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Andrew Sun

There are many reasons tourists visit Da Nang in central Vietnam: the great city beach, the proximity to tourist hotspot Hoi An, and the food and nightlife. But the nature excursions available in the city are underrated.
Jutting out of its downtown core on the northeast side is the Son Tra Peninsula, a lush nature reserve roughly 60 sq km (23 square miles) – two-thirds the size of Hong Kong Island.
American troops used the peninsula’s elevated headland during the Vietnam war, carving access roads and erecting radar towers on the peak. These have since been decommissioned and replaced by weather stations and police and military outposts.
The parkland’s most famous resident is its 67-metre-tall Lady Buddha, or the Goddess of Mercy Guanyin. Finished in 2010, the statue at the Linh Ung Pagoda has become a tourist attraction, but few visitors explore the jungle and wildlife beyond the Buddhist site.
This is partly intentional. Son Tra does not actually have many proper hiking trails, in part to protect its animals, including more than 100 types of birds, countless butterflies, deer, snakes, macaques and beautiful but endangered red-shanked douc langurs. Of the roughly 3,000 of these herbivorous primates left in the world, about 2,000 of them live on the Son Tra Peninsula. They are Son Tra’s main attraction for animal lovers.
For our expedition around “Monkey Mountain”, which is what the Americans called Son Tra and the name the locals have since adopted, we are led by a guide from Next Continent, a wildlife consultancy and nature tourism specialist in Vietnam.

“The best time to come is after the rainy season, after February. In April, there could be up to 4,000 varieties of butterflies coming out,” our guide Chu Duc Huy says. “Young people are starting to come and hike in groups on Monkey Mountain. It’s a TikTok trend. They come, do videos on the weekend and walk up to the peak.”
It is far from a leisurely feat, though. The climb is about 10km (6 miles) on a road shared with vehicles, reaching a summit of 700 metres (2,300ft). In comparison, Hong Kong’s Victoria Peak is 550 metres. A more efficient way to explore the green setting is to rent a bike or scooter.
We do part of the excursion by car and partly on foot. The winding road can seem repetitive, but occasional clearings deliver rewarding vistas. On foot, we see numerous oriental garden lizards, with their signature orange hue, sunning themselves on the roadside and on top of barriers.
At the very top is Ban Co Peak. Across from a makeshift refreshment stand is a small set of steps that leads up to a stone sculpture depicting a heavenly scholar forever stumped by an impossible chess problem.
This panoramic clearing is called Chessboard Peak. You can see all of Da Nang, the surrounding mountains and the sea from here on clear days.

By comparison, the south and western sides of the peninsula are more traditionally picturesque. There are steep green slopes with scenic coastlines and beaches. Locals and tourists often park on the shoulder of Hoang Sa Road to take pictures. Several small beaches can be accessed by rough but short walks. Many of the beaches, though, such as Ghenh Bang, are rather rocky.
Admirably, Son Tra has not been overdeveloped. In fact, hiking on certain paths was banned for a period following landslides caused by rainstorms. Camping is still not allowed because some visitors caused hill fires.
There are just two hotels within the conservation reserve. One is the modest Son Tra Beach Resort & Spa. The other is the InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort. For those who can afford to splurge, the InterContinental is a good base for a couple of days of wildlife sightseeing and trekking.

The hotel offers guests accompanied short eco walks highlighting the flora and fauna around the property. In addition, various Asian fig trees on its lush grounds are prime feeding spots for the red-shanked doucs, so the resort is as good a spot as any to see the rare monkeys. The best times are in the morning or late afternoon when it is cooler.
The InterContinental is also close to several walkable trails. For the extremely fit, an 8km climb of Yet Kieu Road leads straight up to Ban Co Peak. A more manageable walk, ideal for morning exercise, is a 3km hike to an 800-year-old banyan tree.
After registering with a guard (the road is technically still closed but no longer off-limits), a short interior path eventually opens up to offer views of the South China Sea. It is followed by a steep stretch that takes about 20 minutes to ascend before levelling out.
Along the way are remnants of old rest stops and viewpoints reclaimed by the forest after years of neglect. According to our guide, Huy, this path was closed for roughly four years and only recently reopened for hikers.
Eventually, we reach the tree, and it is majestic. It is more than 20 metres tall, and its age is reflected in the many accessory trunks turned into root pillars to prop up the extending branches.

Our attention, however, is diverted by a macaque that is lurking around the tree. He is pretending not to notice us, but we know he is smart enough to associate food with humans, and humans regularly visit this tree. After a bit more reverence for this spectacle of nature, we bid adieu to the monkey and the banyan tree, eager to hike back for some breakfast and a shower at the hotel.
We could have continued and gone off the beaten path, literally, navigating ourselves down an overgrown dirt trail to the shore of Nghe Cape, known for its rock formation that resembles a sea lion. But the route would take another 40 minutes to climb down, and the dry dusty trail seems too hazardous to manoeuvre. If it were wet and rainy, it would be even worse. We decide to do the sensible thing and abandon the unnecessary adventure.
Halfway back, Huy pauses our walk.
“Straight ahead, eye-level,” he whispers.
An alpha male douc is resting in a tree, while several females and babies are feeding on a higher branch. We advance slowly as the langur appears oblivious to us. He is aware we are not predators and has no interest in our possessions since doucs only eat plants and fruit.

Langurs mostly travel in family groups. This is a standard pack with a couple of younger males – probably offspring of the alpha – chasing each other, leaping several metres from one tree to another.
Meanwhile, the large male remains stoic. Its white beard, black hands, red legs and white tail are striking. No wonder naturalists consider the red-shanked douc among the most beautiful primates. As we snap pictures, he seems to pose, with limbs akimbo. You could say his behaviour is appropriately cheeky.


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Hiking ‘Monkey Mountain’ in Da Nang, Vietnam, in search of the most beautiful primate

Red-shanked douc langurs sit in a tree on Da Nang’s Son Tra Peninsula. The nature spot, known as “Monkey Mountain”, is home to two-thirds of the world’s population of the endangered monkeys. Photo: John Hamilton

The view from atop the Son Tra Peninsula’s Ban Co Peak, with Next Continent guide Chu Duc Huy. Photo: Andrew Sun

At Chessboard Peak, visitors can take in a stone sculpture featuring a heavenly scholar stumped by a chess problem. Photo: Andrew Sun

The view from near the InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort. Photo: Andrew Sun

An 800-year-old banyan tree on the Son Tra Peninsula. Photo: Andrew Sun

A red-shanked douc langur rests in a tree on the Son Tra Peninsula. Photo: Jerome Richard

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Travel & Leisure

Outside the urban bustle of Da Nang, Son Tra Peninsula’s trails afford coastal views and glimpses of endangered red-shanked doucs


Outside the urban bustle of Da Nang, Son Tra Peninsula’s trails afford coastal views and glimpses of endangered red-shanked doucs.


Hiking ‘Monkey Mountain’ in Da Nang, Vietnam, in search of the most beautiful primate

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Outside the urban bustle of Da Nang, Son Tra Peninsula’s trails afford coastal views and glimpses of endangered red-shanked doucs

Outside the urban bustle of Da Nang, Son Tra Peninsula’s trails afford coastal views and glimpses of endangered red-shanked doucs