Ho Chi Minh City: Mekong Delta Day Trip & Boat Tour

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Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/20

Duration9h

GroupUp to 29

LanguagesEN · VI

PickupAt your hotel

The Mekong Delta in One Day: Pagoda, Islands & Coconut Canals

You get picked up early, driven to a 19th-century pagoda, then spend the afternoon on boats moving between four river islands, walking through village gardens, listening to folk music, eating a full traditional lunch, and rowing through coconut-lined canals. The whole day is structured so you're never waiting or figuring out logistics — the guide handles timing, the boat schedule is built in, and you're back in the city by early evening.

Step-by-step itinerary

Mekong Delta cultural and boat tour

Pick up from Ho Chi Minh City
Drive 1.5 hours to Vinh Trang Pagoda
Visit Vinh Trang Pagoda
Go to My Tho Cruise Port
Boat trip on Tien River and see four islets
Observe floating fish rafts and Rach Mieu Bridge
Walk on Thoi Son island village road
Visit local houses and fruit gardens
Visit honey bee farm and drink honey lemon tea
Enjoy Southern folk music and fresh fruit
Row boats through small canal with coconut trees
Walk to coconut candy shop and learn candy making
Have local lunch at restaurant
Relax, fish for crocodiles, or cycle village road
Return to My Tho by boat
Drive back to Ho Chi Minh City
Drop off at meeting point or Ben Thanh market

The Experience

The pickup happens at 8am sharp from Pham Ngu Lao Street, and then you're on the road toward the Mekong Delta. After an hour and a half of driving through the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, the bus pulls up to Vinh Trang Pagoda — a 19th-century structure that blends European and Asian architecture in a way that shouldn't work but does. Your guide (English or Vietnamese-speaking) walks you through the compound, explaining how it ranks third among all pagodas in the south. You're not rushed here; there's time to look around, take photos, sit in the courtyards.

Then comes the boat part, which is the real reason you came. You head to My Tho Cruise Port and board a larger vessel that takes you out onto the Tien River to see the four islets — Long, Lan, Qui, and Phung — and the floating fish rafts where locals have been raising fish for generations. The boat slows down so you can actually see how it works, not just glimpse it from a distance. After that, you switch to a smaller rowing boat on Thoi Son island (also called Lan), and this is where the day shifts into something slower. You walk through village roads, stop at local houses and fruit gardens, visit a honey bee farm, and sit down to fresh honey lemon tea while a musician plays Don Ca Tai Tu Xu Dua — traditional Southern Vietnamese folk music that sounds nothing like what you'd hear in the north. It's unhurried, and that's the point.

Lunch happens around midday at a local restaurant: a traditional Vietnamese set menu with six or seven dishes, vegetarian options available if you need them. After eating, you have a choice — some people fish for crocodiles (yes, really), others nap in hammocks, a few rent bicycles and cycle the village roads. Then it's back to the rowing boats one more time, this time weaving into narrow canals lined with natural coconut trees on both sides. You'll stop at a coconut candy shop where they show you how it's made and sell you handicrafts made from coconut wood. The boat returns to My Tho by 2:30pm, and the bus takes you back to Ho Chi Minh City, dropping you at the meeting point or Ben Thanh market by 5pm.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel or street pickup at 8am, air-conditioned vehicle transport to and from the delta, entry to Vinh Trang Pagoda, boat trips on the Tien River to four islands, a rowing boat experience through coconut canals, a traditional Vietnamese lunch with six to seven dishes (vegetarian option available), fresh local fruit, honey lemon tea, bottled water, and a guide who speaks English or Vietnamese throughout. You'll also hear traditional folk music and have time to explore village roads, fruit gardens, and a honey bee farm.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyNot for heart conditionsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Cong Ty TNHH Du Lich Anh Nhu

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see the Mekong Delta's main attractions — pagoda, islands, canals, village life — in a single day without arranging your own transport, boats, or lunch; the fixed schedule and included meals mean you show up at 8am and everything else is handled.