Saigon To Vung Tau By Ferry Boat
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Taking the fast boat ferry between Saigon (Ho chi Minh City) & Vung Tau is one of Vietnam’s most underrated journeys. It’s a fascinating voyage from the skyscrapers of downtown Saigon, along several busy rivers, through mangrove forest, & across mở cửa sea khổng lồ Vung Tau (with a new, optional stop at Can Gio, near the river mouth). What it may lack in natural beauty, it more than makes up for in interest. Indeed, this journey is a more rewarding riverine experience than many Mekong Delta boat tours. What’s more, Vung Tau, especially during the week, is a very attractive, affluent, and peaceful seaside getaway.Even after the opening on an upgraded highway between Saigon & Vung Tau, taking the boat is still far more enjoyable, comfortable, và scenic. Going by bus, taxi, or motorbike is simply a means lớn an end; going by boat is an experience. Below is my full guide lớn the Saigon→Vung Tau→Can Gio Fast Boat Ferry.
One of Vietnam’s most underrated journeys: the Saigon↔Vung Tau fast boat ferry route is a fascinating ride
A new fleet of modern fast boats, operated by Greenlines, has replaced the old, characterful but unreliable hydrofoils that used to lớn ply the route (one of which famously caught fire on the river in January 2014). At around 2 hours, journey time is comparable khổng lồ going by road, although ticket prices are roughly twice the cost of the bus ride (but it’s well worth the extra expense). On this page I’ve written a full guide to lớn taking the fast boat ferry between Saigon và Vung Tau (including the optional stop at Can Gio). I’ve organized this guide into several sections:
Click an cống phẩm below lớn read more:
ROUTE MAP:Saigon↔Vung Tau Ferry Route
View in a LARGER MAP
SEARCH&BOOK TICKETS:*Please supportVietnam Coracle:you can tìm kiếm ferry times, prices, và make bookings directly from this page by using the Baolau.com tìm kiếm boxes & liên kết throughout this guide. If you make a booking, I receive a small commission. All my earnings go straight back into this website. Thank you.
Ferry Operators và Contacts:
The Greenlines trang web is very clear, well-presented, well-organized, and available in English & Vietnamese. Over the phone, staff are helpful but you may struggle to lớn get clear information if you conduct the gọi purely in English (even though staff on the other over of the line vị have some English, phone conversations are very difficult in a second language). Greenlines have ticket offices at the boat piers in Saigon và Vung Tau (and Can Gio). You can also find current times, prices, và book tickets through Baolau.com. Note:sailing times và prices are subject to change, especially due khổng lồ weather conditions. Always double check before you leave).
Greenlines is the the boat company operating daily ferries between Saigon & Vung Tau (and Can Gio)
*Please supportVietnam Coracle:you can tìm kiếm ferry times, prices, và make bookings directly from this page by using the Baolau.com tìm kiếm boxes & links throughout this guide. If you make a booking, I receive a small commission. All my earnings go straight back into this website. Thank you.
Schedules&Sailing Times:
The Greenlines fast boat scheduleis pretty simple & straightforward: there are four sailings a day in both directions on weekdays (Monday-Friday), with an extra two sailings a day on weekends (Saturday và Sunday). Journey time is 2 hours.
Can Gio Extra Stop: Two of the daily sailings in both directions make an additional stop at Can Gio, which is at the mouth of the river as it empties into the sea. Journey time from Saigon lớn Can Gio is 90 minutes, and from Vung Tau to lớn Can Gio is 30 minutes. Below are the two daily sailings that make the additional stop at Can Gio:
SAIGON→CAN GIO:8.00am, 2.00pm (arriving Can Gio: 9.30am, 3.30pm)VUNG TAU→CAN GIO:10.00am, 2.00pm (arriving Can Gio: 10.30am, 2.30pm)Weather permitting, most Greenlines boats depart/arrive on-time. But sailing times are liable to lớn change without notice if conditions are bad. If the weather has been particularly windy or stormy recently, check by phone or at the ticket office lớn make sure your boat is scheduled to lớn leave on time.
Greenlines boats sail 4 times a day in both directions with an additional 2 sailings on weekends
*Please supportVietnam Coracle:you can search ferry times, prices, và make bookings directly from this page by using the Baolau.com search boxes & liên kết throughout this guide. If you make a booking, I receive a small commission. All my earnings go straight back into this website. Thank you.
