Con Dao Island is located in the East Sea, about 97 nautical miles from the city of Vung Tau, and is endowed with stunning beaches shaded by evergreen trees, fresh air, clear blue water, and primeval forests with abundant wildlife flocking to the island’s sandy beaches.
Vietnam tours are famous not only for the beauty of nature, but also for the culture of Vietnam and the Vietnamese people. Travel to Vietnam, tourists can enjoy the calm and fresh air that only Vietnam has. It is really difficult to answer which is the most beautiful and famous place because all of Vietnam is beautiful. And one of these idea places is Con Dao Island. It will be a wonderful trip to Vietnam for tourists when they come to Con Dao Island.
On a trip to Con Dao Island, after a 45-minute drive from Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC, tourists will arrive at Co Ong Airport in Con Son Island, the largest of the 16 islands in the Con Dao district of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.
The road from the airport to the district center of Con Dao Island is over 13 km long and winds around the coastline with the sea on the left and the mountains and primeval forest on the right. Along the path are red paper flowers dotted with white cherries.
The first impression of downtown Con Dao is a peaceful urban area by the sea with clean roads shaded by almond trees and old bang lang trees. There is a lot of new infrastructure with offices, hotels, resorts, restaurants and residential houses that has brought life to the area that used to house the grim images of the old prison.
There are no taxis or buses, but tourists can take a xe om (mototaxi) for VND 300,000 per day to tour the island and the driver will be your local guide.
Tourists can also rent a motorbike for VND 100,000 to VND 120,000 per day or a bicycle for VND 30,000 per day if you are feeling adventurous.
There are also canoes with a price of VND5 million and capacity for 20 people. Visitors can spend the night in resorts, hotels or make a camp.
Although partially developed, the island is still sparsely populated, which is ideal for tourists who can appreciate the primitive atmosphere and, of course, the landscape and forget about the busy city life for a few days.
Con Dao Island is also famous for the notorious prison. In the second half of the 19th century, after invading southern Vietnam, French settlers founded Con Dao Prison, where they imprisoned patriot prisoners and political leaders of Vietnam and administered it with brutal aggression.
In the 113 years under French colonialism and invading American forces, more than 20,000 Vietnamese prisoners died in prison and were buried in Hang Duong Cemetery.
One of the star attractions of this region, the Con Dao Archipelago is slowly gaining attention for its early natural beauty. Con Son, the largest of this chain of 15 islands and islets, is surrounded by beautiful beaches, coral reefs and picturesque bays, and remains partially covered by thick forests. In addition to hiking, snorkeling, and exploring empty coastal paths and deserted beaches, there are excellent opportunities for wildlife viewing.
Con Son Island (with a total area of 20 square kilometers) is also known by its Europeanized Malay name, Iles Poulo Condore (Pulau Kun-dur), which means ‘Pumpkin Island’. Although it looks like something of an island paradise, Con Son was once hell on earth for the thousands of prisoners who languished in confinement during the French and American regimes.
About 80% of the island chain’s land area is part of Con Dao National Park, which protects Vietnam’s most important sea turtle nesting grounds. For the past decade, the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) has been working with local park rangers on a long-term monitoring program. During nesting season (May through September), the park sets up ranger stations to rescue threatened nests and move them to the safe haven of hatcheries.
Other interesting marine life around Con Dao includes the dugong, a rare and rarely seen marine mammal in the same family as the manatee. Dugongs live as far north as Japan and as far south as the subtropical coasts of Australia. Their numbers have steadily decreased and more and more efforts are being made to protect these adorable creatures. The main threats include the development of coastal roads, which leads to the destruction of kelp beds in shallow water, the dugongs’ staple diet.
Con Dao is one of those rare places in Vietnam where there are virtually no structures higher than two stories, and where the traveler experience is nearly hassle-free. One of the special things here for Con Dao travel tour is that there is not even a need to haggle in the local market. Due to the relatively high cost and inaccessibility of the islands, mass tourism has fortunately been reduced to a minimum.
These days, most of the visitors to Con Son are package tour groups of former VC soldiers who were imprisoned on the island. The Vietnamese government generously subsidizes these walks as a token of gratitude for their sacrifice. Foreign tourists are still few and far between, although their numbers are increasing.
The driest time to visit Con Dao is from November to February, although the sea is calmer from March to July. The rainy season lasts from June to September, but there are also monsoons in the northeast and southwest in autumn that can bring strong winds. In November 1997, Typhoon Linda did a number here: 300 fishing boats were lost, reefs washed out, and forests wiped out. September and October are the hottest months, though even then the cool island breezes make Con Dao relatively comfortable compared to Ho Chi Minh City or Vung Tau.
