Things to do in Con Dao in 2026

Côn Đảo is an archipelago 230 km south of Ho Chi Minh City. People fly here for what Phu Quoc and Nha Trang lost long ago: quiet and clean water. Tourist numbers are still low, the infrastructure is modest, and entry tickets start at just 40,000 VND (~$1.60).

The main island is Côn Sơn. It has the airport, a small town with hotels and restaurants, and all the on-land sights. The other 15 islands are uninhabited — you reach them by boat.

Below are the places worth 3–5 days on Con Dao: prices, coordinates, seasons and honest downsides. If you want the bigger picture — transport, where to stay, neighbourhoods — see the full Con Dao guide.

• Phú Hải Prison (Trại Phú Hải): Main prison compound — 40,000 VND (~$1.60), 07:30–17:00
• Tiger Cages (Chuồng Cọp): 120 cells with bars on the ceiling
• Hàng Dương Cemetery (Nghĩa trang Hàng Dương): 190,000 m², free entry — Grave of Võ Thị Sáu
• Con Dao Museum (Bảo tàng Côn Đảo): Island history — Prison artefacts
• National Park office (VQG Côn Đảo): Permit 50,000–60,000 VND (~$2–2.40)
• Đầm Trầu Beach (Bãi Đầm Trầu): Best beach — 14 km from town, white sand
• Nhát Beach (Bãi Nhát): Vanishes at high tide — Best sunsets
• An Hải Beach (Bãi An Hải): Town beach — Basic facilities
• Ông Đụng Beach (Bãi Ông Đụng): 1-hour hike — Snorkelling from shore
• Đất Dốc Beach (Bãi Đất Dốc): Six Senses resort beach
• Bảy Cạnh Island (Hòn Bảy Cạnh): Turtles, snorkelling, lighthouse — Boat 30–45 min
• Đầm Tre (Đầm Tre): Bamboo Lagoon — Snorkelling, 2-hour hike
• Con Dao Lighthouse (Hải đăng Côn Đảo): Viewpoint

Con Dao Prison — 113 years on the islands of horror

The Côn Đảo prison is the archipelago's main sight and one of the most sobering places in Vietnam. Over 113 years (1862–1975) roughly 200,000 political prisoners passed through it, and around 20,000 died here. A single ticket covering every site is 40,000 VND (~$1.60).

The prison consistently ranks first among Con Dao attractions on Tripadvisor. Everyone comes: Vietnamese visitors, for whom it is a place of remembrance, and foreign travellers, who tend to leave silent.

The Phú Hải prison complex

The French built the first camp, Trại Phú Hải, in 1862 — two years after taking Saigon. A prison on a remote island was ideal for isolation: nowhere to run, sea on every side. Six more camps followed: Phú Sơn, Phú Thọ, Phú Hưng, Phú Tường, Phú Bình and Phú An. Each was its own world of barracks, punishment cells and yards for forced labour.

Phú Hải is the largest. Long rows of cells, dark corridors, shackles bolted to the floor. Photographs of prisoners line the walls, and some cells are preserved as they were found at liberation.

You buy the ticket at the booth by the governor's palace. It gives access to all seven complexes, the museum and the palace. Hours are 07:30–11:30 and 14:00–17:00 daily. The lunch break is strict — don't try to get in between 11:30 and 14:00, the gates are shut.

The Tiger Cages — the grimmest part

Two camps hold the "Tiger Cages": the French ones (Chuồng Cọp Pháp) in Phú Tường and the American ones in Phú Bình. That is 120 cells with bars across the ceiling. Guards walked the upper level and could beat prisoners with poles or drop quicklime through the bars.

The cells are so cramped you cannot stand upright. In the heat, temperatures inside reached 40–45°C. Prisoners went months without fresh air.

The American cages were only discovered in 1970, when two US congressmen — Tom Harkin and Augustus Hawkins — came to inspect Con Dao and found cells Washington knew nothing about. The scandal hit the press and fed the anti-war movement.

Hàng Dương Cemetery

Nghĩa trang Hàng Dương is a memorial cemetery of 190,000 m² holding around 5,000 of the 20,000 who died in the prison. Many graves are unnamed.

The most revered is the grave of Võ Thị Sáu. She was 19 when she was executed on Con Dao in 1952, the youngest woman put to death in the Vietnamese resistance. Thousands of Vietnamese come every year with chrysanthemums and lotus.

A local tradition is a night pilgrimage around 3 a.m.; Vietnamese believe her spirit visits then. The cemetery is open around the clock and free to enter. Even if you have no interest in the mystical, a night visit leaves an odd impression: silence, candles, the tropics.

