Hai Van Pass & Lang Co

Why I like this one

There is a six-kilometre tunnel through the mountain that saves you forty minutes. We are not taking it.

Hai Van means "sea clouds", and on a clear morning you understand the name the moment the road turns and the whole bay opens up beneath you. Twenty-one kilometres of switchbacks to five hundred metres, with the sea on one side the entire way.

Since the tunnel opened in 2005 the trucks all go underneath, so the pass is quiet — which is exactly what makes it a pleasure rather than an ordeal. We stop wherever you want a photograph. That is the whole point of doing it privately.

Highlights

• Twenty-one kilometres of switchbacks with the sea below you the whole way
• Hai Van Quan, the Nguyen dynasty summit gate, restored and reopened in 2024
• French and American bunkers still standing on the ridge
• Lap An lagoon and its oyster racks in the flat afternoon light

The plan, hour by hour

This is how the day usually runs. Nothing is fixed — if you want longer somewhere, or you'd rather skip a stop entirely, just say so on the day.

1. 08:00

   Hotel pick-up

   North out of the city along the coast, with Son Tra on your right.

2. 08:45

   Starting the climb

   We take it slowly. Every corner opens a different view and there is no reason to hurry past any of them — the trucks are all in the tunnel below us.

3. 09:30

   Hai Van Quan, the summit gate

   A Nguyen dynasty fortress guarding what was once the border between Dai Viet and the Cham kingdom, closed for years and reopened after restoration in 2024. Concrete bunkers from the French and American wars still sit along the ridge. Views north over Lang Co and south back to Da Nang.

4. 10:30

   Lang Co viewpoint

   The long white beach and the lagoon laid out below, with the mountains dropping straight into the sea behind them.

5. 11:30

   Elephant Springs

   Freshwater rock pools under the jungle canopy, named after a boulder that looks like an elephant drinking. Cold, clear and shaded — bring a towel. It is seasonal, and I will tell you honestly in the car if the water is too low to be worth it.

6. 13:00

   Seafood lunch at Lang Co

   On the water, at the sort of place the truck drivers used to stop before the tunnel. That was always the reliable sign.

7. 14:30

   Lap An Lagoon

   Oyster racks standing in still water with the mountains behind. Late afternoon flattens the light and the whole lagoon turns to mirror. There is nowhere better on this coast for a coffee.

8. 15:30

   The drive home

   Back over the pass for the views in the other direction — or through the tunnel if the cloud has come down, which happens.

9. 17:00

   Drop-off

   Back at your hotel, salty and pleased with yourselves.

What's included

Good to know

• MeetingYour hotel lobby
• TimingMorning. By mid-afternoon the cloud usually sits on the summit and you see nothing at all.
• LengthFull day
• GroupPrivate — your group only