Cai Rang Floating Market & Son Islet Day Tour from Saigon
Embark on a dawn-to-dusk adventure from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho, deep into Vietnam’s fertile Mekong Delta, where floating markets, lush islets, and warm-hearted locals reveal daily life on the river.
Your day begins with an early pick-up (around 4 or 5 AM) from your Ho Chi Minh City hotel. Settle in for the three-hour drive south, watching rice paddies and palm-fringed canals glide past your window as the sun rises.
First stop is Cai Rang Floating Market, the Delta’s busiest trading hub. Aboard a private boat, weave between colourful produce barges while vendors call out their wares. Enjoy a “floating” breakfast steaming shaken noodles and rich “braised” Vietnamese coffee-right on the water.
Back on shore, step into small family workshops to see how silky hủ tiếu rice noodles are sun-dried and how the region’s famously sweet pineapples are sliced fresh for tasting.
Cruise onward to tranquil Son Islet in the Hau River. Here you’ll:
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Visit a floating fish farm and try a playful koi-fish foot massage.
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Wander orchard lanes, pick seasonal fruit, and brave a traditional bamboo monkey bridge.
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Pop rice, mould sticky-rice cakes, and watch the lively “jumping snakehead fish” show all alongside welcoming island families.
Midday, sit down to a generous home-cooked Mekong lunch – the “flying menu” where each household prepares its speciality for you directly supporting community-based tourism.
After a relaxed break, re-board your vehicle for the comfortable ride back to Ho Chi Minh City, arriving around 5 PM with fresh insights, new tastes, and unforgettable memories of the Delta.
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