First published May 2025 | Words and photos by Vietnam Coracle
Tom Divers is the founder & creator of Vietnam Coracle. He’s lived, travelled & worked in Vietnam since 2005. Born in London, he travelled from an early age – his first trip to Vietnam was in 1999 – visiting over 40 countries. Now, whenever he has the opportunity to make a trip, he rarely looks beyond Vietnam’s borders & his trusty motorbike, Stavros. Read more about Tom on the About Page, Vietnam Times and ASE Podcast.
It is now possible to travel by ferry from downtown Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to the Côn Đảo Islands on a fast boat operated by Phú Quý Express. (This is in addition to the direct Ho Chi Minh City→Côn Đảo ferry operated by Côn Đảo Express, which was temporarily out of service at the time of writing, but will probably have resumed by the time you read this.) The 6-hour voyage sails from Nhà Rồng Port, conveniently located near central Ho Chi Minh City, to the new passenger terminal on Côn Sơn (the main island in the Côn Đảo Archipelago), also conveniently located on the town’s beautiful seafront road. The 300-person capacity vessel is clean and quite comfortable, offering passengers seats or beds for the voyage. Motorbikes and vehicles are not allowed onboard, but bikes can easily be rented after disembarkation on Côn Sơn Island. Sailings are every other day in both directions but, as with all boat services to the Côn Đảo Islands, they are subject to change depending on weather conditions. Ticket prices are roughly half of what a flight to the islands would cost. The voyage is fairly long but fun if you enjoy travelling by sea, as I do.
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HCMC→CON DAO BY FERRY
On this page, I’ve written a complete guide to taking the Phú Qúy Express ferry between Ho Chi Minh City and Côn Sơn Island, in the Côn Đảo Archipelago. I’ve included a map and all relevant information for travellers on this ferry route (see Contents below). For more ferry options to the Côn Đảo Islands and links to my other guides to the archipelago, see Related Posts. And, if you enjoy this guide, please support Vietnam Coracle. You might also be interested in purchasing my complete Côn Đảo Islands Travel Guide PDF.
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ROUTE MAP:
HCMC→Côn Đảo by Ferry
About this Ferry:
This fast ferry route is operated by Phú Qúy Express. But the name is misleading: Phú Qúy is an island off the coast of Phan Thiết, in south-central Vietnam, and has nothing to do with the Côn Đảo Islands. Phú Qúy Express has been operating on the Phan Thiết→Phú Qúy route for several years, and now they are branching out on the Ho Chi Minh City→Côn Đảo route. This is the first viable ferry connection from Vietnam’s biggest city to one of it’s most beautiful and remote islands. Although the Côn Đảo Express (also called Phú Quốc Express) started operating on the route in 2024, it ceased after just a few months, because the passenger terminal in Ho Chi Minh City was located too far from the city centre. (It remains to be seen whether or not the Côn Đảo Express will resume this route.) Now, with the opening of the Phú Qúy Express route, passengers leave from Nhà Rồng Port in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, which is much more convenient and easy to reach. This ferry route is yet another addition to the growing network of boat connections between the mainland and the Côn Đảo Islands (see Related Posts for all other ferry routes.)
Times & Prices:
Travellers should bear in mind that the sailing schedule on this route (and indeed all other boat connections to Côn Đảo Islands) is subject to change and, during very rough seas, boats may not sail at all, sometimes for days at a time. In general, the rough season is November-February. Below is the sailing schedule at the time of research (May, 2025). Journey time is between 6-7 hours and the ship has capacity for over 300 passengers. Note that ticket prices are higher on weekends and public holidays. (For booking information and seat types, please see Booking Tickets.)
Sailing Schedule:
| Route | Departure Time |
| HCMC→Côn Đảo | 7.00am (Mon, Wed, Sat) |
| Côn Đảo→HCMC | 11.30am (Tues, Thurs, Sun) |
Ticket Prices:
| Day | Ticket Price |
| Monday to Thursday | 990,000vnđ (seat), 1,150,000vnđ (bed) |
| Friday to Sunday & public holidays | 1,090,000vnđ (seat), 1,260,000vnđ (bed) |
Booking Tickets:
Booking tickets online via the Phú Qúy Express website is a fairly easy process (see below). However, at the time of research, the website is in Vietnamese only. But you can use your browser’s translate function, which works pretty well. The online booking process is as follows:
- Go to the Phú Qúy Express booking page (www.phuquyexpress.vn/dat-ve)
- Select ‘One way’ (Một Chiều) or ‘Round-trip’ (Khứ Hồi).
- Select the route (Sài Gòn→Côn Đảo or Côn Đảo→Sài Gòn), the number of passengers and the date of travel from the drop-down lists, then hit the ‘Book Tickets’ (Đặt Vé) button.
- Now select your seat from the cabin map: the lower deck (khoang dưới) is mostly bunk beds (giường) that are marked in red; the upper deck (khoang trên) is mostly soft seats (ghế) that are marked in blue. Unless you want to lie down for the voyage, I would recommend booking a soft seat (ghế) on the upper deck (khoang trên). Hit the ‘Book Tickets’ (Đặt Vé) button to continue.
- Next, you need to enter your personal details: name, nationality, email, passport number, date of birth, phone number. Then hit the ‘Book Tickets’ (Đặt Vé) button.
- Now choose your method of payment from the buttons: international card, Vietnamese card, or QR code via Zalopay. (You can use the translate function on your browser to identity methods of payments if necessary.)
- After successful payment you should receive your confirmation and e-ticket by email. However, in my case, I did not receive an email so I had to contact Phú Qúy Express by phone and they sent the ticket via Zalo.
