Around Can Tho and the Mekong Delta

About Our Location

Can Tho is known widely as the Gateway to the Mekong, owing to its location about 150km from Ho Chi Minh City and its role as the major transport hub for the delta. While the city is the fourth largest in all of Vietnam, its surroundings have stood resolutely traditional and its vast greenery has remained a beacon of tranquillity in an increasingly modernised country.

The many rivers that dissect Can Tho have been modes of transport and sources of income for its residents for over 2,500 years. Its name is derived from the evocative flow of these myriad waterways; an evolution of Cầm Thi Giang– The River of Poems. Locals still meet daily along its poetic rivers at its floating markets, where some of the country’s best produce is sold from humble wooden boats.

Floating Markets

As long as there has been production in the Mekong Delta, there has also been trade. With no access to roads or vehicles in ancient times, locals took to the water as not only a means of transportation, but also a means of commerce and community. Cai Rang and Cai Be are the most popular of the delta's floating markets but smaller markets such as Phong Dien and Tra On span vein-like estuaries, capturing the authenticity and uniqueness of Vietnamese market culture.

Both Cai Rang and Phong Dien feature on tours within easy reach of our eco-accommodation in Can Tho:

Cai Rang Floating Market is one of the region's most important wholesale markets, located about 5 minutes away from Can Tho Ecolodge by boat.
Phong Dien Floating Market is a retail market upstream from Cai Rang. It takes 30 minutes to reach here from Can Tho Ecolodge by boat.

Boat Tours

Can Tho is located at the meeting point of three great waterways: the Hau River, the Can Tho River and the Cai Khe Canal. The city and its surroundings are rife with opportunities for exploration by boat, many of which head out into the thick jungle of the Mekong Delta and its more narrow, more intimate streams. Here is where the luxuriant nature of the delta takes hold, reflecting across silent waterways skimmed by wooden sampan boats. Can Tho Ecolodge's boat tours head from our luxury eco-accommodation throughout the Mekong Delta's languid rivers, where local moments reach peak authenticity.

Handicraft Villages

Around the Can Tho region, a long tradition of skilled hands and family customs remains alive across ancient handicraft villages. Some create crab traps and nets for fishing while others focus on farming and construction tools. Many work with the medium of rice in noodle and cake making, while many more process the Mekong Delta's abundant coconut into a magnificent variety of edibles and non-edibles. The ancient way is still alive in the most ancient part of Vietnam and Can Tho Ecolodge’s village tours can unveil some of the mysticism behind the traditional craft.

Fruit Orchards

For all of its stunning beauty, the Mekong Delta is best known within Vietnam for its incredible fruit. Around 3 hectares of land is dedicated to the cultivation of fruit, encompassing recognisable offerings like oranges, bananas, and guavas, but also specialty tropical fruits such as star apples, Burmese grapes, rambutans, dragonfruits, mangos, and durians. Uncle Hai is a respected grower in the Can Tho region and Can Tho Ecolodge provides tours of his rural, eco-minded orchard.

Special Offer

Get the most out of our green accommodation in the Mekong Delta with the following all-inclusive packages. Stay in luxury, eat local and explore Can Tho’s rolling nature over the course of 2 or 3 days with Can Tho Ecolodge.

About Our Location

Floating Markets

Boat Tours

Handicraft Villages

Fruit Orchards

Special Offer

Escape to Nature Special

$ 386 US

Early Bird & Long Stay Promotion

$ 90 US

Honeymoon Romance Package

$ 186 US