Cham Islands Day Trip in Da Nang
A visual guide from the Da Nang travel guide — see all posters in Visual Guides.
Cù Lao Chàm is a cluster of eight granite islands about 15km off the coast, a UNESCO biosphere reserve with water clear enough to justify the crossing. Most day trips leave from Cửa Đại near Hội An rather than Da Nang itself, so factor in the transfer south. You get a fast, bumpy speedboat ride, a couple of snorkelling stops, lunch in the island village and an afternoon on a beach. Two things shape the whole plan: the weather and the plastic ban.
The crossing is seasonal, and it gets cancelled
This is the part people learn the hard way. Passenger boats to Cù Lao Chàm run reliably in the calm months — roughly March through August — and become unreliable once the northeast monsoon and storm season set in, roughly September into winter. In that stretch the port authority simply suspends sailings when the sea is up, sometimes for days at a time, and no operator can override it. Even in season, a bad forecast can close the route at short notice. Don't book Cù Lao Chàm as the last day of your trip, don't pay for anything non-refundable, and check the day before and the morning of. If it's cancelled, that's the reserve doing its job.
No single-use plastic — they mean it
The islands have banned single-use plastic since 2009 and enforcement is real, not decorative. Staff check bags at the pier and plastic bottles, bags and straws get confiscated before you board. Carry a refillable bottle, take a cloth bag if you need one, and leave the convenience-store haul on the mainland. You'll also pay a small marine-reserve conservation fee on top of the boat ticket, collected at the port. The upside is visible the moment you're in the water: the reefs here are in better condition than almost anything else on this stretch of coast, and the village beaches are clean in a way that is not normal for a day-trip destination.
What the day actually looks like
Speedboats take roughly 20–30 minutes and hit the swell hard — sit toward the back if you're prone to seasickness. A standard tour stops at a mooring for snorkelling over the coral, then lands at Bãi Làng, the main village, for a walk through the market and a seafood lunch. Afternoons are spent on Bãi Chồng or Bãi Xếp, where sunbeds cost a little extra. Certified divers can arrange proper dives, but book that separately and in advance rather than through a general day-tour desk. Bring reef-safe sunscreen, a dry bag and cash; card payments on the island are not something to rely on.