MerPerle Hon Tam Resort

Hon Tam is the closest island to shore in the bay, so staying here gives you the island feel without a long crossing. The resort is a spread of villas across the island, with a swimming beach in a sheltered cove and the mineral mud-bath area.

It's a sensible middle ground: as quiet and separate as an island resort, but if you want dinner in town it's a ten-minute boat ride rather than half a day.

The distance is what makes it: seven to ten minutes by boat from the tourist pier, which makes this the one island resort where going into town for dinner is still an evening rather than a day. It is nearer than Hon Tre, and far nearer than Ninh Van Bay, which needs a twenty-minute boat and sits about an hour and a half from town.

On price: room rates in Nha Trang swing hard with the domestic calendar. Tet, the 30 April–1 May holiday and the June-to-August school break are the dearest and fill earliest, while October to December is wet and cheapest. Figures on this page are a guide, not a quoted rate. The island has a mineral mud bath. The only one of Nha Trang's five where you soak looking at the bay, so ask whether your room rate includes it.

Other places to stay in the islands: Nha Trang Marriott Resort & Spa, Hon Tre Island, Vinpearl Resort & Spa Nha Trang Bay. On the same island: VinWonders and Hòn Tằm.