Ho Tram – a nice and quiet destination to recover energy with family | Travel

I sometimes go to the beach with my family to relax, step away from the modern daily routine, and enjoy natural environment that no other destination can offer quite like the ocean. That’s the feeling of the ocean breeze, the sound of waves, the beautiful moments when the sun rises and sets along the horizon. I have been travelling for 10+ years and have taken lots of photos of sunset. Sunset in the UK, in Europe, in the Caribbean, in Asia, in my own town… They were all beautiful. However, this was the first time I was able to experience such an amazing scene of sunrise in a peaceful morning.

This post will share photos I took during the journey to Ho Tram at the end of Mar 2026. Moreover, I’m also so happy to share my family’s experience of taking a break there before returning to our daily routine.

GET THERE & PREPARATION

Ho Tram is located in Ba Ria province, around 100km from Ho Chi Minh City. Before traveling there, I looked up information on the Internet and saw that there are many daily transit buses. The buses run on a fixed schedule and I was a little worried this might rush my family because we travel with two young children. Another reason that I didn’t travel by bus was the ticket price is around 350.000-480.000VND/person. That meant, the total cost for my family should have bean more than 1.2 million VND. Instead, booking a car through an application with a promotional discount only cost app. 900.000VND, which might be a much better choice with a flexible time. Remember to check added fees additionally the amount we see on the app. For this trip, I thought grab deducted from my account around 60.000 VND for extra cost such as highway fee.

When booking a car, we ran into a little trouble because some drivers accepted the route, then we waited, they cancelled or never showed up at the pick up point. Finally, we finally got a car after 40 minutes of waiting. The journey from Ho Chi Minh city to Ho Tram took around 2.5 hours then my kids could nap and rest along the way.

One thing I forgot was to pack some snacks and drinks to keep my children happy when they wanted something to eat. It was not necessary to bring tons of food, but preparing some fruits, bread, snacks, milk and a light lunch would make our journey more comfortable. As most of the accommodation in Ho Tram is private beach resorts, the local restaurant, mini-mart and shops are far away from the hotels or resorts. When I looked for a local mini-mart, the nearest one was about 2km away that I couldn’t walk there in the summer heat.

THE DESTINATION

Ho Tram is essentially a resort complex with many private beachfront resorts such as Ixora, Carmelina, Holiday Inn and InterContinental. It’s easy to find the information about room types, prices, facilities, services on agoda or booking. We traveled there at the end of March, not quite the high peak season, it was not too crowded and we got the best deal of Carmelina beach resort. It has a small water park for children, a restaurant (which has buffet breakfast depending on the booking package), several swimming pools, electric shutter to get around within the accommodation. We booked a room with two double beds with 2.7 million VND including breakfast for four people. Honestly, I think it was a reasonable price because we spent most of our time staying and relaxing at the resort. My children really enjoyed swimming at the pools and the beach. The best part? It was so peaceful and quiet. With so few tourists around, my children practically had the pool to themselves.

From our accommodation, the nearest seafood restaurant was around 2-3km away and none of them really offer any unique local specialties. Thus, we chose to go to Lemongrass restaurant (located inside Holiday Inn) not only for the food but also to soak up the atmosphere and see how the other tourists spend their evenings. It’s a Western style restaurant inside the Holiday Inn. They have various menu with pizzas, rice, pasta, noodles, seafood and dessert dishes. The price is similar to those at regular restaurants in malls, plus a 5% service charge on top. The price was reasonable because the quality of food was much better than I expected. I say that because I’ve had bad experience before with restaurants inside other resorts where the food was overpriced but the quality didn’t match. 

Since we didn’t drive to Ho Tram, getting around was a bit limited. Grab and Xanh were good options whenever our family wanted to move from our hotel to other places. There were many cars available, likely thanks to tourism development in the area. We just moved to some places near our place, thus the fares were about 35.000-50.000 VND. I haven’t explored Ho Tram enough to experience other types of transportation to give review or recommend to other travelers. So far, I think using the ride-hailing app was both convenient and easy.

Ho Tram is absolutely a leisure destination. Most of the activities are staying at the resort, swimming, going to the beach, sitting on the sand and enjoying a quiet peaceful environment. My children really love the beach, they love making a sand castle, playing with the waves, or just running along the seashore together. If a traveller wants to explore more local culture, foods and activities, here is not a good choice. Nevertheless, when my family looked for a place to relax and recover our energy before coming back to daily routine, Ho Tram seemed to be the best option. 

THE VIBE

Honestly, I think the best time to go on a leisure trip is during the off peak season because it is not crowded, we can fully enjoy a quiet and relaxed atmosphere. I sat on a swing next to the seashore, felt the breeze, let my mind unwind. 

One of the specific moments was when I woke up early and waited for the sunrise. Normally a sunrise is usually soft and subtle because the light sunlight slowly replaced the gray sky. But this time, a deep red sun like a fireball peeked out from behind the clouds. I alsmot didn’t expect anything that morning since the sky had look gray and overcast. Then I saw the sun peeking, I headed back to the swing and waited quietly. The sun rose so fast that I could see it fully with my own eyes. The sunlight covered the ocean surface, everything seemed to be sparkling. The whole thing lasted only about ten minutes from the first glimpse to the sun fully rising. 

Compared to some of my other trips, this journey to Ho Tram was not the most special one. It was a simple, quiet family getaway. Generally, I’d like to come back here because of the natural landscape, the professional service of the beach resort and the calm, easy atmosphere this place brought to me and my family.

J

2026 Apr 19

#travel #vietnam #HoTram