Does the scenic fee include the prison ticket or the boat?

No. From 1 August 2022 an adult scenic fee is 60,000 VND per person per route on routes 1–3 and 50,000 VND on routes 4–17, and the fee does not include ecotourism services. A relic desk cites 50,000 VND and a half-price 25,000 VND. The boat is separate.

Ho Chi Minh City

Con Dao

An island group off the south coast with a former prison, a national park and sandy bays. Tour the prison camps and Hang Duong cemetery, walk forest trails, visit the turtle islets, and eat grilled seafood at the night market. Two days suits history-minded travellers and nature lovers.

●●●●● Worth building a day around

Rain and the boats Dining and F&B The camps Hàng Dương The park

Photo: Lam Tr Th · CC BY-SA 3.0

TimeTwo days: the camps, then the park

Get thereFly to Côn Đảo (VVCS), a domestic aerodrome 10 km northeast of thị trấn Côn Sơn, elevation 6 m, operating window 2300–1100 with no timezone on the listing. Road minutes and the flight block: Check on arrival. The islands are 83 km from the Hậu river mouth, 185 km from Vũng Tàu, and 250 km from Ho Chi Minh City. Superdong lists Sóc Trăng–Côn Đảo at 08:00 and 13:15, return at 08:00 and 13:00, on boats of 306 passengers at 26–28 knots. Crossing time and fare: Check on arrival. No railway.

Best monthsCheck on arrival

You stand on the town shore of Côn Sơn, boats in the bay and casuarina along the sand, the forested ridge behind the roofs. The prison camps sit inland of that shore. Hòn Bảy Cạnh and the other turtle islets are a boat out from the same town, and a nesting night is a booked group.

Stay if the camps and the park are the reason you came. Go to Vũng Tàu if the mainland beach is the trip. The special zone is the whole former island district, under Ho Chi Minh City. Côn Sơn is the largest island. The count is 16, and also 14. Côn Sơn is given as 5,700 ha.

Cầu tàu 914 is the pier on the town’s main beach. Work started in 1873. The first sketch was 107 m. The pier is now more than 300 m long, nearly 5 m wide, and nearly 8 m wide at the end. Other documents use 871 or 917, and 914 is the number people use. Evening is the night market on Võ Thị Sáu and Phạm Văn Đồng, in front of the daily market, from 17:00.

Common questions

Does the scenic fee include the prison ticket or the boat?: No. From 1 August 2022 an adult scenic fee is 60,000 VND per person per route on routes 1–3 and 50,000 VND on routes 4–17, and the fee does not include ecotourism services. A relic desk cites 50,000 VND and a half-price 25,000 VND. The boat is separate.

Top attractions in Con Dao

Con Dao National Park Vườn quốc gia Côn Đảo

Forest-and-sea park across 14 or 16 islands: give it a day on a walk or a boat for the water and the forest.

5.0 ★★★★★ Editor

A day on the water or in the forest · 60,000 or 50,000 VND by route

Con Dao prison Nhà tù Côn Đảo

Prison camp system in town: walk the yards and the tiger cages across a morning or an afternoon.

5.0 ★★★★★ Editor

A morning or an afternoon · Check on arrival

Hang Duong cemetery Nghĩa trang Hàng Dương

Cemetery of about 20 hectares in town: walk the four grave zones after the camps.

5.0 ★★★★★ Editor

A stop after the camps · Check on arrival

Phi Yen temple An Sơn miếu

Temple for Phi Yến in town: offer incense from 07:00 to 19:00 on đường Hoàng Phi Yến.

4.0 ★★★★☆ Editor

A short stop in town · Check on arrival

Hon Bay Canh Hòn Bảy Cạnh

Turtle nesting islet: boat about 45 minutes from the town jetty, then walk the long beach and the hill.

4.0 ★★★★☆ Editor

The boat, then the visit · 60,000 VND scenic fee. Boat: Check on arrival

Van Son Pagoda Vân Sơn tự

Pagoda on Núi Một, 1.6 km from town: walk the halls from 07:00 to 18:00.

4.0 ★★★★☆ Editor

A stop on the hill · Check on arrival

Events

Phi Yen memorial Lễ giỗ bà Phi Yến

17–18 of the 10th lunar month at An Sơn miếu. Solar dates move. Check on arrival.

National intangible heritage, held on the 17th and 18th of the 10th lunar month at An Sơn miếu.

Turtle night and release Xem rùa biển đẻ trứng và thả rùa con

Night 18:00–06:00. Release 05:30–07:30 when there are hatchlings. Nesting months: check on arrival.

A booked group watches a nesting turtle at night or releases hatchlings in the morning, after a briefing.

Vo Thi Sau memorial Lễ giỗ Anh hùng lực lượng vũ trang nhân dân Võ Thị Sáu

22–23 January 2026 for the 74th memorial. Vigil 09:00 on 23 January 2026 at Hàng Dương. Later years: check on arrival.

The special-zone notice of 29 December 2025 set the 74th memorial on 22 and 23 January 2026, the span 23 Ja…

Side trips from Con Dao

Ho Chi Minh City

Former Saigon in the south, with Thảo Điền, Japanese streets, and Chợ Lớn.

Vung Tau

A beach city on a peninsula near Ho Chi Minh City, with sandy bays and a hilltop Christ statue.

Can Tho

A Mekong Delta city on the Hau River, best known for the Cai Rang floating market at dawn.

Con Dao by interest

Dining and F&B

The camps

Hàng Dương

The park

The turtle islets

Shopping

Resort Living

Getting there and around

Côn Đảo airport is VVCS, 10 km northeast of thị trấn Côn Sơn. Customs and immigration are không. There is no railway on the island. Taxi and hire car are the town transport.

Superdong lists Sóc Trăng–Côn Đảo at 08:00 and 13:15, and the return at 08:00 and 13:00, on boats of 306 passengers at 26–28 knots. Sóc Trăng and Trần Đề are the mainland ends. Times can change with the tide and the weather. Two island desks are listed: Lê Duẩn, opposite the treasury, in thị trấn Côn Sơn, and Trần Phú, khu 6. Two Trần Đề desks are also listed, one of them now under Thành phố Cần Thơ.

Ông Đụng is about 3 km west from the town centre, almost an hour on the Sở Rẫy trail, and about 25 minutes back past Cầu Ma Thiên Lãnh. A second “about 3 km” runs past the national park up to that unfinished bridge. A boat to Hòn Bảy Cạnh is about 45 minutes, to Hòn Tài about 25 minutes, and almost an hour afloat before Hòn Tre Lớn. The nearly two-hour forest walk after a car or motorbike toward the airfield is the walk, not the taxi time to the beach.