Ticket Prices&Booking:
SAIGON→VUNG TAU | VUNG TAU→SAIGON (one-way)
Adult:240,000vnd (weekends: 280,000vnd | holidays: 320,000vnd)Adult over 62 years:170,000vnd (weekends: 240,000vnd | holidays: 260,000vnd)Child 6-11 years old:120,000vnd (weekends: 150,000vnd | holidays: 180,000vnd)Child under 6 years old:freeBicycle: 100,000vnd (motorbikes are not allowed)SAIGON→CAN GIO| VUNG TAU→CAN GIO(one-way)
Adult
Tickets can be booked online, over the phone, or in person at the ferry piers in Saigon & Vung Tau
*Please supportVietnam Coracle:you can search ferry times, prices, and make bookings directly from this page by using the Baolau.com search boxes & liên kết throughout this guide. If you make a booking, I receive a small commission. All my earnings go straight back into this website. Thank you.
Departure&Arrival Ports:
The arrival and departure ports in Saigon và Vung Tau have changed since the days of the old hydrofoils. In Saigon, boats depart from Bach Dang Pier, in downtown District 1; in Vung Tau boats leave from the Ho May Tourist Pier, just west of Front Beach (Bãi Trước); and in Can Gio boats depart from the pier northwest of town. Taxis và motorbike taxis meet the boats at all ports:
SAIGON PORT: All fast boats khổng lồ Vung Tau (and Can Gio) arrive/depart from the Bach Dang Pier in downtown Saigon. Located right in the heart of the city, the Bach Dang Pier should be easy lớn find. However, make sure you go to the Bach Dang Fast Boat Pier (Bến tàu cao tốc trên không Bạch Đằng), not the Bach Dang Waterbus Pier (Ga Tàu Thủy Bạch Đằng). It doesn’t really matter, because the two piers are only a hundred meters or so apart, but that could make all the difference if you’re in a rush lớn catch the ferry. At the ferry terminal,you’ll find the Greenlines ticket kiosk. There’s a decent cafe on the pier where you can wait with a coffee or juice before departure time. From the pier, the views upriver back towards District 1 & Binh Thanh are impressive.
From Saigon, Greenlines boats depart from the Bach Dang Pier in downtown District 1
VUNG TAU PORT:Boats arrive/depart from the Ho May Tourist Pier, also known as Hòn rù rờ harbour. This port is at the northern over of Bãi Trước(Front Beach), beneath the green slopes ofNúi Lớn(Big Mountain) and the grand, French colonial Governor General’s House. Boats dock at the kết thúc of a long pier, which doubles as a restaurant and cafe. A handful of taxis meet the boats, or you can walk along the pleasant seafront road lớn the waterfront cafes và hotels. The Greenlines ticket kiosk is located at the port entrance, on Tran Phu Street.
In Vung Tau, Greenlines boats dock at the Ho May Tourist Pier, just west of the Front Beach (Bãi Trước)
CAN GIO PORT:The fast boat ferry port in Can Gio is a 5-minute drive northwest of the main town. It’s a fairly quiet place with a few food and drink shacks and a collection of wooden fishing boats & patrol ships floating on the muddy water, sheltering among the reeds.
Can Gio Port is an inlet off the main river, filled with wooden fishing boats
*Please supportVietnam Coracle:you can tìm kiếm ferry times, prices, và make bookings directly from this page by using the Baolau.com tìm kiếm boxes & link throughout this guide. If you make a booking, I receive a small commission. All my earnings go straight back into this website. Thank you.
The Boats:
Unlike the old hydrofoils – which looked pretty worn và forlorn – the new fast boats operated by Greenlines are clean, and, on the surface at least, well-maintained. All Greenlines vessels are painted blue and white. The crafts look quite smart from the outside, with pointy hulls và a speedy, aerodynamic appearance.
Soviet-era hydrofoils on the Saigon-Vung Tau route have been replaced by a fleet of modern fast boats
Boats are boarded at the stern, where there’s a decent covered deck with a bench và also two clean nhà vệ sinh cubicles. If, lượt thích me, you love boat journeys, then you’ll probably find that you spend most of the voyage sitting out on this back deck, watching the shipping & scenery pass by. But sometimes staff don’t allow passengers on deck, presumably because of rough conditions.
Best seat on the boat: all ferries have acovered back deck on which to lớn sit out & enjoy the scenery
However, inside things are just as good. A surprisingly wide, high-ceilinged, bright & clean cabin seats around 50-75 passengers. There are two or three rows of soft, coach-style seats with plenty of leg-room. The cabin is air-conditioned to lớn a reasonable temperature (not freezing cold as on some ferries in Vietnam). The windows are very large so you can enjoy the passing scenery from your seat. There’s even WiFi available. Complimentary refreshments include water, coffee và a cake. As well as that, there’s a little bar at the front of the cabin, selling pot noodles & soft drinks. The majority of passengers are foreign travellers, expats, and Vietnamese holidaymakers. Staff are young, quite friendly & polite. There are electrical sockets to plug your gadgets into, và there’s on-board WiFi, but it’s not that strong.
