Chan May Cruise Port Guide

Chan May cruise port sits in a deep-water bay on the central Vietnam coast between Hue and Da Nang. Ships berth here rather than tendering, there’s no town at the gate and no port shuttle, so your day comes down to which city you pick: Hue 1 hr 20 to 1 hr 45 north, Da Nang about an hour south, Hoi An 1 hr 40 to 2 hours further south.

Chan May Port sits on Chan May Bay, on the central coast between Hue and Da Nang:

Where ships dock at Chan May Port

Chan May is a working commercial port on Chan May Bay, and ships come alongside instead of tendering. Two berths handle everything that calls: Bến 1 at 480 m, Bến 2 at 280 m, 760 m of quay between them.

You can’t find out which berth you’ll get before you sail. Calls go to Bến 1 or Bến 2 depending on what else is in port, and no berth is held back for cruise ships. Either way, the walk to the gate is the same.

There’s no cruise terminal building at Chan May. You walk off the ship, through a security check, then straight on and right to the Exit Gate. That’s about 500 m in all, and it’s where the drivers and guides wait.

Check the name on your itinerary before you book anything. Royal Caribbean sells this call as Hue/Danang (Chan May) and Princess as Da Nang/Hue (Chan May), and Da Nang also has its own cruise port, Tien Sa, on the Son Tra peninsula 51 km away.

Chan May (Hue/Da Nang) cruise port map

Ships dock at Chan May Port. Tap a pin for directions.

• Chan May PortWhere ships dock
• Khai Dinh TombRoyal tomb · About 47 km from Chan May Port
• Minh Mang TombRoyal tomb · About 49 km from Chan May Port
• Dong Ba MarketMarket · About 49 km from Chan May Port
• Hoi An Ancient TownOld town · About 60 km from Chan May Port
• Marble MountainsHills with temples and caves · About 44 km from Chan May Port
• Dragon BridgeBridge · About 37 km from Chan May Port
• Lady Buddha, Son TraBuddhist statue · About 37 km from Chan May Port
• Hai Van PassMountain pass · About 21 km from Chan May Port
• Ba Na HillsHill resort with cable car · About 34 km from Chan May Port

Getting out of Chan May: no shuttle, no taxi rank, no bus

Nothing moves at Chan May unless you’ve arranged it. There’s no port shuttle, no train station, no scheduled bus and no taxi rank at the gate. The nearest town is 18 km away.

Any shuttle towards Hue or Da Nang belongs to your cruise line, arranged sailing by sailing, and where one runs it often goes no further than the port gate. Read your ship’s paperwork rather than building a plan around one. Some port or cruise operations run an electric cart inside the port area, but it isn’t a transfer and it won’t take you anywhere.

Pre-booked private drivers and organised transfers wait outside the Exit Gate. Grab works in Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An, but not at the pier. Taxis and private drivers gather outside the gates offering day rates.

So book the car before you sail, and confirm the day before if you want the driver beside the ship rather than out at the gate. Picking up inside the port carries an extra port authority charge per person and has to be arranged in advance.

Ship excursions are the other route, with roundtrip transfers from the port to Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An, My Son and Ba Na Hills. They usually run six to nine hours, which is most of a call.

Hue, Da Nang or Hoi An: which to pick from Chan May

Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An sit in different directions from the berth, and the drive is what decides your day. Hue is north. Da Nang and Hoi An are south past the Hai Van Pass, and Hue and Hoi An are about 130 km apart, which is the number that scuppers most grand plans.

Distances get quoted differently depending on who’s driving you. Hue turns up at 60 to 65 km, with anything from 1 hr 15 to 2 hrs 30 behind the wheel.

Da Nang is 45 to 55 km, with 70 km quoted in places. Hoi An is 76 to 90 km.

Build your day on the cruise lines’ own figures: Princess schedules 1 hr 45 min each way to Hue, Royal Caribbean puts Hue about 80 minutes north and Hoi An about two hours by bus.

Try to do Hue and Hoi An in one call and you’ll spend roughly seven hours behind the windscreen out of an eight to nine hour stop, with almost no time in either. On a call under about nine hours, either take the Citadel without the royal tombs, or settle for a relaxed wander round Hoi An. With a 17:00 sailing, Hoi An feels rushed from the moment you sit down.

The drive back matters more than the drive out. Allow at least 90 minutes before all-aboard for the run from Hue or Da Nang, and check what your operator does: some get groups back to the port gate 75 minutes before all-aboard.

Chan May is usually the history stop on a Vietnam run. The beach days tend to fall at Nha Trang cruise port or Phu Quoc Island cruise port further down the coast.

Port names and city names part company all along this coast, and the guide to the cruise ports in Vietnam sets out which port stands in for which city.

Hue Imperial Citadel: 1 hr 20 to 1 hr 45 from Chan May cruise port

The Imperial Citadel at Hue was the seat of the Nguyen dynasty from 1802 to 1945, moat-ringed, with the Imperial City and the Forbidden Purple City inside its walls. From the berth it’s 60 to 65 km north, 1 hr 20 to 1 hr 45 by road.

