Da Nang Cost of Living: What a Family of 5 Actually Spent in 6 Months

We spent six months in Da Nang across two separate stints, and the number one question we get from families considering it is always the same: how much does it actually cost? Not the optimistic budget travel blog answer, and not the luxury resort answer. The real number, for a real family living a real life.

So here it is. All of it, pulled directly from TravelSpend, our daily expense tracker. This covers two adults and three kids (Lily, Cora, and Harper) living in a rented apartment, cooking some meals at home, eating out several nights a week, doing activities, getting massages, and generally not depriving ourselves. The data runs from November 2024 through May 2025 - 169 days total in Vietnam, almost all of it in Da Nang.

We are going back in May 2026, and honestly that alone should tell you something.

The Real Numbers: Da Nang Cost of Living for a Family of 5

Over 169 days in Vietnam, we spent $13,297 USD total across the whole family. That works out to about $78.68 per day for all five of us, or right around $2,400 per month. Break it down further and it's roughly $16 per person per day, adults and kids combined.

Some caveats worth knowing: we tracked everything in TravelSpend using our actual bank conversions at the time (roughly 25,800 to 26,000 VND per USD for most of the trip). The accommodation figures below are what we actually paid - not averages, not estimates. This is the data.

Accommodation: What We Actually Paid

Accommodation was our biggest single expense and also the one with the most variables. When we first arrived in November 2024, we stayed two nights at the Aria Grand Hotel while we sorted out a proper apartment. That cost $354. We then moved into HBPlus Hotel & Apartments for the first longer stretch - November through February - at $1,755 for a month and a half. After a few months we shifted to a different apartment at around $783-862/month depending on the period.

We also blew $242 on one night at Da Nang Mikazuki Japanese Resort & Spa in March, which was 100% worth it - more on that below.

The honest accommodation range for a family wanting a two-bedroom apartment near My Khe Beach: expect to pay $700-1,000/month depending on season and how hard you negotiate. Monthly serviced apartments in the An Thuong area (the expat strip) are plentiful and quality is generally good. The Stay22 map below shows what's available in the area:

Food: Where the Money Actually Goes

Food was neck-and-neck with accommodation at $4,079 in restaurants alone over the full period - and that's before groceries and delivery. The reason is simple: Da Nang has an absurdly good dining scene for the price, and we ate out most nights.

A few names kept appearing in our TravelSpend notes over and over. Gordon's became basically our local - a Western-style restaurant near An Thuong where a family dinner with drinks ran $20-40. L'Italiano got more of our money than probably any other restaurant; a proper Italian dinner for two adults and kids with a couple of beers ran $25-40. The yakitori spot we went back to many times - a proper Japanese izakaya situation that felt like a bargain at $40 for the whole family. Section 30, a outdoor bar, was our default evening drinks spot, usually $10-20 for the evening. Umi Izakaya also got repeat visits, typically $28-48 depending on appetite.

On the cheaper end: a local Vietnamese lunch was under $5. The corner cafe down from our apartment did breakfasts for $2-3. Coffee at Highlands (Vietnam's ubiquitous chain cafe) was under $2. The point is the range is enormous and you can calibrate to whatever you want.

Our grocery spend was $916 over 169 days, so about $5.40/day. We did a big Lotte Mart run most weeks (roughly $50-100 for a family of five including a few premium items) and supplemented at the local butcher and convenience stores. The local wet market near the beach does excellent fresh produce and fish for almost nothing.

Track your own spending with TravelSpend - use code ADAMANDLINDS for a discount. It's how we pulled all these numbers together and it genuinely changed how we manage money on the road.

Getting Around: Grab Is Basically Free

We spent $97 on transportation over 169 days. That's it. Grab (Southeast Asia's Uber equivalent) is so cheap in Da Nang that we essentially never thought about it. A typical ride across the city runs $1.50-4. The beach to An Thuong strip is about $1.50 (sometimes we didn't want to walk with all our beach gear lol). Airport to the beach is around $5.

We did not rent motorbikes as a family - not something we're comfortable doing with three kids - but if you're a couple or solo traveler, that changes the math slightly. Still, even without bikes, transport was genuinely not a budget factor for us.

