Vung Tau guide: fast boat from Saigon, beaches, seafood and Con Dao ferry

Fast boat or road: getting there from Ho Chi Minh City

The most pleasant way in is the GreenlinesDP fast boat. GreenlinesDP says the trip takes about 90 minutes. In Ho Chi Minh City the boats now leave from Pier No. 4, opposite Ham Nghi Street, about 400 metres from the old Bach Dang terminal. The operator moved there on 28 August 2025, and older guides still give the previous pier. In Vung Tau, the company lists its ticket office at Ho May pier, 1A Tran Phu Street. It describes the route as running via Can Gio.

When we checked on 2026-10-03, the operator's notice of 25 September 2026 set fares from 1 October at 350,000 dong for adults on weekdays and 300,000 dong for seniors (63 and over) and children aged 6 to 11. Children under six travel free if they share an adult's seat. Its July 2026 notice had already put weekend fares at the same levels. GreenlinesDP does not publish a timetable online: its schedule page tells passengers to ask the hotline or Zalo (0988 009 579). Its boarding rules ask you to arrive at least 20 minutes before departure. The service stops now and then, for example from 14 to 16 September 2026 for work on the Vung Tau pontoon, so check before you plan around it.

By road, VnExpress reported that the Bien Hoa–Vung Tau expressway, almost 54 kilometres long, was due to open along its whole length on the afternoon of 18 May 2026. In its first phase it was open only to cars with fewer than nine seats, at up to 80 km/h. When finished, it is expected to cut the drive from Ho Chi Minh City to about 70 minutes. The road is still being worked on. On 29 September 2026 VnExpress reported cracks and subsidence on a stretch at Phuoc Tan after heavy rain, and the link with the new Ben Luc–Long Thanh expressway was not yet open. Coaches from Mien Dong bus station and the older National Road 51 remain the alternatives. At weekends and on public holidays, VnExpress's handbook warns, the town fills up and prices rise.

Front Beach and Small Mountain

Front Beach (Bai Truoc) faces west into the bay, so it gets the sunsets. It is better for a walk than a swim, with a seafront park and sea-view cafés, and the national tourism site suggests ending a day here to watch the sky change colour. From the beach, Ha Long Street follows the shore around the foot of Small Mountain (Nui Nho), lined with hotels, restaurants and cafés.

On Small Mountain stands Christ the King, the town's best-known landmark. VnExpress gives its height as 32 metres and its arm span as 18.3 metres. Building began in 1974 and it was inaugurated in 1994. A spiral staircase of 133 steps inside the statue climbs from the base to the arms, which serve as a viewing platform. Below the statue are three huge old guns, part of an 11-gun battery on the hill, each set in a sunken emplacement and linked by trenches and shelters. Vietnam Tourism suggests the climb as a family outing. Go early in the day, before the heat.

The Vung Tau lighthouse stands on top of the same hill. The French first built it in 1862 and rebuilt it in 1913, and the white tower is 18 metres high. VnExpress calls it one of the oldest lighthouses in Vietnam and recommends coming in the late afternoon or evening rather than at midday; from the top you look over the whole town. You can reach it by car or motorbike, or walk up the road along the hillside.

Big Mountain: Bach Dinh and the museums

Bach Dinh, the White Palace, is also known as Villa Blanche. It is a European-style mansion built in the late 19th century on the slope of Big Mountain (Nui Lon), facing the sea at 10 Tran Phu Street. VnExpress says it was used as a holiday residence by Paul Doumer, Governor-General of French Indochina. Vietnam Tourism describes it as a mansion built for the French governor and a good look into colonial domestic life. Nineteen old cannons are displayed in the grounds, and the gardens give the classic view back over Front Beach to Small Mountain.

Combine it with the Ba Ria–Vung Tau Museum on Tran Phu Street, which VnExpress pairs with Bach Dinh for a history morning, and with the Robert Taylor Worldwide Arms Museum at 98 Tran Hung Dao Street. Vietnam Tourism calls the latter Vietnam's only private weapons museum. VnExpress puts its collection at about 4,000 weapons, uniforms and pieces of military equipment from the 12th to the 20th century. Vietnam Tourism also points to the old French military outposts on the hills, built to guard the mouth of the Saigon River, some of which still have their cannons.

