Da Nang's tourism portal pictures an afternoon at An Bang Beach (biển An Bàng) that ends in the golden streets of Hoi An's old town. What it leaves out is what the sea did to this stretch of coast in late 2025.
Storm No. 12 and big waves pushed erosion onto the swimming area, and work on a sea wall beside it began in May 2026. Before you give up an afternoon in the old town for a swim, it helps to know the state of the beach, the season and how you will get back.
Is An Bang Beach worth the trip in 2026?
If you have one free afternoon in Hoi An, the question is whether the beach is in a state to swim. The city's tourism portal calls March to August the ideal months for An Bang Beach, about 5 km (3 miles) from Hoi An's old town, because the weather is dry and the sea calm. Erosion had reached its swimming area by November 2025, and as of September 18, 2026 the city planned to finish the sea wall beside it before November 30, 2026.
The city government's own season for big waves overlaps that window in March: it says big waves usually come from September to March. Check the forecast and the flags on the beach before you go in, and see the best time to visit Da Nang for rain and storms by month.
The city said An Bang had its facilities and services ready for visitors for summer 2026. Over the April 30–May 1 holiday in 2026, a press roundup on the city's website listed An Bang among the places in Hoi An and Da Nang that drew large crowds, with local overcrowding at times.
What erosion has done to An Bang
Read the city's reports on this coast from late 2025 to September 2026 before you set your expectations. In late October 2025, press reports gathered on the city government's website put erosion along the sea walls of Hoi An Tay and Hoi An Dong wards at more than 3 km (about 2 miles). After Storm No. 12, and more strong wind and big waves, about 3.5 km (2 miles) of the Hoi An Tay coast was eroding, and on November 13, 2025 the city declared an emergency there (Decision 2496/QĐ-UBND).
At An Bang, the city said, erosion spread onto the swimming area and cut into the eateries in many places, and the ward put down sandbags as a temporary fix. Warning signs, cordoned-off danger zones and guards were among the measures announced for this coast.
Work on a new sea wall began on May 20, 2026 under an emergency order. Decision 2626/QĐ-UBND of June 15, 2026 approved the project, with a planned embankment of about 1,950 m in three sections; the third, about 700 m, is to run from Tan Thanh (Tân Thành) to the An Bang area. On September 18, 2026 the city reported this section, next to the An Bang swimming area, about 75% done with its concrete facing, and planned to finish it before November 30, 2026, so building work may still be going on next to the sand when you visit.
Getting to An Bang from the old town and Da Nang
Plan the ride out and back before you leave, especially if you were counting on a bus. The city's tourism portal puts An Bang about 5 km (3 miles) from Hoi An's old town (Lonely Planet says 3 km (about 2 miles) north of Hoi An) and about 30 km (19 miles) from central Da Nang along the coast road. An Bang is in Hoi An Tay ward (phường Hội An Tây), part of Da Nang city since July 1, 2025; the old town is in Hoi An ward.
- From the old town: the portal suggests a motorbike, a bicycle, an electric buggy or a transfer for the short trip, and lists the cycle out to the Cua Dai and An Bang beaches as a favorite with young visitors.
- By bus: the tourism portal lists buses among the ways to reach An Bang from Da Nang, but as of October 3, 2026, none of the notices on Danabus, the city's bus information site, gives a route with a stop at An Bang. Its notice of August 28, 2026 lists route 02 as running from Da Nang's central bus station to the Hai Ba Trung parking lot in Hoi An.
- From Da Nang by car: Grab lists a one-way Da Nang to Hoi An fare for a 4-seat car of 279,818 VND (about US$11) for the first 25 km, then 10,309 VND (about US$0.40) per km. The fare page does not say where in Hoi An the route ends, and Grab says prices can change with supply and demand.
For buses, taxis and transfers between the two cities, see Da Nang to Hoi An, and for the town itself, Hoi An Ancient Town.
Lifeguards and safe swimming
Find the lifeguards before you go in. A photo published on the tourism portal's An Bang page in April 2026 shows a lifeguard chair and a rescue basket boat on the sand, but the page gives no lifeguard hours.
For the beaches it manages, Da Nang's beach management board tells people to swim only where lifeguards are on duty, inside the buoy lines or in areas marked with red-and-yellow flags. The advice, as reported on October 2, 2026, does not name those beaches, so this guide suggests treating the same rules as the minimum at An Bang.
Safety note: Stay out of the water in bad weather or while a danger warning from the authorities is in place. In late October 2025, big waves and strong wind stopped all swimming, paddleboarding, parasailing and water sports along Da Nang's coast. The same board's advice says not to swim far from shore or past the safe area the lifeguards mark, not to swim where there are no-swimming signs, danger zones or rip currents, and to get out of the water once lifeguards announce the end of their shift. It also says children must wear a life jacket when they swim and always have an adult with them.
Cafes, loungers, toilets and parking
Look to the beach businesses for shade, seats and food. Before the 2026 summer season, the city listed loungers and umbrellas, freshwater showers, parking, beachfront restaurants and bars, and surfing, paddleboarding, jet skis and parasailing among the services at its southern beaches, including An Bang, without giving prices. The tourism portal describes international-style cafes, restaurants and beach bars, thatched huts with hammocks and shaded loungers, and names Shore Club and The Deck House. It also mentions the beach's well-known clam rice porridge (cháo nghêu).
