July 2025: Nha Trang is one of my favorite places to live in Vietnam after traveling all over Vietnam. We were last in Vietnam in 2023, and we are back again this year in 2025. Nha Trang is a beautiful beach town.
On this trip to Vietnam, we are also spending 2 weeks in a cooler mountain hill station in Vietnam called Da Lat, and a month in Da Nang, Vietnam, another beautiful beach town. Subscribe for updates on those places in the next few weeks.
I travel the world and report on the best places to retire overseas. I left the United States 18 years ago, and I have been to 73 countries so far. I am happy to report that Vietnam remains one of the best places to live, as I will now explain.
How We Traveled to Nha Trang
We took the 1.5-hour flight from Roxas City in the Philippines to Saigon, Vietnam. The flight cost $140 USD per person. We took the train from Saigon to Nha Trang for $37 USD per person. We took the Grab taxi from the train station to our accommodations in Nha Trang.
Actual Cost of Living in Nha Trang
Here is a video on Qiang’s channel showing our actual 30-day, short-term, cost-of-living numbers for Nha Trang in May 2025.
Your numbers are likely to vary significantly from ours. Below, I will provide examples of long-term, year-round expenses for both low- and middle-range living costs. However, these are just example estimates; you must visit to determine your actual living costs here.
Favorite Area of Nha Trang
Our favorite area to live in Nha Trang is shown as the red circle on the Google Map below. This area is fun to hang out in, plus it is close to the best public Market in Nha Trang (Xom Moi Market), so you can walk to get your fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, and proteins.
This favorite area is just a short walk to the beach, but far enough away so you won’t be surrounded by short-term tourists. It is fun to walk around this area because it has beautiful architecture and interesting small businesses.
In this video, I will share my updated cost of living numbers, but the full written report includes retirement desirability factors such as Medical, Walkability, Internet, Food, Weather, Things to Do, Social considerations, Expat Community, Real Estate, and My Overall Retirement Desirability Score for Nha Trang, Vietnam.
The full written report also includes my favorite restaurants, things to do, nightlife walking tour, city walking tour, and other useful information, plus my report from 5 years ago.
Okay, here are my estimated costs of living converted into US dollars if the two of us moved to Nha Trang year-round on a tight budget. As I go, I will also share what more typical middle-range expats might spend.
Estimated Cost to Retire in Nha Trang, Vietnam
Rent: We stayed in the Home Vu Apartments 4 in a one-bedroom fully equipped apartment for one month for 9.5 million Dong (363 USD). That included everything but electricity and water.
Here is my report about how to find perfect apartments for cheap around the world.
So, I will show you a table of all expenses in a moment. I will use $363 per month for our lower rent estimate and $550 per month rent for the middle cost of living estimate for expats who want a little more space.
If you are willing to ride public transportation or drive a scooter or car 10 minutes outside of central. You could easily save an additional 20 to 40% on rent.
Utilities: We estimate that the year-round average for our utilities would be about $70 USD per month. The utilities would cost more for the larger space, starting at around $120 USD per month.
Groceries: When possible, we would purchase fruits and vegetables from the public market, small shops, and street vendors to save money. But we would also shop in grocery stores for nonperishable foods and other things like shampoo and detergents. We estimate about $250 per month for groceries. Other expats are likely to shop more often in expensive grocery stores, often spending more than $375 per month on groceries.
Restaurants: We would eat out five times per week, mostly in more local-style restaurants a few blocks back from the tourist areas, for about $1.5 to $2.5 USD per meal per person and one or two splurges per month of $6 to $10 USD per meal per person. If you add all that up, we would spend around $200 per month for the two of us in restaurants. We may have a beer here and there, but that is covered below in alcohol.
Other expats are likely to eat more often at expensive expat-style restaurants and less in local-style restaurants, and cook less at home, so they would likely spend more like $360 per month for 2 people in restaurants. It is lifestyle-dependent.
Cell Phone Data: The cost to get a single prepaid SIM card for your unlocked smartphone is about $7 USD per month. When we were out of the house together, both phones could be online using the hotspot. Other expat couples are likely to buy two prepaid SIM cards, so they would spend $14 USD per month.
