First published June 2025 | Words and photos by Vietnam Coracle | 2 comments
Tom Divers is the founder and creator of Vietnam Coracle. He’s lived, travelled and worked in Vietnam since 2005. Born in London, he travelled from an early age, visiting over 40 countries (he first visited Vietnam in 1999). Now, whenever he has the opportunity to make a trip, he rarely looks beyond Vietnam’s borders and his trusty motorbike, Stavros. Read more about Tom on the About Page, Vietnam Times and ASE Podcast.
Why the Travel Industry is Wrong & you should Travel in Low Season
Somehow the travel industry has convinced foreign travellers that low season (May-August) is a bad time to visit Vietnam. This is simply not true. Some of the best and most beautiful trips I’ve undertaken in Vietnam have been during the low season months. The knock-on effect that this misrepresentation has on many travel-related businesses in Vietnam can be serious. What’s more, travellers are missing out on seeing Vietnam during some of the best months of the year. During the low season last year, I travelled 10,000km across the length and breadth of Vietnam on my motorbike. It was glorious and not once did I think to myself, “I wish I’d chosen to travel at a different time of year”. Indeed, I thought the opposite: “Why doesn’t anyone travel at this time of year?”
The common perception is that the weather during low season is either ‘too wet or too hot’. But Vietnam is a tropical country and these weather conditions are part of its appeal. A monsoon downpour in the mountains or the sun beating down on a baking hot beach, for example, are scenes that many travellers would like to experience. Furthermore, Vietnam’s climate is very complex and the same could be said (‘too wet or too hot’) of any region in the nation at different times of the year.
Sadly, this kind of misrepresentation happens a lot in the travel industry: Someone (maybe a travel writer, a blogger, an influencer or a journalist), somewhere (perhaps a famous guidebook, an influential travel publication, a popular Instagram account or YouTube channel) makes a sweeping statement such as “low season is a bad time to travel in Vietnam”. This then trickles down through the levels of the industry, getting regurgitated over and again – especially by the many travel content creators who are quicker to ask AI or Google for an answer than to rely on first-hand, on-the-ground experience – until it’s eventually considered ‘fact’. While I understand the impulse to provide a nice, neat, simple answer to a question like ‘When is the best/worst time to visit Vietnam?”, in this case it is a massive oversimplification that has consequences downstream for people who work in travel-related businesses and for travellers themselves.
So what’s the weather really like in Vietnam during the low season months from May to August? Well, it’s one of the few times of year when weather conditions are similar nationwide: the northern, central and southern regions all experience heat, humidity and heavy rain, often all in one day. In other words, the weather is changeable and dramatic. Yes, there will almost certainly be some rainy days, but there will also be plenty of days when the skies are clear and the sun is shining. As an illustration of this, I am writing now (in early June) in a cafe in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) on a bright, still, sunny morning with a sharp, clear light and bearable humidity; but last night it was windy and cool and rained for three hours straight. This is typical of weather throughout the nation during the low season months. One issue is that many people like to think of the weather in certain terms: June is either hot, sunny and dry or it is humid, grey and wet; it can’t possibly be a complex mix of all those elements. But, of course, the weather doesn’t operate like this: it is far less predictable than we’d like it to be. Travellers would do well to bear this in mind when visiting Vietnam, no matter what time of year it is.
So, don’t listen to the travel industry. You can absolutely travel and enjoy Vietnam during the low season months from May to August. You can find hundreds of guides on this website to all regions of Vietnam, many of which include information about weather conditions at different times of year. In addition, read my Vietnam Weather Guide which breaks down Vietnam’s complex climate and suggests some of the best regions to travel during each quarter of the year (see Related Posts below). Finally, if you enjoyed this article, please support Vietnam Coracle or consider purchasing one of my Offline Guides & Maps from the shop.
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*Disclosure: I never receive payment for anything I write: my content is always free and independent. I’ve written this article because I want to: I like to travel in the low season and I want my readers to know about it. For more details, see my Disclosure & Disclaimer statements and my About Page
Great article Tom! As someone who lives in Vietnam and travels primarily in the summer due to my children’s school calendar, I am mystified by how widespread this misconception is. My family makes frequent trips to the beach and mountains between June and August and have never had one ruined by poor weather.
Hi Patrick,
Thanks. Yep, I agree. Let’s hope the message starts to change soon.
Best,
Tom