Cam Ranh Bay

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