Our shop at 84 Phan Chau Trinh is 300 metres from An Hoi Bridge, about four minutes on foot. Almost every evening someone drops off a bike and asks the same question: is there still time to see the river? There is. But the river is a different place at 17:45, at 19:30 and at 22:00, and arriving at the wrong one means you see people, not water.

This guide is the version we give friends. When to arrive, what a boat actually costs in 2026 (and why three different prices are floating around online), how to set a lantern on the water, which full-moon nights are coming, where to leave the bike during the car-free hours, and why in October and November the riverbank can be under water.

Where the Hoai River is, and why it looks like that

When people in Hoi An say “the riverbank” they mean Bach Dang Street, the strip that runs along the water from the Hoai River Square and the Japanese Covered Bridge in the west to Hoi An Market in the east. Measured on Google Maps, that walk is 550 metres, about eight minutes. Nobody does it in eight minutes. On an ordinary evening it takes thirty to forty-five.

The other bank is An Hoi, a low island joined to the Old Town by An Hoi Bridge, the footbridge lit along its railings. On that side are the lantern stalls of Nguyen Phuc Chu Street and the Nguyen Hoang night market. So the full loop is simple: walk Bach Dang, cross An Hoi Bridge, wander the An Hoi bank, and come back over the same bridge.

Geographically, the Hoai River is not a river of its own. Before it reaches the sea at Cua Dai, the lower Thu Bon splits into several arms, and the narrow one that hugs the Old Town is the one locals call the Hoai. The main channel of the Thu Bon runs further south, between Cam Nam and Cam Kim. That is why you will see signs saying “Thu Bon River” a few metres from the Hoai; both are right. It is also why the town exists: for three centuries Japanese, Chinese and European ships moored along this water when Hoi An was one of the busiest ports in Southeast Asia.

What makes the evening work is geometry, not decoration. The water is narrow enough that lantern light from both banks meets in the middle, and slow enough to hold a reflection. Widen it by thirty metres and the effect would be gone.

The best time for the Hoai River at night

Sunset in Hoi An is around 17:15 in December and around 18:10 in June. The lanterns along the bank come on a little before that. The best twenty to thirty minutes are just after sunset: the sky is still deep blue, the lanterns are lit, and the water reflects both. Almost every postcard of the river is taken in that window, not at 21:00 when the sky behind the lanterns has gone flat black.

Arrive at the Hoai River at 20:00 and you see people. Arrive at 17:45 and you see the river.

One habit worth stealing from locals: look first, eat after. The riverside restaurants on Bach Dang are fullest between 18:30 and 19:30. Walk against the flow, take the river at blue hour, then sit down to dinner once the tables turn over. You get both the light and a table.

Hoai River boat prices in 2026, honestly

The boats are small wooden sampans with paper lanterns hung round the canopy, most of them rowed by hand, a few with a small engine. They wait at the landing steps along Bach Dang and at the foot of An Hoi Bridge, and from mid-afternoon the boat women call to you from the steps. You do not need to book.

Search for the price and you will find three different answers. Here is where each comes from, so you can tell which one you are looking at:

The same inspection noted that many boat operators were not displaying prices as required, and that most “I paid triple” stories came from boats booked through a hotel or a middleman who added their own cut. That matches what we hear at the counter.

• Agree three things before you step in: how many people, how many minutes, and whether the price is for the whole boat or per person. Nearly every bad experience on the water starts with the two sides understanding that third point differently.
• Go before 17:30 if you want to bargain. The water is quiet and the boats are waiting. After 19:00 every boat is full and nobody discounts.
• Three or four people is the sweet spot. The price is per boat: three people pay what two pay, and a group of four or five pays only a little more on the red ticket.
• Children count towards the five-person limit. Ask for life jackets; most boats keep them under the seat but only bring them out when asked.
• Carry small notes. Some boat women take a bank QR transfer, but a 50,000₫ or 100,000₫ note is still fastest.

If you would rather not negotiate at all, a pre-booked ride fixes the price and the meeting point in advance. It costs more than agreeing a boat on the steps, but some people value the certainty, especially on a full-moon night: Hoai River night boat trip with floating lantern on GetYourGuide.

Floating lanterns: what they mean and how to do it

The small paper lanterns with a candle inside are called hoa dang. Setting one on the water is a wish for peace and luck, for yourself or for someone you have lost, and for local families it has nothing to do with tourism: on the full-moon night many still release one for an ancestor.

• Price: roughly 5,000–20,000₫ each. Children selling them on the steps and stalls on the bank are usually cheaper than buying from the boat once you are out on the water.
• Set it down, do not throw it. Light the candle, hold the lantern level, and lower it onto the water from the side of the boat or from the bottom step. Thrown lanterns tip and go out.
• Two or three is enough. A handful set down slowly photographs better than a dozen dropped in a pile, and the river is cleared of them every night.
• Saying no is fine. If you do not want one, a smile and a shake of the head is all it takes.

If you would like to take a lantern home rather than float one, the silk folding lanterns sold across the river collapse flat for a suitcase. Making your own is better still; our guide to the Hoi An lantern making class compares the workshops in town. If you want to book one online, this is a well-reviewed option: the foldable lantern making class on GetYourGuide.

Full-moon nights and the December lantern festival

Since 1998, on the 14th night of every lunar month, the eve of the full moon, Hoi An holds its “Old Town night”: the electric lights in the centre go off, and from about 18:00 to 22:00 the light comes from lanterns and candles. There is bai choi on the An Hoi side, folk games, and the river fills with floating lanterns. It is the most beautiful evening of the month on the river, and by a distance the most crowded.