Inside, the cabin is large, bright and air-conditioned, & seating is comfortable, clean, spacious
On board ‘entertainment’ comes in the size of a TV which shows, depending on the whim of the captain, anything from terrible pop music to prank-style comedy khổng lồ Vietnamese soap operas. But the volume is mercifully low (unlike the fast boats to lớn Phu Quoc Island) so it doesn’t intrude into your headspace. It’s also good lớn bear in mind the reason for this entertainment: it’s not just khổng lồ pass the time on a 2-hour journey; it’s also to offer a distraction from the waves, especially for Vietnamese passengers who commonly suffer from travel sickness.
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On board entertainment comes in the khung of TV shows & pop music, but it’s at a reasonable volume
Ever since one of the old hydrofoils caught fire on the river in 2014, forcing passengers lớn evacuate onto the muddy riverbank (which was the beginning of the over for those Soviet-era relics on this route), safety has been a major concern, both for passengers and ferry operators between Saigon & Vung Tau. In general, Vietnam has a pretty awful maritime safety record, but things are changing. Also, it should be pointed out that travelling between Saigon & Vung Tau by road is statistically far more dangerous than taking the boat. All Greenlines ferries have life vests under every passenger seat. During the voyage, two engineers are constantly opening up the hatches on the back deck to check the state of the engine. The barrier on the back deck is a little low và the latch to the boarding gate could easily come loose: don’t lean on it, & take extra care if you’re travelling with children. Seasickness shouldn’t be a problem for most people, because the majority of the voyage is on placid rivers, but the last 30 minutes crossing mở cửa sea can be quite bumpy.
Safety measures include life vests under every seat, life rafts & regular engine checks during the voyage
Lastly, these new boats are fast. Not 30 seconds after maneuvering out of port, the main engines power up và the boat ploughs its course, dodging all the other sluggish vessels on the river, churning up a silver-brown wake of river water và water hyacinths behind it.
The new boats are very fast & churn up a trắng wake which occasionally showers the back deck
*Please supportVietnam Coracle:you can tìm kiếm ferry times, prices, and make bookings directly from this page by using the Baolau.com search boxes & liên kết throughout this guide. If you make a booking, I receive a small commission. All my earnings go straight back into this website. Thank you.
The Voyage:
The swif-looking Greenlines vessel casts off from the Bach Dang pier right in the heart of downtown Saigon.The gleaming high-rises of Saigon’s District 1 tower above the water as the boat drifts onto the swell of the wide Saigon River.
The Saigon-Vung Tau ferry pulls away from the pier in District 1 with the thành phố skyline behind
The city’s major waterway is a constant presence if you live in Saigon, but when you are actually onit, as opposed lớn just looking at it, it’s a totally different experience. Saigon appears serene; without the noise, heat, congestion, and pollution that blights it on street level: from the river, this is a calm, controlled, & even beautiful, city. The old ferry between District 1 & 2 used to lớn provide a similar experience, but since that went out of service with the opening of the Thu Thiem Tunnel in 2011, the fast boat lớn Vung Tau is one of the few ways to lớn see the city from the water.
Leaving the thành phố in its wake, the fast boat picks up tốc độ as it begins the 2 hour voyage to Vung Tau
Very soon after departure, the main engines kick in, the bow lifts up, and the tốc độ picks up. The boats are seriously fast, and if you sit out on the back deck (which I tend to vì for the duration of the voyage, if staff allow it) you’ll be sprayed intermittently by cooling showers of river water.
When the engines power up the boat churns the water white, spraying the back deck with river water
The Saigon skyline recedes, very quickly, into the distance; disappearing around a bend, reappearing on the horizon, then fading out of sight again as the boat moves through a chicane of meanders. These bends make the journey immediately disorienting: Saigon landmarks, such at the Lotus Building (the bitexco Tower) và the gleaming spire of Landmark 81 keep popping up lớn the east then khổng lồ the west; behind the boat then in front of it, then disappearing altogether. It’s impossible khổng lồ get your bearings.
