Country guide

Vietnam

Destinations

Visa & entry

eu passport	Most EU nationals (e.g. France, Germany, Italy, Spain) get 45 days visa-free. A temporary regime running 15 Aug 2025–14 Aug 2028 extends the same 45-day visa-free treatment to nine more EU states: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia. Nationals not covered can use the e-Visa: up to 90 days, $25 single-entry / $50 multiple-entry (source summarized 2025/2026 status, not an official .gov page — verify before booking).
us passport	US is not on Vietnam's visa-exemption list; e-Visa required, up to 90 days validity, $25 single-entry / $50 multiple-entry.
uk passport	45 days visa-free for all classes of British nationality except British National (Overseas).
digital nomad visa	None found — Vietnam has no dedicated digital-nomad visa; long-stay travelers typically use tourist e-visas or visa runs (checked against Wikipedia's digital-nomad-visa country list, 2026).
tax residency days	Commonly cited threshold is 183 days present in a calendar year (or 12 consecutive months) to trigger Vietnamese tax residency — not confirmed against a primary Vietnamese tax-authority source this session.
notes	E-Visa scheme has run since 1 February 2017; accepted at 17 international airports plus numerous land and sea border crossings, fully online.

Money

currency	Vietnamese đồng (VND)
card acceptance	Good in hotels, mid-range/upscale restaurants and shops in tourist areas; small local eateries, markets and beach vendors are typically cash-only. Not independently re-verified this session.
atm networks fees limits	ATMs are widely available, including along the Mui Ne resort strip (e.g. ACB machines, per Wikivoyage). Typical foreign-card withdrawal fees and per-transaction limits were not confirmed against a primary source this session — general reports put foreign-card ATM fees around 30,000–50,000 VND per withdrawal on top of your home bank's fee, treat as unverified.
local instant payment	MoMo, VNPay and the Napas247 bank-transfer network are the dominant Vietnamese instant-payment tools, but they generally require a Vietnamese ID/bank account to set up, so short-term foreign tourists usually cannot use them directly.
scams	Motorbike rental shops sometimes ask tourists to leave their passport as a deposit, then claim damage to extort money — UK gov.uk explicitly advises never handing over a passport as a rental guarantee (2026). Unlicensed taxis and fake ride-hailing apps; use official apps such as Grab or XanhSM instead (gov.uk, 2026). Fraudulent job offers luring travelers to the Mekong region, followed by illegal transport across borders — never surrender your passport to an employer (gov.uk, 2026). Unsolicited 'free' hotel/airport shuttle offers can be scams unless pre-arranged (gov.uk, 2026). Motorcycle-borne bag-snatching in crowded tourist areas, worse around Christmas and Lunar New Year — carry bags on the side away from traffic (gov.uk, 2026).
tipping	Not obligatory but increasingly expected/appreciated in tourist-oriented restaurants, spas and with tour guides (commonly cited figure: 5–10%) — not independently verified this session.
cash tips	yes

SIM & internet

operators ranked for coast coverage	Viettel (largest network, generally best rural/coastal coverage) Mobifone Vinaphone
esim options	Viettel and Mobifone tourist eSIMs are commonly reported as available, alongside third-party eSIM resellers (e.g. Airalo, Holafly) covering Vietnam — not independently re-verified against operator sites this session.
id required for sim	Passport is required to register a physical SIM under Vietnam's mandatory SIM-registration rules (general knowledge, not re-verified live this session).
notes	Wikipedia-listed mobile prefixes (2012-era data, may be incomplete for 2026): Viettel 032–039, 096–098; Mobifone 070, 076–079, 089, 090, 093; Vinaphone 081–086, 088, 091, 094.

Insurance

kite excluded by standard policies	yes
recommended	Specialist watersports/kitesurf insurance with an equipment and extreme-sports rider, including medical evacuation cover.
evacuation note	UK gov.uk (2026) notes the British Embassy 'do not pay medical bills and cannot provide medical assistance,' and points travelers to an FCDO-published list of medical providers with English-speaking staff — comprehensive insurance is essential, particularly for a rural coastal spot like Mui Ne or Phan Rang.

