Have you watched the reboot version of King Kong franchise – Kong: Skull Island (2017)?
Vietnam was proudly one of the selected filming locations for this movie. The Blockbuster Kong: Skull Island was shot in various famous destinations in Vietnam such as Ha Long Bay, Quang Binh Province, and Ninh Binh was one of the chosen places in this list as well.
In this article, I will show you the Kong: Skull Island filming location in Trang An, Ninh Binh, Vietnam, with a special guide to the aboriginal village.
Are you ready to discover the Aboriginal village in the movie?
Background of Skull Island Vietnam
In case you haven’t watched the movie yet, you can check out the details here on IMDb
When the Kong: Skull Island crew finished filming in Vietnam, they left and cleaned up all the scene setting. Even though they left nothing back, the government took the chance and restored the filming location to attract domestic and foreign tourists. The plan works out and this place becomes one of the must visit when you get to Vietnam.
How to get there?
The Kong: Skull Island movie was filmed in Trang An, a scenic area near Ninh Bình, Vietnam. Therefore, you just need to come here and take the boat tour. There are several boat tours daily, so you don’t need to book any tour in advance. You just need to go there and purchase the ticket.
Trang An – the scenic area near Ninh Bình, Vietnam
Note: You must choose the 2nd Tour which includes the Aboriginal village. If you choose the first route, you can only see the caves and some temples.
How much does the tour cost?
You will be so surprised when you know this. The Film location tour price is already included in the whole Trang An tour, which is only 200 000 VND ($8.8). You will get a 3-hour-boat-tour around Trang An + a free time visiting the village. You can enjoy the view and explore this film set in 3 hours with a boat-rider.
What to pack?
- Camera: A good camera is a MUST! The scenery is amazing, so you will miss a lot without a camera.
- Hat: Vietnamese weather is so hot and humid, so sitting under the sun for 3 hours without a hat is not a good idea.
- Water
- Some snacks: You can buy in some area, but there is not many places or restaurants around.
- Comfortable shoes: You need to walk around a lot, so it’s better to wear something comfortable.
- Small cash: It will be a nice gesture to tip the boat riders around 50,000 VND ~ 100,000 VND. They work really hard to provide the service, so they deserve with all that rowling. Also, they cannot work every day, and they have to clean up the area for free when they’re not working. So, a bit tip is necessary in this case.
How about a life jacket? Do you need to bring one? No, you don’t have to because it is already included in a tour.
The path
You will follow this path to the village…
Here is the path to the Skull Island Village. The road is quite long, so just take time observing the nature around.
Discover the boat
Do you remember this place in the movie? Let’s discover the boat :)
You can see this boat in the Kong: Skull Island movie
Another picture of the boat. The combination of the boat and nature is amazing.
Let’s take a closer look at the boat. Do you feel like you’re in the movie yet?
Here is another side of the boat
Skull Island Village
Here you are! You make it to the village!
The village is so cute with many houses on the way. You can actually go inside each house and experience.
The people
Be careful, they may catch you!
People at the village
I’m just kidding!
They were super friendly when I was there. Those people acted in the movie, so the government offered them a job at this place. They will be happy to take some pictures with you, so don’t hesitate to ask them ;)
It’s time to say goodbye~~~
Here is the end of the journey. You will get on the boat to go back.
*This article was updated on May 4th 2018.
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It’s always fun to visit movie sets and see those places in real life. Were you on the look out for King Kong while you were there? ;) Even if it wasn’t a movie set, it looks like a neat place to visit in its own rights. It’s gorgeous!
I imagined how the movie was set up when I was there. The place is stunning!
I haven’t seen the last Kong movie but I have wanted to. This is such an interesting tidbit into the film. I have always sought after film locations and it was just cool to see the location that was used. Your photos are brilliant, by the way!
Thank you :)
You should watch it! You can experienced many beautiful places in Vietnam through this movie :)
It’s amazing how you can discover new locations by simply watching a movie. This is great for unknown locations and can be a good way for the country’s government to make some foreign exchange. I hope the experience remains sustainable for the Vietnamese people who call that location home.
I hope that they will maintain the beauty of it too :)
Oh how awesome was it that the Vietnamese government kept the island open for tourism. I think it’s cool they let the film extras stay in role for extra effect. the island looks amazing and def worth exploring!!
It was really nice that they did that, right? There is so many opportunities for tourists to explore a new place :)
I love visiting film locations when I travel and this looks like such an amazing one! I had no idea that King Kong was filmed in Vietnam. It’s great they’ve actually allowed it to stay open so that you can visit and it looks like a fun trip to get there. I missed this part of Vietnam when I visited so I’ll have to go next time!
Hope you can visit this place in the future!
Wow I didn’t know King Kong was filmed in Vietnam. The location is looking so amazing. I would love to ride on that boat. The location is looking so adventurous. I will definitely go there on my next visit to Vietnam.
