Quy Nhon

A cove tucked into the tip of Nhon Ly where the hills drop into the sea, its water jade-coloured. It takes roughly 40 minutes by car, or a boat from Nhon Ly village; boats stay in on windy days. Tour groups arrive from about noon, so aim for the morning.

The name means strait of the wind: a rocky cliff coast with a walkway fixed along its flank above the sea. Being next to Nhon Ly village, it pairs with Ky Co in one day, and it is busiest at dusk when the breeze cools.

A pair of Cham towers among the houses of central Quy Nhon, dated to the late 12th century. Unlike other Cham towers their roofs step in like Angkor's, a Khmer style, and garuda figures survive on the corners. You can walk there from the centre.

Four Cham towers grouped on a hill about 20km north of town, thought to date from the 11th to 12th centuries; the largest still has floral relief in its brick. Stone steps climb from the parking area, with little shade on the way.

A rocky shore at the south end of town, its pebble cove called Queen's Beach after Empress Nam Phuong, said to have bathed there. The poet Han Mac Tu's grave is on the hill above. The pebbles are piled like round eggs, hard on bare feet.

A leprosarium French priests founded in 1929 grew into a village; the poet Han Mac Tu died here in 1940. Busts of the world's medical pioneers line the pine grove by the beach, and patients and their families still tend the gardens. Do not peer into homes.

A small rock island off the fishing village of Nhon Hai, with coral under clear water for snorkelling. A small boat from the village takes a few minutes, and fishermen on the island steam the day's catch to sell. The bottom is rock, so water shoes help.

Set in the home village of the three Tay Son brothers, who rose in revolt in the late 1700s; the youngest became Emperor Quang Trung and routed the Qing. It is some 50km inland. Tay Son drumming and Binh Dinh martial arts run at set times; check them.

A stretch of the upper Kon River near the Quang Trung Museum, its bed bristling with boulders of every size. Small rowing boats work upstream between the rocks, and a forest path follows the bank. It pairs with the museum to fill a day.

An offshore island just over an hour from town by boat, a French lighthouse from the late 1800s still on its hill. There is a fishing village and coral sea, and a day trip needs the morning boat. Crossings stop in the rough season.

In former Phu Yen province, now part of Dak Lak, hexagonal basalt columns pack the shore like honeycomb. Lava cracked this way cooling against the sea; from the top it looks like stacked plates, hence the name. Allow a day: the drive takes near two hours.

Three Cham brick towers on the Tay Son plain northwest of Quy Nhon, the tallest in the former Binh Dinh province. Stone elephants, lions and dancers still cling to their corners. Visitors are rare, so you often have them to yourself out among the fields.

Across the Thi Nai bridge onto the Phuong Mai peninsula, tall dunes run along the seaward side. From the crest you see open sea one way and the lagoon and Quy Nhon town the other. The sand scorches at midday, so climb at sunrise or sunset.