I meant to add this blog since I got back from this amazing spot earlier in March but then procrastination got into the way…
Sits only 1.25-hour drive to the south of Nha Trang, Vietnam, Phan Rang is much of an undeveloped and unexplored city, but with beautiful coastlines.
Wikipedia introduces the city’s history as
Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm, also called Panduranga (a Sanskrit word of Hindu origin), is a new city in Vietnam and the capital of Ninh Thuận Province. The community has a population of 161,000 (2004), of which 91,000 (2004) live in the main city. During the Vietnam War, Phan Rang was the site the United States Air Force’s Phan Rang Air Base. The airfield had been established by the Japanese in World War II and was later used by the French.
Our kite spot is Phi Kite School. Phi is an amazing local who’s very chill and mellow.
A typical days starts with some legit Vietnamese iced coffee, boosting energy for a full-day kiting session.
The spot is absolutely amazing – it’s got a huge area of lagoon, water is only knee-deep and it’s so clear that you can see all the coral reefs underneath. It seems to fit all levels of kiters, from complete beginners learning to fly a trainer kite to advance riders doing crazy kiteloops, from flat water lovers to wave catchers.
Wind was side-on shore, and it could easily blew up to 35 knots. On the first day I was over-powered with a 7m kite and had to borrow a 5m ktie from our group mate.
During our short 5-day getaway we managed to see the city a little bit on the last day when we all felt exhausted from kiting.
Scouting on the street of Phan Rang, it’s easy to spot a lot of these salt evaporation ponds.
Our trip is made whole with some amazing Pho? and banh mi.
We decided that our adrenaline wasn’t fullied utilized on the water, so we rented these scooters and had some ‘fast and furious’ moments while speeding up to as much as 65mph…
And you’d be surprised by these moo’s and meh’s.
Some local attractions not to miss – Poklong Garai (locally known as the ‘mini Angkor’). Wikipedia reads
Po Klong Garai is a Cham temple tower located in the medieval Cham principality of Panduranga, near the city of Phan Rang in what is now southern Vietnam. It was built in honor of the legendary king Po Klaung Garai by the historic King Jaya Sinhavarman III, who ruled Champa from c. 1285 to 1307 and is called Chê Mân in Vietnamese
We also travelled south to Mui Dinh (30km south of Phan Rang) to visit this beautiful white sand dune. Google map link here.
Overall, fantastic kitesurfing spot with super affordable accommodation, food and super nice people. People here are generally very polite, mellow and laid-back, less chance of rip-offs compared to cities like Saigon.
In case you need a map –
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