Surfing in Da Nang - Guide to Vietnam's Best Surfing Destination
Surfing in Da Nang has exploded in the past few years – from humble beginnings to a city that hosts surf competitions, surf schools, and more local enthusiasm for surfing than any other city. Da Nang is THE best place for surfing in Vietnam. While our surf community is from all over the world, the one thing we have in common is our love for Da Nang Surfing!
Highlights
Da Nang’s waves are perfect for surfers of all levels with various breaks and surf spots along 90 km of coastline
The local surf community is helpful, and welcoming. They regularly hang out at our Surf Shop & Bar
- Da Nang beaches feature crystal clean water, mild weather, and mountain backgrounds. Da Nang is beautiful!
LST SURF is the center of Danang's Local surf movement.
Where to Surf in Danang
Danang has 2 main beaches for surfing, My Khe Beach and Nam O Point. Combined, these awesome Danang surf breaks stretch over 40 km.
Having this much ocean real estate offers a range of different wave styles and options on any given day.
Get your surf Rentals, Lessons, and Surf Trip Guides with LST SURF
Danang Surfing: When and Where to go
Surfing My Khe Beach - Surf Forecast and Best Spots
My Khe Beach is the best beach in Danang for surfing. Partly down to My Khe’s surf conditions but also, it’s named one of the world’s best beaches by ___ magazine for good reason!
The ambience, the boulevard, the cafes, and the clean ocean waters makes surfing at My Khe beach perfect for beginners and experts.
Where is My Khe Beach?
My Khe is located beach directly off the main tourism area in Danang (An Thuong).
This is where the Center of The Danang surf scene is located and where LST Surf shop is as well. We have a vibing community so check us out!
Where are the Best Spots to Surf at My Khe Beach?
While having different names in different places along its length single beach stretches from the foot of The Lady Buddha to Hoi An. Being so long it gives surfers a huge range of breaks to surf.
As you move North towards Son Tra peninsula the waves tend to get smaller as they are sheltered from the typical NE swell angle.
As you move South towards An Bang and Hoi an eventually the waves begin to get blocked and cut up by Cham Islands. Fun waves can be found here on occasion!
The peak of the swell energy comes in to My Khe beach and the few kilometers south of it.
What do locals do?
If the peaks in town are looking too busy you can always move around a little bit and find somewhere to surf alone.
Surfing Nam O Point
On the North side of town towards the Hai Van pass is one of the oldest fishing villages in Vietnam – Nam O – and there is located Nam O point.
This point break is short and oh so sweet when its working – 2+ meter swell from the right angle – it is an idilic wave machine where wave count in a session can be upwards of 30 – 40 waves.
With the shortness of the ride – 3 or 4 solid turns and a possible barrel – and easy paddle back, 4 people on the wave is ideal and 5 is a crowd.
Just next to the point is the other main beach in town and although it frequently just closes out and has a lot of current, it can occasionally produce very hollow tubes and long fast punchy walls.
When to Surf in Vietnam
In Season (October – April) the Vietnam sea cooks more than one might imagine. It is not atypical to have a 3 day swell once a week during peak season. where the beginning of the season is predominately powered by typhoons, and the end of the season peters out slowly; the middle 2-3 months (Nov-Feb) are dominated by swell from the north east that shoots out of the Pacific ocean through the gap into the Vietnam Sea.
Check out our overview of Surfing in Vietnam.
Where to Surf in Vietnam
Vietnam has roughly 2,500 km of coast line and Da Nang is located smack dab in the middle of that.
The shape of the Vietnam sea and the opening to the Pacific ocean between Taiwan and the Phillipines means that Danang and the coastline immediately south thereof collects more swell than the rest of the country. This is due to the prevailing wind and swell patterns during the surf season – roughly october through April. While Muine has some surf in the summer do to its exposure to the south winds that dominate that season.
With plenty of swell around for 6 month of the year one could surf every day in some manner, and Danang and its surrounding area are a great place to do that.
If the surf in Danang is forecasted to be a bit to big and windy one can always head north or south along the coast to find another break. Thats what we at LST do most of the season. Join us on a surf trip if you like.
In short Danang is a great place to be to Surf in vietnam. and Indonesia is close, And with our off season being their on season it’s just about ideal.
Get your surf Rentals, Lessons, and Surf Trip Guides with LST SURF
Left Side Tom – Nam O
Left Side Tom Nicol ripping a bottom turn preparing to smack the lip on a solid set wave at Nam O point, Photo by LST SURF (one of the many meanings of LST is left side team or Tom in this case.)