Further around Big Mountain, Thich Ca Phat Dai is a large Buddhist complex on the hillside. A seated Buddha is visible from far away, and statues retrace the life of the Buddha. Back in town, Thang Tam communal house holds the tomb of Ong Nam Hai, where the bones of some 180 whales are kept and worshipped. It was listed as a national historic site in 1991, and its Nghinh Ong whale festival takes place on the 16th to 18th days of the eighth lunar month. Dress modestly at the pagoda and the communal house.

Back Beach, Nghinh Phong Cape and the beach seasons

Back Beach (Bai Sau), also called Thuy Van after the road behind it, is Vung Tau's long open swimming beach on the south-east side of the peninsula. VnExpress calls it the longest and most beautiful of the town's beaches. Tam Thang Tower stands in the centre opposite Thuy Van Square. At the Small Mountain end, the small islet of Hon Ba sits just offshore.

Nghinh Phong Cape, whose name means "welcoming the wind", is the southern tip of the peninsula, below the Christ statue. A stone gateway on the slope above the sea is known locally as the "Gate of Heaven" (Cong Troi). VnExpress warns that the path is rocky and uneven, so wear proper shoes, and that the cape is windy enough to need a light jacket.

Check the sea before you swim. VnExpress reported in April 2026 that many swimmers on Back Beach, between Hon Ba and the end of Thuy Van Street, were stung by bristle worms (*Chloeia parva*) and jellyfish. A marine biologist it quoted said the worms multiply as the water warms in spring and summer, and that this is a seasonal effect rather than a sign of pollution. Front Beach has its own problem. In February 2026 the city's environment department said water hyacinth and debris from the rivers wash in twice a year, from late May to mid-July and from late August to the end of the rainy season. On busy holiday weekends, VnExpress also advises keeping an eye on your belongings and not swimming far out.

Onward by sea: Con Dao and Can Gio

Vung Tau is one of the sea gateways to Con Dao. The fast ferry Thang Long, which VnExpress describes as Vietnam's highest-capacity passenger fast ferry (77 metres long, up to 1,017 passengers), sails from Cau Da port in Vung Tau on a route of about 180 kilometres. On 1 August 2026 the ferry left Cau Da at about 7:30, lost two of its three engines an hour later and returned to Vung Tau. The operator refunded tickets and moved passengers who wanted to continue onto a sailing from Tran De. Spend the previous night in Vung Tau, keep a spare day before any flight home, and check the schedule with the operator when you book. GreenlinesDP also lists a Vung Tau–Con Dao route, again with schedules by hotline only.

In the other direction, a car and passenger sea ferry links Vung Tau with Can Gio, the coastal district of Ho Chi Minh City across the bay. VnExpress reported in January 2025 that the 15-kilometre crossing from Tac Suat pier in Can Thanh takes about 30 minutes instead of three and a half hours by road. Four ferries were running from 6:00 to 20:00 on weekdays and until 21:00 at weekends, roughly hourly. The figures are from that report, so confirm the current schedule locally. The ferry lets you combine Can Gio and Vung Tau in one trip without going back through the city.

A weekend plan

This is an editorial suggestion, not a timetable. Confirm the boat's departure times with the operator.

• Day 1 — Arrival and Front Beach: fast boat from Pier No. 4 in Ho Chi Minh City, banh khot for lunch, an afternoon swim on Back Beach, then sunset on Front Beach and seafood at the Xom Luoi market.
• Day 2 — The two hills: climb to Christ the King early, walk down to Nghinh Phong Cape, see the lighthouse, then spend the afternoon at Bach Dinh and the Ba Ria–Vung Tau Museum before the boat or the drive back.
• Extension: stay a third night for Thich Ca Phat Dai and the Robert Taylor arms museum, take the ferry to Can Gio, or catch the morning ferry to Con Dao.