Holidays in Hoi An: Cua Dai beach in October

As I have mentioned in one of my previous posts, our holidays consisted of two parts: the  active one that we spent in Singapore and the lazy one that took place in Vietnamese Hoi An. This small town caught my attention when I was searching for a not-so-far-away getaway from Singapore. It promised a nice beach and some sightseeing too. My only concern was the weather. October is a rainy season month in this part of Vietnam and I didn't want to come there just to face everyday heavy rains, a flood or even worse, a typhoon. And what did I do? I checked weather forecast...for a month ahead. And you won't believe it - just for the period of time that we were planning to stay in Hoi An, it showed "no rain". Cloudy but dry. I am skeptic about forecasts usually but as they say "one believes in what one wants to believe" and so, I decided to try our luck. And, oh miracle!  The whole week that we stayed in Hoi An, there was indeed no rain at all. The weather was even better than they had forecast: cloudy occasionally, but mostly absolutely clear skies. Try not to trust forecasts after that!

We chose to stay not in the town itself but on the Cua Dai beach. At this time of the year there are nice discounts at hotels (20-30%) and we found a nice place on the bank of the river and just 2 min walk away from the ocean for quite affordable price. I like to visit resorts at off-peak time - accommodation is cheaper and beaches are not overcrowded.

My new swimsuit that I bought in Singapore

Our room at the Riverbeach Resort and Residences  was nice and commodious with french window opening straight onto the river bank. A tea table with chairs, a large sofa and a swing were there for you to choose from where you want to enjoy the beautiful view of the river with all those palms and occassional local fishermen trying their luck. Or you could stay in the room and still be able to see all that. It is amazing  to wake up every morning and to see such beauty through your window. 

There were free books and magazines for reading and the hotel also provided beach towels, slippers and robes. On our last day there we've got a complimentary dinner at their restaurant which was really nice.

The beach was wonderful. Soft sand and waves that are not big enough to scare you off but big enough to enjoy them and have fun. I could watch those waves whole day. It is amazing that you spend your day on the beach literally doing nothing ( I even didn't read any book) and the time just fly by.

Another two-piece swimsuit and in polka dot again

Besides the ocean itself there are some other things as well that can entertain you on the beach: delicious seafood  accompanied by a glass of cold beer that you can order just there;  and local traders with all kinds of souvenirs, snacks and fruits. Some are really persistent. And though you may not need anything of what they have to offer and you know that you can find same thing two-three times cheaper in town but when a very old wrinkled woman tries to sell you something or a middle-aged mother of three starts a friendly conversation with you, it is really hard to say no. 

In the morning you can watch local fishermen putting out to sea on their unusual hemispheric boats and after noon again you can see them coming back with some catch. It is facsinating how they manage to manipulate their small boats with one oar only. And how brave they are!

A few words about food there. Actually, one word would be enough - delicious! And not expensive. Any cafe have quite a choice of local as well as western dishes. Personally I was not interested in the food that I can find at any other place, I preferred to try as much of local specialties as I could. And I would recommend to try these dishes: pork, shrimp and banana flowers salad, white rose dumplings, grilled beef with lemon grass and chili, tamarind and shrimp soup, fish in banana leaf and spring rolls Hoi An style. 

That's all for today

More posts about Vietnam coming