The cheapest ferry crossings in Vietnam are the short northern hops from Cai Rong to Quan Lan at around 150,000 VND, and the Ha Tien to Phu Quoc fast ferry at about 230,000 VND — under 10 US dollars — over roughly 1.25 to 1.5 hours. The priciest mainstream crossing is Vung Tau to Con Dao at up to about 1,250,000 VND, around 48 dollars, for a four to five hour run. Everything else sits between those poles. The rule that matters more than any fare: from October to March, rough seas cancel sailings with little warning, so book one to two days ahead in peak season and never tie a non-refundable onward flight to a single ferry date.
This page is a fare reference for the main tourist crossings only. For the door-to-door logistics of reaching Phu Quoc from the south — flight versus ferry, and which port to aim for — see our Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Quoc route guide, which this page complements rather than repeats.
Every main ferry route, priced
The table below covers the crossings most travellers use, with the standard adult one-way fare, operators, crossing time on the water, and rough daily frequency in season. USD is converted at 1 USD = 26,300 VND (see Methodology).
| Route | Operators | One-way fare (VND / USD) | Crossing | Daily sailings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ha Tien → Phu Quoc | Superdong, Phu Quoc Express, Ngoc Thanh | 230,000–340,000 / $9–13 | ~1h15–1h30 | 7+ |
| Rach Gia → Phu Quoc | Superdong, Ngoc Thanh, Phu Quoc Express | 280,000–350,000 / $11–13 | ~2h15–2h45 | 7+ |
| Hai Phong (Ben Binh) → Cat Ba town | Cat Ba Island, Mekong Hoang Yen | 200,000–280,000 / $8–11 | ~45–60 min | 4–5 |
| Tuan Chau (Ha Long) → Gia Luan (Cat Ba) | Cat Ba tourist ferry | see note | ~30–50 min + transfer | 4–6 |
| Tran De / Soc Trang → Con Dao | Superdong, Con Dao Express | 320,000–590,000 / $12–22 | ~2h–2h30 | 1–2 (fewer Oct–Mar) |
| Vung Tau → Con Dao | Con Dao Express, Phu Quy Express | 790,000–1,250,000 / $30–48 | ~4h–5h | 1–2 |
| Cua Dai (Hoi An) → Cu Lao Cham | Licensed speedboat co-ops | 190,000–300,000 / $7–11 | ~20–30 min | several (mornings) |
| Cai Rong → Quan Lan | Local speedboat lines | 150,000–250,000 / $6–10 | ~30–60 min | multiple |
| Cai Rong → Co To | Local speedboat lines | 200,000–250,000 / $8–10 | ~1h–1h30 | 1–2 (weather-dependent) |
The Ha Long to Cat Ba row reads "see note" because no clean per-passenger fare is reliably published for that tourist ferry; it is covered under Limitations. The Cham Islands figure is one-way, though that crossing is usually sold as a round trip.
Phu Quoc: Ha Tien is the cheap door, Rach Gia the long one
Phu Quoc has two mainland ferry ports, and the choice is mostly about where you already are. Ha Tien sits closest — about 45 km of open water — so Superdong runs it in 1.25 to 1.5 hours for around 230,000 VND, the cheapest and fastest door to the island. Phu Quoc Express runs a smarter 5-star catamaran on the same corridor for about 340,000 VND, both with seven or more sailings a day in season.
Rach Gia is the port most southern travellers default to — it links straight to the Mekong Delta and has an airport — but it is the longer crossing at 2.25 to 2.75 hours and a little dearer at 280,000 to 350,000 VND, with Ngoc Thanh usually the budget option. If you are deep in the delta, Rach Gia saves a road transfer; from anywhere near the Cambodian border or Ha Tien town, the shorter crossing wins on both time and money. Either way the ferry is only one way onto the island — many fly instead, and whether Phu Quoc earns the trip is a separate question we tackle in is Phu Quoc worth it.
Cat Ba, and the Ha Long boat question
Getting to Cat Ba from Hai Phong is simplest by passenger speedboat from central Ben Binh pier, which runs straight to Cat Ba town in 45 to 60 minutes for roughly 200,000 to 280,000 VND, four to five times a day. The cheaper vehicle-and-foot ferry to Phu Long lands you well outside town and needs road transfers on both ends, so it rarely beats the speedboat unless you are bringing a motorbike.
The common confusion is the "ferry from Ha Long to Cat Ba": there is no scheduled passenger ferry between the two. What exists is the Tuan Chau to Gia Luan tourist ferry across the northern channel — a 30 to 50 minute crossing that still leaves a 30 to 45 minute road transfer on the far side. Most people who want the bay itself go by overnight cruise boat instead — the economics are in our Ha Long Bay cruise cost guide, and the bay areas are compared in Ha Long vs Cat Ba vs Lan Ha.
