Top 5 best islands near Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

A few hundred kilometers away, there are extremely beautiful paradises for Saigon residents. It is a sweet Phu Quoc, Con Dao poetic, Thanh An peaceful, Thieng Lieng wild, Long Son green. Do not miss these beautiful islands to refresh your experience, as you hide from the hectic pace of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). Now, let’s discover top 4 islands near Ho Chi Minh City below in the details.

1. Phu Quoc — Four seasons appointment

Phu Quoc is very attractive where many resorts, entertainment places grow. This is also a reason why even in the off season, Phu Quoc is always attracted, visitors.

You will have the answer when you start exploring Phu Quoc on green and salty sea routes. If you do not stay at coastal resorts, you can also enjoy the fresh air of Phu Quoc in the bungalows such as the small villas in the forests. Cycling around Phu Quoc Island is not ideal because there is no wind or the wind, but walking in the shade garden is a cute experience.

Phu Quoc is not only a sea paradise; it is also a food paradise. In the day is eat in the restaurants at 30/4 Street. Otherwise, in the evening, wandering in Bach Dang night market, where the unforgettable flavor of Phu Quoc sauce in the salad of sweet and sour fish salad, spicy, it is so seductive. A plate of sweet steamed shrimp, fir, some grilled burgers or greasy cream greasy butter fish custard also enough to feel fascinated. Every dish, each stall has a very unique style of sauce mixing. Even the spring rolls, roasted beef rolls along the road also have a specific sauce.

No having a large a sand beach as Da Nang, but Phu Quoc has green beaches, Beach Sao, beach Lang, Khem beach or desert coast in Mong Tay, May Rut as a placard of the Maldives. You can wander all day in Suoi Tranh which has a good beauty as fairy tale. In the winter, watching water flows as silk line. In dry season, strolling on the marble which next to the rustling forest in the sun. A quiet moment, watching the sunset in Dinh Cau, the bright pink of the sun on the sea is enough to love, to remember. And in the package of visitors will contain myrtaceae honey bottles, myrtaceae wine of this beautiful land.

Further information

Weather: The average temperature is 27 – 28 ° C

In dry season: From October to March, strong wind.
In rainy season: From April to October, strong wind.
The best time to visit Phu Quoc: April – June and Late Oct can be a good time to visit Phu Quoc with less crowds, cheaper prices and fairly good odds of reasonable weather. You will find that April and May are the hottest months with temperatures reaching 35 degrees and humidity around 80% to 85%.

Saigon to Phu Quoc

By airplane: From Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Quoc: Vietnam Airlines and VietJetAir, Time: 1 hour.
By bus or train: Western parking place, from Ho Chi Minh to Ha Tien(Rach Gia), time: 8-9 hours. Super-speed boat, Rach Gia- Phu Quoc (Superdong 2, Superdong 3, Superdong 4 toll dock and Savana Express to Ham Ninh port), time: 2 hours 30 minutes.

2. Con Dao — Land of steel flowers

This island consists of 16 small islands and you only take 1 hour from Ho Chi Minh City. The distance from the airport to the center of the island which opens up a panorama of the sea embracing that you can only see in blockbuster movies.

Although you choose the small motels or luxury resort next to the beach, or romantic camping area on the rustle poplars along the wind of Con Dao, peace is strange. The streets of white lime, contrast with the color of red paper flowers, with purple giant crape-myrtle, brilliant yellow messages on both sides of the road. No far from there, you will see An Hai lotus flower and water lily lake blooming in the sunshine from September to December. Around the streets, you also encounter a black squirrel appear and lost in the bowels along the road. The best thing you can do that you can get acquainted with a local tour guide, who will take you to trekking Ong Dung forest, go to the small islands watching the sunset, scuba diving or go buy specialties Con Dao as gifts for your friends. The feeling of going under the tall green leaves of the jungle so the sunshine and the heat of the sun will become cool. This is not to mention the exciting experience at the end of the forest, where there is a beach with a romantic pebble beach. If you are lucky, you will be amazed when you find a giant snail that is “camouflaged” next to the rough slabs stone.

Con Dao is also known as a spiritual destination where you can see the evidence of a period of dramatic time. But let’s spend the morning at the island to visit the relics by booking a tour to hear the sweet Con Dao girl’s voice take you gently through a traumatic history. Then, only peace, enjoy the air and beauty of this island which turned into paradise on earth.

Further information

Saigon to Con Dao Island

By Airplane: Ho Chi Minh City – Con Dao (nonstop) Vietnam Airlines. Flight time: 1 hour
By High-speed train: From Ho Chi Minh City (Bach Dang Wharf) (20 dollars/ticket). Time: 4.5 hours.

Weather: Average annual temperature of 27 ° C

May – November: the rainy season, short rain, smooth waves, warm sunshine.
December – April: dry season, sunny.
March – September: smooth waves
October – February: big waves (east)
The best time to visit Con Dao: When to go and weather. The driest time to visit Con Dao is from November to February, although the seas are at their calmest from March to July. The rainy season lasts from June to September, but there are also northeast and southwest monsoons from September to November that can bring heavy winds.

