Southern Vietnam · Day tour
Cu Chi Tunnels by Speedboat
Up the Saigon River by private speedboat instead of the highway: breakfast on deck, the city thinning into forest, and the tunnels reached before the coaches arrive.
- Length
- Half day
- Approx. 7:00 AM – 1:30 PM
- Pick-up
- Ho Chi Minh City
- From your hotel
- Guide
- English-speaking
- Group or private
What you see
The day in short
Everything below is covered by the programme. The order can move with the traffic and the weather; the list does not.
Where it goes: Ho Chi Minh City
Highlights
- Ninety minutes up the Saigon River, watching the skyline turn into riverbank
- Breakfast aboard: bread or cakes, tropical fruit and Vietnamese iced milk coffee
- Arriving at Cu Chi ahead of most of the coach groups
- The weapons and booby-trap exhibition, the bunkers and the tunnel rooms
- Cassava root, the food that kept the tunnels fed
- Lunch at a floating restaurant on the way back
Hour by hour
The running order
Approx. 7:00 AM – 1:30 PM. These are the timings operations work to; your guide confirms the pick-up the evening before.
Want it privately?07:00 AM
Your guide meets you in the hotel lobby and drives you to the Saigon Water Bus station by private car.
07:20 AM
The boat leaves Saigon. Breakfast is served on board while the guide talks through riverside life.
08:50 AM
Dock at Cu Chi, ahead of most other groups, and watch the short introductory film.
09:00 AM
The tunnel complex: weapons and traps, the bunker area, the kitchen, meeting room and ammunition store, and the shooting range.
11:00 AM
Vietnamese lunch at the floating restaurant — fried spring rolls, chicken and beef dishes, soup.
11:30 AM
Back on the boat for Ho Chi Minh City.
01:00 PM
Dock at Tan Cang and transfer back to your hotel by private car.
What's included
- Private car transfers between your hotel and both piers
- Return speedboat on the Saigon River
- Breakfast on board and lunch at the floating restaurant
- English-speaking tour guide
- Entrance fees for the Cu Chi tunnel complex
- Bottled water
What's not
- The shooting range
- Drinks ordered outside the set meals
- Tips
- VAT
Before you book
- This one runs privately by default — the boat is yours, not a shared departure.
- The order of the stops can change with weather, traffic or opening hours. The full programme is still covered.
- Tell us about allergies or dietary needs when you book and the restaurants on the route are briefed.
The route
- 1Bach Dang Wharf
- 2Cu Chi Tunnels
- 3Tan Cang
Map is schematic and not to scale for travel times.
Our own camera roll
From this day
Good to know
Questions
Why the boat rather than the road?
It is the same distance and roughly the same time, but you spend it on the water with breakfast instead of in traffic — and you reach the tunnels before the coach groups do.
Is it rough on the river?
No. The Saigon River is flat and sheltered the whole way, and the boat is covered.
Where does pick-up happen?
From your hotel lobby at 7:00 AM. Give us your hotel name and address when you book and we will confirm a time the evening before.
Can we combine this with other days?
Yes — most guests string two or three of these together, or add them either side of a multi-day journey. Send us your dates and we will lay them out in a sensible order.
Book the Cu Chi Tunnels by Speedboat
Give us your dates, your hotel and how many of you there are. We confirm availability the same day and pick you up from the door.