Retiring in Hoi An from Australia: costs, the eVisa and daily life

Who Hoi An suits, and what to weigh up

Hoi An suits you if you want a small, flat town you can walk and cycle, with a bigger city close by. The old town sits on the Thu Bon River, and UNESCO listed it as World Heritage in December 1999, Vietnam Law Magazine reports. Beaches and rice-field villages are a short ride out, Wikivoyage says, and Da Nang, with its hospitals and airport, is about 30 km north.

Since 1 July 2025 Hoi An has been part of Da Nang city, Viet Nam News reported, so our costs use Da Nang’s figures: about A$2,470 a month for a couple. The drier months, February to August, take in the Australian winter.

The river floods. Rain peaks in October and November and often floods the old town’s streets, Wikivoyage says, and in October 2025 parts of Hoi An had more than 1,000 mm of rain in 24 hours, Al Jazeera reported. Vietnam has no retirement visa, so Hoi An works most easily as a long stay on an eVisa of up to 90 days.

What a month costs

A month in Hoi An costs about A$2,470 for a couple and A$1,810 for one person, rent included. That’s our estimate. Numbeo’s Hoi An page wasn’t available to us when we checked on 26 October 2026, and Hoi An is now part of Da Nang city, so we used Numbeo’s Da Nang figures, the same base as our Da Nang page. We took Numbeo’s living costs for one person (without rent), added a one-bedroom city-centre rent, then added 30% for eating out, local trips and extras. For a couple we multiplied the living costs by 1.8. Everything is converted at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s average exchange rate for the 12 months to September 2026 (A$1 = 18,160 dong). Health insurance is not included.

A month in Hoi An (Da Nang figures)	Couple	One person
Rent, one-bedroom flat in the centre	about A$750	about A$750
Living costs (food, transport, bills)	about A$1,150	about A$640
Eating out, local trips and extras (30%)	about A$570	about A$420
Total	about A$2,470	about A$1,810

How a month in Hoi An compares

For a couple

Hoi An, our estimate

A$2,470

Comfortable in Australia

A$6,580

Age Pension, the most paid in Australia

A$4,040

About A$4,110 a month less than a comfortable month in Australia.

For one person

Hoi An, our estimate

A$1,810

Comfortable in Australia

A$4,680

Age Pension, the most paid in Australia

A$2,680

About A$2,870 a month less than a comfortable month in Australia.

Not built the same way: Australia's figure (ASFA Retirement Standard, comfortable, June quarter 2026) assumes you own your home and includes health insurance; our estimate for Hoi An includes rent and leaves health insurance out. Age Pension: the most paid in Australia from 20 September 2026; living overseas for good, the base rate is about A$3,710 a month for a couple and A$2,460 for one person.

Rents in and near the old town may differ from Da Nang’s, and short furnished lets usually cost more than long-term rent. Our guide to what retiring overseas really costs sets Da Nang beside other places.

Against the Age Pension. After 12 weeks away, the most the Age Pension pays is the base rate. That’s about A$2,460 a month for one person and A$3,710 for a couple, before tax (from 20 September 2026). On our estimate that leaves about A$1,240 a month for a couple and about A$650 for one person, before health insurance.

What costs more than you’d expect. Health cover is the big one, and our estimate leaves it out. Smartraveller says international health insurance can be costly, and with a pre-existing condition you may not get it at all. Then come the trips out of Vietnam for each new eVisa, and the cost of getting to Da Nang for hospital visits.

Renting long term. Leases, deposits and police registration of tenants are on our Vietnam page under what a month costs. Ask whether the street floods before you sign.

Visas for Australians

Smartraveller says Australians need a visa for any stay in Vietnam, and the eVisa allows up to 90 days, single or multiple entry, if granted. The official eVisa site, run by Vietnam’s Immigration Department, charges US$25 (about A$36) for single entry and US$50 (about A$72) for multiple entry. You can’t apply from inside Vietnam, so each new eVisa means leaving first. Smartraveller suggests printing the approval, because some travellers have had trouble showing it at check-in. Vietnam has no visa for retirees; longer residence comes through family, work or investment.

Documents from Australia. A residence card through one of those routes needs papers from home. An Australian Federal Police national police check costs A$57, and the AFP says most online checks arrive within a few days. DFAT legalises documents with an apostille, and the Apostille Convention has applied in Vietnam since 11 September 2026.

The eVisa rules, fake visa sites and the full list of papers are on our Vietnam page under visas for Australians. For your own case, ask Vietnam’s embassy or consulate, or a licensed visa agent in Vietnam.

The rules are Vietnam’s, and how long Australians can stay as visitors compares them with 24 other countries.

