Travellers have been keeping an eye on Cam Ranh Bay as a possible future destination for years now, and on our visit we were greeted by a magnificent, absolutely enormous bay, filled with turquoise waters and rimmed with green hills -- it wasn't hard to see the potential of the spot.

Cam Ranh Bay has had its 15 minutes in Vietnam's maritime history. Considered to be one of the finest deep-water harbours in the world, the bay has been used both in peace and war time by the French, Americans and the Russians. Yet when all the boys and their toys packed up and left, the bay retreated back to a simpler existance and today most of the boat traffic is limited to small fishing vessels, nary an aircraft carrier in sight.

The bay was once ringed with white sand beaches, but locals -- obviously not of the sunbaking variety -- long ago dug fish farms into much of it. A pity for all you sun-hedonists, but the locals had to make a living long before the tourists came along, so there you have it.

But the news isn't all bad.

While plans have long been in the works to build resorts in the area, so far, they've yet to break ground on a single development and at first, it seemed there was little reason to stop in Cam Ranh. Sure you can take a look around the bay and enjoy some seafood along the way, but we spent a day exploring the bay and made a startling find.

Not all the beaches have been given over to fish farms. Far from it in fact.

There are quite a few beaches, mostly on a peninsula jutting into the bay, that are completely unspoiled and absolutely jaw-droppingly gorgeous. The natural beauty here is reminiscent of what Ko Phi Phi in Thailand must have looked like before it's 'fall from grace.' The water is clear and clean, becoming a shimmering turquoise in the bright sun, and the sand is fine and almost white.

What's more, but for the fisherman and the locals who make their way here for a dip in the late afternoon, no one uses the beach.

Nobody.

Yes -- you too can go where no Speedo has gone before.

Of course, there are obstacles. The beaches are a good 20km from any sort of accommodation or facilities, there's no public transportation, and no regular tour buses. A surprising number of locals don't seem to even know the beaches are there, or if they do, assume no tourist would ever want to visit them -- whenever we asked the folks in Cam Ranh, "Where's the beach?" they always said, "Nha Trang!" 60 km up the road.

But if you're willing to make the effort, and you're itching to get away from the crowds and find that perfect secluded beach, Cam Ranh Bay has got what you're looking for. If you're staying in Nha Trang, it makes sense as a day trip by motorbike.

The town of Cam Ranh, 60km south of Nha Trang and 50km north of Phan Rang-Thap Cham, is nothing special in itself. Other than a Cao Dai temple that's worth a look, and a rather unique Catholic church, painted up in powder blue and incorporating a fusion of Asian and Western architectural styles, there are no great sites to take in or places to visit. The town is dominated by route 1A which attracts a lot of fast moving, heavily loaded trucks blasting their horns and kicking up gravel.

Cam Ranh's tourist infrastructure is minimal, and we found no one who spoke any significant amount of English. We also found that the western tourist could be sometimes subjected to some very aggressive, bordering on obnoxious, curiosity. That said, many of the locals treated us to drinks and food and welcomed us with open arms.

Orientation
Cam Ranh town is spread out along route 1A as it winds its way between Nha Trang and Phan Rang-Thap Cham. Because of all the fish farms, it's hard to get anywhere near the actual bay, and once you do, you'll find it's given over to the fish industry without a single patch of sand to stake a claim on. Luckily, it's a gigantic bay, and there are some almost untouched spots to the south that host some of the best beaches we've seen in Vietnam.

It's not hard to get oriented in Cam Ranh town. Nguyen Trong Ky St cuts through the centre of town and heads to the post office and eventually leads to the port. There's one hotel on the road, and you'll see the big, blue Catholic church on the left as you head down it. All the roads branching north from this road eventually hook up with route 1A. There is also one badly-paved road that heads west from route 1A towards Da Lat. No maps are available in town so try get the Yellowbook Map for Khanh Hoa province if you can find one. Otherwise, Ngoc Suong Travel has some maps of the bay mounted on its wall that you can take a look at to get your bearings.

Banking is a bit tricky -- there is only one ATM that accepts foreign cards, and it's not available 24/7. It's in the Vietcom bank, which is only open weekdays and closed two-hours at midday for lunch -- though luckily it stays open until 19:00 to allow people to use the bank machine. You can forget about cashing traveller's cheques, credit card advances or any exotic money exchanges, but Western Union is available. If you're stuck without funds over the weekend, you might have to head to Nha Trang or Phan Rang to use your debit card.

The post office is on the main road near the centre of town -- long distance telephone services are available.

There's a reasonable scattering of internet places at town, starting at 3,000 VND per hour.

Ngoc Suong Travel: 27 Route 1A (Quoc Lo 1), Cam Ranh. T: (058) 953 190
Main Post Office: Route 1A (Quoc Lo 1, centre of town), Cam Ranh. T: (058) 854 289, F: (058) 854 432. Open daily: 06:30 - 21:30.
Vietcom Bank: Route 1A (Quoc Lo 1) Next to Hoang Nhat Hotel, Cam Ranh. Open: 07:00 - 11:30 and 13:30 - 19:00