Cat Tien National Park 3-Day Itinerary from Ho Chi Minh City: Night Safari, Gibbon Trek and Costs

The public bus from Mien Dong station to Tan Phu takes 3 hours and costs about 100,000 VND, so a 07:00 departure puts you at Cat Tien by lunchtime. The park is about 150 km north of Ho Chi Minh City in Dong Nai province, and the whole transfer takes 3 to 4 hours. Arriving at midday leaves the afternoon clear for the 14:00 tour at the Dao Tien Endangered Primate Species Centre, then the night safari at 19:30.

The last leg needs planning. Buses often drop passengers on the highway rather than at the park gate, which leaves you on the roadside with your bags and no obvious onward transport. Arrange a pickup with park HQ or your accommodation before you travel, and send them your bus operator name and estimated arrival time the day before. Without a pickup, a xe om from Tan Phu to the park gate takes 30 minutes and costs 100,000 to 150,000 VND, but you have to find one at the drop-off point rather than at a station.

Park gate hours are 07:00 to 17:00, so plan your arrival inside that window. Direct Ho Chi Minh City to Cat Tien shuttles have not been confirmed as running, so check with park HQ and the bus operator before you commit to a date. Departure times and fares change; confirm both when you book your seat.

Carry cash for the bus, the xe om and the 60,000 VND entrance fee, since card payment is not the norm on this route. The return works the same way in reverse: leave the park at 10:30 on day three, pick up the bus at Tan Phu, and you are back in Ho Chi Minh City between 15:00 and 16:00.

Cat Tien's trails hold up best between December and May, the dry season, and the 05:00 gibbon trek is easier going then. The park sits about 150 km north of Ho Chi Minh City in Dong Nai province, a 3 to 4 hour trip, so most visitors do their walking in the driest stretch of the southern calendar. Book the gibbon trek through park HQ: it runs 05:00 to 10:00 and costs 700,000 to 900,000 VND.

June to November is the wet season, and it changes the walking. Leeches appear on the trails and muddy sections slow the pace, which makes the 05:00 start harder going than it is in the dry months. Bring leech socks and insect repellent. Long trousers tucked into socks cover part of the problem, but the leech socks are the piece that matters.

The Bau Sau (Crocodile Lake) trail is where the season shows most. It runs 9 km one way and takes 5 to 6 hours round trip, and day two of the standard three-day plan puts you on it at 14:00. That start brings you back after dark, which is not where you want to be on a wet-season trail. Ask park staff about an earlier start, or turn around sooner and treat the lake as a halfway point rather than the goal.

Wildlife sightings are never guaranteed on the night safari, the gibbon trek or the Dao Tien primate centre tour, in either season. The night safari runs 19:30 to 21:30 and costs 150,000 to 200,000 VND, though its frequency in low season is worth confirming with park HQ. The gate keeps the same hours all year, 07:00 to 17:00, so fit your walking inside that window.

Three activities at Cat Tien National Park run on fixed slots, and two of them need booking before you arrive. The night safari leaves between 19:30 and 21:30 and costs 150,000 to 200,000 VND per person. It is a spotlight drive from the park headquarters rather than a walk, so you cover ground quickly and return to your bed by 21:30. The park adjusts how often it runs the safari with demand, and in low season it may not go out every night. Confirm the running days for your dates before you build your evenings around it.

Book the gibbon trek through park HQ. It runs 05:00 to 10:00 and costs 700,000 to 900,000 VND. You leave in the dark with a guide and the payoff is the morning call, which is how the groups are located. Two details are not settled in published material: the exact 2026 gibbon trek price and the minimum group size. Ask both when you book, and ask what happens if only one person signs up for your chosen morning.

Dao Tien Endangered Primate Species Centre tours usually run at 08:00, 10:00, 14:00 and 16:00. The centre is a short walk from the accommodation area, so you can fit a tour between meals without arranging a transfer. Book the night safari and the gibbon trek in advance, particularly in the dry season from December to May and at weekends, when visitors from Ho Chi Minh City fill the park. Dao Tien is the easiest of the three to arrange on the day, but the slot times are fixed and a full tour means waiting for the next one.

Bring cash for all three, since card payment is not reliable at the gate. Hours and prices change, so confirm current schedules and rates with park HQ before travel.

Bau Sau, also called Crocodile Lake, is the walk most visitors plan around: 9 km one way and 5 to 6 hours round trip from park headquarters. The park gate runs 07:00 to 17:00, and day two morning goes to the gibbon trek from 05:00 to 10:00, so a full afternoon attempt on the trail is tight. If you want to reach the lake and back in daylight, set off as soon after 10:00 as you can, or plan a shorter out-and-back and turn around on the trail.

Cycling covers the same 9 km route and is the easier choice if you would rather not spend five hours on foot. On a bike you cut the time the round trip takes, which matters when the gate closes at 17:00. The surface turns soft in the wet season from June to November, when the park has mud and leeches, so leech socks and closed shoes still help. Ask at HQ about renting a bicycle and check the brakes before you leave.

