VIETNAM WINDSURFING
Strong winds, lively shore-break, flat water lagoons, low tides, empty waves, Pho, motorbike madness, coffee galore and fabulously welcoming culture…
This is a quick feature on windsurfing in Vietnam. We we’re on our way back from our WA adventure (Lancelin clinic & The World Wave Rally Competition) and we decided to return to the UK via Vietnam. Traveling light on time and with no windsurf kit we managed some ‘drop in’s’ to see what Vietnam has to offer windsurfers.
Photos: Windwise & Pascal Lefebvre
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Vietnam Windsurfing
Wind, waves & coffee
WINDY VIETNAM
Ministry Of Motorbikes
Anything on wheels
NOV-MARCH IN VIETNAM
Vietnam Culture
It’s a crazily busy country, more motor bikes than chop sticks, bonkers tussle in the city’s like Saigon, a humbling past and still a super welcoming culture, and yes, there are some windy windsurfing opportunities too.
Windy season Nov-March
Mornings: Calm windless: Time for a massage and an egg, avocado or salt coffee.
Afternoons: It can really blow often sub 4.5m weather!
MUI NE WINDSURFING
Bit Like Hayling
MUI NE WINDSURFING
BOUTIQUE HOTELS & SPAS
Coffee Mornings + Carving Afternoons
2 hrs North of Saigon (Ho Chi min) is Mui Ne is a well know tourist beach area, with countless hotels, hundreds of coffee houses and spa’s barely a mast length apart, abundant Vietnamese food and motor bikes with payloads ranging from from ‘Four Up’ families side saddle to carrying fridges or poultry farms on the back of a bike!
Boutique Hotels
Go budget or boutique
Jibes Beach Club
Narrow latch sight
JIBES BEACH CLUB
Vietnam Cup Venue
Amongst the tourist flurry is @jibesbeachclub which is owned by @pascallefebvre who has been instrumental in promoting Vietnam windsurfing, including PWA and Vietnam Cup events. He also owns the hotel next door. It’s a very welcoming, family feeling centre with a small selection of pretty recent Severne/Starboard rental gear.
Upside: Fun, chilled out very welcoming centre. The windsurfing is similar to sailing south coast chop, bump and jump including brown water 🙂 You need to be a confident short boarder, water starter and able to keep upwind to sail there.
Downside: Can be a very tricky shore break with a tight launch entry, especially at high tide. They offer a ‘We will launch your kit service’ so you can swim out and they bring the kit in and out. It’s not a place for shaky beach starters or those not used to south coast shore break.
SURF4YOU
Coffee Mornings + Carving Afternoons
2km up the coast along the Mui Ne strip is the Russian run @surf4you, which is a collection of accommodation units around a windsurfing, winging, kiting centre.
Upside: Flatter water, easy launch for improver intermediates.
Downside: Bit gustier and more fishing boats to navigate.
Windy & Wild
Visiting Vietnam
PHANG RANG WINDSURFING
VIETNAM SURF CAMP
5hrs north of Saigon is the remote village Phang Rang. It is extremely popular with
kiters with about 4-5 large accommodations and kite centers along a massive VERY shallow lagoon.
“It’s almost perfect for windsurfing too, but you have to get the tides right!”
The only place that seemed to have decent windsurfing kit was @vietnamsurfcamp who had some limited and quite mature kit, but did have board storage.
Upside: Really chilled surfer style vibe hang out beach club, fabulous beach cafe restaurant, with cool beach tents and some cabins.
Easy launching, flat water and accessible ‘easy’ waves on the reef. Yes there are a lot of kites, but it’s also a great windsurfing spot.
BUT….
Downside: It is totally tide dependent and you can get days/week, where there is barely enough water to windsurf during most of the day. So double check moon cycles + tides. We were told that the shallowest water during the day is when the moon is highest at night, so avoid this those times.
I’d TRIPLE check with the centre before you go to make sure you’re getting high tides. Otherwise it is unassailable on a windsurfer.
Rental kit is very limited and quite mature – so fine for a day or so, but best to BYO as part of a windsurf adventure – but best to use freestyle/thruster/quad set ups as very shallow in the lagoon.
Hang Rang Lagoon
Super shallow & waves
Freestyle FIN
VIETNAM WINDSURFING SAFARI
We didn’t have the time, but there’s endless Freeride & wave opportunities along the whole coast IF you have your own gear, good transport and a real sense of adventure.
It’s one of the few undiscovered and uncrowded windy locations in the world.
WINDWISE VIETNAM CLINIC?
There’s not really a windsurfing centre with sufficient or high enough quality gear to run a Windwise clinic, but if you’re passing or feel like a bit of windsurfing whilst visiting Vietnam, then you could drop in rent a board and harness and sample Vietnam as part of a more general visit.
If you’ve not been, Vietnam is an awesome country, with really welcoming culture at the windsurfing spots, main tourist areas and when you go off grid. Incredible scenery, food and so cheap! If you’re doing Asia or maybe heading to WA it’s a possible option for a stop over for a great cultural experience and some windsurfing.
If you’re ever in Saigon definitely do the ‘XO Food Tour’ – A female only run business, who whisk you through Saigon on the back of mopeds and take you to off the tourist track eateries. Amazing, just do it!
Phang Rang
Surf Camp