Your Age Pension and Medicare in Hoi An

Services Australia says your Age Pension can keep paying while you are overseas. After 6 weeks away the Energy Supplement stops and your Pensioner Concession Card is cancelled. At 12 weeks the Pension Supplement stops completely (since 20 September 2026). After 26 weeks, the rate can be reduced for people who lived in Australia less than 35 years between age 16 and pension age. Our guide to the 6, 12 and 26-week rules goes through each step.

Vietnam is not a social security agreement country, so you claim the pension while living in Australia, before you go. Medicare never pays for treatment in Vietnam. An Australian citizen who moves overseas can still use Medicare back in Australia for up to 5 years after leaving. More in our guide to Medicare when you live overseas, and on our Vietnam page under your Age Pension and Medicare.

How long can you stay in Hoi An? What changes at home

Australians need an eVisa before they fly, and it gives up to 90 days. You can’t apply from inside Vietnam, so a longer stay means leaving and coming back on a new one. At home, the Age Pension rules change at 6, 12 and 26 weeks away wherever you are.

June to August falls in the drier months, February to August, so a winter of up to 90 days fits on one eVisa and misses the October and November flood peak. Stay at least 183 days in a calendar year and Vietnam counts you as a tax resident. Our guide to how long pensioners can travel overseas explains each row.

Health care and insurance

Hoi An has a general hospital with a 24-hour emergency service, and Da Nang’s private hospitals are about 30 km north. Smartraveller says the standard of care in Vietnam varies, is generally below Australia’s, and hospitals may lack medicine and supplies. Doctors and hospitals expect payment before they treat you, even in an emergency.

What is where, by type. The Australian Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City keeps a list of hospitals, last updated in July 2026. For Hoi An and Da Nang it lists:

Type	Where	Languages listed
General hospital, 24-hour emergency service	Phan Dinh Phung Street, Hoi An	English and Vietnamese
City medical centre	Tran Hung Dao Street, Hoi An	Vietnamese
Private hospitals, 24-hour emergency care (2)	Thanh Khe and Hoa Cuong wards, Da Nang	English and Vietnamese
Family clinic (weekday hours, 24/7 emergency line)	Hai Chau, central Da Nang	English and Vietnamese

When care means travel. The ambulance number is 115, but Smartraveller says emergency lines run in Vietnamese only and help can be slow to arrive. You may need evacuation to a major centre even for minor operations, and serious cases can mean Bangkok or Singapore. Smartraveller’s page on retiring overseas puts a medical repatriation at up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. In the flood months, water can cut the road to Da Nang.

Your medicines. Smartraveller says some addictive and psychotropic medicines are controlled in Vietnam. The paperwork is on our Vietnam page under health care and insurance, and our guide to taking medicines overseas covers the Australian side.

Which cover. For a visit, Smartraveller says travel insurance must cover all medical costs, including evacuation, and should cover bad weather; see travel insurance for long stays. Living there means international health insurance, priced on your age and health. Our guide to international health insurance by age lists what to ask, or book a free planning session on Zoom.

Where Australians live

There are no official figures on where Australians live in Hoi An. These are the areas Wikivoyage describes, with hospitals from the consulate’s list.

Area	What it’s like	Getting around	Health care	Airport
The old town	The UNESCO-listed streets on the Thu Bon River, with markets; motorbikes are kept out at set hours	Flat and walkable; bicycles	The general hospital and the medical centre are in town	Da Nang, about 30 km
An Hoi and Cam Nam	Islands across the river, just south of the old town	Bridges to the old town; bicycles	In town, across the bridge	Da Nang, about 30 km
Cam Thanh	Coconut palm waterways near town, known for basket boat trips	A bicycle or a car	A ride into town	Da Nang, about 30 km
An Bang beach	A beach a few kilometres north of the old town	A bicycle or a car	A ride into town	Da Nang, about 30 km
Cua Dai beach	A beach about 5 km away	A bicycle or a car	A ride into town	Da Nang, about 30 km

The old town is flat and made for walking. Wikivoyage says motorbikes are kept out from 8am to 11am and 1.30pm to 4.30pm, and on the 14th and 15th of each lunar month. It’s also the part that floods: Wikivoyage says the river has reached streets up to four blocks back from it, in a 2013 flood.

An Hoi and Cam Nam are river islands joined to the old town by bridges.

Cam Thanh is the village out among the waterways and coconut palms.

An Bang and Cua Dai are the beaches. Wikivoyage puts An Bang a few kilometres north of the old town, and Cua Dai about 5 km away. A trial stay that takes in October or November shows how your street copes with the rain.

