Sapa Discovery Travel

The way you’re welcomed when picking up your ticket, the lady who walks you to the bus—and then the way the baggage handler and other staff acted like total jerks. Before my stop at Hoi An Hospital, the guy came over and kicked me to let me know we were arriving; I packed my things, and then, right before the stop, he did the exact same thing! I told him in Dutch, "What a dick you are!" They basically just threw me out; it was raining, and they wanted to dump me onto the street without giving me a chance to even put my shoes on. I made a point of sitting on the entrance steps to put on my sneakers, and my bag was tossed out of the luggage compartment straight into the water! The hospitality I’m used to here in Vietnam was nowhere to be found!! There also was no use of the usb to charge my phone

Little bumpy in the back seat but the seat message made up for it! Great driver! Would take this trip again! Adam M from Texas

We did it ! But it was very complicated.

Bus was 20 minutes late picking me up but no problem. Bus was very comfortable and not crowded. Driver was very good. We stopped once for bathroom and food. We arrived an hour late but that's because they say 3.5 hours but that can't be done by bus. All in all I enjoyed the ride. Thank you

The ride we booked at 11:40 was overbooked so we were put in another bus starting at 13:00,. No full refund, because our booking was already confirmed, even though there obviously was not enough room for us. It took an hour to sort it out via WhatsApp. Did not get new ticket and had to ask at the station. Drivers were not friendly and were using the horn way more than any other driver we have had in Vietnam, which we visit frequently. Will not book "Sapa Discovery Tours" again and maybe go to the ticket shop next time to avoid 12go altogether.

There was a serious lack of information. For example, we were not told that the transport was not direct. We were taken to Hanoi, where we had to wait for another transfer to Tam Coc. Nobody responded to our messages until the last minute. Overall, the communication was very poor.

Fine as they were active on WhatsApp to arrange everything. However the staff in the bus was not respectful and was playing very loud noise in the night. A lot of facilities of the cabin were barely working or destroyed. And told us they will arrange a véhicule for us to go to the station but forgot to mention prices so we where surprised to pay at the end even if it’s normal at least tell us about it. But the overall ride was ok.

No direction of where to go at train station,

The sleeper bus is ok.Im pretty sure the driver is a good driver but the honking of the horn was unbearable. Im not joking. He just blew the horn all of the trip.The bus was fine but honestly won't bus again. Trains from now on if able

The service was good however the check-in instructions were lacking leading to a last minute dash. Additionally the bus didn't match the pictures much. Still would use again because they worked well and got me where I needed to be.

We booked the limousine 41 bus from Sapa to Dien Bien, but ended up in the back of the budget bus, what an experience.

The driver drove very fast, constantly overtaking around corners where he could not see on coming traffic. Surprised we got here in one peace.

Excellent i had no problems finding the location and arrival place was all accurate. The bus beeps non stop really. So bring a headphone or ear plugs.

The bus itself was very nice very spacious and comfortable. However the drivers were rushing me and the bus was leaving 20 mins early so he was rushing me to the bus. He also rushed me off the bus to change buses and didn't explain why. This was on the bus from Hanoi to Sapa. The drivers were also talking to each other very loudly the entire time so it was hard to rest, and the whole time the buses were beeping very very loudly so it was also distracting and hard to rest.

There were delays (due to public holidays, so understandable) which meant that there were limited toilet stops and no food stop on a 9 hour journey. It was lucky that I ate a decent meal just before we set off & just beat this in mind if you're travelling on public holidays. Otherwise very good service!

Despite its age and basic facilities, the semi-sleeper was quiet and comfortable for an overnight journey.

It was on time, a good ride with toilet and food break.

The driver was 40 minutes late and then he was in and out of the car several times, probably there was something wrong with the bus because he opened the hood. He had two cellphones but he didn’t answer when the company called him. They sent me texts and asked me to take a photo of him and then they called me and asked me to give the driver my cellphone. We became almost 2 hours late and there was a terrible sound that indicated that something was wrong with the bus. The only positive thing was that he drove me and some other passengers 350 meters and dropped us at the hotel.

Late arrival in Hoi An. 18 hours not 15, as advertised. Sheets and blankets just folded and reused, yuck.

Bus trip wonderful. Appreciate the toilet stop every 2 hours.

Bus departed an hour before scheduled time, necessitating a nearly two hour wait outside in the rain in Hanoi for a connecting bus. No clear information about the connection in advance or during the connection. Beds not long enough for a six foot tall man.

The suspension of the bus was very soft. We could feel every bump and the motion of the bus induced a feel of nausea for part if the journey. The driver was on the horn the whole trip and was most annoying. Where we have a choice in the future we will travel by train,

We left late, the van wasn’t very comfortable and the driver constantly pressed down the accelerator then let go, over and over, which added to an uncomfortable ride.

Bus was comfortable but the ride ended in Da Nang and we were told to get off and take a mini bus the rest of the journey. This was not communicated to us beforehand so came as a surprise. The blanket provided was very thin

The company overbooked our bus and, for hours, the employees ignored us and refused to give us a solution. They just pretended we were not there.