Booking tickets is also possible over the phone or Zalo ([+84] 0908 650 584), but you will need to speak some Vietnamese is order to do so. Try to book at least a few days or a week in advance, especially during the peak summer months and public holidays, during which tickets can sell out fast. Note, once again, that sailings can be delayed or cancelled in rough weather.
Departure & Arrival Ports:
Both ports (in Ho Chi Minh City and on Côn Sơn Island) are conveniently located. In Ho Chi Minh, the boat arrives and departs from the historic Nhà Rồng Port; and on Côn Sơn, the boat comes and goes from the new Cảng Tàu Khách passenger terminal. There are free electric buggies at both ports to ferry passengers to/from the boat. Passengers should get to the port 30-45 minutes before departure. See below for details:
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Ho Chi Minh City: Nhà Rồng Port [MAP]
Located on the west bank of the Saigon River in District 4, the Nhà Rồng Port is very close to central Ho Chi Minh City and easily reached by taxi or motorbike (there’s a bike parking lot at the entrance to the port, if you want to drive there and leave your bike for a few days). Nhà Rồng refers to the pink French colonial building, which was the original port house (now the Ho Chi Minh Museum), famous as the port from which Uncle Ho set sail in 1911, not to return again until 1941. The Phú Qúy Express boat leaves a little further south of this building, along the main harbourfront. Follow the signs and board one of the free electric buggies to reach the boat. There’s very little at the port, apart from a couple of vendors.
Côn Sơn Island: Cảng Tàu Khách Port [MAP]
Accessed via a long concrete pier out into the bay, the Cảng Tàu Khách passenger terminal is a new glass building that resembles a domestic airport more than a seaport. The structure has two, large, covered waiting halls (both are usually empty) and a couple of drinks and snacks vendors, as well as toilets. The port is located at the western end of the beautiful seafront road (Tôn Đức Tháng) in Côn Sơn town. Taxis meet the boats, but you could potentially walk to many of the town’s accommodations from the port. Free electric buggies connect the port building with the boats at the end of the pier.
The Boats:
The Phú Qúy Express is a fairly small but modern catamaran vessel painted blue and white. Inside, there are two decks of soft, reclinable seats and dozens of rows of bunk beds arranged in large, communal, air-conditioned cabins. Beds outnumber seats, so most of the boat’s 300 passengers are lying down during the voyage, which is initially a rather strange sight. Seats are comfortable, but if the passenger in front of you decides to recline their seat, you are left with a laughably small amount of legroom. Beds are fine, but you’ll have to spend the voyage lying down. There are electrical sockets in the cabins where you can charge your devices, and there’s onboard Wi-Fi that’s surprisingly decent for about half of the voyage. Refreshments come in the form of pot noodles, boiled eggs, soft drinks and Vietnamese iced coffee, all served from a makeshift ‘canteen’, which is no more than a refrigerator and a countertop. It’s a good idea to bring your own picnic. Drinking water is provided for free from a water dispenser. The toilets on both decks are kept clean and are totally acceptable by most standards.
In calm conditions, the 6-7-hour voyage passes quietly apart from the excitement of boarding and disembarkation which, although orderly, can be a bit loud and crowded. However, I would imagine that on a relatively small boat such as this, sailing in rough conditions would be pretty uncomfortable, a little unsettling and, given that many Vietnamese passengers are prone to seasickness, quite unpleasant. (There appeared to by adequate safety equipment onboard, such as life jackets and a life boat.) But, in good weather, the voyage is relaxed and uneventful, with many passengers choosing to spend the time sitting outside on the shaded back deck, enjoying snacks, conversations and watching the scenery pass by. There’s also a (very windy) front deck at the ship’s bow.
The Voyage:
Passengers assemble on the quayside in the muted early morning sunlit. The high-rises of downtown Ho Chi Minh City lining the Saigon River glint silver, towering above the calm, brown water. A crowd forms by the gangplank to board the boat. There’s always a slightly nervous sense of excitement before a voyage such as this in Vietnam. Passengers find their seats and beds before heading out on deck to take photos, chat and gaze at the city skyline. The boat starts without a sound, drifting out of dock and sliding slowly downstream on the river. The banks are lined with condos and cranes as the boat weaves left and right to avoid large container ships chugging into port. The river meanders for mile upon mile, and the boat is not permitted to go full speed until it reaches the open sea, so it takes almost 2 hours to reach the estuary. Inside the cabins, the atmosphere is relaxed, informal and surprisingly quiet as passengers settle in for the relatively long journey. I prefer to spend my time on deck, watching the low-rise coast of the Mekong Delta recede into the distance and staring up at the giant wind turbines that form ranks around the mainland as if protecting it from potential invaders.
After hour 3 or 4 the colour of the water changes from brown to blue. Now we’re really at sea and the boat ploughs due south at full speed towards the islands. Apart from the occasional fishing boat, the sea is featureless until the distant silhouettes of the Côn Đảo Archipelago come into view. With the islands in sight, passengers begin to emerge on deck to get a first glimpse of their destination. The islands grow steadily bigger and greener. The boat passes through a narrow channel between Côn Sơn and Bảy Cạnh, the two biggest islands in the archipelago, before making a final arc towards the passenger terminal on the seafront of Côn Sơn town.
*Disclosure: I never receive payment for anything I write: my content is always free and independent. I’ve written this guide because I want to: I like this ferry and I want my readers to know about it. For more details, see my Disclosure & Disclaimer statements and my About Page
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