Con Dao Islands Sanctuary | 5 Days / 4 Nights

DAY 1 – HO CHI MINH CITY | FLIGHT TO CON DAO | ISLAND ARRIVAL

Fly from Ho Chi Minh City to Con Son Airport on Con Dao — approximately 45 minutes by turboprop, the final approach low over a coastline of undeveloped jungle and emerald water that immediately communicates that this is a different category of island from anywhere else in Vietnam. Transfer to Six Senses Con Dao: a resort of 50 villas built in the style of Vietnamese fishing village architecture, each villa facing the bay from a hillside above the beach, the architecture using natural materials — bamboo, teak, river stone — to create interiors that feel rooted in the landscape rather than imposed upon it.

Check in and settle into the villa before an afternoon at complete liberty. The Six Senses model is built around the absence of obligation: there is no activity schedule, no dinner reservation that must be made, no excursion that must be booked before another guest takes the last spot. The resort functions at the pace of the island, which is very slow. Welcome dinner at the resort’s open-sided beach restaurant: grilled seafood, garden herbs, and a wine list chosen by the sommelier from a cellar the resort takes seriously.

DAY 2 – CON DAO | NATIONAL PARK CORAL REEF SNORKEL & BEACH EXPLORATION

Con Dao National Park covers 80% of the island’s land area and the surrounding marine park — one of the most important marine conservation zones in Southeast Asia, protecting nesting beaches for four species of sea turtle and coral reefs that remain largely untouched by the anchor damage and tourist pressure that has compromised reefs elsewhere in Southeast Asia. A morning snorkel excursion by boat to the park’s protected reef zones: the guide is a marine biologist who has worked with the national park’s turtle conservation program for eight years, and the underwater briefing before entry sets the standard for what a coral reef visit should be — identification of species, understanding of reef ecology, and the discipline of observation without interference.

Return to the resort for lunch and a long afternoon at the beach. In the late afternoon, a guided walk along the undeveloped coastline west of the resort: a 4-kilometre stretch of white sand beach with no other resort, no beach vendors, and no footprints that arrived before yours that morning. The kind of beach that travel writers describe as deserted and actually mean it. Sunset at the resort bar.

DAY 3 – CON DAO | HISTORY, PRISON COMPLEX & CEMETERY | EVENING TURTLE WATCH

A morning of historical depth that is inseparable from Con Dao’s identity. The Ba Ria Prison Complex — known to Vietnamese as the Tiger Cages, built by the French in 1862 and used continuously as a political prison until 1975 — is the most significant colonial detention facility in Vietnam outside of Hanoi’s Hoa Lo Prison. The guide is a historian who has spent 15 years researching the prison’s records; the tour covers the French-era cells, the American-era tiger cages (concrete cells measuring 1.5 by 2.7 metres, in which prisoners were kept in groups of 5), and the solitary confinement complex. The experience is sobering and necessary: Con Dao’s natural beauty and its human history are inseparable, and understanding the latter gives the former a context and a weight that transforms the rest of the stay.

Continue to the Con Dao Cemetery — the resting place of more than 1,900 Vietnamese patriots who died in the prison between 1862 and 1975, including the revolutionary heroine Vo Thi Sau, whose grave has become one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in southern Vietnam. Return to the resort for lunch and an afternoon of recuperation and reflection at the spa.

Evening (seasonal, May–October): a guided turtle watch at the national park’s nesting beach with the park’s turtle conservation team. Green and hawksbill turtles nest on Con Dao’s beaches from May to November; the watch operates at night under strict protocol — no white light, no noise, small group maximum 8 — and the sight of a 150-kg green turtle moving up the beach by moonlight to lay her eggs in the sand above the tide line is one of the wildlife experiences in Southeast Asia that requires no amplification or context to be profound.

DAY 4 – CON DAO | KAYAK, SPA & PRIVATE BEACH SUNSET DINNER

A final active morning: glass-bottom kayak through the bay in front of the resort, the transparent hull revealing the sandy bottom 3 metres below and the occasional reef fish visible through the glass as the paddle moves through the water. A 2-hour route around the bay’s headland to a secluded beach accessible only by kayak, where the guide has arranged a mid-morning fruit and coconut water stop in the shade of a casuarina tree. Return to the resort by 11:00 AM.

Afternoon: the Six Senses Spa — a full afternoon program beginning with a Viet mineral bath, continuing through a Vietnamese hot stone massage using locally sourced basalt stones, and concluding with a personalized facial treatment using Six Senses’ own organic product line. The spa at Six Senses Con Dao is designed around the healing properties of Con Dao’s natural environment: seawater, coconut, pepper, and the herbs growing in the resort’s own organic garden supply many of the treatment ingredients.

Evening: a private beach dinner arranged by Sun DMC in advance — a table for two at the waterline, set by the resort team during the spa afternoon, candlelit and flower-decorated, with a dedicated chef preparing a six-course menu of Con Dao seafood while the bioluminescent plankton (in season) glows blue in the breaking waves below the table. One of the great private dinner experiences in Vietnam.

DAY 5 – CON DAO | DEPARTURE

A final morning on the most exclusive island in Vietnam — a last swim in the bay, a final breakfast on the villa terrace — before transfer to Con Son Airport for the flight back to Ho Chi Minh City and your onward connection.

Tour Inclusions

• 4 nights at Six Senses Con Dao (ocean-facing villa category, daily breakfast)
• National Park coral reef snorkelling with marine biologist guide (Day 2)
• Con Dao Prison Complex & Cemetery guided historical tour (Day 3)
• Seasonal turtle nesting beach watch with conservation team (Day 3)
• Glass-bottom kayak excursion with guide (Day 4)
• Full afternoon Six Senses Spa program: mineral bath, hot stone massage, facial (Day 4)
• Private candlelit beach dinner for two at the waterline (Day 4)
• Coastline walking tour with resort naturalist (Day 2)
• All transfers by private vehicle on the island
• Welcome dinner (Day 1)
• 24/7 on-trip support from Sun DMC operations team

Tour Exclusions

• Flights to/from Con Dao · Visa fees · Travel insurance · Personal expenses · Additional spa treatments

Practical Information

Best Time to Travel: November – April (calm seas, clear water, optimal snorkelling) / May – October (turtle nesting season; bioluminescent plankton; some afternoon rain)
Minimum Pax: 2 pax (private basis); groups of 6+ require advance resort coordination Resort: Six Senses Con Dao (5★★★) — the only luxury resort on the island; alternative: Poulo Condor Boutique Resort & Spa (4★)
Turtle Watch: Seasonal (May–October); subject to turtle activity on the night; no guarantee but probability high within the season
Accommodation Tier: Luxury only — Six Senses Con Dao is the definitive experience; no meaningful 5-star alternative currently exists on the island
Customization: Can be combined with Ho Chi Minh City city stay or Phu Quoc extension. Contact your Sun DMC account manager for NET rates and a full cost breakdown.