# Institute of Oceanography, Nha Trang > The Institute of Oceanography (Viện Hải dương học) in Nha Trang is a marine research institute founded in 1922, and its public Museum of Oceanography has aquariums with sharks, rays, turtles and corals plus over 20,000 specimens, including an 18 m whale skeleton. Tickets are 40,000 VND; it's open daily 6:00–18:00. Allow 1–1.5 hours. It sits at the southern end of the Tran Phu seafront, by Cau Da port. Web page: https://yesgo.io/vietnam/nha-trang/nha-trang-oceanographic-institute - City: [Nha Trang](https://yesgo.io/vietnam/nha-trang), Vietnam - YesGo score: 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 1 h - With kids: Fine with kids - Ticket: 40,000 VND - Students / school pupils: 20,000 / 10,000 VND - Children under 6: Free - Hours: Daily 6:00–18:00 - Address: Số 1 Cầu Đá, Nha Trang — south end of Tran Phu street - Parking: Scooter 4,000 VND; car under 7 seats 15,000; 7+ seats 20,000 - Museum guide: 60,000 VND per tour on the English site; "on request" on the Vietnamese one - Paying: Cash in VND at the ticket desk - Museum phone: +84 258 3590 036 - Coordinates: 12.20756, 109.21471 - Facts checked: 07.11.2026 ## Key facts - **1922** — the institute was founded — one of Vietnam's oldest research institutions (source: Museum of Oceanography website; English and Vietnamese Wikipedia) - **18 m** — humpback whale skeleton, buried in the Red River delta for over 200 years (source: Museum of Oceanography website; Vietnamese Wikipedia) - **300+ species** — of marine life live in the museum's tanks (source: Museum of Oceanography website; Institute of Oceanography website) - **20,000+** — specimens — Vietnam's largest collection of marine samples (source: Museum of Oceanography website (other pages say 23,000 and 27,000); English Wikipedia says 24,000) - **5,000 m²** — of tanks and pools with live animals (source: Museum of Oceanography website; Institute of Oceanography website) - **Since 1938** — the institute's aquarium has been open to visitors (source: Museum of Oceanography website) - **145 kg** — giant clam shell in the collection (source: Museum of Oceanography website (Vietnamese and English pages)) - **5 m** — wingspan of the preserved manta ray, weighing nearly a tonne (source: Museum of Oceanography website) - **Tunnel** — dug through the hill by the French in the 1930s, now lined with tanks (source: Tuổi Trẻ newspaper; Museum of Oceanography website) - **Hon Chong** — second museum site with the Mysterious Ocean hall, 8 km north (source: Museum of Oceanography website; SGGP newspaper) ## Institute of Oceanography tickets and prices An adult ticket is **40,000 VND** — about the price of a coffee. Students pay 20,000 VND, school pupils 10,000 VND, and children under 6 get in free. These are the museum's official fares. Parking at the gate is 4,000 VND for a scooter, 15,000 VND for a car with fewer than 7 seats and 20,000 VND for a bigger one. The English version of the museum website lists a guide at 60,000 VND per tour; the Vietnamese version just says to ask, so check at the desk. Without a guide, the main highlights are easy to find on your own. Bring cash in Vietnamese dong. Card payment at the ticket desk isn't something we could confirm, and with an amount this small, cash is simply easier. Grab rides there can be paid in cash or with a linked foreign card. ## Opening hours The museum is open **every day from 6:00 to 18:00**, with no weekly closing day. That early start is a real bonus: in the first hours the halls are cool and quiet, while tour groups tend to come later. One older guide gives split hours with a lunch break, but the museum's own website says 6:00–18:00 daily, and that is what we show. ## How to get to the Institute of Oceanography 1. **From the Tram Huong Tower on the Tran Phu beach front**, it's about 4–5 km south along the sea. A Grab or taxi takes 10–15 minutes — search for “Viện Hải dương học” or “Bảo tàng Hải dương học” in the app; Grab shows the fare before you book. 2. On foot it's roughly an hour: follow the Tran Phu promenade south until the road reaches Cau Da port. Best done early, before the heat. 3. **Hop-on hop-off open-top bus**: daytime route 1 starts and ends at the institute and runs up the seafront to Po Nagar and Long Son Pagoda. Unofficially, tickets are 50,000 VND and buses run 8:30–18:30. 4. **City bus no. 4** reportedly runs through town towards the Vinpearl port and passes the institute — get off at “Viện Hải dương học”. Route details differ between sources, so check with the driver. 5. Buy your ticket in cash at the gate, start with the aquarium halls in the main building, then head on to the collection halls and the whale skeleton. 