The Future of Danang Surfing
Whats Next for Surfing in Danang
As Surfing grows in Danang the community is coming together in many ways. LST and all the surf schools in town are in some way their own little communities. While there is certainly friendship all around A few of us got together to Create the Danang Boardriders Club to strengthen these ties and build new ones so that everyone can feel welcome and involved. The goals of the boardriders club are to bring the community together, develop surfing, water safety, and life skills, and offer routes for Vietnamese surfers to pursue competitive surfing on the world stage. Danang Boardriders organizes and holds 3 surf competitions a year and is helping Nha Trang and Mui Ne develop their own boardriders clubs o that there can be a surfing tour inside Vietnam. Big things are happening and It is great to be a part of it all. LST is exited for everyone here to keep surfing and for newcomers to emerge.
LST Nourishing the Local Surfers
LST is Local surf team, Local Surf Tribe, Left Side Team, Lướt Sóng Thôi, and more… LST started when a group of likeminded Surfers from Vietnam and overseas who got together to surf. Surfing served as a bond tying us together and forming deeper friendship and eventually the founding of a surf shop. The attitude to share surfing and make friends has not changed. LST is a place where everyone is welcome to join in and have fun in the surf, skating the bowl, and much more. The local surfers gravitate to LST and eachother. Danang is a special place and something very special is happening with the erruption of local surfers, and LST is happy to play a contributung role in getting peopple in the water and keeping them there by the forming of friendships.
Danang's Surfing Origins and Core Community
How Surfing Got to Vietnam
During the Vietnam war in the sixties and seventies Surfing was blowing up in the US. and when these young Surfers were Drafted and had no choice but to come to Vietnam, they brought surfing with them. The area in the south of Vietnam That the US occupied just so happened to contain upwards of a thousand km of shoreline and beaches. And along this southern coast of Vietnam there Were and still are a great many waves with some all-time setups.
Danang was Home to many of the surfers while in Vietnam. On leave or for those stationed in Da Nang Surfing was a way for people to escape the horrors of war. Then just as it is today Surfing is a great way to release from stress, relax and find joy in a fulling manner. These Surfers formed a club of surfers and got in the water as often as possible.
While after the end of the war those surfers that had been in danang left and surfing died out for a time It is now back in full force. One of the first to bring surfing back to Danang was Aunty Tam; she has ‘Tams’s Pub’ on An Thuong 5 in the heart of Danang’s beach tourist area. At this shop she was the first to rent surfboards in Danang. She was a young child during the war and acted as a translator. If you visit her restaurant today, she will tell many stories from that time.
From there roughly 10 to 15 years ago a few surfers started showing up and found jobs and a life in Danang and Surfed My khe beach and surrounding areas as much as possible. LST SURF got going around 6 years ago when some members of the danang community began to surf These were Vietnamese people and their friends who began to find joy in the ocean riding waves, and. the rest is history (find out more about the origin of LST surf here.
1960’s Surfing in Danang
Vietnam surfing circa 1960’s Surfers line up for photo in Danang on the beach near Nam O point
LST SURF
Danang Surfing's CORE
The Danang Surf community is growing at an exponential pace and with that there are certainly some growing pains, but they are minor compared to the joys involved for those in the community and those visiting. Now more than ever Danang is becoming a Surfing Destination for learners. What most people don’t know is that Vietnam has epic waves and set ups all over the place. While they don’t break as consistently as Indonesia’s famous breaks. they work often enough for us residents of the area to get great waves and for advance surfers who are willing to break the mold to make Vietnam a surfing destination for them as well. With so many waves around a solid community of friends and surfers have grown in town. The Danang Boardriders Club and LST SURF are part of this movement
LST SURF is at the Center of this Growing community. It surely is not the whole Community, but LST offers a space for local surfers and visitors to enjoy danang and its beaches. We support the Locas in the community to get into surfing and progress. We have a skate bowl for practice when there are no waves, and we are partnered with Faya Surf bar and Cafe as well. LST SURF has a lot to offer such as Surf Lessons, Advanced Surf Coaching, Surfboard Rentals, Surfboard Repairs, Custom Surfboards, Guided Surf Trips to the many waves in the area, a skate park, custom surf racks for motorbikes, A bar and Cafe and much more. Stop by and check out our shop at 10 Mỹ Đa Đông 10, Đà Nẵng! (link to about page with map and llnk to google maps)