The trip was very comfortable, bus with air conditioning and wide comfortable seats. They provided little bottle of water for each passenger. And there was a stop on the way in the middle for a toilet.

In the first Bus VIP 24 were the USB Ports defect and in the second bus VIP 11 we didn’t can bend our rest on the backseat.

Terrible pick up location no seating in the mid day sun hard to find staff not helpful

First, we were picked up in a comfortable VIP bus. Unfortunately, during the stopover, nobody knew when the next bus would arrive, and we had to wait on the street. The VIP cabin bus was so overcrowded that people had to lie in the aisle, and there were no blankets or pillows left.

Good! I didn't know there was going to be 2 different buses. One was a sleeper bus and one wasn't. The sleeper bus was more comfortable.i

I booked the bus via the website but there is no information as to where the bus leaves from. I booked anyway and had to contact Ga Ran travel directly to get them to tell me. It was the main bus station behind the airport, which I did not know about. This should be prominent information. The bus was OK with two toilet breaks in the 6 hour trip.

The bus was as expected and brand new. We only did a stop in the morning. One of the drivers was not sympathic at all, he was annoyed when checking our tickets which was super complicated... he was super intrusive into our beds when wanting to ask us something and none of them spoke english. We got a transfer to our hotel in Hoi An for free 👍

Bus was good. But it was very disorganised. No one told us what was happening at any point and shouted at us a lot

Bus was 30 minutes late booked a sleeper bus, VIP shuttle arrived which was cramped (I’m 6,1), driver had no English so no communication. Arrived in Tam Coc told to get off bus after about three hours, luckily one of the passengers had some English and explained we wait for another bus at that location which was crazy busy. Very tired and confused at this stage. Lady at that location was helpful, put us and others in taxis to go to bus station where large groups were also waiting, a lot of confusion there, buses arrived with people scrambling to get on with drivers shouting in very broken English “get on get on”. Eventually got on our sleeper which was ok, you don’t get any sleep as bus was swerving through traffic breaking and blowing air horns etc. Arrived Da Nang with driver shouting get off get off. We didn’t know what was going on, it was dark with people everywhere, thought it was a toilet break so we got off to absolute chaos with dodgy taxi drivers in our faces, cars constantly beeping at us as there was no room to move, driver yelling get off get off all in darkness, had to check google maps to see what town we were in. Got back on, got our bags and booked a Grab all while fending off aggressive taxi drivers, had to constantly walk away from them as they were very persistent. I don’t recommend this service, drivers very arrogant and rude with little or no English, no communication as to what is happening and no sleep. We will be getting the train for our next trip.

The Buses were very comfortable and clean! The second busdriver though was HORRIBLE! He was so rude and screamed whenever someone wanted to go to the toilet and just send them back to the Bus! So there was even someone on the Bus peeing their pants, that’s unbelievable actually !

It is not okay to arrive at 4:40 am instead 7:30 am. How can that be possible?

Confortable but delay for the departure

There are far more worse sleeper busses in vietnam (as i heard). However i couldn‘t sleep more than one hour and a half. The seats/beds were very hard and uncomfortable and the street was so bumpy and because of the constant pushing of the horn wasn‘t able to sleep in any way. The driver was very friendly and nice and didn‘t shout or anything. He also stopped if you asked if you could pee. The bad thing was: i paid a lot more than usually just to arrive at a more reasonable time (5:30 am). He was waking me up at 3:15 am to tell me (he was very happy) that he did make it in two hours less and that we arrived. The bus was clean. No wi-fi.

Comms was not as good as normal. The pick up point was not clear until the night before. The journey was super. A good driver. Arrived early. Stopped 200m passed drop off, which added to walk to accommodation

At first the Pickup point we should go to don’t exsist anymore, but nobody gave is this information! We had to call the SAPA discovery Hotline and they said we must go to the bus terminal that was about 2km from the pick up point we went to. There was the bus. The ride was okay, no water as usual. permanent honking, but thats normal in Vietnam. We arrived almost one hour earlier but at another place in town then we should arrive.

Great car, comfortable and pleasant trip with nice driver

First part with the driver driving like crazy, we all got sick in the back of the limousine. Then no information about the second bus for 2 hours. And the final bus gave us bedbugs… All drivers quite rude, that’s the usual.

Perfect bus. Good drivers. We sleutel very well.

The man behind the counter go Asia couldn’t even be bothered to look up at me when I asked if we were in the right place and offered to show my tickets. Just no need for such a rudeness. The bus suddenly stopped and the driver shouted Hoi an. We were in fact in Danang but nobody gave us that information. We were just heard it off the bus like prisoners. The Driver kept shouting go go as there was no warning. It took a few minutes for me to gather up my stuff as a 70-year-old woman, they make no effort to help at all and as I was struggling down the steps with my bags he went to push me and was screaming at me to get off. I have never experienced anything so awful in my life. This man should not have a job. All the passengers on the bus were tourists and without us tourist paying for our VIP bus he would not have a job how dare somebody treat people like that? Literally it was like we were prisoners being Turf off the prison bus, I would never use this bus service again.