Renting or buying a home

Foreigners can rent, and can buy a flat or a house in a commercial housing project, but never land. Ownership lasts up to 50 years from the certificate, and the province can extend it once. A draft revision of the Housing Law released in September 2026 would limit foreigners to flats, Viet Nam News reported; it had not passed when we checked. A property lawyer who acts for you, not the seller, can check the project and what happens after 50 years. The full rules are on our Vietnam page under renting or buying a home, and our guide to keeping, renting or selling the family home covers the Australian side.

Tax: there and at home

Vietnam’s new personal income tax law has applied since 1 July 2026. Vietnam Law Magazine reported that a foreigner is tax resident after at least 183 days in Vietnam in a calendar year, or in the 12 months from first arriving. Australia and Vietnam have had a tax treaty since 1992, and its pensions article says pensions paid to a resident of one country are taxable only in that country.

At home, a foreign resident for Australian tax loses the tax-free threshold, so income such as rent is taxed at 30% from the first dollar (2025-26). The Vietnam page covers tax there and at home. Talk to a registered tax agent in Australia, and a tax adviser in Vietnam, before you go.

Money and banking

The dong is the currency. Smartraveller says ATMs are widespread in Da Nang, and suggests machines inside banks, reputable hotels and shopping centres because card skimming happens throughout Vietnam. Away from Australia for more than 12 months, Services Australia pays your pension every 4 weeks, into an Australian account or an overseas one.

Your pension is in Australian dollars and your rent is in dong. A central one-bedroom at about 13.6 million dong is about A$750 a month at the RBA’s average rate; if the Australian dollar fell 10%, it would cost about A$830. The Vietnam page covers money and banking.

Day to day

Language. Daily life runs in Vietnamese. The city medical centre in Hoi An lists Vietnamese only, so take someone who can translate.

Getting around without driving. Hoi An is flat, and Wikivoyage lists bicycles for hire from about 20,000 dong a day (about A$1). A bus route to Da Nang started in 2024, with a fare of 35,000 dong (about A$2), the city’s tourism portal reported. Smartraveller says official metered taxis are generally reliable, and for an app booking the car and driver should match the details given.

Driving. Smartraveller says an Australian licence or an International Driving Permit issued in Australia isn’t accepted for a car or a motorbike of 50cc or more. You need a Vietnamese licence, and your insurer will likely refuse a claim if you ride without one.

Safety. Smartraveller’s advice for Vietnam is to exercise normal safety precautions, its lowest level. It warns that bag slashing and snatching by thieves on motorbikes happen in tourist areas. Drug offences can bring the death penalty.

The weather, month by month. There’s no official station listed for Hoi An, so these are Da Nang’s averages, about 30 km north on the same coast. It’s warm all year, hot from May to August, and wet from September to December:

Month in Da Nang	Average high	Average low	Rain	Rain days
January	25.2°C	19.7°C	83 mm	14
February	26.3°C	20.4°C	22 mm	7
March	28.4°C	22.1°C	36 mm	7
April	30.9°C	24.0°C	50 mm	7
May	33.4°C	25.4°C	71 mm	10
June	34.9°C	26.3°C	68 mm	9
July	34.4°C	26.0°C	92 mm	12
August	34.0°C	25.8°C	167 mm	14
September	32.0°C	24.8°C	394 mm	17
October	29.6°C	23.7°C	658 mm	21
November	27.7°C	22.5°C	486 mm	21
December	25.3°C	20.5°C	272 mm	21

Figures: the Viet Nam Meteorological and Hydrological Administration’s Da Nang averages for 1991 to 2020, published by the World Meteorological Organization.

Storms and floods. Smartraveller says Vietnam’s storm season usually runs from June to November, and floods, landslides and typhoons can disrupt flights, roads, power and phone services. In the October 2025 floods, more than 306,000 households and businesses in Hue, Da Nang and Quang Tri lost power, Al Jazeera reported. Smartraveller suggests keeping your passport and papers dry and checking that your insurance covers bad weather.

Public holidays. Government offices close for the whole Lunar New Year (Tet) break, which in 2027 runs from 4 to 10 February for public servants.

Making friends. Something weekly, such as a Vietnamese class or a cooking class, means seeing the same people again and again. If you’re going alone, see retiring overseas single.

Getting there and coming home

There are no non-stop flights from Australia to Da Nang, BITRE’s June 2026 figures show. Non-stop flights from Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City take about 8.5 hours on 2026 schedules, and Ho Chi Minh City also has non-stop flights from Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. From there, or from Hanoi, a domestic flight takes you to Da Nang, and Hoi An is about 30 km further south by road. Smartraveller says storms from June to November can delay or cancel flights.