Getting Connected: eSIM for Vietnam

One thing you want sorted before you land is data. Vietnam's local SIM situation is fine if you're staying long-term and want to deal with a physical SIM at the airport, but for shorter stays or if you prefer not to mess around, we use Holafly's Vietnam eSIM. Activate before you board, connected the moment you land. Use code ADAMANDLINDS for 5% off.

If you're traveling across multiple countries in the region - say Vietnam plus Thailand or Cambodia - it's worth looking at Holafly Plans, their monthly global subscription. The Light plan is $49.90/month for 25GB and works across 170+ countries. For a trip of 30+ days it often works out cheaper than buying individual destination eSIMs and you never have to think about swapping.

Vietnam eSIM - Stay Connected in Da Nang

Use code ADAMANDLINDS for 5% off any Holafly eSIM Get Vietnam eSIM View Monthly Plans

Spas and Massages: $323 Well Spent

$323 on spas over six months sounds like a lot until you realize what massages cost here. A one-hour full-body massage runs $7-17 USD depending on the spa. We went regularly enough that it added up, but we never felt like we were splurging. The kids got foot massages. Lindsay treated herself to proper spa days. I got a lot of post-beach shoulder work done for the cost of a Starbucks back home.

If you want to book ahead, a few well-reviewed options on Klook:

• Sum Spa Da Nang - rated 4.9, from $7.69
• Trees Spa - rated 4.8, from $6.05
• Nguon Spa - rated 4.8, from $15.15 (tip included)

Entertainment and Activities: What We Actually Did

$256 on entertainment over 169 days - that includes Ba Na Hills, a night or two out at karaoke, some activities with the kids, and various other non-food spending. It's low because most of what makes Da Nang great is free: the beach, the sunsets, the evenings on the An Thuong strip. You can fill a week without spending much beyond meals.

That said, a few activities are genuinely worth doing at least once:

Ba Na Hills is the obvious one - the Golden Bridge held by giant stone hands, the French Village at elevation, Fantasy Park for the kids. Tours run about $50/person for a full-day trip including cable car. It's touristy but it's impressive, especially with kids.

Book Ba Na Hills on Klook: Ba Na Hills Day Tour with Golden Bridge (4.5 stars, 4,500+ reviews, free cancellation 24 hours).

Marble Mountain is a half-day and genuinely interesting - Buddhist temples carved into marble cliffs, caves, views out over the coast. The Marble Mountain and Hoi An day tour pairs it with an evening in Hoi An which works well. Hoi An Ancient Town is 45 minutes south and an easy day trip - we went several times. The HOI AN Night Market video from our channel is worth a watch before you go:

Nui Than Tai Hot Springs is a sleeper hit, especially if you have kids who are past the age of needing constant supervision near water. Mineral hot springs, mud baths, a water park section, $14.85/person via Klook. We spent a full afternoon there.

The Han River Cruise is $2.85 on Klook and takes 45 minutes. After dark, Da Nang's Dragon Bridge does a fire and water show on weekend nights. Combine them and you have a solid cheap evening with kids. Book the cruise here.

The Social Side: Why Families Keep Coming Back

Something that doesn't show up in any cost breakdown: Da Nang has one of the best expat family communities we've found anywhere. The An Thuong strip is where everyone eventually ends up in the evening, and within a week or two you'll know half the other families in the neighbourhood. Our TravelSpend data has entries like "Lunch with Freinds", "Beers with The Dufresnes" and "wood fire pizza place with GoingGoing.BackBack" - those are friends we made, people we kept seeing, evenings that stretched longer than planned because the company was good.

The karaoke scene is legitimately fun and cheap - a private room for a few hours with your group is $10-20, drinks included. The kids get into it. The beach runs to Section 30 for a sunset beer became a rhythm. These aren't expensive entries in a budget spreadsheet; they're the reason people come for a week and stay for six months.

Monthly Budget Breakdown: What to Expect

Here's how our spending looked month by month. Note that November 2024 was our first month and included initial hotel nights and some startup costs, and March was higher partly because of the resort splurge and some extra activities:

The January number is probably the most honest baseline for a settled family life in Da Nang - $1,581 for two adults and three kids, all expenses, everything in. February is representative of a comfortable month with some eating out but no major events. Most people planning a stay should budget $1,800-2,500/month for a family of five and feel comfortable.

