1h15-1h30
fast boat, Bai Vong to Ha Tien
185,000-350,000 VND
one way, depending on the boat
3 operators, 1 port
Superdong, Phu Quoc Express, Thanh Thoi
8 km
Ha Tien terminal to the Xa Xia gate
Start here
The ferry is the fixed point of any Phu Quoc visa run
Everything on a visa run bends around one timetable. The car waits for the boat, the border window has to fit between sailings, and the return leg only exists if a boat is going back. Get the crossing right and the whole day holds together. Get it wrong and you are in Ha Tien at 3pm watching your ride to the island pull out without you.
Phu Quoc to Ha Tien is the short crossing. It is the only mainland route that makes a same-day visa run realistic, and the fast boats cover it in about an hour and a quarter. Compare that with Rach Gia at roughly two hours twenty on the same kind of boat, and you can see why the run goes west to Ha Tien instead of north.
This guide covers the practical side of that crossing in 2026: where the boats actually leave from, who is still sailing, what the tickets cost, which departure our visa run uses, and the one thing nobody warns you about until the sea gets up in June.
Where you actually leave from
Bai Vong port, not Duong Dong
A lot of island advice says the Phu Quoc to Ha Tien ferry leaves from Duong Dong. It does not. Nearly every crossing on this route docks at Bai Vong (Bãi Vòng), the working ferry port on the east coast, on the Ham Ninh side of the island. Duong Dong is where most people sleep and where the pickups happen, which is probably how the confusion started.
That distinction matters if you are doing this yourself. Bai Vong sits about 10 km out of Duong Dong, roughly 20 to 30 minutes by taxi or private car. Book a hotel in town, then leave time for that drive in the morning.
Arrive about 30 minutes before departure. There is a check-in counter, a passport check and a queue for the gangway, and the boats on this route do not wait for late arrivals.
On the mainland side you dock at the Ha Tien ferry terminal in To Chau ward, on Kim Du street. Walk out past the ticket sheds and the Xa Xia international border gate is about 8 km away. Fifteen to twenty minutes in normal traffic. That short drive is the whole reason this corridor works as a day trip.
One more thing about the two ports: they are not interchangeable. If you are comparing a mainland visa run against this one, the crossing times and costs are different enough that a comparison only makes sense route by route. The route page for Xa Xia walks through what happens after you dock.
Who is sailing in 2026
The operators on the Phu Quoc to Ha Tien route
Three companies carry almost everyone across this stretch in 2026, plus a solar-powered newcomer that started in June. Fares below are one way, per adult, and they are the operators' own prices, not ours.
| Boat | Crossing | Adult, one way | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Superdong | 1h15-1h30 | about 230,000 VND | Fast boat, the best known name on the route. Several morning departures. Seniors from 60 pay less. |
| Phu Quoc Express | about 1h30 | about 216,000 VND economy, 330,000 VND VIP | Catamaran. Cheapest of the fast boats and the one with the clearest weather refund rule. |
| Thanh Thoi | about 2h15 | about 185,000 VND, VIP 300,000 VND | Roll-on roll-off car ferry. Slow, cheap, and the only one that takes motorbikes. |
| GreenWave | about 1h45 | 350,000 VND | Solar-powered boat running since 12 June 2026, every two hours from 06:00 to 20:00. |
Read the timetable carefully
Times move with the season
Every published timetable for this route disagrees slightly with the next one, and that is not because the writers are careless. Sailings are added in high season, trimmed in low season, and reshuffled when a boat goes in for repairs. One booking site lists eighteen crossings a day from Phu Quoc to Ha Tien in August 2026. In February the same stretch can run half that.
So treat any schedule you read online, including the one above, as a shape rather than a promise. The pattern that holds is a cluster of morning sailings, a gap over lunch, and an afternoon run or two. Phu Quoc Express and Superdong both feed that pattern from Bai Vong.
One thing worth knowing if you are working from an older guide: Ngoc Thanh is gone. It used to get a mention in the four-operator lists you still find floating around. Two ticketing sources now show its Phu Quoc routes as suspended, and 2026 comparisons name only three companies alongside the new solar boat.
