Hoi An to Cù Lao Chàm (Cham Island): Boats, Times, Prices and the Days They Don't Sail

The short answer. From Hội An almost everyone reaches Cù Lao Chàm by speedboat from the Cửa Đại pier, 15 to 20 minutes across open sea; the slower option is a wooden boat of about an hour to an hour and a half. A same-day speedboat return costs about 350,000 to 450,000₫ per person (US$13–17 at 26,000₫ to the dollar), and that usually already includes the island's 70,000₫ visitor fee, set by Đà Nẵng from 10 June 2026. The season is March to August, and on days the port authority bans the crossing no boat sails at all. Every figure below carries its source and the date we read it: 25 September 2026.

How far is Cù Lao Chàm from Hội An?

Three numbers circulate, and all three are right because they are measured from different places. 18 km is from the Cửa Đại shore to the island (VnExpress, updated 14 July 2026; Vietnamese Wikipedia). 20 km is from Hội An itself (English Wikipedia). The distance you actually travel comes in two legs: about 8 km by road from the Old Town to the pier (disanhoian.com), then 15 to 20 minutes on the water. Tuổi Trẻ, on 10 June 2026, put the sea leg at about 30 minutes, which fits a slower boat or a rough day. Cù Lao Chàm is eight islands; Hòn Lao, the largest, is where the village, the beaches and the boats are. Since the 2025 reorganisation it belongs to Tân Hiệp island commune, Đà Nẵng city. Tuổi Trẻ counts about 2,500 residents; the figure of about 3,000 on English Wikipedia is the older one most guides still repeat.

Where the boats leave from

Speedboats leave from the Cửa Đại speedboat pier (Bến cano cao tốc Cửa Đại) at the mouth of the Thu Bồn, in Hội An Đông ward, beside the Cửa Đại inland-waterway port office; tour operators' ticket desks line the same stretch. The wooden boat is different: Đà Nẵng Transfer lists it leaving from Bạch Đằng dock on the Old Town riverfront. From Nghê Prana on Cẩm Nam the pier is 8.2 km by road, 11 minutes in free-flowing traffic by our route calculation (OpenStreetMap, 25 September 2026). Allow 15 to 20 minutes in the morning. By bicycle it is 8.1 km, a little over half an hour.

Speedboat times and what it costs

Speedboats go out in the morning and come back after lunch. Đà Nẵng Transfer (25 April 2026) lists departures from 07:30 to 10:30 and returns from 14:00 to 15:30; Đà Nẵng Open Tour gives 08:30 out and 14:00 back as the usual pair. The return window is not arbitrary: Hội An's visitor cap, below, counts people on the island between 07:00 and 14:00.

Published same-day return fares, per adult: 350,000₫ including the 70,000₫ fee (VnExpress, 14 July 2026); 400,000₫ including 100,000₫ of island fees, with 320,000₫ for children aged 5 to 9 and 200,000₫ under 5 (Đà Nẵng Transfer, 25 April 2026); and 450,000₫ (Đà Nẵng Open Tour, read 25 September 2026), which becomes 550,000₫ if you come back on a different day. The spread is mostly what is bundled: snorkel gear, a guide, lunch, a pickup. Open Tour also notes that weekends and holidays cost more. A group tour starting at the pier, with guide, boat, fee and lunch, is listed at 520,000₫. When you compare two quotes, ask each what it includes; the visitor fee is the only part the city fixes.

The slow boat

A wooden passenger boat (tàu gỗ) still runs, for about 150,000₫, leaving Bạch Đằng dock between 07:30 and 08:00 and heading back between 15:00 and 16:00 (Đà Nẵng Transfer, 25 April 2026). It takes about an hour by that operator's count and about an hour and a half by VnExpress's. It suits people who want the slow way down the river and out through the estuary, and it does not suit anyone prone to seasickness. We found only one source that lists its times, so confirm the day before, and ask whether the fare includes the visitor fee.