Health

vaccines	Routine vaccines current; Hepatitis A recommended for unvaccinated travelers 1+ years old; Hepatitis B recommended for all unvaccinated travelers; Typhoid recommended for most travelers; Japanese encephalitis considered for travelers spending extended time in rural areas or doing outdoor activities (not recommended for short urban-only trips) (CDC, checked 2026).
mosquito disease seasons	Dengue is a year-round risk; Japanese encephalitis carries seasonal risk in rural areas; malaria risk is confined to rural areas with none in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Nha Trang or Quy Nhon (CDC, checked 2026). gov.uk (2026) also flags Zika alongside dengue, malaria and Japanese encephalitis as mosquito-borne risks.
tap water	CDC (checked 2026) advises against untreated tap/freshwater generally, and specifically warns against swimming in unchlorinated freshwater due to leptospirosis and schistosomiasis risk.
emergency numbers	115 for ambulance (gov.uk, 2026). Police 113 and fire 114 are the standard national numbers reported elsewhere — not independently re-verified this session.
hospital standard	Not comprehensively documented this session; gov.uk points to an FCDO list of medical providers with English-speaking staff. General pattern (unverified live): private hospitals in major cities are adequate, rural/coastal-town facilities more limited.

Driving

idp needed	UK gov.uk (2026) states British drivers need both a UK driving license AND the 1968 International Driving Permit, plus mandatory third-party insurance. Wikivoyage's Mui Ne entry separately states an international driver's license is required and that 'driving without Vietnamese driver's license is illegal in Vietnam' — see contradictions.
road safety	gov.uk (2026): motorbike accidents are common and have proven fatal. Wikivoyage's Mui Ne page cites a local rumor of up to 30 traffic deaths per month in the area — flagged there as unverified rumor, not an official statistic.
rental traps	Never leave your passport as collateral for a motorbike rental — shops have been known to claim damage to extort payment (gov.uk, 2026). Wikivoyage cites Mui Ne motorbike rental rates of roughly 120,000 VND/24hr for a manual and ~230,000 VND/24hr for an automatic (date of that pricing not stated, treat as approximate).
police stops	If involved in a traffic accident you may be barred from leaving Vietnam until the police investigation concludes (gov.uk, 2026). Drink-driving enforcement is strict — any detectable alcohol can mean fines or imprisonment (gov.uk, 2026).

Regulation

other	Widely reported in general travel/kite-trip commentary (not verified against a primary Vietnamese source this session) that drone flight in Vietnam requires permits from local/military authorities and that drones are sometimes confiscated at customs — treat as an open question requiring direct confirmation before packing one for Mui Ne or Phan Rang.

Calendar & costs

holidays moving prices	Tết / Lunar New Year (movable, major domestic travel and price spike nationwide) National Day, 2 September Christmas–New Year period (peak season on the south-central coast)
currency	VND
year	2026

Where sources disagree

International Driving Permit requirement is stated plainly by UK gov.uk (IDP + home license required) but Wikivoyage's Mui Ne page implies driving without a Vietnamese license is illegal regardless of an IDP ('bring an international driver's licence if you do not own a Vietnamese one — driving without Vietnamese driver's license is illegal in Vietnam'), which reads as inconsistent with a straightforward IDP-only requirement. Confirm current rules (Vietnam has historically not recognized the 1968 IDP convention for all license classes) before renting a motorbike.

Open questions

Kite-bag baggage allowances/fees for Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet, Bamboo Airways — all three official baggage pages were inaccessible to this research session (404s or JS-rendered content not returned via fetch); needs direct airline-site or phone confirmation.
Current, sourced drone regulations for Vietnam (permit process, no-fly zones, customs confiscation risk).
Whether any national or local kitesurfing-specific rules exist for Mui Ne or Phan Rang – Ninh Thuận.
Foreign-card ATM fees/limits and eSIM operator specifics — not confirmed against operator sites this session.
Starlink legal status/availability in Vietnam.
Current cost-of-living figures (beer, meal, coffee, rent) — Numbeo, Expatistan and BudgetYourTrip were all rate-limited or blocked throughout this research session.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · wwwnc.cdc.gov · gov.uk · gov.uk · gov.uk · +2