La Vague Hotel Nha Trang

La Vague sits at 08 Tran Phu in Vinh Nguyen — the southern end of the coastal road, away from the crowded middle stretch. That gives it one very specific advantage: Cau Da port, where every island boat leaves from, is close by. The four-island tour and the Hon Mun boats all cast off around eight in the morning.

The Oceanographic Institute is at 1 Cau Da beside the port, so a morning when you reach the pier and learn the boats are cancelled is not a lost morning: it is a few minutes' walk away.

The trade is distance to the centre. The backpacker quarter and the restaurants around Dam market are four or five kilometres off, which is a ride rather than a walk as it would be mid-strip. Dinner in town becomes a small outing rather than stepping outside.

This is the cheapest of the seafront hotels on this site, so it suits a trip where budget is the main constraint but you still want to be near the water. For a trip built around the islands, the position is better than merely convenient.