A Hue day needs at least five hours: about three hours in the car and two hours of sightseeing. Princess rates its Citadel-and-tomb day as involving extensive walking and unsuitable for limited mobility, so take the shorter version if that’s a concern.

Tickets come from the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre’s e-ticket portal, which sells them in Vietnamese, English and Korean, 24 hours a day, with a QR code emailed after payment. Buying online keeps you out of the ticket queue.

Sales run 06:30 to 17:30 with the site closing at 18:30 between 16 March and 15 October, and 07:00 to 17:00 with an 18:00 close between 16 October and 15 March. Last entry is about 30 minutes before closing.

Dress is what catches people out. No shorts, short skirts or bare-shoulder tops in the inner palaces and worship areas, no hats or caps indoors.

Keep quiet in the palaces, don’t touch, sit on or write on the structures, and no drones without permission. Security staff can end a visit on the spot.

Thien Mu Pagoda, a seven-storey octagonal tower built in 1601 and still a working Buddhist monastery on the Perfume River, is about 20 minutes from the Citadel by road. The royal tombs are the other half of the day: Khai Dinh with its concrete shell and glass-and-porcelain mosaic interior, Tu Duc with its lake and pine forest, Minh Mang the most classically composed. They sit several kilometres apart and you can’t walk between them.

Hoi An Ancient Town: 1 hr 40 to 2 hours each way from Chan May

Hoi An is a 15th to 19th century trading port of yellow-walled timber houses, assembly halls and the Japanese Covered Bridge, 76 to 90 km south of the berth and 1 hr 40 to 2 hrs each way via Da Nang.

It works with at least nine hours ashore and it’s better with ten or more. Taking the Hai Van Pass instead of the tunnel adds about 30 minutes and a 21 km climb. Fine trade for the view, bad trade on a tight schedule.

You have to buy a ticket before you go into the old town. The Hoi An World Cultural Heritage Conservation Center issues one that covers the streets plus a set number of monuments, and it stays valid for up to three days.

The Japanese Covered Bridge lets you cross and see the shrine only from 9:00 to 11:00 and 15:00 to 22:00, with a maximum of 20 visitors on it at once. The exterior is free to see and photograph at any hour.

The same ticket gets you traditional art performances at 66 Bach Dang Street at 10:15, 15:15 and 16:15 daily, and a Japanese tea ceremony at 06 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street at 9:30 and 16:30 daily. Turn up as a group of eight or more and the guide is free.

The old town closes to traffic from 9:00 to 21:30 in summer and 9:00 to 21:00 in winter, and Phan Chau Trinh Street turns pedestrian at 17:30. Each museum shuts on two fixed dates a month: Folk Culture on the 13th and 28th, Trade Ceramics on the 11th and 26th, Sa Huynh Culture on the 10th and 25th, Traditional Medicine on the 12th and 27th. All of them open 7:30 to 21:30.

Da Nang: an hour from Chan May and the shortest drive

Da Nang is 45 to 55 km south and about an hour through the Hai Van tunnel, the shortest of the three drives, though one operator quotes 70 km and 60 to 80 minutes. If you want a taste of a Vietnamese city rather than a full imperial day, this is the one that leaves you some margin.

The Dragon Bridge over the Han River breathes fire and water on Saturday and Sunday nights, which only matters if your call runs late. Otherwise the day is My Khe beach, the Marble Mountains (Ngu Hanh Son) with Buddhist temples and caves in the five marble hills, and the Lady Buddha at Son Tra Linh Ung pagoda on Son Tra, or Monkey, Mountain.

Ba Na Hills is the other draw: the Golden Hands Bridge is 150 m of pedestrian deck at 1,414 m, reached by a cable car recorded as the longest non-stop single-track run in the world at 5,801 m.

Money in Chan May: currency, cards and cash

Chan May uses the Vietnamese đồng, and you’ll need cash for the day because there’s no ATM or currency exchange at the port itself.

Cards and contactless work in hotels, restaurants and tour companies in Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An, and a few taxis take contactless too. Small vendors, markets and tips are cash only. Carry đồng rather than US dollars. Tourist spots may take US cash, but they round the exchange up badly, so you lose out. Change money only at an official counter because street exchanges are illegal and risky. Withdraw what you need before you leave the ship, or use a bank once you get to Hue or Da Nang.

Is Chan May safe for cruise passengers?

Chan May is a low-risk stop for cruise passengers, and Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An are all comfortable places to spend a day, but keep an eye on your bag and arrange your transport in advance.

