About Tat Nang Waterfall (Thác Tạt Nàng)
The Tat Nang Waterfall (Thác Tạt Nàng) was an attractively wide, travertine-type waterfall possessing multiple segments during our mid-April 2025 visit.
Technically, our visit happened during the tail end of Dry Seaon so the waterfall took on a more disjointed look.
The waterfall is said to be 100m in height, which seemed to be quite a generous figure even if you include its downstream travertine cascades (it looked more like at least half of the reported height to me).
That said, it was certainly wider than it was tall so I had a hard time trying to capture and convey the extent of the waterfall through photos (even with its Dry Season flow).
The waterfall’s stream is said to be a combination of the Ta Xam and Ta Piu Streams, which might explain its pretty reliable flow year-round.
However, I’d imagine its late Wet Season (perhaps July to August) flow would be when the waterfall it’s the most impressive.
I believe that’s when the disjointed segments would likely merge and become more prominent despite its fronting vegetation conspiring to make the falls appear smaller than it really is.
The name Tat Nang is said to be from the Thai ethnic minority (who are prevalent in this part of the Son La Province) though there are varying interpretations of its meaning.
I’ve seen it claimed that tat meant waterfall while Nang was the name of the girl who gave her life jumping from the peak of Mount Tat Nam in the name of forbidden love (this type of legend seemed quite commonplace in Vietnam).
However, there’s an alternate interpretation saying that tat nang means “fairy” in the Thai minority language.
Regardless of its meaning, our visit here was quite straightforward as we first got to the car park (see directions) then paid 20k VND per person to visit.
After getting past a footbridge over the outflow of the Thac Tat Nang Waterfall, we then walked right up to the main waterfall where a fancy-looking building and some tables fronted it.
Upon exploring the extent of the Tat Nang Waterfall, I saw individual segments on either side of the thickest segment though the ones on the far right side were harder to access due to bridge washouts (as of April 2025).
Overall, we spent about 45 minutes away from the car, but the vast majority of that time was spent just exploring around the wide base of the waterfall covering a distance of no more than 800m round-trip.
Finally, I noticed that the Tat Nang Waterfall is often associated with the Chieng Hot Spring, which we didn’t wind up going to.
I understand that this attraction would be inviting to go to during the colder Winter months, which definitely wasn’t the case when we showed up during the hot weather of April.
Authorities
The Tat Nang Waterfall is near the town of Mai Chau, but resides in the Chieng Yen commune of the Van Ho District in the Son La Province, Vietnam. It may be administered by the local authorities of Chieng Yen. To inquire about current conditions, you may want to try the Vietnam National Tourism Authority website.
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