Back Beach (Bai Sau) in Vung Tau, Vietnam

Back Beach, known locally as Bai Sau, is the main swimming and seaside-recreation beach of Vung Tau. It runs along the Thuy Van waterfront on the eastern side of the peninsula and remains the city’s busiest beach zone for swimming, morning exercise, family outings and evening walks. The destination changed significantly in 2025–2026: a large renovation of the Thuy Van seafront created a broader coastal park, upgraded public space and the Tam Thang landmark tower. The beach is therefore better understood today as a long urban waterfront rather than only a strip of sand. Its main limitation is popularity—weekends and public holidays can bring very heavy crowds and traffic.

The route needs a small administrative explanation. Vung Tau was incorporated into the expanded Ho Chi Minh City in July 2025, and current official documents describe Back Beach as lying in Vung Tau Ward and Tam Thang Ward, Ho Chi Minh City. For travel purposes, however, Vung Tau remains the correct destination locality: it is the recognizable coastal city area, with its own tourism identity and transport pattern. This page therefore routes the beach under Vung Tau while recording the new municipal administration in the address and research notes.

Current Vung Tau tourism material describes Back Beach as the largest and best-known local beach, running along Thuy Van for several kilometres. The sandy shoreline is broad, especially at lower tide, and the beach is used for swimming, walking and early-morning exercise. The renovated seafront adds landscaped park areas, plazas, paths and lighting. Tam Thang Square and its illuminated tower have become new evening landmarks, so the waterfront now works just as well for a post-dinner walk as for daytime swimming.

Swimming conditions are not constant. The sea can look calm while currents, wind and tide vary from day to day. Current 2026 local coverage reports active lifeguard teams on the main swimming beach, but that should not be turned into a promise that every section is supervised at every hour. Swim only in designated areas, obey flags and lifeguard instructions, and avoid treating the beach as safely swimmable simply because the promenade itself is accessible. Families with children should be especially conservative about water conditions.

Back Beach has no single staffed entrance or ticket gate, so the public waterfront is accessible throughout the day and night. That does not mean swimming should be treated as a 24-hour activity. Early morning is popular with local swimmers and cyclists; daytime is hotter and busier; evenings bring walkers, food stops and illuminated public spaces. If your priority is swimming, choose daylight and a period when lifeguards are visibly operating. If your priority is photography or walking, dawn and evening offer cooler temperatures.

The long seafront means the experience changes by section. Near the central Thuy Van stretch, hotels, cafes, restaurants and convenience services are dense. Other sections feel more open. The 2025–2026 redevelopment also means older reviews describing continuous construction are no longer representative of the entire waterfront, although beach cleanliness can still vary. Recent visitor reviews in 2026 report both attractive renovated public areas and occasional litter on the sand, so visitors should expect a busy urban beach rather than a pristine remote coast.

There is no general admission fee for Back Beach. Costs come from parking, food, hired chairs or umbrellas and other private services. Because vendor prices and parking arrangements can change, confirm them on the day rather than relying on old fixed amounts. The beach itself is best enjoyed with simple preparation: swimwear, sun protection, drinking water and secure storage for valuables. Strong midday sun can make a long exposed visit uncomfortable even when the sea breeze feels cool.

Most visitors spend two to four hours, but Back Beach can easily fill half a day if swimming is combined with the new park, lunch and a walk. A short city itinerary can use the beach as one Vung Tau cluster rather than crossing repeatedly to Front Beach or Small Mountain. Current local itinerary advice strongly recommends grouping sights geographically, which is sensible because holiday traffic on the peninsula can make short cross-city journeys surprisingly slow.

Transport is straightforward once you are in Vung Tau. Thuy Van is one of the city’s principal seafront roads and is lined with hotels and parking areas. Visitors arriving from central Ho Chi Minh City usually reach Vung Tau by road transfer or fast ferry and then continue by taxi, ride-hailing or local transport. Holiday periods create serious congestion along Thuy Van and nearby roads, so anyone with a return ferry or bus should leave more buffer than the map distance suggests.

The new promenade is broad and comparatively easy for strollers and many wheelchair users, but a complete beach-accessibility audit is not available. Moving from promenade level onto sand and into the water is a different challenge from using the paved park. Travelers who need step-free beach access should choose a specific renovated access point and assess it on arrival rather than assuming the full shoreline is equally accessible.

Back Beach is most rewarding when treated as Vung Tau’s main urban seafront: swim when conditions and supervision are appropriate, walk the renovated park in cooler hours and expect a lively local crowd rather than solitude. The post-2025 administrative merger does not change its role as a Vung Tau destination, but it does explain why current official documents may list the beach under Ho Chi Minh City.