Co Thach Beach

Co Thach is a stretch of Binh Thuan shore covered not in sand but in pebbles - seven-coloured stones, worn from the volcanic and sedimentary rock along this coast, in reds, yellows, browns, blacks and whites, which the sea moves and redistributes each season so that the beach is different from year to year. For roughly two months in spring, green algae grows over the rocks on the tidal shelf, and the combination of green rock, coloured stone and low tide at sunrise is what fills the beach with photographers in March and April. Outside that window it is a pebble shore with a pagoda above it.

What you actually see

• Coloured pebbles instead of sand - reds, yellows, blacks and whites.
• Rearranged by the sea each year - the beach changes between seasons.
• Green algae on the rocks - for about two months in spring.
• A pagoda above the shore - Co Thach, which names the beach.

When to go

March and April for the moss at low tide; November to April otherwise. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The moss season is short and depends on conditions - going outside it means an ordinary pebble beach. The algae-covered rocks are extremely slippery and people fall. Photographers crowd the shelf at dawn in season. Taking stones is discouraged.

Nearby

Tuy Phong is north; Mui Ne and Phan Thiet are south.