3. Thanh An Island — A peaceful corner of Saigon

Thanh An Island is located in Can Gio District, about 50 km east of Ho Chi Minh City and about 8 km from Can Gio District. Thanh An is the wild and peaceful place. It is home to about 5,000 people, mainly living in fishing, salt making and caring for the forest.

Thanh An does not have many travel services or luxury facilities like in the center of Ho Chi Minh City, but here, you will certainly not regret it by peaceful scenery, simple people and especially food, but it is very cheap and fresh. The boat has just landed, including shrimp, mantis shrimp, octopus, fish, squid … enough for you to choose. You can buy right here and ask the local people for cooking. Except for seafood, at the market on the island also sell snacks such as noodles, rice noodles, rice cakes, steamed bread, grilled chicken legs, skewers, grilled fish, baked rolls, baked bananas …

The scenery of Thanh An may not be so sparkling which make people wonder, but the simple life, the smile and the enthusiasm of the people in this island will bring a gentle experience that meaningful for visitors.

Further information

Ideal time: Every time in the year, avoid rainy day by moving by wooden boat.

Transportation

By motorbike and car: Moving along Huynh Tan Phat road to Binh Khanh ferry, take the ferry then take Sac Forest, turn left to Duyen Hai street, the end of the road is Thanh A wharf.
By bus: The bus no. 75 (Park 23/9 – Can Gio) (2-3 hours) get off at Can Thanh bus station and go to Thanh An by boat (45 minutes).

4. Thieng Lieng Island, weary salt area but nice

Thieng Lieng, perhaps the farthest place, most backward of Ho Chi Minh City. No many people know, it is still located in the Ho Chi Minh City but from the center, it takes nearly 5 hours to reach the island. In the midst of the blazing sunshine and salty salt, the residents of the island will greet you with affectionate and warm eyes.

The landscapes in Thieng Lieng are mostly water canyons and interlace canals, accompanied by green forest. Sail on the canals, walk along the river, or simply sit and watch the blue sea… suddenly you will feel like traveling to a remote island, not in Ho Chi Minh City.

In Thieng Lieng there will be no resorts or high-class hotels for you to stay, but sometimes you can ask for help from people, schools, Commune, even the Thieng Lieng people. They are very poor but extremely generous with customers. Enjoy a Saturday evening with the locals hammering around as people gather, sing and enjoy a few cups of wine, chatting after a week of hard working will make you relax. And life is so easy to love.

Thieng Lieng is one of the rare areas that preserve the traditional salt-making way of the area, such as rolling, wood splinters, and hand-turning. Therefore, if you want to visit the vast salt and white fields you should visit the island in the sunny seasons, this is also the time of salt production of local people.

Further information

Weather

October – March: dry season (salt season)
April – September: rainy season

Transportation

From Ho Chi Minh City to Thanh An island commune. Trains from Thanh An to Thieng Lieng: daily with 2 trips and 2 return trips (Thanh An – Thieng Lieng trip: 11 am and 4 pm, Thieng Lieng – Thaison: 5 am and 2 pm), time: about 45 minutes

5. Long Son Island — Vung Tau Green Dragon

About 100km from Ho Chi Minh City, Long Son is an island commune in Vung Tau City, an interesting ecotourism site that is quite well known in recent times.

The history of the Long Son Island residents dates more than 100 years ago. In the past, this island was called “Nua Village”, and this place is only a wilderness, has never had a human footprint. Long Son with blue pine forests is like the “blue dragon” of Vung Tau.

Mr. Le Van Muu, An Giang people set up the life on the island. He and the people cleared the jungle forest, cleaned the reeds, set up the mountain, built the farm, the Great House, markets, schools, built five blocks of houses for the poor.

Boat landing, visitors like to go to a strange land, where there is something old, new and emerging. The central area of the island has the appearance of an ancient town, this is a complex architectural arrangement of symmetry, unified, and Long Son Big House (also known as Tran Temple) is an ancient architecture with the style of Vietnamese village style. In the Big House, there is still a lot of items in all three regions of South – Central – North such as tables, chairs, churches, lanterns, etc. When leaving the Big House, you can go to raft houses in Ben Da area to enjoy the cuisine. Drinking beer and wine on the raft has become the culinary characteristic of Long Son. On the raft, seafood is fresh and processed right here.

Discovering nature on the island is also an interesting thing for visitors. Long Son Island has a very diverse ecosystem. Many tourists like to go hiking in Long Son. The road which you go to the mountains are the paths, guests have to orient themselves, the forest to the top. The mountain is an amazing masterpiece of nature.

The widest part on the top of the mountain is 2km, with many stone pillars rising to the sky and many exotic shapes. The mountain has three peaks: Ba Trao peak 138m, peak Rong 120m high and Ho Vong 100m high. From the top, tourists can see the vast ocean and Vung Tau City. At the foot of the mountain is the mangrove forest typical of the mangroves with diversity seafood.

Futher information

Weather

Rainy Season: May to October
Dry season: November to April

Transportation

By Road: Exit the city along Highway 51 or through Thu Thiem tunnel towards Cat Lai, via Cat Lai ferry, follow the guide to Ba Ria town. Long Son is about 35 km from Ba Ria town.

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