You should definitely check out this place :)
This seems to be my type of tour. :) How much time did you spend in the village, and did you mingle with the locals or simply took pictures with them?
I was in a tour 3 hours overall, and 1 hour for this village. I just took pictures with local only :)
Amazing! Your photos are so gorgeous by the way…
I haven’t seen the movie but I just got a serious desire to go back to Vietnam and finally make it to Ninh Binh… Looks so chill and lovely… and green!
Thank you :)
You should definitely go back to visit this place ;)
What a lovely blog, so different. Love your pictures and such a cheap tour as well. Kx
Thanks, Karen :)
The tour is incredibly cheap comparing to what you can observe!
Beautiful place! Adding this tour to my travel bucket list :)
I hope you can visit here one day :)
I was in Vietnam last year but did not know about this tour. It looks amazing. I definitely want to check it out when I return to Vietnam.
You have a good reason to come back now ;)
It’s a very cool idea from the Vietnamese government to restore the film set, definitely helps the tourism. I have never actually visited a place with the intention of checking out filming locations but I am very interested in checking out the Game of Thrones locations :)
I visited lots of Game of Thrones locations too. I’m a big fan of that series!
What a unique experience. Your photos are amazing!
Thank you Lexi <3
I didn’t know this was the filming location for Skull Island! Now I’ve got to visit since it’s only a few hours from Singapore!! Will definitely bring my camera to snap amazing photos like yours!
Come, come! The place is totally incredible and not touristic at all!
No, I haven’t watched the film , but the location looks absolutely stunning. I would love do the tour and spend a good number of hours there. It looks quiet, serene and beautiful :)
The place is really nice. Actually, you can explore more about the tour, and this place is just one part of it.
This is so cool!! I had no idea Skull Island was filmed in Vietnam. Definitely a new bucket list item – I love visiting film sets!
Great to know that! I hope you can visit here one day :)
Wow this looks like such an exotic place to visit. I didn’t know that King Kong movie scene was done at Skull Island. Very impressive natural setting
I was impressed by the nature as well :)
Wow this is such an amazing place I didn’t even know about even though I passed through Ninh Bình on my way to Tam Coc. That boat looks like something out of a movie. I’d love to see a tribe or small village like this!
You missed this place already :o
Now you have one reason to come back Vietnam again, right ;) ?
Love your pics!! Definitely want to visit someday!
Thanks, Mathilde :)
I haven’t seen the movie but your post makes me want to watch it and then travel back to Vietnam to see Ninh Binh :-) We visited Halong Bay last Spring but didn’t make it to Ninh Binh.
I hope you can visit Ninh Binh one day :) It’s totally worth your trip :D
Wow, it looks magical! And there is not a lot people around, how cool is that! :)
There were not many people during my visit. It’s a great place to escape tourists, right?
This is so cool, I’m going to Vietnam soon and this could be something we should plan during our trip! Thanks!
You should definitely visit here. It’s one of my favorite places in Vietnam :)
I love visiting filming locations, it’s so interesting :) The journey you take to get to this one, in particular, looks beautiful, what a great way to explore!
I’m happy to hear that. Thank you for stopping by, Miranda :)
It is so exciting to visit a particular place where a movie has been shot. I remember how Vietnam’s skull island got famous after the shoot location was promoted. People love to visit such places. Movies have a great role to play in promoting tourism of a place. Thanks for taking me on a virtual trip to Skull Island, I am yet to see Kong: Skull Island .
Thank you for your sweet comment, Manjulika. It’s true that after the movie, the location became famous and attracts lots of tourists from all over the world.
I haven’t watched the Kong movies yet – but did see some other parts of where it was filmed near Tam Coc and Halong Bay. Great post!
Actually I just realised I did go to Trang Ang, but didn’t see all of this you saw, I think I did the other circuit – feeling dissapointed now :-(
I think so too :(
Another circuit does not include this village though, only caves and mountains…
Wow! I’ve never seen a village as gorgeous and lush as this one. Also I haven’t seen the movie that was filmed here yet but I want to now. Man I’m dying of wanderlust now haha.
Thank you, April. You should watch the movie! It’s really nice ;)
I didn’t watch the movie, but I did see the trailer so I’m familiar with this location! That’s so cool you were able to visit in-person. It looks breathtaking, so much lush greenery. I can’t believe how cheap the tour to see the location was, $8?! Insane.
Yeah, it was just $8 for the whole trip! I hope you can visit this place in the future.
I like that they removed all signs of the filming because it looks just so pristine. But it’s also kinda cool that they set it up again for film enthusiasts. It’s pretty fascinating. I hope I can go visit one day.
I think so as well. Hope you can go there soon. I’m sure that you will love this place :)
Absolutely breathtaking! I always see pictures and think they are beautiful, but I bet it’s 100x better in person.
Thank you, Leah. The place is way more beautiful in real life ^^