Using passenger buses and high-speed ferries, you can save costs to reach the 'most beautiful island in Vietnam.' However, without accurate information, you might end up wasting a lot of time.
10 Essential Tips to Keep in Mind When Traveling to Con Dao by Superdong High-Speed Ferry
1. The most time-efficient departure is at midnight from Saigon. Take a Phuong Trang bus to Soc Trang bus station around 5 am. From Soc Trang bus station, walk to the Superdong ticket office, have breakfast, and wait for the shuttle bus to pick you up at 6 am. The shuttle bus will take you to Tran De port before 7:30 am to catch the 8 am ferry to Con Dao.

2. Currently, Superdong high-speed ferry has two departures from Tran De port (Soc Trang) at 8 am and 1:15 pm, and two returns from Ben Dam port (Con Dao) at 8 am and 1 pm. Therefore, you need to be flexible in scheduling your travel time.

3. The distance from Soc Trang bus station to Tran De port is about 35 km. It will take you about an hour if you take the Superdong shuttle bus for 40,000 VND per person or a taxi for about 300,000 VND per trip.

4. To take the shuttle bus, you must pre-book tickets via hotline 0916.294.399. The bus picks up passengers at Superdong's ticket office at: 193 Le Hong Phong, Ward 3, Soc Trang City, departing at 6 am. For the return trip, there are plenty of waiting vehicles from Tran De port to Soc Trang bus station, Can Tho, or directly to Saigon, so you don't need to worry. However, mostly it's seated buses and the quality isn't as good as Phuong Trang, so you should consider.
5. From Soc Trang bus station to Superdong's ticket office is only 500m, you just need to walk.
6. From Ben Dam port to downtown Con Dao is about 12km, you can take a taxi on the island or take Superdong's shuttle bus. Book in advance via hotline 08.866.37.39.
7. You can buy Superdong high-speed ferry tickets in advance in Saigon at: 12 Nguyen Ngoc Loc, Ward 14, District 10, Ho Chi Minh City. Phone: (028)38 666 333. The price of high-speed ferry tickets is 310,000 VND/one-way.

8. It's advisable to book ferry tickets 2 weeks in advance. The closer to the departure date, the harder it is to buy tickets.
9. If you can't buy ferry tickets early, you can go to the ticket office to wait for last-minute tickets, but this only applies to a few cases or as a last resort because there may not be many tickets left.
10. Tran De port offers a motorbike parking area, so those traveling by motorbike to the port can conveniently leave their bikes overnight here.
By Tiểu Duy
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Reference: Travel Guide from Mytour
MytourJune 20, 2018