6. To go back, order a Grab from the gate. Heading out to the islands? Cau Da port is a couple of minutes' walk away. > **A research museum, not a big aquarium park** Don't expect shows or walk-through glass tunnels with sharks overhead. This is a working institute's museum: dozens of tanks of different sizes, open pools and halls of specimens in jars. In return, the ticket is next to nothing and the collection is the best in Vietnam. Go in the morning — it's quiet from 6:00 and tour groups turn up later. ## What to see inside - **The main aquarium halls** — over 300 species: reef fish, lionfish, moray eels, seahorses, soft corals and horseshoe crabs. - **The big pools** with sea turtles, sharks and rays. - **The humpback whale skeleton**, 18 m long and 10 tonnes, dug out of the Red River delta where it lay buried for more than 200 years — the photo everyone takes. - **A dugong skeleton** and a preserved manta ray of nearly a tonne with a 5 m wingspan. - **The marine biodiversity hall** — thousands of specimens in jars, from sponges, corals and molluscs to crabs, sea urchins and fish. Rarities include a sturgeon, a king crab, a 145 kg giant clam and a spotted seal. - **The hillside tunnel**, dug by the French in the 1930s and now fitted with tanks and a domed shark pool. - A smaller hall on Vietnamese fishing gear and artificial reefs, for anyone curious about life on the coast. ## How long do you need? **1–1.5 hours** is enough: half an hour for the tanks and pools, another half for the skeletons and collection halls. If you read every label and photograph every fish, allow two. With kids it usually comes to about an hour — the turtle and shark pools hold their attention longest. Including the ride from the centre it's an easy half day. It pairs well with a morning walk along the seafront or a boat trip from Cau Da port next door. ## Is the Institute of Oceanography worth visiting? Yes, if you love the sea, travel with children or want to see a genuine scientific collection for pocket change. In an hour you get a good sense of what lives in the South China Sea, and the whale skeleton impresses adults too. The YesGo take: this is not an entertainment aquarium, and much of it feels old-school — modest tanks, specimen jars, simple labels. Come expecting shows and slick tunnels and you'll be let down. Come for the marine life itself and it's well worth it, especially early before the groups. On a rainy day it's one of the best indoor options in Nha Trang. ## What the Institute of Oceanography is The **Institute of Oceanography** is a state research centre that has studied the sea since 1922. It was set up under French rule as the fisheries and oceanography service of Indochina and is now part of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology — scientists still work here. Travellers come for its **Museum of Oceanography** (Bảo tàng Hải dương học), which grew out of the research collection. The aquarium opened to visitors in 1938, and by 1941 it had 23 tanks. The cream building with brown shutters on a rise at the southern end of Tran Phu street, at Số 1 Cầu Đá, is the institute's landmark. ## The new Mysterious Ocean hall at Hon Chong The museum has a second site on Hon Chong hill in northern Nha Trang, about 8 km from the main building. The “Đại dương kỳ bí” (Mysterious Ocean) hall opened there on 2 September 2025, laid out by depth from the surface down to 6,000 m, with specimens and models of deep-sea life. We couldn't find official hours or prices for that site, so call the museum before you go. If you're visiting the [Hon Chong rocks](https://yesgo.io/vietnam/nha-trang/hon-chong), it's worth asking whether the hall is open that day. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] Cash in VND for the ticket and taxi - [ ] Going between 6:00 and 9:00, before the groups - [ ] Grab installed for the ride back - [ ] Phone flash off — it glares on the glass and startles the fish - [ ] Water bottle: it gets hot walking between the buildings - [ ] A plan for after: island boat from Cau Da or a seafront walk ## Nha Trang by the water: compare and choose Places in Nha Trang by and about the sea, rated by YesGo. - [Institute of Oceanography](https://yesgo.io/vietnam/nha-trang/nha-trang-oceanographic-institute) — YesGo score 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · 40,000 VND - [VinWonders Nha Trang](https://yesgo.io/vietnam/nha-trang/vinwonders-nha-trang) — YesGo score 24/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 4 h · 1,050,000 VND - [Monkey Island](https://yesgo.io/vietnam/nha-trang/nha-trang-monkey-island) — YesGo score 19/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · 220,000 VND at the pier, 185,000 online - [Ba Ho Waterfalls](https://yesgo.io/vietnam/nha-trang/ba-ho-waterfalls) — YesGo score 19/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · 135,000–185,000 VND ## From the south seafront into town in a day Aquariums and the whale skeleton in the morning, then Tram Huong Tower on the seafront, the hilltop cathedral, Long Son Pagoda's white Buddha and Dam Market towards evening. Add them to your route — YesGo fits in the timing and transfers. 