Da Nang Compared to Other Long-Stay Destinations

For context, we've also done extended stints in Japan (220+ days across multiple visits), Thailand, Cambodia, and Hong Kong. Da Nang is cheaper than all of them for family life. Japan is roughly 3-4x more expensive on food and accommodation. Thailand (Chiang Mai specifically) is comparable or slightly cheaper on food but more expensive on quality housing for a family. Cambodia is a little cheaper but has a narrower range of good restaurants and activities. Da Nang hits the sweet spot: excellent food and dining infrastructure, a real beach, good healthcare access, strong expat community, and monthly rent that doesn't make you wince.

Practical Tips for Keeping Costs Down

A few things that helped us stay on the lower end of our range without any real deprivation:

Get an apartment, not a hotel. Even $800/month for a two-bedroom beats the equivalent in hotels inside two weeks, and you get a kitchen for grocery runs. The Stay22 map above shows options; I'd also recommend posting in Da Nang expat Facebook groups where direct landlord deals are common.

Open a Vietnam bank account if you're staying more than a month. Wise or Revolut work well for transfers in; withdrawals from Vietnamese ATMs with a foreign card incur fees that add up over time. The local banks (Vietcombank, Techcombank) have good app experiences and staff in the An Thuong area are used to helping expats.

Use Grab for everything. Walking is overrated when it's 32 degrees and a Grab is $1.50. Don't overthink it.

Tet (Lunar New Year) is the one time of year when prices inflate and things close. If you're there in late January or February, plan ahead - some restaurants close for a week, others add 10-15% to bills. We experienced this firsthand; it's manageable but worth knowing.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to live in Da Nang for a month?

Based on our actual 169-day stay with two adults and three kids, we averaged $2,397/month total. A couple without kids could comfortably budget $1,200-1,600/month for a similar quality of life. The biggest variables are accommodation (budget $700-1,000/month for a family apartment near the beach) and how often you eat out.

Is Da Nang cheap for families?

Yes, significantly cheaper than most comparable beach destinations. Restaurant meals that would cost $60-80 at home run $20-40 here for a family of five. Massages are $7-17. Grab rides across the city are under $3. The combination of good infrastructure, excellent food, and genuinely low prices makes it one of the better family slow-travel destinations in Southeast Asia.

What's the best neighbourhood to stay in Da Nang?

For families doing longer stays, the An Thuong area (just behind My Khe Beach in the Son Tra district) is the sweet spot. It has the densest concentration of good restaurants, cafes, and expat amenities, it's walkable to the beach, and it's where most of the longer-term expat community is based. Avoid being too close to the big resort strip unless you specifically want resort amenities - you'll overpay for accommodation and be further from the local neighbourhood feel.

Do I need a SIM card or eSIM for Vietnam?

You'll want data sorted before arrival. For short trips, a Holafly Vietnam eSIM (use code ADAMANDLINDS for 5% off) is the easiest option - activate before you board and you're connected at the gate. For longer stays, a local SIM from Viettel or Vinaphone is very cheap and widely available at the airport. If you're doing a multi-country trip through Southeast Asia, Holafly Plans at $49.90/month covers 170+ countries and is worth the convenience.

What currency do you use in Da Nang?

Vietnamese Dong (VND). The exchange rate when we were there was approximately 25,800-26,000 VND per USD. Card acceptance is improving but cash is still preferred at local restaurants, markets, and smaller shops. ATMs are everywhere; Vietcombank ATMs tend to have the best rates and lowest fees for foreign cards. Bigger restaurants and any tourist-facing business will take cards.

Is Da Nang safe for families?

Very much so. We had zero safety incidents over six months with three children. The main hazards are traffic (motorbikes do not follow the rules you're used to - learn to cross streets like a local, which means steady pace and let traffic flow around you) and occasional petty theft in crowded tourist areas. The beach has a strong current in some sections - heed the flag system. Overall, Da Nang felt as safe as any suburban neighborhood in Australia or the UK.

This post contains affiliate links. If you book through our Klook or Holafly links we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you - and you get the same price or better. Read our full affiliate disclosure. We track our spending with TravelSpend (code ADAMANDLINDS). SafetyWing insurance is mentioned as a product we use for travel medical coverage - we are not licensed insurance brokers and this is not a recommendation; please research coverage options appropriate for your situation.