Christchurch to Christchurch via Singapore. Da Nang → Hoi An → Hanoi.
12
Days
5
Golf Courses
3
Cities
View full flight times & day-by-day itinerary
OUTBOUND — SAT 2 MAY – SUN 3 MAY
SAT
2
MAY
Christchurch → Auckland
8:05pm – 9:30pm
NZ574
2h 25m layover • Change to Terminal Intl
SAT
2
MAY
Auckland → Singapore
11:55pm – 6:45am+1
NZ282
2h 30m layover • Change to Terminal 2
SUN
3
MAY
Singapore → Da Nang
9:15am – 11:05am
SQ172
RETURN — FRI 15 MAY – SAT 16 MAY
FRI
15
MAY
Hanoi → Singapore
12:40pm – 5:10pm
SQ191
2h 40m layover • Change to Terminal 3
FRI
15
MAY
Singapore → Christchurch
7:50pm – 9:30am+1
SQ297
IN VIETNAM
12 DAYS • 5 GOLF COURSES • 3 CITIES
Da Nang → Hoi An → Hanoi • Golf trip of a lifetime.
SUN03 MAY
Arrival
TOUCH DOWN IN DA NANG
SQ172 arrives Da Nang 11:05am. Private transfer waiting at arrivals with a name sign — straight to the hotel, then the rest of the day is ours.
CHECK IN: Sala Danang Beach Hotel • Deluxe Room • Twin
MON04 MAY
⛳ Round 1
BA NA HILLS GOLF CLUB
Luke Donald designed championship course at the foot of the Ba Na Hills mountain range. Voted World's Best New Course 2016 and Vietnam's Best Golf Course multiple years running. 7,858 yards from the tips — the longest layout in Vietnam.
PICKUP 7:30amTEE OFF 9:00am
TUE05 MAY
Your day your way
FREE DAY IN DA NANG
Sandy beaches, Marble Mountains, Hai Van Pass views, French colonial history. Plenty to explore — or just recover from Ba Na Hills.
WED06 MAY
⛳ Round 2
LAGUNA GOLF LANG CO
Sir Nick Faldo's second design in Vietnam. Par 71, 7,100 yards from the tips. Links-style course with a traditional out-and-back routing in the Lang Co integrated resort.
PICKUP 7:00amTEE OFF 9:30am
THU07 MAY
Your day your way
FREE DAY IN DA NANG
Last day on the Da Nang beach before we move down to Hoi An.
FRI08 MAY
Transfer
DA NANG → HOI AN
Check out of Sala Danang and private transfer down to Hoi An (approx 45 min). Afternoon free to explore the ancient town, lanterns, tailors and the old quarter.
CHECK IN: Bel Marina Hoi An Resort • Deluxe Pool • Twin
SAT09 MAY
⛳ Round 3
HOIANA SHORES GOLF CLUB
Spectacular seaside links course with views of the Eastern Sea and Cham Islands. 36 challenging holes in a luxurious setting — a must-play for any golf enthusiast visiting the region.
PICKUP 6:50amTEE OFF 8:00am
SUN10 MAY
Fly to Hanoi
HOI AN → HANOI
Check out, airport transfer at 8:30am. Flight VN166 Da Nang to Hanoi departs 11:35am, arrives 1:00pm.
CHECK IN: Hanoi Pearl Hotel • Deluxe City View • Twin • Hoan Kiem district
MON11 MAY
Your day your way
FREE DAY IN HANOI
Hoan Kiem Lake, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Temple of Literature, Old Quarter cyclo rides, water puppet show at Thang Long Theatre, egg coffee, Dong Xuan Market, West Lake walks.
TUE12 MAY
⛳ Round 4
BRG LEGEND HILL GOLF RESORT
Jack Nicklaus designed course in Phu Linh, 20 minutes from Hanoi Airport. Vietnam's first course to feature two greens per hole — a unique 36-green layout on an 18-hole course.
WED13 MAY
Your day your way
FREE DAY IN HANOI
Another day to explore Hanoi. Cooking class, street food tour, hidden alleys and street art, or just relax before the final round.
THU14 MAY
⛳ Round 5 • Final
SKY LAKE RESORT & GOLF CLUB
36 holes of championship golf managed by IMG — voted "The Most Challenging Golf Course in Vietnam". The Lake Course plays 7,265 yards through mountains and lakes. The Sky Course is surrounded by Vietnamese jungle with elevated Pinehurst-style turtle-back greens.
PICKUP 8:40amTEE OFF 11:00am
FRI15 MAY
Departure
HOME TIME
Check out, airport pickup at 8:40am. NZ3459 departs Hanoi at 12:40pm. End of service — see you on the other side.
100% FREE • NO SIGN-UP
WHAT WILL YOUR TRIP ACTUALLY COST?
Stop guessing. Our Budget Calculator is built entirely from prices we actually paid in Vietnam — not industry averages plucked off a travel blog.
We've been mates for decades. We play golf badly, argue about everything, and decided the world needed our completely unqualified opinions on Vietnam. You're welcome.
Glenn
She'll be right, just do it — caddie / player translator.