Which boat for which job
- Earliest start: Superdong and Phu Quoc Express both run very early sailings, which is what a same-day run needs.
- Latest return: GreenWave, every two hours until 20:00.
- Cheapest seat: Thanh Thoi, and you pay for it in time.
- Motorbike or car: Thanh Thoi only.
On a guided visa run you do not pick from this table. We match the sailing to your border slot and have someone at the terminal when you dock.
Timing the run
Which sailing the visa run actually uses
A same-day run needs a boat out of Bai Vong before 08:00 and a boat back from Ha Tien in the afternoon. That is the whole constraint. Everything else is padding.
On our run the day starts with a 05:30 pickup in Duong Dong, then the drive to Bai Vong for the early fast boat. Docking in Ha Tien around 08:15 leaves a private car waiting, the 8 km hop to Xa Xia, and a border crossing that is normally quiet at that hour. From the gate you come back to the terminal for an afternoon sailing and you are on the island again by late afternoon, nine to eleven hours after you left.
The reason to start early is not the ferry, it is the queue. Border officers rotate shifts, coach groups arrive in bursts, and a Chinese tour bus pulling in ahead of you can add forty minutes at the window. Morning sailings leave room for that. The afternoon return gives you time to absorb it.
Doing it yourself, the trap is the return leg. Fast boats thin out badly after lunch, and if the last afternoon sailing is full you are looking at a night in Ha Tien. If you book a DIY run, book the return seat at the same time as the outbound one. Turning up at the Ha Tien counter at 15:00 hoping for space is how people end up paying for a hotel they did not plan on.
At the counter
Tickets, passports and what you can carry
Ferry tickets for this route are sold online through agents and at the Bai Vong counter, and the price is the same either way. Book online if you are on a tight schedule and want a specific sailing, particularly in high season and around Tet, when the fast boats sell out days ahead. Buy at the port if your plans are loose.
Bring your passport to board. It is checked against the ticket, and on the Vietnam side your exit stamp is the whole point of the trip, so it needs to be the real document and not a photo on your phone. A printout or a screenshot of the booking helps at the counter.
Luggage is not a problem on the fast boats. A backpack or a cabin bag goes in the rack or at your seat with no extra charge. Oversized gear is where the car ferry earns its keep, since the roll-on sailings take motorbikes and, on some departures, cars as well.
Before you board
- Passport in hand, plus your booking reference.
- Be there 30 minutes early. Boarding closes before departure, not at it.
- Cash in small notes for the Cambodia side, USD or VND.
- Water and a snack. The boat is air conditioned and dry, and Ha Tien's terminal food is thin before 09:00.
On a guided run this list is handled for you. Tickets and seats are booked before the day starts, so the only thing you carry to the counter is your passport.
When the sea says no
Monsoon cancellations, and what a refund is really worth
This crossing is not a river hop. It runs out into open water between the island and the mainland, and between June and September swells of one to two metres are enough to cancel a sailing with a few hours' notice. Phu Quoc Express flags the northeast crosswind season from October to February as well, so there is no month where weather is impossible.
The refund rules differ by operator, and the difference matters if you are building your own trip. Phu Quoc Express refunds the full ticket value when it cancels for weather or a technical fault. That is the ticket, and nothing else: no compensation for the hotel you booked in Ha Tien, no help with a flight you missed. Superdong does not publish a weather policy at all. Agent terms for cancellations are fee based, and when the operator cancels, the counter decides.
What that means in practice is simple enough. Do not put a ferry and an onward flight on the same day. Give yourself a buffer day at the end of an island stay if you are flying out. And if you are doing a run in the wet season, keep a plan B for an extra night in Ha Tien, where a decent guesthouse costs less than the taxi you would take to complain about it.
On a guided run the weather risk is handled before you leave the island. If the morning sailing is cancelled, we move the run rather than strand you at a terminal, which is one reason the return leg is booked with slack in it.
Paying for the crossing
Ferry tickets are the cheapest part of a visa run and the easiest to get wrong. Expect 185,000 to 350,000 VND per person one way depending on the boat and the class, which is roughly eight to fourteen US dollars. Children from six to eleven and passengers over sixty usually pay less on both Superdong and Phu Quoc Express.
