The Pros, The Cons & What No One Tells You

Coming up: friendly people, grumpy people, a scenic mountain pass, unexpected rain, visa tips, the cosiness of comfort, some gym + running recommendations, and 16 pros and cons of living in Da Nang.

I’m from England… but I’ve been living in Da Nang for almost a year 🇻🇳

One of the best places I’ve ever visited, I absolutely adore the place. I’ve totally fallen in love with the city, the Da Nang locals, and the way of life.

… so overall, I would of course recommend living here ✅

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But, like literally everything else on the planet, it’s not for everyone. So coming up, I’ve brought you 9 pros and 7 cons of living in Da Nang.

Not sure whether you want to live here or not? In 5 minutes, you’ll be certain either way. On we go!

✅ Pro 1: The people

Because I’m a travel writer, I’ve visited over 50 countries (and I’ve lived in 4) 🌍

… and from all the places I’ve ever been, Vietnamese people are my favorite*.

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(*and Da Nang’s locals are my favorite Vietnamese locals!).

Everyone is smiley and welcoming, locals will chat to you with genuine enthusiasm, people are super grateful when you learn (even the smallest amount of) Vietnamese, and there’s a very welcoming + communal atmosphere across the entire city.

Reality check: if you don’t love Vietnamese people, you’re probably the problem 😬🤷

✅ Pro 2: The weird mixture of chaos and laid-back living

It’s hard to describe how life works in Vietnam.

(… but since I’m a writer, I’ll give it a go)

🤯 In some ways, things are very chaotic:

• People don’t follow traffic rules
• There’s not a whole load of safety
• Sidewalks are often blocked by bikes and cars and construction
• You never quite know what you’re gonna see, or what’s gonna happen
• Street food and coffee stalls are EVERYWHERE (often in expected places)
• Vendors sometimes sell fruit and vegetables and meat from the floor, right in the middle of the street

… and all that stuff has the potential to be a bit overwhelming.

But in Da Nang, it isn’t overwhelming. That’s because local people are UNBELIEVABLY chilled-out and laid back. No-one gets road rage, you rarely see anger or fighting, and Vietnamese people are more likely to laugh and shrug, instead of getting worked up over little insignificant things.

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It’s the opposite of the Western world, where everything is ‘organized,’ but people are much more uptight and highly-strung.

Honestly, in my opinion, Vietnamese people just get life right 👨‍❤️‍👨

✅ Pro 3: The prices

Da Nang is VERY affordable.

Here are some prices I’ve paid in the past couple of weeks:

• Random bowls of street food: $0.76USD
• A 50-minute journey in a car taxi: $11.39USD
• 4 kilos of fresh fruit at the local market: $2.85USD
• Buying a coffee from a small roadside stall: $0.38USD
• Having a coffee in a cafe (at my regular spot): $0.76USD
• A 10-minute journey on the back of a scooter taxi: $0.65USD
• Getting my bicycle tyres inflated at the bicycle repair store: $0.19USD
• A relatively fancy meal in a relatively fancy Italian restaurant: $7.83USD

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💸 Compared to the Western world, rent is also affordable (more on that soon).

… and every month, I pay around $45USD for all of my utility bills combined (and I basically use my air conditioning 24/7).

✅ Pro 4: The clean air

Some parts of Southeast Asia (and some parts of Vietnam in particular) have VERY polluted air ☁️☁️☁️

For example: some days, Hanoi’s air pollution is literally the worst air pollution on the planet.

… but Da Nang’s air (relatively speaking) is very clean. You can actually see the sky and the clouds, the air quality readings* are usually pretty low, and you don’t feel like your lungs are being constantly battered by perpetual smog.

Pro Tip: For checking real-time air quality anywhere on the planet, PurpleAir is your best friend (and it’s a very useful friend while you’re living in Vietnam),

✅ Pro 5: The fitness

For staying fit and healthy, Da Nang is EXCELLENT.

… and there are gyms everywhere.

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(although, to be clear, among the good gyms, there are also lots of terrible gyms—filled with cramped spaces, subpar equipment, and grumpy foreigners)

… so it’s key to choose some good ones.

💪 My recommendations are:

• For a ‘normal’ gym that isn’t over-priced or over-busy, go to Tam Body. It has four floors, most customers are locals, and it’s not full of big-ego weirdos (like many of the other gyms in the most touristy parts of Da Nang).
• If you want high-quality classes with expert trainers, go to Engine Room. They do Crossfit-style classes, and Hyrox-style classes, and they have an open gym. They’re super friendly and welcoming; it’s more like a community space than a standard gym.
• Join Tag Running Club. A super-friendly bunch of both locals and non-locals, this is the best running club I’ve ever been part of, anywhere in the world. They have a massive range of abilities, everyone is welcome, they do many different types of runs, and they have occasional events, meetups, and social evenings.
• To do what many locals do, head to the beach at around 5:30am. Here, you’ll find people swimming, dancing, doing aerobics, and playing beach football. You’re always welcome to join in—and, btw: they’re not official clubs; they’re just local people enjoying life for free.

