Ho Chi Minh: Can Gio Monkey Island & Crocodile Farm Day Trip

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/31

Duration9h–10h

GroupUp to 30

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Mangroves, Monkeys & War History in One Morning from the City

You get picked up early from your hotel, spend the morning walking mangrove pathways and spotting monkeys, tour a crocodile farm and a reconstructed Vietnam War base, eat a fresh seafood lunch by the water, and visit the local market before returning to the city by late afternoon. Everything—guide, entry, transport, and lunch—is arranged, so you're not coordinating ferries or timing yourself.

9h–10h

Step-by-step itinerary

Can Gio Trek and Wildlife Visit

Pickup from hotel in Districts 1 and 4
Depart to Can Gio
Visit Monkey Island
Visit Hoa Ca crocodile farm
Trek to Sac Forest Revolutionary Base
Lunch at local restaurant
Visit Seafood Can Gio Market
Return to Ho Chi Minh City

The Experience

Most people visit Ho Chi Minh City and stay in the center, but the real landscape—the one that shaped the region—sits an hour south in Can Gio. The pickup happens early, around 7:30 or 8am depending on which district you're in, and by 9am you're already stepping onto wooden pathways that cut through a UNESCO-listed mangrove biosphere reserve. The canopy is thick enough that the heat drops, and the air smells different—salt, wet earth, something green and old. Monkeys move through the branches above, and if you're quiet, you'll see them before the guide points them out.

After Monkey Island, you walk into the Hoa Ca crocodile farm—which is exactly what it sounds like, rows of pens and pools with animals that haven't moved much since breakfast. Then comes the part that catches people off guard: the trek into Rung Sac Military Base, a reconstructed command center from the Vietnam War buried inside the same forest. You can walk the 25 minutes through the mangroves or pay extra for a 10-minute canoe ride, but either way you end up in bunkers and among displays of wartime artifacts, all of it surrounded by the same quiet trees. It's an odd collision—history and nature occupying the same space—and your guide will explain how the commandos lived and fought here while the forest kept growing around them.

Lunch lands around noon at a local restaurant near the water, and the specialty is Southern Vietnamese seafood—whatever came in that morning, cooked the way people here have always cooked it. After eating, you head to the Can Gio seafood market, where the catch is still moving in tanks and the vendors are loud and fast. You're not buying anything; you're just walking through and seeing how the supply chain actually works, which is different from reading about it. The drive back to Ho Chi Minh City takes the late afternoon, and you're dropped at your original pickup point by 3:30 or 4pm.

The whole day includes your guide, entry fees, the ferry tickets that get you out to the reserve, water, and transport in an air-conditioned vehicle. If you're staying in Districts 1 or 4 on a shared tour, pickup is included; private tours can arrange pickup in Districts 3 and 5 as well, though that costs more and gets added to your bill on the day.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup in Districts 1, 4 (or 3, 5 for private tours), round-trip ferry tickets to Can Gio, entrance to Monkey Island and the crocodile farm, a guided trek or canoe option to the Rung Sac Military Base, a Southern Vietnamese seafood lunch at a local restaurant, a visit to the Can Gio seafood market, bottled water throughout the day, and air-conditioned transport back to your hotel by late afternoon. The professional English-speaking guide is with you the entire time.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problemsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by SST TRAVEL

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see the mangrove ecosystem and Vietnam War history in one day without arranging your own transport and timing—the fixed schedule and included pickup mean you just show up at your hotel and the day is structured for you.