Hoi An is 1 hour behind Perth and 3 hours behind Brisbane. It is 3 hours behind Sydney and Melbourne in our winter, and 4 in daylight saving.

Hoi An for over 50s, 60s and 70s

The 90-day eVisa is the same at 55 or 80, because Vietnam has no retirement visa. What changes with age in Hoi An is how the heat, the floods and the distance to Da Nang’s hospitals suit you.

In your 50s

Turning 50 or 55 opens nothing new in Vietnam; longer residence comes through family, work or investment. A winter in Hoi An on an eVisa works the same at any age, and the drier months, February to August, take in ours. The ATO says super generally opens at 60 once you retire, or at 65 if you’re still working, so in your 50s the costs come from savings or income.

In your 60s

From 60, super can be part of the picture if you’ve retired; ask a licensed financial adviser about your own. Age Pension age is 67, and because Vietnam is not a social security agreement country, you claim while living in Australia, up to 13 weeks before you turn 67. On our estimate the base rate leaves about A$650 a month spare for one person, before health insurance.

In your 70s

The old town is flat and walkable, which helps. The harder parts are the heat, with average highs of 33°C or more from May to August in Da Nang, and the drive to Da Nang’s private hospitals, which floods can cut in October and November. Smartraveller says serious cases can mean evacuation to Bangkok or Singapore. Of the 34 annual multi-trip policies in CHOICE’s May 2026 table, 31 reach 70; our guide to travel insurance for over 70s covers the age limits.

Your first steps

One order that works, from a first visit to living there. A month or a winter away needs only some of these steps. The right order for you depends on your health, your home and your money.

1. Ask for help first. Book a free planning session on Zoom, or contact our team. Once we understand your situation, we can point you in the right direction.
2. Spend part of an Australian winter in Hoi An on an eVisa, in an area you could rent long term. See trying before you move.
3. Come back in October or November and see how your street and the road to Da Nang hold up in the rain.
4. Talk it over with your family, including who would fly over if you got sick. See talking to your family.
5. Put your own numbers against the pension after 12 weeks away, with health cover and eVisa trips included. See living overseas on the Age Pension.
6. Find out what health cover you can get at your age, evacuation included.
7. See your GP, check each medicine is legal in Vietnam and get a doctor’s letter. See retiring overseas with a health condition.
8. Plan the year around eVisas of up to 90 days and the trips out between them. See what changes at home on a long stay.
9. Work out what happens to the house in Australia, and whether it counts for the pension while you’re away.
10. Rent short first, and sign a lease once you’ve seen the street in heavy rain.
11. Before you pay anyone for a visa or a property, read up on overseas retirement scams.
12. Tell Services Australia you’re going, and set up how your pension will be paid. See taking your Age Pension overseas.
13. Keep a plan for coming home, including how your pension and Medicare restart.

Questions people ask

Can I retire in Hoi An?

You can live there on a run of eVisas of up to 90 days, leaving Vietnam for each new one, because Vietnam has no retirement visa. Longer residence comes through family, work or investment. Your Age Pension keeps paying if you claim it before you leave Australia.

What does it cost to live in Hoi An?

Our estimate is about A$2,470 a month for a couple and A$1,810 for one person, rent included (October 2026), using Numbeo’s Da Nang figures. Health insurance, eVisa fees and the trips out between visas come on top.

Hoi An or Da Nang: which suits retirees?

Hoi An is a small, flat old town with villages and beaches around it. Da Nang, about 30 km north, has the private hospitals, the airport and a long city beach. Our Da Nang page covers its neighbourhoods.

Does Hoi An flood?

Yes. Wikivoyage says rain peaks in October and November and often floods the old town’s streets. In October 2025 parts of Hoi An had more than 1,000 mm of rain in 24 hours, Al Jazeera reported.

Is there a hospital in Hoi An?

Yes. The Australian consulate’s list has a general hospital with a 24-hour emergency service and English-speaking staff, and a city medical centre with Vietnamese only. Da Nang’s private hospitals are about 30 km away.

Is Hoi An good for over 60s?

For a winter away it can be. The drier months take in the Australian winter, one eVisa covers up to 90 days, and the old town is flat. Health care is the weak spot: Smartraveller says the standard in Vietnam is generally below Australia’s.

Is Hoi An good for over 70s?

It can be, with the right cover. The old town is flat, but serious care means Da Nang or evacuation further, and the heat from May to August and the floods in October and November are worth weighing.

Can I get travel insurance for Vietnam at 80?

Yes, though the choice is smaller. In CHOICE’s May 2026 table, 58 of 76 single-trip policies reach 80. Smartraveller says travel insurance must cover all medical costs, including evacuation.