It was a really bad experience, the operator agency ( sapa discovery travel) manage poorly the communication of the broke down of our scheduled bus. First they offer us a earlier bus and that was already inconvenient for us and then, they changed for a even earlier one which will cost us our accomodation since we won’t reach at the planned time, adding to that we did take the decision to book this bus because we wanted a smooth and comfortable ride as it was advertised, so we didn’t mind pay the extra money but they never deliver that kind of service. They didn’t offer any kind of compensation or the full refund of the price. We end up taking 4 different kinds of transportation for a trip that was mean to be one easy ride ( which were late ) Our sleeping was whack and certainly they could manage the communication better as we were putting into cars without any security were will drop us and just when we got in Hanoi we had some certainty that it was the right bus. It’s was very confusing, disrespectful and scary. Never again with this operator, please train up your staff they acted like the didn’t care and we were suggested to not think too much about it while we were put in a random car.

I don't get what the fuzz is with the bad reviews for this company. We (2) went from Hoi And to Cat Ba and the journey was well executed, we had fullest support online, in the offices and busses. The bus (VIP sleeper cabin 22 cabins) was the absolut best standard we were driving with and the staff made after every stop sure that everyone had seatbelts on. TV was working, massage chairs were working, electricity was working. Other companies (An Phu for example) pretend to have the same amenities but are fake/not working. The support for clarification on various specific details on this specific trip (hostel room provided if required) were excellent and clarified that hostel room is provided in case you were not able to find something yourself. This company for me personally has defined a new standard of how service should be. We were 2h late but come on, it is Vietnam and whoever complains about late busses should have added spare time into their schedule. As it is as well with any European bus transports and surely in the states as well. Disappointing on the other hand was 12go. I paid extra for VIP support and they basically did nothing to help clarifying questions.

The overall experience was good it just took about 15 hours instead of 12, which I get the driver had to stop and rest however just don’t advertise it as less. Had a toilet, beds were fine. I’m 5’2 though and I just fit

Comfortable, safe journey. Wonderful seats and driver. SDT (with horrible reviews) seems history, and now have changed name and quality as HM Happy Car Buslines.

Where do I start... Paid more and booked a VIP sleeper bus from Sapa to Hanoi specifically with a toilet on board given health issues of a family member - at the station was given tickets to a completely different company with a different bus - NO TOILET. G8 Sapa Open Tour for some reason has a five start rating on this site, but on another - less than two, which probably suits it given my experience. Stars given for departing on time and for a clean bus (mandatory taking shoes off with putting them in given plastic bags), also for not crashing:). No stars rating for bait and switch for a no toilet bus - it was a complete disaster instead of having rest in a sleeper cabin. The driver would not consider making an unscheduled stop when asked. Just said "no". However, at the same time he made an unscheduled stop to pick up some bags elsewhere - but left the door locked and did not let anyone outside, like we are on prison transfer. Came off as rude, which giving a benefit of the doubt could have been because of absolutely NO English AT ALL - passengers had no idea WHEN and WHERE the rest stop would be - there were three BTW, with an uneven time between them. Another issue was demands for pay for toilets at the scheduled rest stops - what on earth??? In one month travelling across Vietnam, I have never seen a paid toilet anywhere else! And travelling by HK buses from Ha Long Bay to Sapa, only once did we stop where the toilet lady asked for cash, and the driver was nice enough to let one passenger out and back in when picking passengers at the airport, close to the restrooms. Well, one was not prepared for such turn of events and did not have cash, so did not pay, just went in - it would be adding insult to injury even if you did. Most of the passengers were quite upset by all this setup. The bus has one bottle of water and one wet tissue. No snacks given, like in Cambodia. Take your own food / snacks if you care, as they stop at tourist traps with higher prices. USB ports / chargers did not work (worked at first but were turned off) during the whole trip. The sleeping compartment was reasonably comfortable, (the incline of the seat could be regulated) if not for blasting AC, which could not be turned off, but you could stuff it with a pillow mounted on top of your backpack if you take it insude. Pillow and blanket were visibly dirty. I can assume they are never getting washed... They looked much cleaner on a HK bus, BTW. Also, if you are a tall guy, consider a train instead, or book a double and position yourself across as you won't have space to stretch your legs. My advice - don't rely on your booking - whatever you booked is not guaranteed at all - if you have bladder issues, take a wide mouth bottle with you with a tight lid, and then throw it out at the scheduled stop. Wifi was formally free but slow and was very spotty during the ride, most of the time non-existent. Also, if you have an upper berth - use a seat belt, as you can fall out during a sharp turn - something I did not experience in the lower level. Though the views were much better from upstairs, tbh. The bus arrived almost one hour late - mind this if you plan a transfer, and leave sufficient time.

First I was informed on WhatsApp that the bus departure was 4 hours earlier than the one I booked. Then, the van who was supposed to pick me up at the meeting point never came and the bus left without me. I had to wait for 7 hours for the next bus. There were no apologies and the answers to my texts were random. I have been picked up by a Grab bike to take me at another pick up point and wait again for another hour.