Cu Chi Tunnels by Speedboat
Cu Chi tunnels by speedboat from Ho Chi Minh City: an hour or so up the Saigon River instead of two hours by road, meals included, and what the extra cost buys.
A speedboat tour replaces the two-hour drive each way with 45 to 80 minutes on the Saigon River, and it usually adds a meal. It costs four to six times the road tour. Kim Travel’s Ho Chi Minh: Cu Chi Tunnels Half-Day Speedboat Tour collects you from your hotel in Districts 1, 3 or 4, takes the boat both ways, and includes the entrance fee and a Vietnamese set lunch, from $71 in current promotion (usually $74) a person (checked November 2026), with 623 reviews.
The calendar above is Kim Travel’s speedboat half day, about 7 hours door to door, with 623 reviews (checked November 2026).
The short answer
Take the boat if the road is what puts you off: the half days by road spend about four of their seven hours in a vehicle, and Ho Chi Minh City’s traffic decides how many. The boat is also the easier way to fit lunch in, because the speedboat tours include it. If the price matters more, the road tours do the same visit at the same site for $16 in current promotion (usually $18) (the half day by road).
Ho Chi Minh: Cu Chi Tunnels Half-Day Speedboat Tour
Kim Travel: hotel pickup in Districts 1, 3 and 4, 45 minutes to an hour each way on the river, about 2 hours at the tunnels with tapioca and tea, entrance fee and a set lunch included.
Check dates →From Ho Chi Minh: Cu Chi Tunnels and VIP Speedboat Tour
Les Rives: about 80 minutes each way on the river, about 2 hours at the tunnels with an English-speaking guide, a light breakfast and lunch on the morning boat or dinner on the afternoon one.
See the Les Rives trip →Premium Cu Chi Tunnels Tour with Local Expert
Les Rives on Viator: from the Saigon Waterbus station at 7 am with breakfast and lunch, or at 11 am with lunch; the film, the trap and weapon displays, the bunkers and a tunnel section.
See it on Viator →Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026; Viator checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.
The river route
The boats leave from the riverside in District 1: Saigon River Tour and Les Rives’ Viator trip from the Saigon Waterbus station at Bach Dang Wharf, Kim Travel after a hotel pickup. From there the Saigon River winds north past the edge of the city and long green banks to Cu Chi, where both tunnel sites stand close to the water. By road the same trip is 57.7 km from Bach Dang to Ben Duoc. There is no public waterbus to Cu Chi: the city’s waterbus line runs from Bach Dang to Linh Dong, so the river way to the tunnels is a tour.
The speedboat tours, one by one
Kim Travel. The Ho Chi Minh: Cu Chi Tunnels Half-Day Speedboat Tour picks you up at your hotel in the centre of District 1, 3 or 4 and takes you to the boat. The run up the river takes 45 minutes to an hour; at the tunnels you get about 2 hours with a guide, a short film, the traps and a crawl through one tunnel section, then tapioca and tea at a farm in the forest and a Vietnamese set lunch (vegetarian on request). The entrance fee and travel insurance are included; firing a rifle at the range costs extra. Every passenger is registered with the port authority before the trip, so after booking Kim Travel needs each traveller’s full name, date of birth, nationality and passport number.
Les Rives. The From Ho Chi Minh: Cu Chi Tunnels and VIP Speedboat Tour is about 80 minutes each way on the river and about 6 hours in all, with about 2 hours guided at the tunnels. The morning boat serves a light breakfast and then lunch; the afternoon boat serves dinner. Lemongrass chicken and pork in a clay pot are on its menu, with vegetarian meals on request. The entrance fee, drinks and fruit on board, and hotel pickup in selected districts are included. On Viator the same company sells its tour from the Saigon Waterbus station, from $95 (checked November 2026), in groups of up to 14.
Saigon River Tour. Its small-group speedboat trip meets at the Saigon Waterbus station at 7:45 am and leaves at 8 am, reaching the tunnels at about 9:15 am. You get about 1.5 hours guided at the site and a Vietnamese set lunch with one drink, with pastries and fruit on board on the way up, from $100 in current promotion (usually $108) a person (checked November 2026). Restrooms on the way are only at the waterbus station and at the tunnels.
What the extra money buys
The road tours cost about $16 to $18 a person and include the entrance fee, the guide and the transport, but not lunch. The speedboat tours cost about $71 to $108 a person (checked November 2026). For the difference you get the river instead of about four hours on the road, a meal (and on the morning boats breakfast too), smaller groups on some boats (up to 14 on Les Rives’ Viator trip), and an earlier arrival on the early departures. You do not get a different site or a longer visit: the time at the tunnels is about the same 1.5 to 2 hours.
None of the speedboat listings carded here names the tunnel site it lands at. The shooting range is extra on every one of them. On Saigon River Tour’s speedboat trip the seating is open-air: bring a sun hat and sunglasses on any boat on the river.
More Cu Chi Tunnels Tours
Cu Chi Tunnels Tours with Open Dates
Half days and full days from Ho Chi Minh City with live availability. Times, what is included and cancellation terms are on each listing.
Skip the Road Both Ways
Hotel pickup in Districts 1, 3 and 4, a speedboat on the Saigon River each way, the entrance fee and a set lunch. This listing allows free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Check dates