbow Divers Nha Trang Sailing Club;
Run by Briton Jeremy Stein, who also just happens to be a dead ringer for Chuck Morris.
Octopus Diving
(62 D Tran Phu) Brit- and Japanese-run club; guides speak 11 languages; certified to train instructors,
SWIMMING & WATER SPORTS Right on the beach front, Phu Dong Water
Park has water slides, shallow pools and fountains if salt water is not your thing.
If salt water is your thing, check out
Manamana Beach Club ( 29 D Tran Phu). Offering windsurfing, sea kayaking, wakeboarding and sailing lessons, Manamana uses state-of-the-art equipment and makes safety a priority.