Hoi An's lantern-lit Old Town is the postcard, and it is also where almost every other guide stops. The more memorable half of a Hoi An trip is the ring of beaches, islands and craft villages around it, most of them 10 to 30 minutes away by bicycle, taxi or boat, and most of them far quieter than the heritage core once the afternoon crowds arrive.
If you only have time for three trips beyond the Old Town, make them these:
- An Bang beach for sand and beach clubs, about 4 km east, roughly 10 minutes by taxi or 15-20 minutes by bicycle.
- The Cham Islands for snorkelling in a marine biosphere reserve, a 20-30 minute speedboat from Cua Dai harbour, best booked as an organised day tour.
- Tra Que vegetable village and Cam Kim island for a countryside bike loop, roughly 15 minutes' ride from the Old Town and easy to link across a half day.
Almost everything below sits within about 20 km of the Old Town, so no single base locks you out of any of it. If you are still deciding which side of Hoi An to sleep on, our where to stay in Hoi An guide walks through Old Town versus the beach, and the Hoi An destination page covers the heritage core this article deliberately skips.
An Bang and Cua Dai: the beach layer
An Bang is now Hoi An's main swimming beach. It is about 4 km east of the Old Town, a 10-minute taxi or Grab (commonly 60,000-90,000 VND) or a flat 15-20 minute bicycle ride through the rice paddies. The seafront is a relaxed strip of beach clubs and seafood restaurants where a lounger usually comes free with a drink or food order rather than a separate fee. Mornings are calmest; afternoons pick up wind and, in the wet months, surf.
Cua Dai, about 2 km further south, needs an honest warning. It was Hoi An's flagship beach until erosion accelerated around 2014, and it has never fully recovered. By most accounts the shoreline narrowed from roughly 200 metres to as little as 40 in places, with the large majority of a 7.5 km stretch severely eroded, driven by upstream dam-building and sand mining on the Thu Bon River. Long sections now sit behind sandbags and offshore breakwaters. There is genuinely good news too: a restored stretch of roughly 2.3 km near the resort strip has held even through recent storms, and vendors and loungers have returned to it. The practical takeaway is simple. For a dependable clean swim, head to An Bang; treat Cua Dai as a partly-recovered beach rather than the wide sweep older guidebooks describe. For water-quality and seasonal detail across the coast, see our Vietnam beach water quality atlas.
The Cham Islands: snorkelling in a biosphere reserve
The Cham Islands (Cu Lao Cham) are a cluster of small islands roughly 15-20 km off the coast, and the single best day trip beyond the Old Town if the weather cooperates. The archipelago sits inside the Cu Lao Cham Marine Park and has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2009, with clear water, coral, and quiet fishing-village beaches.
Boats leave from the Cua Dai harbour area. A round-trip speedboat or canoe takes 20-30 minutes and runs roughly 500,000-600,000 VND (about 20-25 US dollars); a slower wooden ferry costs around 350,000-400,000 VND but takes 50-60 minutes. Most travellers book an organised day tour that bundles the boat, snorkelling gear, a village stop and lunch, and sometimes the marine-park fee, so confirm exactly what is included before paying. Two seasonal notes matter. The islands run best from March to September, and are frequently closed from around October to February because of rough seas and poor visibility, so do not build a wet-season plan around them. And the community banned single-use plastic bags back in 2009, so leave disposable plastic behind. Our Cham Islands day trip page has the fuller operator and timing breakdown.
Tra Que vegetable village
Tra Que is a working herb-farming village about 3 km northeast of the Old Town, roughly 15 minutes on a flat, scenic bicycle ride. A modest entrance fee of around 35,000 VND typically covers both wandering the beds and trying your hand at the watering and planting the farmers do by hand. It is a genuine half-day rather than a photo stop.
Tra Que is also where many Hoi An cooking classes begin, foraging herbs among the beds before moving to the kitchen. If food is your main reason for the visit, pair it with our Hoi An food guide and consider a class through the Hoi An cooking class day tour rather than treating the village as sightseeing alone.
Cam Kim island and Thanh Ha pottery
Cam Kim is a quiet island in the Thu Bon River, and it became far easier to reach when a road bridge near Thanh Ha opened in 2021, replacing the old small ferry. You can now cycle straight across. It rewards slow riding: paddy lanes, the Kim Bong carpentry workshops, mat-weaving, and very little traffic. Bike rental in town runs about 30,000-50,000 VND a day, and several operators sell combined cycling-and-kayak trips if you want a guide.
On the mainland bank en route sits Thanh Ha pottery village, a centuries-old craft settlement where you can watch potters at the wheel or throw a lopsided bowl yourself. Entry is around 35,000 VND for adults and 15,000 VND for children, with the village open roughly 8am to 5:30pm. Cam Kim and Thanh Ha combine naturally into one loop with Tra Que if you have the legs for it.
The rice-paddy bike loops
Between the villages, Hoi An's flat lanes make for some of the easiest cycling in Vietnam. A loop out through Tra Que, down to the Cam Thanh coconut water-palm area, and back along the river gives you paddies, water buffalo and near-empty roads within minutes of the Old Town. Bikes are often free from guesthouses, or about 30,000-50,000 VND a day to rent otherwise.
A few honest caveats. The heat is real, so ride early morning or late afternoon and carry water. The lanes near the main roads carry motorbike traffic, and away from town they are unlit at night, so plan to be back before dark or bring a working light. None of this needs a guide, which is part of the appeal.
Marble Mountains on the way in
The Marble Mountains are a cluster of five limestone and marble hills about 19 km north of Hoi An, roughly 30 minutes, and they sit right on the main Da Nang road. That location is the point: they fold neatly into an airport transfer or a Da Nang day rather than needing a dedicated trip. Inside are caves, Buddhist pagodas and viewpoints over the coast.
Entry is around 40,000 VND. There is an optional lift of about 15,000 VND one way if you would rather skip the stairs, and the Am Phu cave costs a little extra. If you are weighing whether to base yourself in Hoi An or Da Nang in the first place, our Da Nang or Hoi An comparison and the dedicated Marble Mountains from Hoi An trip both help you decide.
Limitations
Prices here are indicative shoulder-season figures in Vietnamese dong and US dollars, and they move with fuel costs, season and operator, so treat every number as a starting estimate rather than a quote. Boat fares, entrance fees and tour inclusions in particular change frequently. Cham Islands access depends entirely on the weather and is often suspended in the wet season, so confirm sailings locally before committing. The Cua Dai erosion picture is still shifting as restoration work continues, and conditions can differ from one visit to the next. Distances and travel times assume you start from the Old Town and traffic is normal. This guide deliberately leaves the Old Town, food scene and hotels to their own dedicated pages, so check those for the detail they cover.