New this year: the Hoi An International Lantern Festival, 3–6 December 2026. It is the first time the city has held one. The programme puts around fifteen large lantern art installations around the Hoai River Square, the An Hoi sculpture garden and along the riverbank, with an opening performance on and beside the water, lantern-making corners, night walking tours and a photography contest. The installations are due to stay up until Lunar New Year 2027, which means the river will look different all winter. The full calendar is on our Hoi An lantern festival 2026 dates page.

Bai choi, the sung card game you will hear on the An Hoi side, was inscribed by UNESCO in 2017 as the art of Bai Choi in Central Viet Nam. Sitting and listening is free; you buy a card if you want to play.

Across An Hoi Bridge: night market and lantern street

Half of the evening happens on the far bank. Cross An Hoi Bridge and three things are within a couple of minutes of each other:

• An Hoi Bridge itself: the footbridge from Bach Dang, lit along its rails at night. Stand in the middle and you look straight down onto the drifting lanterns. Where to stand and when is in our An Hoi Bridge guide.
• The lantern street on Nguyen Phuc Chu: stalls hung floor to ceiling with silk lanterns and a queue of people photographing each other underneath. Some stall owners charge for photos; ask before you pose. See Hoi An lantern street.
• The Nguyen Hoang night market: souvenirs, grilled skewers, noodle bowls, fruit and sweets, from around sunset until about 22:00. Prices and what is worth eating are in our Hoi An night market guide.

The An Hoi side is part of the walking zone too, so do not plan to ride across the bridge in the evening. If you are coming from An Bang or Cam Thanh, the parking lots on Nguyen Hoang Street by the market are the most convenient. And if your stay has no full moon in it, the other big evening option is the Hoi An Memories show on its island stage south of town; we do not run it, but tickets are here: Hoi An Memories Show and Impression theme park ticket. For everything else that stays open late, see nightlife in Hoi An.

Photographing the Hoai River: six places to stand

A recent phone in night mode handles the river well, as long as you brace it against a railing or a lamp post. The six spots we send people to:

1. The middle of An Hoi Bridge, facing the Covered Bridge. Floating lanterns below and the Bach Dang lights in a line. Busy, so take the shot and give the spot back.
2. The An Hoi bank looking across at Bach Dang. The postcard frame, yellow houses doubled in the water. Best between 17:45 and 18:15.
3. The landing steps. Sit low, close to the water, and let a lantern boat fill the foreground.
4. From a boat, looking back at the bank. The one angle you cannot get from land; ask the rower to hold still mid-river for a minute.
5. The Hoai River Square end. Wide, uncluttered, the best place for a group photo.
6. Bach Dang at 06:00. No lanterns, but the water is flat as glass, the boats are moored and there is nobody else there. This is the photograph only people staying in Hoi An come home with.

Car-free hours, parking and riding in from Da Nang

Bach Dang is one of the three main streets of the walking zone, with Tran Phu and Nguyen Thai Hoc. Motorbikes and cars are kept out every day from 09:00 to 11:00 and from 15:00 to 21:30 (21:00 in winter). Phan Chau Trinh, the street our shop is on, has its own barrier that in practice goes up at 17:30. In other words, the whole good part of a Hoai River evening falls inside the car-free hours: park outside and walk in. The street-by-street detail is in our guide to Hoi An Old Town vehicle restriction hours.

Motorbike parking around the Old Town is usually 5,000–10,000₫ a time; on holidays and full-moon nights some lots ask more, so check the price before handing over the bike, and photograph the ticket and the lot sign. In a crowd it is easy to forget where you left it. More lots are mapped in our Hoi An bike parking guide.

From Da Nang: the Dragon Bridge to the Old Town is about 27 km, 45–50 minutes by scooter along the coast road. To catch blue hour, leave Da Nang before 16:45. The coast road back after 21:00 is dark and windy; if that is not appealing, rent in Hoi An for the evening and take a taxi home.

Walking the bank of the Hoai River is free. Since 10 August 2026 the Old Town fee is 20,000₫ per person per heritage site (old houses, assembly halls, museums, the Covered Bridge), the same for Vietnamese and foreign visitors and free under 16, but it is only charged when you go inside. The bank, An Hoi Bridge and the night market cost nothing. Details are on our Hoi An entrance ticket page.

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Flood season: when the river comes up the steps

The thing almost no “Hoi An at night” article mentions: Bach Dang is the first street to flood when the river rises. The rainy season in Hoi An runs roughly September to December, with floods concentrated in October and November. One heavy rain upstream on the Thu Bon is enough to push the water over the landing steps until the boats sit level with the road.

The flood at the end of October 2025 is the clearest example. On the evening of 29 October 2025 the water in Hoi An passed the record set in the great flood of 1964. Tran Phu, Nguyen Thai Hoc, Bach Dang and Nguyen Phuc Chu were all under water and people moved about the Old Town by boat. A few weeks later the streets had been cleaned and the lanterns were back.

• Travelling in October or November? Check the forecast two or three days ahead. If there is a flood warning, Bach Dang is closed and the boats stop.
• After the water drops, the riverbank usually reopens within a day or two, with mud on the road. Wear shoes that can get wet.
• Look for the flood marks. Some houses on Bach Dang and Nguyen Thai Hoc mark the levels of past floods on their walls, a free museum most visitors walk straight past.
• On a rented bike in the rain, do not ride through water deeper than the wheel hub. An engine that stalls in a flood is a serious repair. Every bike we rent comes with raincoats.

Leaving a bike in town overnight in the wet season? Our notes on keeping your bike safe overnight in Hoi An cover where and how.

Hoai River questions we get at the counter

Reading in Vietnamese? Our sister guide bờ sông Hoài Hội An về đêm covers the same river with prices and parking for Vietnamese visitors.