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🍎 Vietnamese people take care of themselves, the foreigners who come to Da Nang largely take care of themselves. Surfing and paddleboarding are very popular here, and because the area running parallel to the beach is pedestrianised, it’s great for walking and running.

… in short, keeping fit and healthy in Da Nang is very normal, very accessible, and very easy.

✅ Pro 6: It’s very expat-friendly (and very easy to live here)

For foreigners, Da Nang is accessible and welcoming for many reasons:

• There are many foreigners here
• Many venues have English menus
• The levels of English are pretty good
• … and Vietnamese people are very accommodating and welcoming

😎 It’s very easy to feel comfortable and welcome in Da Nang—and it’s getting more and more popular every year.

✅ Pro 7: It’s compact and relatively small, but it has everything you need

I LOVE medium-sized dense cities where you don’t need to use much public transport…

… but can still get everything you need.

🏙️ And of all the places I’ve ever lived, Da Nang is the best possible example of that.

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🛵 Here, I only use my bicycle, my feet, and occasional Grab scooter-taxis (Grab, in case you haven’t heard of it, is basically just the Vietnamese version of Uber—except much better!). And although the city still feels pretty Vietnamese, it’s very modern and cosmopolitan, and has all the stuff you could ever need.

In Da Nang, (unlike Istanbul or London or Bangkok or whatever), you’ll never need to spend an hour sitting on three buses and two metro lines, just to get to another part of the city 🙄

✅ Pro 8: There are LOADS of nearby adventures

🏯 The iconic Hoi An (and its UNESCO-listed Old Town) is only a 45-minute drive from Da Nang.

🏛️ … while Hue(and the UNESCO buildings there!) are only a 2-hour drive away. And get this: to reach Hue from Da Nang, you ride over the scenic and mountainous Hai Van Pass, the most famous road in all of Vietnam.

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Other nearby adventures include:

• My Son: ancient mysterious temples hidden in the jungle. Sort of like Angkor Wat, but Vietnamese, and WAY less busy.
• Bau Bang: a quiet valley area that feels a million miles away from Da Nang (but it’s only a 30-minute drive from the city center). Expect rice fields, waterfalls, lotus ponds, buffalo, and quiet cafes. You’ll probably see no other tourists here—it’s my favorite under-the-radar adventure in all of Vietnam.
• Ba Na Hills: a kitsch mountaintop resort with a famous golden bridge (nestled in a pair of massive hands); also featuring European-style castles, and a weird Disneyland-esque vibe.
• Monkey Mountain: a hilly jungle-covered peninsula jutting into the sea. It’s home to secret beaches, wild monkeys, pretty views, surprisingly-steep roads, and a MASSIVE statue of Lady Buddha.

✈️ Beyond all that, Da Nang sits right in the center of Vietnam—so it’s well-located for exploring the rest of the nation. AND Da Nang has the nation’s third-busiest airport, and the nation’s third-busiest train station.

… so, overall: in terms of exploring the rest of Vietnam (and exploring the rest of Southeast Asia!), Da Nang is SUPER convenient 🎉

✅ Pro 9: It’s easy to stay for a while

I’ve been in Da Nang for close to a year 📅

… and that shouldn’t theoretically be possible.

You see: the longest tourist visa I can currently get for Vietnam is three months 🇻🇳

But there are visa agents here who allow you to essentially extend those visas. Here’s how: over the course of one (long-but-very-convenient) day, you take a bus from Da Nang to the Laos border, briefly enter Laos, then re-enter Vietnam on a new three-month visa.

I use Lynn Visa, but there are loads more providers.

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Anyway, this means: although you can in theory only stay in Vietnam for three months at a time, you can actually stay in the nation much longer than that 👍 And it’s legal, simple, and easy.

… and that brings us onto con #1:

❌ Con 1: Making Da Nang your REAL permanent home can be tricky

When most foreigners ‘live’ in Da Nang, they’re not TRULY living in Da Nang.

… instead, they’re doing what I just outlined above—and hopping from tourist visa to tourist visa.

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You DO have some long-term visa options, but unless you have a Vietnamese spouse, Vietnamese kids, Vietnamese heritage, or a job in Vietnam, it’s hard to get one of those visas.

🛂 Similarly, business visas exist, but are difficult to get.

The Vietnamese government has also proposed a new 10-year ‘golden visa,’ which would, in theory, make it very easy to stay in Vietnam… but no-one actually knows if it’s going to happen, or what the qualification rules would be.

So, for now, for most people, ‘living’ in Vietnam is a little precarious.

❌ Con 2: The rainy season

Da Nang’s rainy season is RAINY ⚡🌧️

👉 In theory, October is the only Da Nang month that’s near-guaranteed to be disruptively rainy—and the average October monthly rainfall is normally around 150mm.

… but, on a very bad year, you might get not-necessarily-heavy-but-pretty-consistent rain from September through to mid-December.