Con Dao: two crossings, very different prices
Con Dao shows the widest fare spread of any island in the country, and it comes down entirely to your departure port. Tran De port in Soc Trang (sometimes labelled a Can Tho route since a 2025 merger, though the boat still leaves from Tran De) is the fast, cheap door at about 320,000 to 590,000 VND by class, for a two to two-and-a-half hour crossing on Superdong or Con Dao Express — the shortest sea crossing to the island from any mainland port.
Vung Tau is the crossing most Ho Chi Minh City travellers reach for, because the road there is far shorter than the long haul to Soc Trang. You pay for it on the water: 790,000 to 1,250,000 VND for a four to five hour run on the Con Dao Express or Phu Quy Express super-ferries, which resumed full operations in February 2026 after a seasonal pause. Independent guides — Vietnam Coracle's Vung Tau to Con Dao and its Soc Trang to Con Dao account — are the most honest records of how rough these crossings get. All Con Dao boats dock at Ben Dam port, where an arrival fee of about 18,000 VND per person applies.
Cham Islands and the northern hops
The Cham Islands (Cu Lao Cham) off Hoi An are the shortest crossing here — 20 to 30 minutes by speedboat from Cua Dai port. Fares run about 190,000 to 300,000 VND one way, though the trip is nearly always sold as a round trip at roughly 500,000 to 600,000 VND with the marine conservation fee folded in; a slower wooden boat is about 350,000 to 400,000 VND round trip. The full island logistics sit in our Cham Islands day trip guide.
Up north in Bai Tu Long Bay, Quan Lan and Co To are reached by speedboat from Cai Rong (and the newer Ao Tien terminal). Quan Lan is about 150,000 to 250,000 VND for a 30 to 60 minute hop, Co To a little further at 200,000 to 250,000 VND over one to one-and-a-half hours. These are the cheapest crossings in the table but the most weather-exposed — Co To thins to a sailing or two a day, or none, when winter seas get up.
The one rule that saves your trip
A cancelled boat wrecks an itinerary faster than any fare. From roughly October to March the northeast monsoon brings rough seas to both coasts, and typhoon season adds summer cancellations — in Hai Phong and Ha Long the port authority suspends every boat during a typhoon. Book one to two days ahead in peak season for a seat, and keep a buffer day before any non-refundable onward flight. To skip the sea gamble, flying to Phu Quoc or Con Dao is the safe play — see how the beach islands compare in Phu Quoc vs Nha Trang vs Da Nang.
Methodology
Fares were gathered in July 2026 from operator channels — Superdong and Phu Quoc Express — and cross-checked against booking aggregators (12Go, Bookaway) and independent guides (Vietnam Coracle for the Con Dao crossings). Where several operators or fare classes serve a route, the table shows the observed range, with the cheapest reliable operator setting the floor. Crossing times are time on the water, not door to door. USD conversions use 1 USD = 26,300 VND, the mid-market rate in July 2026; operators sell only in dong, so the dollar column is indicative and drifts with the exchange rate. Frequencies are peak-season sailings — expect fewer from October to March. These figures sit alongside the wider Vietnam travel cost index for the land legs of the same trip.
Limitations
These are published and observed fares, not locked quotes. Operators adjust prices by season and class, run promotions, and add port and conservation fees that are sometimes bundled and sometimes charged on arrival, so treat every figure as a close guide and confirm the live price at checkout. The clearest gap is the Ha Long to Cat Ba tourist ferry (Tuan Chau to Gia Luan): a stable per-passenger fare is not reliably published, and it is usually bought as part of a tour or transfer package, so that cell reads "see note" rather than carry an invented number. Two smaller routes — the Rach Gia to Nam Du and Hon Son hops, and the several slow car ferries to Phu Quoc — are left off because their fares and schedules change too often to price with confidence. Above all, none of these numbers survive bad weather: from October to March, and in the summer typhoon window, the sailing you booked can simply not run. For where ferries fit against buses, trains and flights across a trip, see getting around Vietnam.
Related on this site
- Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Quoc — flight-versus-ferry logistics for reaching the island from the south
- Is Phu Quoc worth it — whether the island earns the crossing at all
- Ha Long vs Cat Ba vs Lan Ha — which northern bay to base yourself on
- Cost of a Ha Long Bay cruise — the cruise-boat alternative to a scheduled ferry
- Vietnam travel cost index — how ferry fares sit in a whole-trip budget
- Getting around Vietnam — ferries against buses, trains and flights