Wildlife in Vietnam

Ba Be Lake is Vietnam's largest natural freshwater lake - a 8km-long body of water set within a national park of karst limestone mountains, primary forest, and Tày ethnic minority villages in Bắc Kạn province, one of the most genuinely wild nature destinations in the northern highlands.

Ba Hồ Waterfall is Nha Trang's best natural escape - three tiered pools fed by cascades in a jungle gorge 25km north of the city, reached by a 3km trek through rainforest and swimmable year-round in the middle and upper pools.

Bản Giốc is the largest waterfall in Southeast Asia and the fourth largest on a national border in the world - a 300-metre-wide curtain of water crashing across three tiers on the Vietnam-China border in Cao Bằng, surrounded by karst mountains and emerald pools.

Bat Pagoda (Chùa Dơi) in Sóc Trăng is a 400-year-old Khmer Buddhist temple where tens of thousands of large fruit bats roost in the ancient trees year-round - an extraordinary and unexpected combination of active religious site and wildlife spectacle.

Bàu Sấu is a remote oxbow lake deep inside Cát Tiên National Park - a 3-hour jungle trek from the park headquarters leads to one of southern Vietnam's last viable crocodile habitats and a prime birdwatching site.

Bidoup Núi Bà National Park protects the largest remaining tract of highland cloud forest in southern Vietnam - a 70,000-hectare wilderness of montane jungle, endemic birds, and multi-day trekking routes 50km north of Đà Lạt.

Bù Gia Mập National Park is one of the last intact lowland rainforest blocks in southeastern Vietnam - a 26,000-hectare wilderness on the Cambodian border in Bình Phước with gibbons, gaur, and multi-day trekking routes through primary jungle.

Bưng Bình Thiên is a natural freshwater lake in An Giang's border district, known as the 'holy lake' - it expands dramatically during Mekong flood season and fills with lotus blossoms, surrounded by Cham Muslim villages.

Cần Giờ Monkey Island sits inside a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve 60km from central Saigon - a river island in the mangrove forest where long-tailed macaques live in large semi-wild troops, reached by boat through the Cần Giờ waterways.

Cát Bà National Park covers 17,000 hectares of the island's rugged interior - the last habitat of the critically endangered golden-headed langur, with jungle trails to a 331-metre summit viewpoint over Ha Long Bay and Lan Hà Bay simultaneously.

Cát Tiên National Park is the most accessible serious wildlife destination from Ho Chi Minh City - a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of 72,000 hectares protecting lowland rainforest, over 350 bird species, and the Dao Tien Endangered Primate Species Centre.

Con Dao National Park protects 80% of the Con Dao archipelago - 14 islands of pristine coral reefs, sea turtle nesting beaches, hawksbill habitat, and jungle trails through one of Vietnam's least disturbed coastal ecosystems.

Bãi Đầm Trầu is one of the most striking beaches on Côn Đảo - a 1km crescent of fine white sand backed by primary rainforest, ranked in Travel + Leisure's Top 25 Beaches in the World in 2021. Its most unusual feature: it sits directly below the flight path of Cỏ Ống Airport, where planes pass just overhead on approach - one of the only places in Vietnam where you can swim while watching aircraft land.

Elephant Mountain near Buôn Ma Thuột rises above the Central Highlands coffee belt and takes its name from the wild elephant herds that have roamed its forested slopes for centuries - still one of the few places in Vietnam where elephants exist in semi-wild conditions.

Hang En is the third largest natural cave in the world, hidden deep inside Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park in Quảng Bình. Reaching it requires an 11km trek through jungle, river crossings, and the remote Bru-Vân Kiều village of Bản Đoòng - with a night camping on a white sandbar inside the cave itself, under a ceiling 145 metres high filled with thousands of nesting swallows.

Hang Rai is a remote stretch of Ninh Thuận coastline where volcanic rock formations meet coral reef in one of southern Vietnam's most dramatic and least-visited seascapes - accessible only by boat or a coastal trek through Núi Chúa National Park.

Hon Yen Island is a small coral island off the coast of Phú Yên province accessible by boat or on foot at low tide, known for its clear shallow reefs, lobster farming, and the unhurried atmosphere of one of central Vietnam's least-visited island day trips.

K50 Waterfall in Kbang district, Gia Lai is one of the Central Highlands' most spectacular hidden falls - a 50-metre cascade in primary jungle that requires a full-day trek through Kon Ka Kinh National Park to reach, rewarding those who make the effort with one of the most remote natural scenes in the region.

La Ngâu Stream in Tánh Linh district, Bình Thuận is a jungle river cutting through the interior lowlands of Vietnam's south-central coast - a sequence of natural pools, small rapids, and overhanging forest that offers one of the most accessible wild swimming and camping experiences in the region.

