Hoi An Cooking Class with Bamboo Boat Fishing: includes hotel pickup and lunch

Cook what you catch: market, boat, kitchen, meal

A half-day cooking class in Hoi An that starts with hotel pickup, a market visit with the chef to choose ingredients, then a bamboo basket boat through Cam Thanh's coconut forest where you fish with locals before returning to cook and eat lunch at the restaurant. The class runs six hours total, includes an English-speaking guide, and ends with the dishes you made.

Step-by-step itinerary

Hoi An village, market and cooking class

• Pick-up at hotel in Hoi An
• Visit market with chef
• Transfer to Cam Thanh village
• Row basket boat through coconut forest
• Enjoy welcome drink and rest
• Join cooking class and eat meal
• Return to hotel

The Experience

The morning begins at your hotel in Hoi An town. Your guide picks you up and takes you straight to the local market—about thirty minutes away—where the chef walks you through the stalls. You see how vendors work, hear the noise and energy of it, and pick out the fresh ingredients you'll cook with later. This is not a quick stop; you're learning what goes into the dishes before you make them.

By mid-morning you're on the water. A car or boat ride takes you to Cam Thanh fishing village, and you pass through the Vietnamese countryside on the way—rice fields, water, coconut trees growing right up to the edge. Once there, you get into a bamboo basket boat, the kind local fishermen use, and row through the coconut jungle forest. You fish alongside them, learning the traditional techniques they've used for generations. A welcome drink and rest at the restaurant follows, then the cooking lesson starts. The chef teaches you how to prepare local food, and you do the work yourself—chopping, cooking, seasoning. When it's done, you eat what you made. By one o'clock you're back at your hotel.

The class suits anyone with a free morning who wants to move beyond watching Vietnam happen. You're not sitting in a tour bus; you're handling the ingredients, rowing the boat, and standing at the stove. The six-hour window holds everything—market, water, kitchen, meal—without rushing any of it.

What’s included

• Hotel pickup and drop-off in Hoi An town.
• market visit with the chef.
• bamboo basket boat fishing in Cam Thanh coconut forest.
• English-speaking guide.
• cooking class instruction.
• lunch cooked by you.
• mineral water.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyNot for back problemsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by BCFamilyTour.com

Is this one for you?Choose the cooking class option if you want to learn the technique and take the skill home; pick the fishing-and-meal option if you'd rather spend more time on the water and less in the kitchen. Either way, the morning holds the market, the boat and the food in one sequence—nothing is arranged separately.

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Top questions

What do I actually cook in the class?

The chef teaches you how to prepare local Vietnamese dishes using the ingredients you selected at the market that morning. You cook the meal yourself under instruction, then eat it for lunch.

Is the bamboo basket boat safe for someone who's never done it before?

Yes. Local fishermen guide you through the rowing, and the boats are designed for this work. The experience is hands-on but not demanding—you're learning the technique, not racing.

How much of the morning is spent at the market?

About thirty minutes. You go with the chef to see the vendors, understand what's fresh and in season, and select ingredients for the cooking class. It's part of learning how local cooking works.

Does the price include lunch?

Yes. The cooking class includes lunch—the meal you prepare yourself at the restaurant. Mineral water is also included; other drinks are not.

Can I book this if I'm staying in Danang instead of Hoi An?

Hotel pickup is included free within Hoi An town. If you're staying in Danang, a surcharge applies for pickup and drop-off there—ask when you book.

What's the difference between the two options?

One option is bamboo basket fishing with a local meal included; the other adds the cooking class, so you prepare the lunch yourself instead of eating a prepared dish. Both include the boat, the fishing, and hotel pickup.