The 70,000₫ visitor fee (from 10 June 2026)

Everyone who lands pays a visitor fee of 70,000₫ per person per visit (about US$2.70), set by Resolution 16/2026/NQ-HĐND of the Đà Nẵng People's Council and in force from 10 June 2026 (Thanh Niên and Tuổi Trẻ, both 10 June 2026). The resolution keeps the amount Hội An charged before the merger. Exempt: children under 16 and school students; Vietnamese citizens aged 60 and over; Vietnamese citizens with a disability certificate; poor and near-poor households; residents of Tân Hiệp. Entry is free for everyone during Tết, on 26 May (the anniversary of UNESCO's 2009 biosphere-reserve recognition) and on 2 September. Most speedboat fares already include it.

When the boats run, and the days they do not

VnExpress's guide names March to August as the season: clear sky, calm sea, little rain. We could find no fixed closing date. The crossing simply stops on days the maritime authority bans it. On 16 and 17 July 2026, in the middle of the good season, a southwest wind shut the Cửa Đại to Cù Lao Chàm route, VR-SB class speedboats were held, and more than 300 visitors spent an unplanned night on the island. Boats may not leave in winds above level 5 (Nhân Dân, 17 July 2026).

Planning a trip around this? See dates at our quiet riverside hotel on the Thu Bồn. Check availability →

From October to December cancellations become frequent and operators cut back (disanhoian.com). If you are in Hội An between late September and February, treat the island as a weather-permitting day: book with an operator who refunds a cancelled crossing, keep a second date in reserve, and never put it on the day before a flight. On a day the sea says no, the Cẩm Thanh coconut waterways are ten minutes from us by bicycle and need nothing bigger than a basket boat; see our Cẩm Thanh guide.

The daily visitor cap

Since 1 July 2016 a Hội An city rule has limited the island to 3,000 visitors between 07:00 and 14:00 each day, with Bãi Ông capped at 1,500 and Bãi Chồng at 600 between 06:30 and 14:30 (Thanh Niên, 20 June 2016). As of 25 September 2026 we found no later rule replacing it; the city that set it has since merged into Đà Nẵng. In practice it is why everyone is back on the mainland by mid-afternoon.

What you do on the island

Most day trips combine a snorkelling stop with the village and a beach. VnExpress lists the beaches as Bãi Ông, Bãi Chồng, Bãi Bìm, Bãi Bắc, Bãi Làng, Bãi Hương and Bãi Xếp. In the village are Hải Tạng pagoda, built in 1758, and an old well known as the Champa well, which VnExpress dates at about 200 years. The island has said no to plastic bags since around 2009 (Thanh Niên, 2016), and VnExpress still asks visitors not to bring them, so carry a cloth bag and a bottle you can refill. The whole archipelago lies inside the Cù Lao Chàm – Hội An World Biosphere Reserve, recognised by UNESCO on 26 May 2009.

Staying the night

Homestays on Hòn Lao charge 200,000 to 500,000₫ a night (VnExpress, 14 July 2026). Staying means a different-day speedboat return, 550,000₫ at Đà Nẵng Open Tour's price, and the island to yourself once the day boats leave in mid-afternoon. It also means that if the sea closes, you stay until it opens, as the 300 visitors of 16 July found out.

Going from Nghê Prana

Reception can arrange a car to the pier and book a speedboat or a group tour for you. Leave the hotel around 07:45 for an 08:30 boat; on the 14:00 boat back you are at the hotel by about 15:00, with the rest of the afternoon on the Thu Bồn. After a morning of salt water, the private jacuzzi is 300,000₫ each for two people for 30 minutes (400,000₫ for one), drinks and fruit included, and a relaxing oil massage is 450,000₫ for 60 minutes (our spa menu, read 25 September 2026). Our couple spa page has the room and how to book it.

How we checked. Every number on this page was read on 25 September 2026 from the sources listed below, and each is dated where it appears. Boat fares belong to the operators and move with the season; the 70,000₫ fee is the city's. If a price or a time here is out of date when you travel, tell us and we will correct the page and say that we did.