Coffee in Nha Trang: six places, and what for
A sea view, a place to work, a 20.000đ filter coffee, or a chair on the sand until 2am. The six cafés here do six different jobs. With what a drink costs and when they open.
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Photo supplied by Moonlight Chill Coffee
Ask which café has the best sea view and you get six different answers, because a sea view is not one thing. Sitting across from the water all morning, catching the sunset, staying on the sand until late and drinking a 20.000đ filter coffee are four different jobs, in four different places, a tenfold spread in price. These are the six cafés in Cafés, sorted by what they are for rather than by score.
Just want to see the water, without paying for the view. Moonlight Chill Coffee on Pham Van Dong: nearly every seat faces the sea, a drink is 35.000 – 75.000đ, open 6:30 to 22:00. No loud music, so it works for a laptop, which the beachfront places in the evening do not.
Want the whole coastline in one frame. The Busa Park on the north shore, about 5,6 km out of the centre. Far enough to see the shore bend away, which is the reason to go. Terraced gardens, 45.000 – 95.000đ a drink, open until 22:00. Come 16:30 – 18:30 for the sunset; at midday you miss the best of it.
Want a chair on the sand, and want it late. Sailing Club is 600 m from the centre, chairs set straight on the sand at the waterline, no glass between you and the sea. It runs until 2am and changes character halfway through. Before 11:00 or 16:00 – 18:00 if you want it quiet, after 21:00 if you want the music. A drink is 80.000 – 250.000đ, two to three times Moonlight, and most of that is the seat.
A real sunset means leaving the mainland. Nha Trang faces east, so the sun does not set over its water. For a sunset you need height or an island. Wave Bar on Hon Tre looks back at the city and the mountains, best about an hour before the sun goes. But its hours follow the island's operating hours, not its own: check before you cross, because getting back depends on the last boat.
Want proper quiet, and you are staying on Bãi Dài. Anna Beach House sits inside a resort on Bãi Dài, 17 km out on the airport road, so it is not somewhere you drop into from town. A garden of mature trees, noticeably calmer than the busy stretch of the beach road, and still within sight of the water. 60.000 – 150.000đ a drink, open 7:00 – 22:00, walkable from most Tran Phu hotels. Morning or late afternoon, once the sun has eased.
Want to drink it the way people here do. The plastic-stool cafés: a drip filter, strong sweet iced coffee with condensed milk, 15.000 – 30.000đ a glass, free iced tea alongside. From about 6:00, and many close after lunch, so 6:30 – 9:00 is their window. The cheapest of the six, and the only one not selling a view.
The prices and hours above are approximate, written down from actual visits. Cafés change both without telling anyone. The detail pages below have photos, an address and a map for each.
