If you’re looking for an amazing way to spend a day in Nha Trang, consider doing the breathtaking Núi Cô Tiên hike! You’ll be treated to panoramic views of the city & ocean. We also recommend following it up with an afternoon at the beautiful Ba Ho Waterfalls, cooling off by cliff jumping and swimming in the waterfalls.
We found the Núi Cô Tiên hike on the All Trails app. It’s a 2.3-mile out-and-back trail. However, despite the short distance, you climb over 1000 vertical feet in that time, so it is quite steep! The easiest way to get to the hike from downtown Nha Trang (and to the Ba Ho Waterfalls) is to rent a scooter and drive yourself. Scooter rentals only cost between 120,000 VND and 150,000 VND (5-6 USD) for the day, so it is definitely the most economic option.
It was only about a 15-minute drive from downtown Nha Trang, along the beautiful coast, to get to the trailhead. The trailhead is actually located in the backyard of a local shop, Cô Lý, 21 Ngô văn Sở. The shop owners don’t speak English, but are very friendly and help you check your scooter in their garage, and lead you through their store to the beginning of the trail. The parking fee is 5000 VND (0.21 USD).
The hike was moderately challenging, the hardest part being the loose rocks and lack of shade. The loose rocks and dust made it easy to slip and twist your ankles, so make sure you wear good hiking shoes & bring enough water. The sun was beating down and it was very hot, but within the first 10 minutes of climbing straight up, we were treated with some panoramic views of the city. The hike itself is very close to the coast, so it was truly a panoramic view with ocean, city, valley and mountains. The views made the steep terrain a much easier pill to swallow.
We took our time hiking up, stopping for numerous water breaks & taking photos. The hike actually has 3 peaks, and it took us about an hour and 15 minutes to reach the top of the first peak.
There is a Vietnamese flag pole mounted at the top of each peak. After reaching the summit of peak number one, we had a little rest and enjoyed the beautiful panoramic views from all sides. We decided to call it after the first peak and head back down because we hadn’t packed enough water and it was HOT.
The way down was much harder than the way up, due to the loose rocks. There are sections that are quite steep, and we had to be extremely careful of where we stepped, and both slipped and fell a couple times. However, it’s less than a mile down so anybody in moderately good shape will be able to accomplish this hike.
After we got to the bottom, we hopped back onto the scooter, grabbed a quick lunch and headed to our second destination of the day – Ba Ho Waterfalls. To read more about this stunning spot in Nha Trang click here.