Pickpocketing and bag-snatching by riders on motorbikes happen in crowded markets and tourist streets, so keep your bag across your body and away from the road. In Hue’s markets, watch for groups of children picking pockets, and at Hoi An’s Central Market, watch for motorbike riders snatching bags. At the port gate, taxis can be unmetered and the price unclear, so agree a fare first or book a driver before you sail rather than bargaining at the port. Violent crime against tourists is rare. Chan May is a remote cargo port with no facilities beyond the gate, so having transport booked matters more here than the usual city-centre precautions.

Where to eat near Chan May cruise port

Eating on a Chan May port day means eating wherever you spend it, and Hue and Hoi An run different menus: the beef noodle soup and small steamed rice cakes of Hue, or the noodles and dumplings of Hoi An.

• Bun bo Hue: the city’s beef noodle soup, and the reason to head for Dong Ba Market, the main market and a standard food stop on Hue day tours.
• Banh beo: steamed rice cakes in small bowls topped with shrimp, mung bean paste and scallions, eaten with a dip of fish sauce.
• Banh khoai: a crisp crepe stuffed with pork belly and shrimp, best eaten where it’s made rather than carried away.
• Cao lau: Hoi An’s own noodle bowl, with mi quang noodles, white rose dumplings and banh mi alongside it. Start at Hoi An Central Market, at the eastern end of the old quarter on the river side of Tran Phu.

Hue royal cuisine is the other local angle, served around Dong Ba Market and in the city’s garden houses.

Weather in Chan May for a cruise port day

Ships call between November and April, and December to February is the busiest stretch. You’ll usually get warm, mostly dry weather ashore.

Daytime temperatures in Hue run from around 24°C in January to the low thirties by April, and humidity builds as the season goes on. Rain is lightest from January to March, with around four or five wet days a month, so most calls fall in the drier stretch. The storm season runs from May to November, so a November sailing can still catch the tail end of it. Check your date against that. On most port days you’ll get strong sun rather than heavy rain, so bring protection for sun and rain.

What to wear in Hue and Hoi An: outfit ideas for a port day

Hue’s monuments come with a dress code and it is enforced. Shoulders and knees covered at the Citadel and the royal tombs, no shorts, short skirts or sleeveless tops in the inner palaces and worship areas, and hats off indoors.

Footwear matters more than you’d think. Princess asks for comfortable walking shoes and a lightweight waterproof jacket on its Citadel day because of the distances covered, and the Marble Mountains are stairs and climbing rather than a stroll, so slow walkers often give them a miss.

In Hoi An the lanes near the river are the oldest surface in the quarter: uneven, with no separate pavement on most streets and motorbikes back in them outside restricted hours. Trainers beat sandals, and anything with wheels struggles.

A hat, sunscreen and a refillable bottle are what operators tell passengers to bring, because most of the day is outdoors.

For more inspiration, see these casual cruise outfit ideas for women and cruise outfit ideas for men.

Best photo spots from Chan May cruise port

The best photographs on a Chan May port day come from the road and the old town rather than the port itself: the Hai Van Pass, the lagoon and beach below it, the lantern streets of Hoi An and the Marble Mountains.

• Hai Van Pass: the coastal road between the port and Da Nang, with the coast open below you. The scenic route costs you about 30 minutes over the tunnel, which is the price of the shot.
• Lang Co Beach and Lap An Lagoon: white sand and lagoon scenery between the port and the pass, and both get worked in as photo stops on Da Nang and Hoi An transfers.
• Hoi An’s lantern streets: best from 17:30, when Phan Chau Trinh closes to traffic and the lanterns come on. Between about 18:00 and 21:00 in high season the central lanes are shoulder to shoulder, so early morning is the other good slot, when you’ll have the streets to yourself.
• Marble Mountains: five marble hills of temples and caves, with stone-carving yards at their foot, easily added on the way to Hoi An.

How to spend a port day in Chan May

A port day in Chan May works best if you pick one: Hue’s imperial sites on a shorter day, or Hoi An’s old town with nine hours or more.

Chan May cruise port FAQs

Where is Chan May in Vietnam?

On the central coast, in Chan May Bay, about 60 to 65 km south of Hue and 45 to 55 km north of Da Nang, in what is now Hue city. It is the port both of those cities use for cruise calls.

Can you walk to a beach from Chan May cruise port?

No. The nearest sand is Lang Co Beach, on the road south towards the Hai Van Pass, and it turns up as a photo stop on Da Nang and Hoi An transfers rather than as a walk from the gate.

Do cruise ships stay overnight at Chan May?

No. It’s a port of call rather than a turnaround port, so ships dock for the day and sail, and there’s no passenger terminal building, car parking or left-luggage service there.

Can you visit My Son Sanctuary from Chan May?

Yes, as a ship’s excursion. Royal Caribbean sells My Son, the UNESCO-listed Champa Hindu temple valley, as a Chan May day tour, and the port’s tours generally run six to nine hours.

What should be booked before you sail?

Two things. Your transfer, because nothing is standing by at the gate, and a Citadel e-ticket if Hue is the plan, which the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre recommends to avoid queue congestion.