Con Dao Museum

Bảo tàng Côn Đảo tells the archipelago's story from colonisation to liberation. The newer museum has a well-laid-out exhibition: prison artefacts, photographs, documents, models of the camps. It is covered by the single ticket, and 30–40 minutes is enough. Start here if you want the context before the prison — the cells hit twice as hard afterwards.

💬 "Con Dao Prison was one of the most powerful things I saw in all my trips around Vietnam. The Tiger Cages are impossible to forget." — traveller reviews, Tripadvisor, 2025

The national park — 80% of the island protected

Con Dao National Park (Vườn quốc gia Côn Đảo) spans 5,998 ha of land and 14,000 ha of sea — about 80% of the main island, Con Son. Founded in 1984, it protects the ecosystem of all 16 islands.

On land, dense tropical forest with endemic species: the Con Dao leaf-toed gecko and the Con Dao black giant squirrel live nowhere else. Underwater, more than 400 coral species and the sea turtles that draw divers from around the world.

The highest point is Mount Núi Thánh Giá (557 m), with views over the whole archipelago and the open sea.

How to get a permit

Any route inside the national park needs a permit. It costs 50,000–60,000 VND (~$2–2.40) and is issued daily — each new day's hike means a new permit. There are two offices:

• Main office: 29 Võ Thị Sáu, Con Son
• Branch by the ferry pier: 36 Tôn Đức Thắng

Most trails you can walk on your own, without a guide. The exception is the route to Đầm Tre (Bamboo Lagoon), where a guide is required.

Con Dao beaches — from wild to exclusive

There are no crowded, lounger-packed beaches on Con Dao. Most are wild, with no facilities or just a café or two, and entry to every beach is free. After Nha Trang and Phu Quoc it feels like stepping back 20 years — to Vietnam before mass tourism.

Đầm Trầu — the best beach on the archipelago

Bãi Đầm Trầu is 14 km from Con Son town, next to the airport: white sand, dramatic rocks rising out of the turquoise water and a gentle slope into the sea. It offers the best odds of seeing green turtles while snorkelling — they feed on algae by the shoreline rocks.

Facilities are minimal: one or two cafés with coconuts and simple food (pho, seafood rice — 50,000–80,000 VND, ~$2–3.20). No umbrellas or loungers, so bring your own. The ride from Con Son by scooter is about 25 minutes along a scenic coastal road.

One quirk: the beach is briefly closed whenever planes land — the runway is right beside it. Flights are few, so it turns into entertainment: you watch a jet touch down almost overhead.

Nhát — the vanishing beach

Bãi Nhát lies 6 km southeast of Con Son. Its trick is the tide: at high water the beach disappears completely, and at low tide a strip of golden sand emerges among brown rocks, with crystal-clear water between the boulders like natural pools.

It is the best spot on Con Dao for sunsets — the sun drops straight behind the rocks and the scene looks like a postcard. Check a tide table before you go, or you risk finding only water.

An Hải — the town beach

Bãi An Hải is the closest to central Con Son, five minutes by scooter. It is handy for a daily swim: nip out in the morning, take a dip, be back for breakfast. There are a few cafés on the shore, loungers in the hotel zones, yellow sand, clean water and almost no waves.

Ông Đụng — the beach beyond a hike

Reaching Bãi Ông Đụng takes about an hour on foot from the national park office. The trail is paved — you cross the Ma Thiên Lãnh bridge, then 700 m through jungle with signs about the local flora. The beach itself is rocky, the water pristine, and you can snorkel straight off the rocks — coral starts about 10 metres out. Almost no one around.

You need a permit (50,000–60,000 VND, ~$2–2.40). There is no food or water at the beach, so bring your own.

Đất Dốc — the exclusive one by Six Senses

Bãi Đất Dốc belongs to Six Senses Con Dao, one of Vietnam's most expensive hotels (from 15,000,000 VND a night, ~$600). You can technically walk in, but without a guest wristband you will be politely turned away.

💬 "The water on Con Dao's beaches is the cleanest we saw anywhere in Vietnam. No litter, no crowds." — traveller reviews, Tripadvisor, 2025

Diving and snorkelling — the best in Vietnam

Con Dao is the one place in Vietnam where underwater visibility reaches 30 metres. For comparison: Nha Trang manages 5–10 m, Phu Quoc 10–15 m. The reefs here are barely touched. Divers are few — not because it is poor, but because it is far.

The best sites

Three main spots: Hòn Tai, Hòn Bảy Cạnh and Hòn Cau. Each island has its own underwater ecosystem.

