Nha Trang Information

Nha Trang is a coastal city and capital of Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam. It is well known for its pristine beaches and excellent scuba diving and is fast becoming a popular destination for international tourists, attracting large numbers of backpackers on the Southeast Asia circuit. It is already very popular with Vietnamese tourists. Nha Trang Bay is amongst the world's most beautiful bays. Tourists can participate in Sea Festival and August- Nha Trang Rendezvous Festival every 2 years.
The city has about 300,000 inhabitants and is projected to increase to 500,000 to 600,000 inhabitants in the year 2020 according to estimation of Nha Trang Administrative Board Statistics.
Historically, the city was known as Kauthara under the Champa. There's still Po Nagar Tower of Champa in Nha Trang now.
As a coastal city, Nha Trang's developed in marine science with Nha Trang Oceanography Institution. There's also Hon Mun marine protected area - one of four first marine protected area in the world admitted by IUCN. The famous French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Émile John Yersin (who discovered the Yersinia pestis bacterium) identified himself with Nha Trang's life for 50 years (people called him Ong Nam- Mr Fifth in familiar way), established the Indochina Pasteur Institution (Nha Trang Pasteur Institution now) to research bubonic plague and then died on March 1, 1943 in Nha Trang. A street in the city is named after him, there is a shrine located next to his tomb, and his house has been converted into the Yersin Museum.
Commercial flights to Nha Trang no longer use the city's municipal airport, but fly into the larger and more modern Cam Ranh airport located about 35 kilometers or 22 miles south of Nha Trang.
When Cam Ranh Bay used to be an important naval base, Nha Trang Airport was the main airport of the city. This airport was used by the United Stated Airforce and South Vietnam Airforce during Vietnam War. When part of Cam Ranh Bay was made economic development zone by the Vietnamese government, Cam Ranh Airport (also a military airport built by the United States during Vietnam War) was made new civilian airport of the city. This airport is located by Cam Ranh Bay, 45 km south of the city and is currently (as of 2007) the fifth busiest airports in terms of passengers traffic in Vietnam serving more than 500,000 passengers in 2006. The city is locate by National Road 1A, the backbone north-south road of the country. The Reunification Railway also crosses the city and stops at Nha Trang Railway Station.
Nha Trang is one of the most important tourism hubs of Vietnam, thanks to its beautiful beaches with fine and clean sand, clear sea water with mild temperature all the year round. There are several resorts, amusement parks in this city and on islands off the coast. The most beautiful streets of the city is Tran Phu Street along the seaside. Nha Trang is a venue for annual sailing boat racing from Hong Kong. In recent years, the city has welcome many 5-star sea cruises. The city’s cuisine is famous for its fresh seafood. Bird's nest soup are one of the best in Vietnam. Bird’s nests are collected naturally and in bird’s farms in the islands off the city coast and in some houses in the inner city. As a seaside city, its cuisine is characterized by several seafood.