Two travel guides, both last updated in October 2025, before the city's reports of erosion on this coast in late October and November 2025, say restaurants usually let you use their loungers free if you buy food or a drink; otherwise both put the charge at about 20,000–50,000 VND (about US$1–2). This guide suggests asking about the charge before you sit down.
The Danang Smart City app has a "WC cộng đồng" (community toilets) map of businesses that offer free toilets: open the app, choose "Bản đồ" (map), then "WC cộng đồng". The ward's notice does not say whether any are on the beach. The city's list of beach services mentions parking but not what it costs, so the same advice applies to parking: agree on the price and take a ticket before you leave a motorbike.
An Bang, Cua Dai, Tan Thanh or My Khe?
If An Bang is rough or under construction on the day you go, these are the beaches to weigh it against.
- Cua Dai (biển Cửa Đại): also about 5 km (3 miles) from the old town, to the east, in Hoi An Dong ward, and the place boats leave from for the Cham Islands (Cù Lao Chàm). The sea ate away at Cua Dai from 2014. By April 2025 a breakwater and sand pumping had restored 2.3 km (about 1.5 miles) of Hoi An's coast, from Cua Dai to Thinh My (Thịnh Mỹ), but the city's November 2025 report found new erosion on the Thinh My part of that stretch, cutting 8–10 m deep in many places. As of September 18, 2026 the city reported the concrete facing at the Cua Dai swimming area finished and the road along the top of the wall still being built. Lonely Planet's beach list, updated June 16, 2026, says An Bang has less of the serious erosion seen at Cua Dai, but the city's November 2025 report put erosion on An Bang's swimming area, and the 2026 sea wall project includes sections at both beaches.
- Tan Thanh: about 10 minutes from the old town and, according to the tourism portal, less crowded than the well-known beaches, with the feel of a fishing village. The city's November 2025 report also listed erosion at Tan Thanh, and the third section of the 2026 sea wall is planned to run from Tan Thanh to An Bang.
- My Khe (biển Mỹ Khê): Lonely Planet's list of Vietnam's 10 best beaches, updated June 16, 2026, puts My Khe 4th and An Bang 6th. The tourism portal pairs My Khe with sunrise and An Bang with slow afternoons. My Khe is in Da Nang itself; see My Khe Beach for its lifeguard hours.
To stay near the sand rather than in town, see where to stay in Da Nang, which covers the An Bang area. If you only have an afternoon, this guide suggests asking at the lifeguard chair when the lifeguards finish for the day, since the safety advice above is to leave the water once they announce the end of their shift.
Sources and how we checked
We checked every fact on October 3, 2026. The erosion, sea wall, crowd and wave reports come from the Da Nang city government's website and the VOH and Van Hoa newspapers; descriptions, distances and the best months come from Danang Fantasticity, the city's tourism portal; fares come from Grab's own fare page and bus routes from Danabus, the city's bus information site; the Cua Dai restoration comes from VnExpress, and the 3 km distance, the erosion comparison and the beach ranking from Lonely Planet. Lounger prices come only from two travel guides and are reported as such. In searches of the city government's website and the web, we found no report on the state of the beach after September 18, 2026. We also found no published lifeguard hours for An Bang or name of the unit that runs them, no source saying whether the beach management board covers An Bang, and no official or dated press source with lounger or parking prices there. Where sources disagree, on the distance from the old town, the wave season in March, buses, erosion at An Bang and erosion on the restored stretch, we give both. US dollar amounts use Vietcombank's transfer rate of 25,800 VND per US$ on October 1, 2026, rounded to the nearest cent below US$1, US$0.5 up to US$100, US$1 up to US$10,000 and US$1,000 above that.
- Da Nang city government (in Vietnamese): press roundup on the October 2025 floods (October 28, 2025); emergency declared for the Hoi An Tay coast (November 14, 2025); sea wall project approved (June 16, 2026); progress on the sea wall (September 18, 2026); 2026 beach season (April 21, 2026); press roundup on holiday crowds (May 4, 2026); natural hazards and waves (May 4, 2026).
- VOH (in Vietnamese): Da Nang declares an erosion emergency (November 13, 2025).
- Van Hoa newspaper (in Vietnamese): water sports stopped in big waves (October 31, 2025); beach safety advice for the low season (October 2, 2026).
- VnExpress (in Vietnamese): Hoi An's coast restored (April 12, 2025).
- Danang Fantasticity: An Bang Beach (in Vietnamese, April 9, 2026); Hoi An by bicycle (in Vietnamese, April 5, 2026); Cua Dai Beach (in Vietnamese, April 17, 2026); a day at Tan Thanh Beach (in Vietnamese, June 26, 2026); My Khe and An Bang on Lonely Planet's list (July 13, 2026).
- Lonely Planet: 10 best beaches in Vietnam (updated June 16, 2026).
- Hoi An Tay ward (in Vietnamese): free community toilets on the Danang Smart City app (September 9, 2026).
- Grab: fare table (in Vietnamese, updated July 8, 2026). Danabus: route 02 changes (in Vietnamese, August 28, 2026).
- Travel guides (lounger prices only): Sharing the Wander (updated October 22, 2025); Local Vietnam (updated October 17, 2025).
- Photos: Danang Fantasticity, An Bang Beach (April 9, 2026).
Updated: October 3, 2026