David
Sun Mountain Ba Na Hills beer drinking champion, and Vietnamese golf course sand expert.
David
Not a care in the world (unless playing golf) — road walking, road crossing and snake expert.
Tom
Fierce negotiator, full fish dismantling, eating and morning exercise expert.
Five rounds, five completely different golf courses, and not one letdown among them. If you're on the fence about a golf trip to Vietnam, we're not on the fence anymore — go.
GREAT COURSES
Parkland at Ba Na Hills, links/parkland at Laguna, full links at Hoiana Shores, a twin-green Nicklaus design at Legend Hill, jungle-lined hills at SkyLake. Five rounds, five completely different courses, all genuinely world class.
GREAT CADDIES
Every one of ours was female, sharp, and knew the course better than we ever would. Stomping through the rough hunting for a lost ball without being asked, reading every putt, keeping us entertained the whole way round.
GREAT FOOD
Clubhouse food was a highlight at every single course — beer and a full meal for around $17 NZD at Ba Na Hills was the standard, not the exception.
GREAT SERVICE
This is what really sets Vietnam apart. Locker room staff who'll do your shoes up for you. Genuine hospitality that makes you feel looked after, not just processed through a tee sheet.
None of the courses we played were ever crowded. We saw one snake in twelve days. And we're not getting paid by Golf Vietnam to say any of this — between the four of us, we've played plenty of good golf back home, so we had a pretty good idea what we were looking for. This was a different world.
THE FIVE COURSES, AND WHAT THEY'LL COST YOU
BA NA HILLS GOLF COURSE
Luke Donald design • Da Nang
$230–340 NZD
LAGUNA GOLF LANG CO
Sir Nick Faldo design • Chan May Bay
From $185 NZD
HOIANA SHORES GOLF CLUB
Robert Trent Jones II design • Hoi An
$160–255 NZD
BRG LEGEND HILL GOLF RESORT
Jack Nicklaus design • Soc Son, Hanoi
$240–355 NZD
SKYLAKE RESORT & GOLF CLUB
Sky Course • Bori Golf Design • near Hanoi
From $220 NZD
Prices include green fee, caddie and shared cart, and vary by season and day of the week. All up, you're looking at somewhere between $160 and $355 NZD a round depending on the course and the day you play — cheap by the standards of anywhere comparable back home, for a level of course conditioning and service that puts a lot of “premium” golf trips to shame.
If you play golf and haven't been to Vietnam, put it on the list. Great courses, great caddies, great food, great service — book it.
VIETNAM VERDICT
WHY WE LOVED VIETNAM
Take the golf out of it completely and this trip still would have been one of the best we've done. Da Nang, Hoi An, Hanoi — three completely different cities, and we loved every one of them for different reasons.
It's the people that make Vietnam what it is. Genuinely friendly, hard-working, and welcoming — for a country that's been invaded and fought over as many times as this one has, there's no chip on the shoulder about it. They seem to like the Americans and French now as much as anyone, and don't hold a grudge the way plenty of other places would. They've built something great out of all of it, and they know exactly what tourism can do for them.
GREAT PEOPLE
Friendly, funny, and hard-working everywhere we went — from caddies to hotel staff to street vendors. Locals are encouraged to look out for tourists, and it shows.
GREAT VALUE
Five-star hotels, huge breakfasts, $2.50 pints and $5–17 NZD Grab rides everywhere. World-class experiences at a fraction of what you'd pay for the same back home.
GREAT VARIETY
Beaches and rooftop bars in Da Nang, lantern-lit Old Town charm in Hoi An, history and hustle in Hanoi. Three cities, three completely different characters.
GREAT HISTORY
China Beach, the Hoa Lo Prison, the crashed B-52 still sitting in Huu Tiep Lake — confronting in places, but a side of the story worth seeing for yourself.
We felt safe walking around at all hours, every city, every time. Vietnam's tourism industry has grown fast, and the country has clearly decided it's worth protecting — crime against travellers is taken seriously and discouraged. We never once felt on edge.
The traffic takes some getting used to — barely a stop sign or a give way in sight, everyone darting in and out of what are only loosely lanes — but somehow it works. Everyone's courteous, everyone looks out for each other, and there's no road rage anywhere. Refreshingly different to home.
Crossing the road sums the whole country up. You walk out into traffic — cars, bikes, buses, all of it — and they seem to anticipate what you're doing and flow around you. But don't take that as an excuse to walk blindly into traffic. Just don't run, because they can't judge your speed if you suddenly change it. Back home, in most Western countries, you'd get the middle finger, a horn, or someone actively trying to run you over. Here, they look after each other, and it only works because everyone commits to it — same as the driving in general. They've got the right idea.
Do the touristy things — the markets, the history, the street food, the bars — and don't rush it. Every city we stopped in gave us something completely different, and we came away wanting more of all three.
Great people, great value, great history, and a country that genuinely wants you there. We loved Vietnam, and we'll be back.
PLAN YOUR OWN
WHAT IT COST US
Real prices, in NZD, from our May 2026 trip. Use them to budget your own — or let our tools do the maths.