Off Hòn Tai, walls of soft coral and shoals of barracuda. At Bảy Cạnh, turtles that feed and sleep right on the reef. At Hòn Cau, rays, moray eels and bamboo sharks (small, bottom-dwelling and harmless to people).

A story of its own is Đầm Tre (Bamboo Lagoon): a lagoon in the mangroves you reach on foot via a 2-hour jungle hike (guide required). Snorkelling inside is like an aquarium — clear water, coral near the surface, fish with no fear of you.

Prices and how it works

The island's only PADI 5-Star dive centre is Con Dao Dive Center, running since 2011 with a team of Vietnamese and foreign instructors.

Snorkelling without a tour

If you don't want to pay for an organised trip, you can snorkel on your own:

• Đầm Trầu — straight off the shore, by the rocks on the right. The coral is patchy, but fish and turtles show up
• Ông Đụng — after the hike (1 hour). Reefs start about 20 m out
• An Hải — by the rocks at the ends of the beach. Visibility is worse than at the islands, but fine for a quick snorkel

Your own mask and snorkel are a must-have. Rentals on the island are scarce and not always clean.

When to dive

The season is March–September, when the sea is calm and visibility peaks. Prime time is April–June. From October to February, waves and currents can make dives impossible and tours get cancelled.

Sea turtles — the reason to stay overnight

Con Dao is Vietnam's main sea-turtle conservation site. Every year from April to October, hundreds of green and hawksbill turtles crawl onto the beaches to lay eggs. The prime spot is Hòn Bảy Cạnh island, 30–45 minutes by boat from Con Son.

The overnight tour

The overnight tour to Bảy Cạnh is one of the more unusual experiences in Vietnam. In the afternoon you board a boat, ride 30–45 minutes across the sea and land on the island. Dinner is simple, cooked over a fire or a burner. After dark a park ranger leads the group (usually 5–10 people) to the beach — and you wait.

A turtle comes ashore in the dark. A heavy body of 100–150 kg drags slowly across the sand. She digs a pit with her back flippers, lays up to 120 eggs, and returns to the sea. The whole thing takes 2–3 hours.

Incubation lasts 45–60 days. With luck you might also see a hatchling release: rangers dig up a nest of hatched young and let them go to the water. Dozens of palm-sized turtles totter to the surf in the beam of a torch. Of 120 eggs, only 1–2 will reach adulthood.

Turtle tour prices

Watching is only possible in season (April–October), and only if a turtle chooses to come ashore that night. In the peak months (June–August) the chance of seeing a nesting is around 70%.

Hiking — trails through the jungle

Con Dao is not only beaches and history. The island has several well-marked trails through tropical forest. Every route needs a permit from the national park office (50,000–60,000 VND, ~$2–2.40).

The trail to Ông Đụng beach

The most accessible route: about an hour each way from the park office. The trail is paved, with signs about the plants and animals of the jungle. You cross the Ma Thiên Lãnh bridge, walk 700 metres of tropical forest and come out at a wild beach.

It is ideal for a half-day: take the permit at 7:00, set off at 7:30, reach the beach by 8:30 and swim until lunch. The difficulty is minimal, fine for families with children from age 7–8.

Đầm Tre (Bamboo Lagoon)

Tougher. Two hours through dense forest and mangroves to a hidden lagoon. The trail starts near the airfield and winds through jungle — you would get lost without a guide. This is the one route on Con Dao where a guide is mandatory.

The reward is worth the sweat: a lagoon ringed by mangrove forest, clear water, snorkelling like a natural aquarium.

Mount Thánh Giá (557 m)

The archipelago's highest point. The climb takes 3–4 hours each way. From the summit, a full panorama of all 16 islands and endless sea. It is a route for the fit: steep sections, heat and 80–90% humidity. Carry at least 2 litres of water and wear hiking shoes.

When to go

You can visit Con Dao year-round, but the difference between seasons is real.

The best compromise is March–April: dry, calm sea, the diving season opening, but the summer crowds not yet arrived. If turtles are your priority, June–August — just be ready for rain.

The worst time is September–October: storms, cancelled ferries, islands closed to boats. Arriving and sitting in your hotel for three days because no boat runs is a real disappointment.

Getting to Con Dao

By plane

The main and most sensible way. From Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) to Con Dao (VCS) fly Vietnam Airlines (~79 flights a week), Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways and Vietravel Airlines. Flight time is 1 hour 15 minutes.

Fares are 1,100,000–1,800,000 VND (~$44–72) one way. Book 2–3 weeks ahead — prices climb closer to the date and seats can sell out.