Birding near park headquarters is the low-effort option. Two slots suit it: day two afternoon, after the hike or cycle if you skip the lake, and day three morning from 06:00, before the 10:30 departure to Tan Phu. You can walk the tracks around HQ without a guide, but park guides know the calls and the spots, and you arrange them through HQ. Agree the route and the return time before you set off, so nobody is waiting after the gate closes at 17:00.

The visitor centre and museum fill the last morning. They work as the indoor backup if rain cuts the birding short, and they are the sensible stop before the 10:30 departure to Tan Phu, where you pick up the bus back and reach Ho Chi Minh City between 15:00 and 16:00. Carry cash for guide fees and park meals; the restaurants are simple and vegetarian options are limited.

Cat Tien has two accommodation tiers inside the park boundary: dorm beds at 150,000 to 300,000 VND and private rooms at 500,000 to 1,200,000 VND. Book through park HQ before you arrive. Capacity is small, and room rates are worth confirming when you reserve.

The gibbon trek runs 05:00 to 10:00 and is booked through park HQ. That 05:00 departure is the reason to sleep inside the park. From Tan Phu you would need a 30-minute xe om ride in the dark, and buses drop passengers on the highway rather than at the gate. Anyone who stays in Tan Phu the night before either misses the trek or gambles on finding a driver before dawn.

Park restaurants are simple. Meals cost 50,000 to 150,000 VND, and vegetarian options are limited, so do not count on substitutions or a separate meat-free menu. Bring snacks from Ho Chi Minh City if you have specific needs.

Carry cash. The entrance fee is 60,000 VND and card payment at the park is not reliable, so hold your 3-day budget of 2,000,000 to 3,500,000 VND in notes. Gate hours are 07:00 to 17:00. If your bus gets in late, arrange the pickup or late entry with park HQ in advance.

One more booking note: night safari tickets (150,000 to 200,000 VND, 19:30 to 21:30) and the gibbon trek (700,000 to 900,000 VND) both need reserving ahead. Sort both when you confirm your bed, since the same office handles all three.

Three days at Cat Tien National Park costs 2,000,000 to 3,500,000 VND per person. That range assumes dorm beds or a room near the lower end of the 500,000 to 1,200,000 VND bracket. It covers entrance, two nights of lodging, meals, the night safari, the gibbon trek, and the bus and xe om legs from Ho Chi Minh City. It excludes travel to Mien Dong station and anything you spend in the city.

Two choices drive most of the spread. A dorm bed runs 150,000 to 300,000 VND per night; a room runs 500,000 to 1,200,000 VND. Over two nights, the gap between the tiers ranges from 400,000 to 2,100,000 VND. The second lever is activities. The gibbon trek at 700,000 to 900,000 VND is the largest single activity cost, and including it brings a bare-bones budget close to 2,000,000 VND.

Everything else is smaller and more predictable. Entrance is 60,000 VND. The night safari, which runs 19:30 to 21:30, costs 150,000 to 200,000 VND. Meals at the park restaurants run 50,000 to 150,000 VND each, and the food is simple with limited vegetarian options. The bus from Mien Dong station to Tan Phu takes 3 hours and costs about 100,000 VND each way; the xe om from Tan Phu to the park gate takes 30 minutes and costs 100,000 to 150,000 VND.

Treat every figure here as a planning number, not a quote. Rates change, and park HQ can confirm current prices when you book the night safari and the gibbon trek, both of which need advance booking. Two details are worth asking about directly: the exact 2026 gibbon trek price and the minimum group size. Carry cash, and if your bus drops you on the highway, arrange a park pickup before you leave Ho Chi Minh City.

Two bookings decide whether a Cat Tien trip works: the night safari (19:30 to 21:30, 150,000 to 200,000 VND) and the gibbon trek (05:00 to 10:00, 700,000 to 900,000 VND). Reserve both through park HQ before you leave Ho Chi Minh City, not after you arrive at the gate. The exact 2026 gibbon trek price and minimum group size are not fixed in public schedules, so ask park HQ directly. If you plan day one around the night safari, you can fit the 14:00 or 16:00 Dao Tien tour into the afternoon. Dao Tien tours usually run at 08:00, 10:00, 14:00 and 16:00.

Confirm the remaining logistics with park HQ and the bus operator. Check whether direct Ho Chi Minh City to Cat Tien shuttles are running, and whether your bus drops passengers on the highway rather than at the park gate; if it does, arrange a pickup before you travel. The night safari may not run every night in low season, so check the frequency for your dates. Park gate hours are 07:00 to 17:00. Carry cash for the 60,000 VND entrance fee, meals, and activities, since card payment is not reliable. Bring insect repellent, and leech socks if you travel in the wet season from June to November. Park restaurants are simple and vegetarian options are limited.