Public beaches are defined as stretching 50 meters from the water, where no construction is allowed, Luu Xuan Hung, head of Ngu Hanh Son District’s Urban Regulation Department, said.

The violators include Pulchra Resort on Truong Sa Street, which has five villas on public beaches, and the Olalani Resort on Vo Nguyen Giap Street, which has a four-story structure that encroaches 130 square meters into the public beach area, Hung said.

All were built within the last decade.

Da Nang authorities used to allow resort investors to manage the beach area around their buildings.

But following public criticism that resorts tend to block public beaches from the public and reserve them to their customers, the city has changed its policy.   

It has started work to build roads leading to the beaches through resorts to give access to the public.

The coastal city, usually considered the third most important in Vietnam after Hanoi and HCMC, is a top tourist destination.

It received 7.6 million tourists last year, including 2.87 million foreigners, a 23.3 percent increase from 2017.