Laundry: Many long-term apartments in Nha Trang have a washing machine and my above grocery estimate includes laundry detergent, so laundry would cost nothing extra. People in SE Asia hang dry their clothes.
Drinking Water: Reverse osmosis delivery in 19-liter jugs is about $1.30 per jug. So we would spend about $15 USD per month on RO water.
Internet: Many apartments include 15 MBPS WIFI in the rent. But other expats might be willing to buy their own dedicated WIFI for 60 MBPS up and down for about $15 USD for in-home wifi.
Transportation: The city of Nha Trang is very centralized, so we just walked everywhere. They also have Grab Taxi, Grab Motorcycle, and City buses. It seems like we averaged about $2 USD per Grab taxi ride. Grab scooter is about half that. But, we would walk mostly and spend about $32 USD per month for transportation.
Other expats may take more Grab Taxis, walk less, and possibly buy a scooter, so I estimate $120 per month for them.
Alcohol (Optional): Domestic beers in corner markets are about $0.60 USD for a normal 330 ML can. In bars and restaurants, domestic beers range from around $1 to $3 USD. So, we estimate about $80 per month on alcohol for the two of us.
Other expats often spend a higher amount on imported foreign or craft beers in convenience stores, bars, and restaurants, so we estimate about $200 USD per month for two people.
Entertainment (Optional): We would budget about $200 per month for entertainment for the two of us. We generally enjoy doing more do-it-yourself kinds of entertainment, so other expats would spend a little more, maybe $300 per month, for the 2 of them?
Estimated Costs to Retire in Nha Trang, Vietnam
|
Nha Trang Vietnam |
Lower (USD) |
Middle (USD) |
|
Rent |
363 |
550 |
|
Utilities |
70 |
120 |
|
Groceries |
250 |
375 |
|
Restaurants |
200 |
360 |
|
Cell Data |
7 |
14 |
|
Laundry |
0 |
0 |
|
Drinking Water |
15 |
15 |
|
Internet |
15 |
15 |
|
Transportation |
32 |
120 |
|
Total |
$952 |
$1569 |
|
|
|
|
|
Alcohol |
80 |
200 |
|
Optional Total |
$1032 |
$1769 |
|
|
|
|
|
Entertainment |
200 |
300 |
|
Optional Total |
$1232 |
$2069 |
We gathered this data with our feet on the ground here in May of 2025, so adjust for inflation after that. The above lower estimated cost of living would be if the two of us lived in Nha Trang on a tight budget.
The middle estimate is just an example of what more typical expats might spend if they moved here.
You should also add anything to the above table that you spend money on in your home country that is not listed in the above table. Presumably, you find those things necessary in life.
To do that, visit Numbeo Nha Trang and add anything not mentioned in the above table. Anything not on Numbeo, you should add during your exploratory visit to Nha Trang, so you learn your personal cost of living before deciding to move here.
Never move anywhere until you have visited first personally to verify the living costs for your lifestyle and needs. I am not guaranteeing these prices. These are just my notes and estimates from the time of my visit and this post. Your costs will likely be drastically different depending on your lifestyle and the time since this post.
Many of the expats we meet living overseas are self-insured for medical care. That means that not everyone buys health insurance when they move overseas. That probably sounds crazy to many of you.
More typical expats’ living costs in Nha Trang range from about $1100 to $2500 per month. But people who spend that much often have higher savings, incomes, or pensions. They often report spending more on accommodations and entertainment, eating out more, traveling more, and drinking more alcohol. Many also have more expensive cars, houses, or apartments.
To understand what it would cost you to live here, you must put your feet on the ground, see how you would choose to live, eat, and entertain yourself, and add it all up. It doesn’t matter what anyone else spends because we are all different.
Make Sure to Have an Emergency Fund
If you are going to try to retire cheaply offshore, make sure to read my report, The Two Biggest Risks of Retiring Early for Cheap Offshore, which explains why you should have emergency funds available for unexpectedly large expenses (and how much).
