- Where
- Off southern Vietnam, about 185 km
from Vũng Tàu (Wikipedia) - Coordinates
- 8.69° N
106.61° E - Islands
- 16 islands and islets, 75.15 km²
main island Côn Sơn - People
- About 5,000
- Protected
- Côn Đảo National Park
- Getting there
- Flights from Ho Chi Minh City
or fast ferry from the Mekong coast - Best visited
- April to November for nesting turtles
Forested hills dropped straight into a calm green bay, a few blue fishing boats riding at anchor. The little town was hot and very quiet, frangipani petals lying on the pavements. That night, on a far beach, a ranger switched off her torch, and a great dark shape hauled itself up the sand past us, breathing hard. Nobody said a word until it had gone back to the sea.
The short answer
Côn Đảo is an archipelago of 16 mountainous islands and islets off the south coast of Vietnam, about 185 kilometres from Vũng Tàu and 230 from Ho Chi Minh City, with a land area of 75.15 square kilometres and about 5,000 people, Wikipedia records; it is now administered as Ho Chi Minh City’s only special zone. The largest island, Côn Sơn, has the town and the airport. The islands are built of granite, diorite and other old igneous rocks. European sailors called them Poulo Condore, from the Malay pulau, island, and kundur, wax gourd.
Why it's worth knowing
Turtles in record numbers. Côn Đảo National Park takes in much of the islands and the sea around them, with corals, dolphins and the endangered dugong, Wikipedia records. From April to November green turtles come ashore on its beaches to nest, most of all from July to September, and more green turtles nest here than anywhere else in Vietnam, Việt Nam News reports in indexed text. Eighteen beaches, about 24 hectares in all, are nesting grounds; the islet of Hòn Bảy Cạnh is the most important, with up to 30 turtles ashore in a night. Park rangers guide visitors to watch nesting and to release hatchlings.
A prison island, 1861–1975. The French colonial government built a prison on Côn Sơn in 1861 for those it considered most dangerous, and after 1900 it held more and more political prisoners, Wikipedia records. In 1954 it passed to the government of South Vietnam, which used it in the same way until 1975. Among those held were Phan Châu Trinh (1908–1911), Huỳnh Thúc Kháng (1908–1921) and, in the 1930s, Tôn Đức Thắng, Phạm Văn Đồng and Lê Đức Thọ. In July 1970 a United States congressional delegation found prisoners shackled in the “tiger cages”, and its photographs were published in Life on 17 July 1970. The prison closed after 1975, opened to visitors soon after, and is ranked a special national historical relic; many who died there between 1941 and 1975 lie in Hàng Dương Cemetery nearby.
The field notes
The old pier
The stone pier in the town, built by prisoners from 1873, is known as Pier 914; Côn Đảo’s tourism site gives the name as recording the number of prisoners who died building it, and other accounts put the number higher. It is preserved as a historical site.
A long-tailed macaque and old names
The islands have their own subspecies of long-tailed macaque, Macaca fascicularis condorensis, and Wikipedia records a suggestion that they are Ptolemy’s “Isles of the Satyrs”, named for monkeys. The English East India Company founded a trading post on Côn Sơn in 1702, which ended in 1705 when its hired soldiers mutinied; France took control of the islands in 1861. In 2006 a UNESCO delegation surveyed the national park and judged it eligible as a mixed natural and cultural World Heritage site.
The town beach on Côn Sơn, the archipelago’s largest island, in December.
Photograph: Shansov.net · Pulo Condore island beach · CC BY-SA 3.0 · cropped
Forest and a forested peak in Côn Đảo National Park.
Photograph: Shansov.net · ConDao park dam · CC BY-SA 3.0 · cropped
Casuarina trees along the shore, misty mountains across the bay.
Photograph: Shansov.net · Côn Đảo National Park · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Take the plane over where possible. The boat suits steady stomachs and spare days.
