I am in Mui Ne now and I am surprised to read all of the glowing reviews about pristine beaches (blog ad kickbacks). The reality is simply an eye-opener about what we are doing to our planet and ourselves — destruction. While there is so very much to love, there is SO SO SO MUCH non-perishable forever trash on the beaches. It’s utterly inescapable. I just read a blog post from the author that was posted just a few months ago … “To keep tourists and locals coming back to this beach, it’s kept clean so you won’t need to worry about trash.” However, in the last 3 days, I have been on 10 beaches from the southern to central to the northern Mui Ne and it is literally choking on plastics of every kind, paint cans, discarded nets, bottle caps, styrofoam, rusty beer cans. I wanted to cry the first time. I am stunned at the fact that no one seems to openly acknowledge it as thing to deal with. Just a thing to live with. The dunes are also littered with plastic bottles and styrofoam food boxes. My ATV driver deliberately tossed his small disposable plastic water bottle into a bush (to hide it from sight or from his conscience?) and just replied to my very loud gasp, “it’s okay, it’s okay.”

Yeah that town itself isnt a thing of beauty, nor are the beaches I saw (like you said I couldn’t afford a nice resort with its own beach).
There are much nicer places in Vietnam if you are looking for a beach getaway. However the sanddunes and unique landscapes is truly what makes Mui Ne stand out.

Not spreading negativity here. I just wished I did more research and avoid wasting money here. If you look for mui ne on Reddit you might see more feedback on this, resembling what I’m saying here!