Vietnam Visas
Tourist Visa: If you are going to visit Vietnam, make sure to apply online and receive your 90-day visa before traveling here. There are websites pretending to be the official website. So use this official government website to apply.
With this visa, you can stay in the country for up to 90 days. If you want to stay longer, exit Vietnam to any nearby country. Then apply for another 90-day visa while you are outside the country. It takes 3 to 4 days to get your new visa. This is called a visa run.
Thousands of foreigners live in Vietnam and do visa runs every 90 days. Some people say you can not retire in Vietnam for this reason. But we have met at least 40 or 50 people all over Vietnam who are retired here and do visa runs every 90 days.
Retirement Visa: Vietnam has no retirement visa. Some people are saying that Vietnam will offer retirement visas soon. I will believe it when I see it.
Foreigners living in Vietnam either do visa runs every 90 days or they get one of the other visas, such as tourist visas, business visas, marriage visas, working visas, investor visas, among others.
I suggest you come visit Vietnam on a tourist Visa before spending time or money applying for other visas. While here, chat with the expats you see everywhere and ask them which visa they have and recommend.
Scroll down to see previous reports for the other retirement desirability factors such as Medical, Walkability, Internet, Food, Weather, Things to Do, Social considerations, Expat Community, Real Estate, and My Overall Retirement Desirability Score for Nha Trang, Vietnam.
Interviews: Expat’s Living in Nha Trang, Vietnam
2025 Updates
New Restaurants
We ate at many of the same restaurants as shared in the earlier reports below. But here are a few new ones we tried for the first time and recommend.
ILMIO: They have great Italian food. Their lunch special is great too. Penne Arrabbiata 98k ($4), Seafood Vongole 145k ($6), house wine 90k/glass ($3.80).
Alpaca: Zucchini omelette 125k ($5), Salmon croissant 145k ($6), Carrot cake 55k ($2)
Pho Bo Ha Noi: Special beef pho 55k ($2), small beef pho 35k ($1.40)
Bún Bò Huế: (Beef Noodle Dish) Bun Bo Hue 40k ($1.60)
Sailing Club (On Beach): Vietnamese breakfast combo 120k ($4.80)
Cafe Culture: Mediterranean Omelette 190k ($7.60), cappuccino 60k ($2.40)
Cactus: Vege Tacos 135k ($5.40), Steak 200g 290k ($11.60), house wine 85k ($3.40), Sapporo beer 55k ($2.20)
Quan Vit Tiem: Beer 12k ($0.50), garlic spinach 30k ($1.20), tofu 30k ($1.20)
Time House Bistro & Bar: Great Food and Nightlife. Where locals and expats go to see and be seen.
New Cafes/Bars
Here are a few new bars and cafes we tried and recommend this time.
Cà Phê Huyền Thoại Núi: Americano 35k, salted coffee 40k
CCCP Coffee: Viet Milk coffee 29k, Americano 38k, Mocha 55k
Z Beach: Saigon Beer 45k, Whisky sour 120k
Nha Bar: 7-11 pm, Lady free cocktail, men buy one free 1; Beautiful women dancing on bar at 10 PM. (No nudity here)
New Services
Vietnam official railway website: Buying in person at the station saves about 20%. Two beds in a 4-berth Sleeper Train from Saigon to Nha Trang were about $36 USD each way online.
CLB HOANG GIA: Gym Membership $20 USD per person/per month.
P Sport Therapy: Physical Therapy and Chiropractic: Fixed Qiang’s back. She loves them. $19 USD per session. She went 4 times and was fixed.
Phòng Khám Y Khoa Hùng Đức: Back xrays $10. Just walk in.
Venus Spa Massage: 90mins/coconut oil deep tissue/500k ($20)
Nhà Xe Gorotrip (Limousine from Nha Trang to Đà Lạt Facebook): Limo-Bus to Dalat: $11 USD/person.
Feel free to grab a free copy of my eBook, How to Fire Your Boss and Travel the World, and How to Pay for it All.
And if you would like to see the best places to retire in Vietnam and the expats that I have interviewed all over Vietnam, browse through my Vietnam YouTube Playlist.