A chicane of meanders on the Saigon River makes the journey immediately disorienting
Sailing downriver, the skyscrapers of downtown give way to the sprawling, apartment-filled suburbs, và the Saigon docks which line the riverbanks for many kilometres. It’s fascinating khổng lồ watch as the boat dodges all the different kinds of shipping: slipping between the bows of giant container vessels và freight ships, tugs và barges, fishing boats & canoes, tankers và warships.
Watching all the different boats on this increasingly busy shipping lane is a lot of fun
After passing beneath the soaring blade of concrete that is the Phu My Bridge,the boat veers right & joins the wider waters of the Dong Nai River. Continuing southwards into the Soai Rap River, the banks expand ever further apart, until they must span at least a couple of kilometres. Container ships are more numerous here but they’re made khổng lồ appear small on the mighty, muddy river.
Passing under the Phu My Bridge, a soaring blade of concrete over the Saigon River
With Saigon now out of sight, industry takes over. Warehouses, factories, oil depots, cement plants, coal, gas, wood, metal: the brawny industrial arm of the southern hub & all of the boats that supply it. It’s an utterly compelling sequence, so much so that you won’t want to sit down, go inside, or take your eyes off it for one minute for fear of missing something.
The brawny arm of the southern industrial hub: ships supply factories along the river banks
At the confluence of the Soai Rap và Long Tau rivers, an enormous new bridge is under construction. The fast boat continues straight ahead, due south on the Long Tau River. From here, greenery begins to lớn colonize the riverbanks: concrete becomes a rare sight, small wooden fishing boats cast their nets into the wide waters, & the sky looms large over the flat expanse of boggy, delta land.
Eventually, greenery takes over the riverbanks and industry fades away
In order lớn avoid a detour on the Long Tau River, the fast boat takes a shortcut through a narrow channel lined with mangrove. This is a tight waterway, not big enough for larger ships. The banks are close together and the distinctive splayed roots of the mangrove trees are clearly visible. Suddenly, after all the urbanity & industrial activity of the first half of the journey, it’s now easy to imagine yourself sitting on the back of the boat in Apocalypse Now as it winds its way into the jungle, ever closer lớn Colonel Kurtz. The scenery is exotic & atmospheric. However, I’m not sure how environmentally sound it is. Mangrove are supposed khổng lồ be one of the major lifelines for Vietnam if it is lớn avoid sinking into the ocean in the future. Their roots help anchor the land, which, in these swampy, delta regions, is nothing more than mud and silt. The waves from the wake of the fast boats surely can’t bởi vì any good lớn the stability of the mangrove trees.
A narrow channel provides a shortcut through mangrove forests and small fishing communities
After rejoining the meandering arm of the Long Tau River, the Phu My Hills rise khổng lồ the northeast. The water is brackish here: the colour changes, becomes lighter; the surface becomes ruffled as the wind picks up, và the banks are wider apart. The boat is nearing the mouth of the river. But before reaching the open sea, the boat may pull into the docks at Can Gio (if you’re travelling on one of the two daily sailings that include Can Gio).
Nearing the river mouth, the water becomes brackish và choppy, & large ships dwarf fishing boats
Out onto the mở cửa sea, rainy season clouds mushroom above the waiting container ships, threatening Vung Tau with a storm. The sea is rough and, for the first time, you can feel the vessel rising và falling with the swell. The air is clearer, saltier; the sky is bigger, the light sharper, the humidity lower – it’s hard not lớn get excited as you approach the rocky promontory under which the white structures of Vung Tau glint in the sun.
Out on the mở cửa sea it’s cooler và brighter, & the excitement builds as the boat approaches Vung Tau
Through the increasing amounts of spray on the back deck, Vung Tau’s skyline comes into view: high-rise hotels along the seafront, red-roofed villas crawling up the hillside. It looks lượt thích an island in the East Sea, surrounded by boats of all shapes and sizes, including oil rigs, which have played their part in making this province one of the wealthiest in the country.
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Vung Tau seen from the sea is a collection of hotels và houses at the bottom of Big Mountain (Núi Lớn)
It’s an exhilarating journey, but when the boat docks below Big Mountain (Núi Lớn) và the engines are cut, all that remains is the searing tropical heat & the sound of the sea lapping the concrete pier. It’s time khổng lồ make your way along the seafront road for a coffee or settle into one of Vung Tau’s harbour-view hotels, like Leman Cap Resort, for a relaxing mini-break.
These days Vung Tau is a very pleasant place for a relaxing mini-break by the sea
Disclosure: I never receive payment for anything I write: my nội dung is always không tính tiền & independent. I’ve written this guide because I want to: I lượt thích this ferry route & I want my readers to know about it. For more details, see my Disclosure và Disclaimer statements here