1. [Institute of Oceanography](https://yesgo.io/vietnam/nha-trang/nha-trang-oceanographic-institute) — YesGo score 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · 40,000 VND 2. [Tram Huong Tower](https://yesgo.io/vietnam/nha-trang/tram-huong-tower) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 20 min · Free 3. [Nha Trang Cathedral](https://yesgo.io/vietnam/nha-trang/nha-trang-cathedral) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free 4. [Long Son Pagoda](https://yesgo.io/vietnam/nha-trang/long-son-pagoda) — YesGo score 41/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free 5. [Dam Market](https://yesgo.io/vietnam/nha-trang/dam-market) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free entry ## Good to know The Institute of Oceanography is not the Tri Nguyen Aquarium on Hon Mieu island, reached by boat from Cau Da port, nor the aquarium inside VinWonders — both are separate places with their own tickets. Maps and guides also call it the National Oceanographic Museum of Vietnam or simply the Oceanography Museum. ## Tips - Arrive at the 6:00 opening or before 9:00: it's cooler and the halls are empty. - Don't tap on the tank glass or put your hands in the pools — it stresses the animals. - Start with the turtle and shark pools if you have kids, before they get tired. - Walk a couple of minutes to Cau Da port afterwards — island boats leave from there. - Combine the museum with [Tram Huong Tower](https://yesgo.io/vietnam/nha-trang/tram-huong-tower) and [Dam Market](https://yesgo.io/vietnam/nha-trang/dam-market) on the way back into town. ## Questions ### How much is the ticket to the Institute of Oceanography in Nha Trang? 40,000 VND for adults, 20,000 VND for students, 10,000 VND for school pupils, free under 6. Pay in cash. ### What are the opening hours of the Oceanographic Museum? Daily, 6:00–18:00, with no closing day. ### How do I get to the Institute of Oceanography from central Nha Trang? A 10–15 minute Grab or taxi ride south along Tran Phu street. You can also walk the seafront in about an hour or take the open-top sightseeing bus, whose route 1 starts at the institute. ### How long should I spend at the Oceanographic Museum? 1–1.5 hours for the tanks, the whale skeleton and the collection halls; about two if you read the labels closely. ### Is the Nha Trang Oceanographic Museum worth it? For sea lovers and families, yes — it's cheap and the collection is unique. If you want shows and modern walk-through tanks, it will feel dated. ### Is the Institute of Oceanography good for kids? Yes: turtles, sharks, rays and the huge whale skeleton go down well, and under-6s get in free. There are no shows or rides. ### What is there to see at the Institute of Oceanography? Tanks with over 300 species, open pools with turtles and sharks, humpback whale and dugong skeletons, a preserved manta ray and a hall of thousands of marine specimens. ### Where is the Institute of Oceanography? At Số 1 Cầu Đá, the southern end of Tran Phu street, next to Cau Da port and about 4–5 km south of Tram Huong Tower. ### Is it the same as Tri Nguyen Aquarium? No. Tri Nguyen is a separate aquarium on Hon Mieu island, reached by boat from Cau Da port, with its own ticket. ## How we checked Fares (40,000 / 20,000 / 10,000 VND, free under 6), daily hours of 6:00–18:00 and parking fees come from the Museum of Oceanography's official website, checked 07.11.2026; travel guides quote the same figures. The 60,000 VND guide fee appears only on the English version of the site (the Vietnamese one says on request), so it is marked unofficial. One guide lists split hours of 7:30–11:00 and 13:30–16:30, which contradicts the official site, so we don't use it. The museum's own pages give 20,000+, 23,000 and 27,000 specimens and English Wikipedia 24,000, so we say over 20,000. The whale skeleton (18 m, 10 t), manta ray, giant clam, 300 species and 5,000 m² come from the museum website; Vietnamese Wikipedia confirms the whale's length. Some guides mention an ekranoplan by the entrance; we found no source to confirm it and leave it out. Hours and prices for the Hon Chong site are not published officially. Bus no. 4 and the open-top bus are unofficial, and sources disagree on route 4. The distance from Tram Huong Tower is our own measurement from OpenStreetMap coordinates (about 4 km in a straight line). We could not confirm card payment at the ticket desk. ## Sources - Museum of Oceanography, Institute of Oceanography of Vietnam — official website: fares, hours, parking, guide, collection, history, Mysterious Ocean hall, 07.11.2026 - Institute of Oceanography (Viện Hải dương học, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology) — official website: address, aquarium and museum - English and Vietnamese Wikipedia — Institute of Oceanography article: founding date, history, collection - Tuổi Trẻ newspaper (30.04.2022) — the hillside tunnel aquarium - SGGP newspaper (03.09.2025) — the Mysterious Ocean hall at the Hon Chong site - Báo Văn hóa newspaper (13.12.2024) — open-top sightseeing bus - OpenStreetMap — coordinates of the institute and Tram Huong Tower, distance - Wikidata Q137916777 - YesGo general facts for Vietnam — cards, cash and Grab --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.