Langbiang Mountain is the highest peak in the Đà Lạt plateau at 2,167 metres - a twin-peaked massif rising above pine forest north of the city, home to the K'Ho ethnic minority, with a summit trek rewarded by panoramic views over the entire Central Highlands.

Mũi Cà Mau National Park is the southernmost point of Vietnam's mainland - a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of 42,000 hectares of mangrove, melaleuca forest, and tidal mudflat at the tip of the Cà Mau Peninsula, where the South China Sea meets the Gulf of Thailand.

Bãi Nhát is one of Côn Đảo's most dramatic beaches - a tide-dependent stretch of white sand and multicoloured rock formations on the road between Con Son town and Bến Đầm port. Ranked among the top 6 wild beaches in Asia, it is best known for its sunset views across to Đỉnh Tình Yêu (Love Peak), its boulder-strewn shoreline that vanishes completely at high tide, and the memorial to 198 prisoners who attempted a failed escape from the island in 1952.

Pa Sy Waterfall is a remote multi-tier cascade deep in the primary forest of Đắk Glei district, Kon Tum - one of the least-visited waterfalls in the Central Highlands, reached by a trail through jungle inhabited by local Jẻ-Triêng minority communities.

Phong Nam Valley is Cao Bằng's most beautiful hidden landscape - a wide flat valley of buckwheat fields, Tày stilt houses, and karst peaks that turns pink and white every October when the buckwheat blooms, earning it comparisons to Ha Giang's Đồng Văn Plateau.

Phong Nha Botanic Garden is a 2,000-hectare protected forest reserve on the edge of Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park - a network of jungle trails, a canopy walkway, and some of the most accessible wildlife habitat in central Vietnam, 7km from Sơn Trạch village.

Sơn Trà Peninsula is Đà Nẵng's wild backyard - a 4,400-hectare nature reserve of dense jungle rising directly from the sea, home to one of Vietnam's last populations of the endangered red-shanked douc langur, and connected to the city by a scenic coastal road.

Tà Đùng Lake in Đắk Nông province is called the 'Hạ Long Bay of the Central Highlands' - a vast reservoir studded with 37 forested islands rising from the water, formed by the flooding of Tà Đùng National Park, offering kayaking, island camping, and some of the most unusual inland scenery in southern Vietnam.

The Ta Năng - Phan Dũng Trek is Vietnam's most celebrated multi-day wilderness route - a 3-day crossing from the Lâm Đồng highlands to the Bình Thuận coast through remote forest, river valleys, and grassland used by nomadic cattle herders.

Thang Hen is one of Vietnam's most extraordinary lakes - a cluster of 36 interconnected lakes on a karst plateau at 900 metres elevation in Cao Bằng, their water an intense turquoise-blue from dissolved limestone minerals, surrounded by forested cliffs and almost entirely unknown to international travellers.

Thung Nham Bird Park is a flooded karst valley and wetland in Ninh Bình home to one of northern Vietnam's largest egret and heron colonies - over 40,000 birds nesting in the bamboo forest during breeding season, explored by rowing boat through the flooded valley.

Trà Sư Cajuput Forest is a 850-hectare flooded cajuput woodland in An Giang province - navigated by rowboat through mirror-flat green waterways, one of the Mekong Delta's most photogenic natural landscapes and an important bird sanctuary.

Tri An Lake is a large reservoir in Dong Nai province, 60km from Ho Chi Minh City, formed by the Tri An hydroelectric dam on the Dong Nai River. A popular weekend camping and kayaking destination for city residents, with forested islands, calm water, and dramatic sunset views.

Vân Long Nature Reserve is Vietnam's largest inland wetland - a flooded valley of karst peaks, submerged rice fields, and clear shallow water navigated by rowing boat, home to Vietnam's largest population of the critically endangered Delacour's langur.

Vinpearl Safari is Vietnam's first and largest open-format wildlife park - 380 hectares of savannah and jungle habitat on Phú Quốc Island housing over 3,000 animals including lions, giraffes, white rhinos, zebras, and orangutans in semi-open enclosures.

The White Sand Dunes of Mũi Né are Vietnam's most surreal landscape - vast white dunes stretching to the horizon beside two freshwater lakes, nicknamed the 'Sahara of Vietnam', best experienced at sunrise when the light turns the sand pale gold and the lakes reflect the sky.

Y Tý is a remote highland commune in Bát Xát district, Lào Cai province, sitting at over 1,600m and home to the Hà Nhì ethnic minority. Famous for spectacular sea-of-cloud photography, golden rice terraces, and the Lảo Thẩn peak (2,860m) - called the 'Roof of Y Tý' - it remains one of northern Vietnam's least-touristy highland destinations.

Yavly Waterfall is a remote cascade deep in the forest along the Tà Năng - Phan Dũng trekking route, one of the most celebrated multi-day wilderness treks in southern Vietnam. Reached only on foot after a full day of hiking through grasslands and primary forest, it is the kind of waterfall that has to be earned.