- Book the turtle night through the park well ahead, and follow the ranger’s every word, most of which will be: wait.
- Cross the prison grounds slowly and without speaking. Leave the photographs for later, or for never.
- Begin listing the greens in the bay. Drop it for the first turtle; the list will understand.
- Keep every light off on the nesting beach. Darkness is all the courtesy she asks.
A nesting beach on Hòn Bảy Cạnh. One of the sand beaches of the islet of Hòn Bảy Cạnh, in Côn Đảo National Park, where green turtles come ashore at night to dig their nests from April to November; the islet is the park’s most important nesting site. It is seen at night, from where the ranger places you, in the dark.
Tally, in the marginThe turtle was the reason I went, yet afterwards I kept watching the sand, smoothed over behind her as though nothing had happened. It took me some time to understand that the beach was keeping her secret on purpose.
Getting there
How to get there. By air from Ho Chi Minh City to Côn Đảo Airport, on Côn Sơn, served by Vietnam Airlines (operated by VASCO), Bamboo Airways and Vietnam Helicopters, Wikipedia records. Fast ferries also run from Trần Đề on the Mekong coast and from Vũng Tàu, Vietnamese press reports; they stop in bad weather, as on several days in September in recent years. The turtle beaches of Hòn Bảy Cạnh are reached by park boat.
When to go. April to November for nesting turtles, July to September for the most. Storms can stop the ferries, so leave a spare day.
What to arrange ahead. Flights, which fill; a bed; and, for turtle watching, a place on a ranger-guided night arranged through the national park.
Safety. The State Department has Vietnam at Level 1, exercise normal precautions (advisory dated 24 June 2026 in its feed, read 5 October 2026); it notes landmines and unexploded ordnance, at low risk in tourist areas. The hazards here are the place’s own: heat, storms and rough seas in season, and the open sea at night on turtle trips.
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Common questions
Where is Côn Đảo?
Côn Đảo is an archipelago of 16 islands and islets off the south coast of Vietnam, about 185 kilometres from Vũng Tàu and 230 from Ho Chi Minh City, of which it is now a special zone. The main island is Côn Sơn.
How do you get to Côn Đảo?
By air from Ho Chi Minh City to Côn Đảo Airport on Côn Sơn, with Vietnam Airlines (VASCO), Bamboo Airways or Vietnam Helicopters, or by fast ferry from Trần Đề on the Mekong coast or from Vũng Tàu, weather permitting.
When do turtles nest on Côn Đảo?
Green turtles nest on Côn Đảo’s beaches from April to November, most of all from July to September. The islet of Hòn Bảy Cạnh is the most important site, and park rangers guide visitors to watch at night.
What is Côn Đảo Prison?
Côn Đảo Prison, on Côn Sơn Island, was built by the French colonial government in 1861 and used for political prisoners, later by South Vietnam, until 1975. It held many of Vietnam’s later leaders and is now a special national historical relic open to visitors.
What were the tiger cages of Côn Đảo?
The tiger cages were rows of small cells at Côn Đảo Prison, built by the French in 1940, in which prisoners were held under iron grilles. A United States congressional delegation found shackled prisoners there in July 1970, and photographs taken on the visit were published in Life on 17 July 1970.
Is Côn Đảo a national park?
Yes. Côn Đảo National Park covers much of the islands and the surrounding sea, with corals, sea turtles, dolphins and the endangered dugong. More green turtles nest there than anywhere else in Vietnam.
Why was Côn Đảo called Poulo Condore?
Poulo Condore comes from the islands’ Malay name, from pulau, island, and kundur, wax gourd; the French used it for the archipelago. The English East India Company had a short-lived trading post on Côn Sơn from 1702 to 1705.
What is Pier 914 on Côn Đảo?
Pier 914 is a stone pier in Côn Đảo’s town, built by prisoners from 1873. Côn Đảo’s tourism site explains the name as recording the number of prisoners who died building it; it is preserved as a historical site.