Best of Nha Trang Shore Excursion from Cau Da Port

We had a great day in Nha Trang!! Minh was our guide and one of the best we have ever had! We saw all the sights, the Church, the Great Buda, the temple all before the buses got to the locations. We also had one of the best lunches we have ever had at a seaside restaurant. No large crowds at the restaurant. Then he took us to his favorite coffee house for local coffee. It was the highlight of our trip.

We booked this tour at the last minute, literally a couple of days before our cruise ship arrived at Nha Trang, having not been inspired much by the overpriced excursions offered by the cruise company. This was a bit cheaper than the bus tour offered by the cruise ship, and we were expecting it to be a similar group tour with a bus full of other guests. What a nice surprise it was to discover that it was actually a private tour. Me, my wife, a driver and a tour guide. I don't recall seeing the tour described as such, so it was a bit of a shock. Ahead of our arrival, the guide made contact via Whatsapp, sending a picture of himself and the meeting point just outside the port gate, which was really good - other tours I have done abroad, I tend to just have to hope that someone is holding an obvious sign up in the location that I am hoping is correct. This pre-contact made it a whole lot easier. The guide was great fun, and spoke good English, and took us round the sights listed, giving good information along the way, and was generally really helpful. He kept a good eye on the time to make sure we were on track to be back to the cruise ship in plenty of time. The beauty of a private tour like this is that it is completely adaptable. We were at least an hour late getting off the ship due to problems with the tender, and as such didn't expect to be able to see all of the listed attractions - luckily able to keep in touch with the guide via Whatsapp throughout the disembarkation. As it turned out, due to us being young and agile we were able to make up a lot of time over the course of the day, so we did get to see everything. Our guide said that with older, less mobile clients, it would have been harder to get everything in, with our late start. As for the sights, we got to see the Cham Towers, and the Long Son Pagoda, both of which were well worth the visit. We also saw the rocks at Hon Chong, which are essentially some rocks in the sea. Very picturesque, but not sure it was that special, its something to consider sacrificing if you are time limited. We also got taken to a restaurant for an authentic Vietnamese meal which was really tasty - lots of separate dishes, but it was all very nice. Booking and paying via the Viator app was really easy too. On the whole, this was a really enjoyable excursion for us, well beyond our expectations, and I would definitely recommend it. There wasn't anything on this trip that I didn't enjoy.

Our tour guide was Thao and he was excellent. Our first stop was the Chong promontory rocks. The landscape was lovely and there was a beautiful view of the rocks over the bay, but the highlight was a musical performance of local folk music using traditional Vietnamese musical instruments. We also stopped at the Po Nagar Cham Towers to see the ancient temple of the Champa kingdom. There was also an opportunity to view a traditional dance and to observe weaving as it was done centuries ago. We then went to the Long Son pagoda with a gold Buddha and the large white Buddha on the top. Then to the Christ the King, or Nha Tho Nui, a gothic revival style Catholic Church built during the French Colonial era and consecrated in 1930. The church has beautiful arches and stained glass windows which gives it majestic feel and to me more appealing than the ornate Catholic churches in Europe. Our next stop was a Vietnamese lunch at a restaurant called “The Lanterns”. The food was plentiful and delicious. This restaurant also has cooking classes for adults and children. They associate with some local school/orphanages in Nha Trang and work alongside some ethnic minority villages. They provide food supplies and staples to the less fortunate and have student scholarship program to those children who may struggle to attend school. They have a reputation as one of the must visit places in Nha Trang. Of course, a visit to an Asian city wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the local Cho Dam Market. I was looking for souvenir tea towels, but couldn’t find any. We went into the food part of the market which we found much more interesting. Our last stop was the beautiful beach. They have tried to clean it up in the last few years by not allowing any food on the beach. The views are lovely with the little rock islands jutting up out in the harbor.

We were a little concerned because we couldn't find any info online about the company and had little interactions until the day of, but we had a great tour. Thao was a great tour guide with boundless energy. He and the driver (whose name I've forgotten) were very good at getting us in and out of the different places and showing us around.

Great tour. Our guide Thao was very pleasant, attentive to our needs, articulate, knowledgeable about culture, history and location and fun to be with. He brought us to a local restaurant for lunch, who served local food which we really enjoyed.