Côn Sơn airport (VCS) is tiny: one terminal, one runway. It is 14 km to central Con Son, taxi about 100,000 VND (~$4). Grab works, but cars are scarce.

By ferry

The Superdong ferry from Trần Đề (Sóc Trăng province) takes 2.5 hours and costs 310,000 VND (~$12.40) per adult, with one sailing a day each way.

The catch: you still have to reach Trần Đề from Ho Chi Minh City — a 4–5 hour bus. The plane is faster and often cheaper if you book early.

Getting around the island

A scooter is the only sensible option. Rental is 150,000 VND/day (~$6). The roads are good and traffic is a couple dozen scooters and the odd truck. You can circle the island in 2 hours. To rent, you will need a licence — an International Driving Permit is expected.

Prices and practical tips

Cost summary

Over 4 days a budget traveller spends around 5,500,000 VND (~$220) excluding flights. In comfort, 12,000,000–15,000,000 VND (~$480–600).

Practical tips

Money. There are only 2–3 ATMs in Con Son, so bring cash to spare. Cards are accepted only at bigger hotels and restaurants — carry a Visa or Mastercard, and don't count on cards elsewhere.

Food. Restaurants cluster in central Con Son, along the waterfront and on Nguyễn Đức Thuận street. The seafood is as fresh as it gets: lobster from 500,000 VND (~$20), crab from 300,000 VND (~$12), grilled fish 150,000–200,000 VND (~$6–8).

Connectivity. Mobile internet covers all of Con Son — Viettel and Mobifone are stable. On the remote beaches, signal drops. A local eSIM bought before you fly saves the hassle of a SIM shop.

Where to stay. Book at least 3–4 weeks ahead. The room supply is limited — there are no big chain hotels apart from Six Senses. Budget guesthouses start at 300,000 VND/night (~$12).

What to pack

• Cash (VND) — ATMs are few
• SPF 50+ sunscreen and insect repellent
• A mask and snorkel (your own beat the rentals)
• Closed shoes for hiking
• A red-light torch (for the turtles)
• A light windbreaker (it's cool on the boat and at night)

A ready-made 3–5 day plan

3 days (minimum)

5 days (comfortably)

Add to the three-day plan:

• Day 4: diving (2 dives) or a scooter loop around the island, stopping at every beach. Evening: grilled local seafood
• Day 5: the overnight tour to Bảy Cạnh (turtles) — leave in the evening, sleep on the island. Or the guided hike to Đầm Tre (Bamboo Lagoon)

FAQ

Where is Con Dao island?

Con Dao is an archipelago of 16 islands in the South China Sea, 230 km south of Ho Chi Minh City and about 80 km off the Mekong Delta coast. It belongs to Ba Ria–Vung Tau province. The main island, Con Son, sits at roughly 8°41′ N, 106°36′ E — the southernmost island group in Vietnam after Phu Quoc.

How do you get to Con Dao from Ho Chi Minh City?

Fastest is by air: a 1 hour 15 minute flight on Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet or Bamboo Airways, from about 1,100,000 VND (~$44) one way. The alternative is the Superdong ferry from Trần Đề port in Sóc Trăng — 2.5 hours on the water plus a 4–5 hour bus from the city. Flying is faster and often cheaper if you book 2–3 weeks ahead.

When is the best time to visit Con Dao?

For beaches, November–April, when it is dry and the sea is calm. For diving, March–September, with visibility up to 30 metres. For sea turtles, April–October. Worst months are September–October: storms, rain up to 348 mm a month, and cancelled boat tours.

What can you see in Con Dao in 3 days?

Day 1: the prison and Hàng Dương Cemetery (half a day), then An Hải beach. Day 2: a snorkelling tour to the islands or a dive trip. Day 3: hike to Ông Đụng beach in the morning, Đầm Trầu beach after lunch, sunset at Nhát beach.

How much does a trip to Con Dao cost?

A budget 4-day trip (excluding flights) runs around 5,500,000 VND (~$220). That covers a simple hotel, café meals, the prison and one snorkelling tour. A comfortable trip is 12,000,000–15,000,000 VND (~$480–600). A return flight from Ho Chi Minh City starts around 2,200,000 VND (~$88) if you book early.

Are there snakes on Con Dao?

The islands are home to several snake species, some venomous. Green pit vipers live in the park jungle, but on the beaches and in town snakes are rare. Wear closed shoes when hiking and watch the trail. In 40+ years of tourism on Con Dao there have been no serious incidents involving visitors.

Information current as of April 2026. Prices and conditions can change — check official sources before you travel.