Bring cash. Cards work at some counters and not at others, and the border window on the Cambodia side is cash only. Small notes in USD or VND save you an argument about change.
Our own transport price is separate from the ticket counter because it covers the whole chain, not just a seat: pickup in Duong Dong, the ferry, the private car at Ha Tien, the border and the return. That is 1,600,000 VND per person.
Small things that cost hours
Five mistakes worth avoiding
- Booking the last boat of the day. There is nothing behind it if the border queue runs long.
- Assuming the boat leaves from Duong Dong. It leaves from Bai Vong, about 10 km away.
- Leaving the passport at the hotel. It is checked at the counter and stamped at the border.
- Planning a flight the same evening. One swell warning and you miss it.
- Reading a 2024 timetable. Operators and schedules have both changed since then.
Quick answers
Phu Quoc to Ha Tien ferry: common questions
How long is the ferry from Phu Quoc to Ha Tien in 2026?+
The fast boats take about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes from Bai Vong port to Ha Tien. The Thanh Thoi car ferry takes about 2 hours 15 minutes, and the GreenWave solar boat is the slowest of the lot at roughly 1 hour 45 minutes. Weather can add time, and sailings are occasionally cancelled outright in the monsoon.
How much is the Phu Quoc to Ha Tien ferry?+
In 2026 the cheap end is about 185,000 VND on the Thanh Thoi car ferry and about 216,000 VND for a Phu Quoc Express economy seat. Superdong sits around 230,000 VND for an adult one way, with VIP seats on Phu Quoc Express at about 330,000 VND and the GreenWave solar boat at 350,000 VND. Seniors and children usually pay less.
Where does the Phu Quoc to Ha Tien ferry leave from?+
Bai Vong port on the east coast of the island. It is not in Duong Dong, so factor in the drive from your hotel. Turn up about 30 minutes before departure with your passport, and expect the boat to dock at the Ha Tien river terminal about 8 km from the Xa Xia border gate.
What time is the last ferry from Ha Tien back to Phu Quoc?+
There is usually an afternoon or early evening sailing, and the GreenWave solar service runs every two hours until 20:00. That is the safety net if a border queue eats your morning, but do not plan around the last boat. If it is cancelled for weather you are sleeping in Ha Tien, which is exactly why the guided visa run books an afternoon return with slack in it.
Does the Phu Quoc to Ha Tien ferry run in the rainy season?+
Yes, but June to September brings swells of 1 to 2 metres and sailings get cancelled at short notice. Phu Quoc Express refunds the full ticket value with no extra compensation; Superdong does not publish a weather policy and the counter decides. Never put a ferry on the same day as an onward flight.
Can I bring a motorbike or a car on the ferry to Ha Tien?+
Motorbikes go on the slower car ferry, not on the Superdong or Phu Quoc Express fast boats. Cars need the roll-on roll-off sailing, which takes roughly 2 hours 15 minutes or more. If your visa run is a same-day loop, travel as a foot passenger and leave the vehicle on the island.
Where to go next
The ferry is one leg of a longer day
If you came here to plan the crossing itself, you probably want the two pages either side of it. The cost guide breaks down the whole chain in VND, and the Xa Xia route page covers what happens from the moment you step off the boat in Ha Tien to the moment you get back on. If your question is whether you need a run at all, the page on the island's own 30-day visa exemption answers that one first.
Leaving the island for good? The mainland corridors work differently. Ho Chi Minh City visa runs cross at Moc Bai, Nha Trang and Da Lat visa runs use the same crossing with their own overnight bus logistics, and visarun.vn compares every city desk side by side.
Want the ferry handled for you?
The standard Phu Quoc visa run covers the ferry, the car at Ha Tien, the border crossing and the return for 1,600,000 VND per person in transport, or 2,700,000 VND with Cambodia visa handling included. Tell us your dates and we will match the run to the sailing that actually works.
Ferry fares and timetables on this page were checked in 2026 against operator and ticket agent listings. Operators change prices and schedules without notice, so confirm the sailing for your date before you travel.