BA RIA – VUNG TAU – In addition to airplanes, visitors can use speedboats, boats and helicopters to move to Con Dao.
According to a notice from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam on August 8, Con Dao airport will be closed for 9 months, from March 2023, to upgrade.
After the airport closes, visitors can still travel by air from Vung Tau airport, via a helicopter service operated by the Southern Helicopter Company.
There are two return flights per week on Friday and Sunday, departing from Vung Tau at 13:30 and expected to arrive at Con Dao at 14:30. On an opposite afternoon, the helicopter left Con Dao at 15:30, expected to arrive in Vung Tau at 16:30 on the same day. The price is 2.2 million dongs for an adult and 1.98 million dongs for a child from 2 to under 12 years old (under 2 years old is free).
Maximum number of passengers in a flight is 22 people. Each passenger is allowed up to 5 kg of hand baggage and 10 kg of checked baggage. To ensure the price, visitors should go directly to Vung Tau airport to book tickets.
Besides, visitors can take a speedboat from Vung Tau, Soc Trang and Can Tho to Con Dao. All waterways to Con Dao arrive at Ben Dam port.
In Vung Tau (Cau Da port), Con Dao Express, Phu Quoc Express and GreenLines DP airlines have ships to Con Dao. Price 790,000 VND per ticket on weekdays, 950,000 VND per ticket on three weekends (from Friday to Sunday). Travel time is about 4 hours.
At Soc Trang (Tran De port), Con Dao Express, Phu Quoc Express and Superdong airlines have ships to Con Dao. The price of Con Dao Express and Phu Quoc Express is 390,000 VND per ticket on weekdays, 450,000 VND per ticket on weekends (Friday, Saturday, Sunday). While Superdong is priced at 364,000 VND per ticket all days. Travel time is about 2 hours.
Con Dao Express is the only company that has a high-speed train to Con Dao from Can Tho (Ninh Kieu wharf). Price is 750,000 VND per ticket on weekdays, and 850,000 VND per ticket on weekends (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). Travel time is about 3 hours.
If you have a lot of time and want to save money, you can use the boat service from Vung Tau (Cat Lo port). Boat CQ-03 has a travel time of about 8 hours, seat price is 390,000 VND per ticket, bed is 590,000 VND per ticket.
Meanwhile, ships TD09 and CD10 have the same travel time of about 12 hours. CD09 has a seat ticket of 85,000 per ticket and a bed of 150,000 per ticket. While with CD10 it is 150,000 and 200,000 each ticket, respectively.
Currently, the Ben Dam Port Management Board still restricts the number of ships entering and leaving the port, only allowing 2 ships a day. Therefore, it is not every day that shipping lines have a trip to Con Dao. Visitors need to be sure of the schedule, book a week in advance and buy a return ticket. Also, be prepared with anti-sickness medication.