🤷 Personally, I don’t mind—cos I like rain:

• I’m from northern England
• I like exercise, and rain makes running easier
• I’m a big sweaty mess and I get tired of the sun

… but the rain can be a problem if the rain becomes disruptive.

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Right now, for example, I’m writing this in October. And we’ve just come out of a 3-day storm, which could have (but ultimately didn’t) cause flooding and power outages. So the rain itself isn’t bad; but the disruption has the potential to be.

❌ Con 3: It’s a place for digital nomads—but not really a place for finding local jobs

💻 If you work on your laptop, life is very easy in Da Nang. There are loads of cafes and coworking spaces, and almost all apartments have a pretty good work area.

… but compared to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, actually getting a job IN the city (in an office or a school or whatever) is much, much harder.

🧑‍🏫 For example: if you want to get a Vietnamese gig teaching English, you can arrive in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, and find a job within a week.

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… but Da Nang, until a couple of years ago, was notoriously tricky for finding teaching jobs. It’s gotten easier, and I now know three people who have teaching jobs in Da Nang—but when I lived in Hanoi, I knew literally hundreds of teachers.

So, overall: unless you work on your laptop, moving to Da Nang can be very tough 😓

❌ Con 4: Life can be noisy

Compared to many other parts of Vietnam, I’ve actually found Da Nang to be relatively quiet.

🔊 … but I’ve probably been pretty lucky.

Vietnam is known for being noisy. You can expect:

• Karaoke
• 5:30am outdoor aerobic classes
• People slamming doors and talking noisily and watching loud TV
• On-bike street-food vendors with noisy loudspeakers (you’ll get very used to hearing “bánh baoooooo!”)

🏠 And because Vietnam (and specifically Da Nang) has a growing economy, there’s LOTS of construction here. If you live next to a construction site, your life can be very noisy.

… but here’s the good news: in my experience (and this often ISN’T the case in many other Vietnamese cities), the Da Nang noise is usually only at civilized times. If you sleep at ‘normal’ hours (between 9pm and 6am), you’ll probably be okay ✅

Note: We’re guests here in Vietnam. Life is noisy here, and that’s the way it is. If you don’t like it, go home. On top of that, if Vietnamese people are being unreasonably noisy at an unreasonable time, you can speak to them about it. Usually, when you do, they’re polite and courteous and understanding, and they’ll make an effort to help you. Again: I love Vietnamese people 🇻🇳 ♥️

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❌ Con 5: Rental prices are high

Okay, compared to the western world, Da Nang’s rental prices are VERY affordable💲

… but compared to most other parts of Vietnam, rental prices here are steep (that’s because Da Nang is more touristy than most other parts of Vietnam, and it attracts high-earning digital nomads—AND because it’s a beach town).

• In Hanoi (Vietnam’s capital, btw), you can find a nice spacious 1-bedroom apartment in a good location for around 8,000,000VND ($305USD)
• In Da Nang, you would probably pay around 12,000,000VND ($455USD) for something of the same quality

🏖️ That said, you can pay a lot less by living on the western side of Da Nang (that’s the part of the city away from the beach). But, understandably, most foreigners don’t want to live there.

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❌ Con 6: Some of the foreigners are very grumpy

If you’re a foreigner here, you’re a guest.

.. and if you’re a guest, and can’t smile at locals, or make an effort to integrate, or understand that your needs and habits (for the most part) are secondary to the needs and habits of the local people, go home.

No-one’s asking you to become a selfless foreign diplomat… but at least have some manners.

Of all the places I’ve ever lived, I’ve never been anywhere where I’ve found such a large number of entitled, grumpy, frowning non-natives.

Pro Tip: If you’re gonna be in Da Nang long-term, at least make some effort to integrate. Make local friends, learn a little bit of Vietnamese, do some voluntary work, eat and drink at local-owned cafes and local-owned restaurants. To be honest, because Vietnamese people are so nice, they don’t necessarily expect any of this of you—but you should probably expect it of yourself.

❌ Con 7: It’s VERY humid

During the height of Da Nang’s summer (June through to August), you’ll be a big sweaty mess 🥵

The combo of heat and humidity means you probably won’t want to be outdoors between 8am and 4pm in summer.

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… and even during the ‘colder’ months, the humidity makes the cold feel colder than it really is. But, to be honest, because the summer has been so hot, that can be a nice refreshing change.

The annual average humidity sits at just over 80% 💦 🌊

Final Thoughts

So, there you go—the pros and cons of living in Da Nang (from a man who’s been living here for almost a year)!

In short, I massively recommend living here. I’m leaving in 2 months, and I’m already dreading how much I’ll miss it. One day (hopefully very soon), I’ll be back here, for sure. Apart from my English hometown of Newcastle, this is my favorite place I’ve ever lived 🇻🇳 ♥️

For more on Da Nang, head over to our guides on:

Thanks for reading, thanks for choosing Travelness, and we’ll see you again soon. Enjoy Da Nang!