Tours out of Ho Chi Minh City and across Vietnam
Day trip from Saigon
The nearest delta, taken off the main stage
My Tho is where most delta day trips go, and much of it is a stage. We cross the river to the Ben Tre side instead and spend the day on its smaller channels.
Overview
The same river, a different day
The standard My Tho day is a well-worn circuit. A big boat crosses to one of the islands, you walk a path lined with stalls, a group sings folk songs over a plate of fruit, and four people row you down a short channel packed with other sampans. None of it is fake, exactly, but everybody there is a visitor and so is every boat.
We keep the part that is good — the crossing of the wide Tien river, which is genuinely impressive — and then point the boat south into Ben Tre province, where coconut palms rather than souvenir stalls line the banks. The channels are narrow, the villages are working ones, and the lunch is cooked in a family orchard. It adds nothing to the driving time, because the water does the work.
- Length
- About 9 hours
- Pick-up
- 07:30 from central hotels
- Back
- Around 16:30 to 17:00
- In the vehicle
- About 4 hours in total
- On the water
- About 3 hours
- Group
- 12 at most
Day by day
How the day runs
Day 1
Saigon to the Ben Tre channels and back
The water-palm channel with no other boats in it
07:30 — collection at your hotel door. The expressway south is quick once you clear the city; allow an hour and three quarters to My Tho, with one stop for coffee and the toilet.
09:30 — Vinh Trang pagoda on the edge of My Tho, a calm place with a mix of Chinese, Khmer and colonial details, for twenty minutes. 10:00 — onto our own boat at the river. We cross the Tien, past the islands, and turn into the canals on the Ben Tre side.
10:45 — a stop at a coconut workshop run by a family rather than a tour company: husking, grating, pressing, and the candy the province is known for. Then a sampan through a water-palm channel, just wide enough for two boats to pass.
12:15 — lunch in an orchard: elephant-ear fish or river prawns, a sour soup, rice paper rolls you wrap yourself, and whatever fruit is in season. Time afterwards to walk the orchard paths or sit in a hammock. 14:00 — back across the river by boat, then into the vehicle. 16:30 to 17:00 — at your hotel, traffic on the way into the city permitting.
Price
Price
| Option | Per person (USD) |
|---|---|
| Shared, maximum 12 | from 55 |
| Private, 2 people | from 105 |
| Private, 4 people | from 70 |
Our boats are private to each departure even on the shared day, so there is no transferring onto a larger vessel with another company’s guests. Going private for the whole day mostly buys a flexible start time and the option to stay longer in the orchard.
Included
What is included
What the price includes
- Hotel pick-up and return (District 1, 3, Binh Thanh)
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Our own motorboat and a rowed sampan
- English-speaking guide
- Orchard lunch and seasonal fruit
- Pagoda visit and coconut workshop
- Water throughout
What it does not include
- Drinks at lunch other than water and tea
- Tips
- Travel insurance
- Anything bought at the workshop
Practical
What the delta is like at this distance
Be clear about what ninety minutes from Saigon can show you. This is delta landscape: channels, palms, orchards, boats and the way people live beside the water. It is not the floating markets, which work at dawn further south and cannot be reached in time from the city. If those matter to you, a night in Can Tho is the answer.
The water level changes the day. In the flood months, September to November, the channels are brim-full and the sampan glides; in April and May some of the smallest ones are shallow at low tide, and we route around them. Either way the boat is the coolest place to be at midday.
Not for everyone
Who this does not suit
If you have already done a delta day on a previous visit, this will feel familiar; go further, to Cai Be and Vinh Long, or sleep over in Can Tho. It is not the trip for anyone hoping to see a floating market at work. For families with small children it suits well, although life jackets for under-fives are worth confirming when you book so we bring the right size.
Common questions
Questions travellers ask most
Will we see a floating market?
No. The working one is at Cai Rang, near Can Tho, and it is finished by eight in the morning. No day trip from Saigon arrives in time.
How is this different from the cheap My Tho tours?
The route. We skip the island stall circuit and the crowded sampan channel and spend the day on the Ben Tre side, with our own boat and a family lunch.
Can vegetarians eat well?
Yes. Tell us when booking and the orchard kitchen will cook tofu, mushrooms and vegetables in place of fish.
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