Two hours south of Saigon, the city noise dissolves into something else entirely. The air gets thicker. The roads narrow. Rice paddies spread out flat to the horizon. You’re in the Mekong Delta.
Most people do this as a day trip — and honestly, that’s enough time to get a solid taste of what makes this place special. Not the full picture, but the good parts. The coconut canals, the riverside lunch, the sampan ride where the only sound is the paddle hitting the water.
Here’s what you shouldn’t miss if you’ve only got one day.
Ride a Sampan Through the Coconut Canals
This is the one. The moment that makes the whole trip worth it.
You transfer from the longboat onto a tiny rowing boat — just you, a local paddler, and a narrow canal lined with water coconut palms so thick they form a tunnel overhead. The water’s brown from silt. Cicadas are going nuts in the trees. And for about 20 minutes, you’re gliding through what feels like a different world entirely.
Every tour does this. But not every tour does it in the right spot. The key is Ben Tre — the canals here are quieter and less crowded than the My Tho side. Bring a hat. The sun finds its way through the gaps.
Watch Coconut Candy Being Made
Ben Tre is the coconut capital of Vietnam. Over 300 workshops in the province turn the things into everything — oil, milk, fiber, and the famous soft coconut candy you’ll see at every stop.
The process is simple: grate the coconut, squeeze out the milk, mix with sugar, and stir over a low flame until it turns into a sticky paste. Then it’s cut, wrapped in rice paper, and packed. You’ll get to taste it fresh off the tray — warm and way better than the packaged stuff.
Most workshops also press coconut oil and make coconut-shell crafts. Free to watch, easy to buy a pack or two as gifts. 20,000–30,000 VND a bag, basically nothing.
Cycle Through the Village Paths
After the boat rides, you trade the water for some dry land. The tour guides will hand you a bicycle and point you toward the back roads of Ben Tre.
Expect narrow concrete paths between rice fields, houses on stilts, kids waving from doorways, and the occasional motorbike loaded with coconuts. Flat terrain, easy riding. Takes about 30-40 minutes. Not a workout — a slow roll through rural life.
Some tours offer a tuk-tuk instead if cycling isn’t your thing. Take the bike if you can, though. You cover more ground and feel the heat and the breeze in a way you don’t from a vehicle.
Try Elephant Ear Fish at a Riverside Lunch
This is the meal people remember. You sit at a long table under a thatched roof, right by the water. Plastic chairs, paper napkins, the whole works.
The centerpiece is cá tai tượng — elephant ear fish. It’s fried whole, standing upright on a plate, crispy skin and all. You pull the meat off with chopsticks, wrap it in rice paper with herbs, noodles, and dipping sauce, and eat it like a fresh spring roll.
Most set lunches also include fried spring rolls, coconut rice, river shrimp, and a soup. If you’re vegetarian, let them know ahead of time — most guides arrange a solid plant-based alternative.
This is also a good time for that bottle of water they give you. June in the Delta is humid, and you’ll have earned the break.
Visit a Local Brick Factory
Not the most glamorous stop on the list, but one of the most real. Along the riverbanks of Ben Tre, you’ll see kilns firing bricks the same way they have for decades.
The clay comes from the riverbed. Molds are filled by hand. The bricks stack in long rows inside wood-fired kilns that run continuously for days. The heat hits you from 20 meters away.
Is it a tourist attraction? No. It’s someone’s workplace. But watching the process gives you a real sense of how things work in the Delta — where making a brick by hand still makes economic sense because labor is cheaper than machines. Worth a 10-minute stop.
Sip Honey Tea and Listen to Folk Music
On one of the river islands, you’ll stop at a small family-run setup. A thatched hut, some wooden benches, and a table with jars of local honey, pollen, and royal jelly.
They pour you a cup of honey tea — warm, sweet, with a hint of lime. While you drink, a small band plays traditional southern Vietnamese folk music. It’s simple: a string instrument or two, a singer, maybe a bamboo flute. The musicians are usually locals who’ve been playing these same songs for years.
Taste the honey, try the pollen (it’s an acquired taste), and buy a jar if you want. It’s not pushy. Just a nice pause in the middle of a busy day.
Tour a Fruit Orchard
The Delta grows more than half of Vietnam’s fruit. You’ll wander through a garden where longan hangs in bunches, jackfruit bulges on tree trunks, and dragon fruit climbs up trellises.
Most tours include a fruit-tasting stop: sliced dragon fruit, rambutan, mango, and pomelo laid out on a banana leaf. Eat with your hands.
June is a solid month for fruit in the Delta. The rainy season keeps everything lush, and you’ll find good longan and mangosteen. The sweetest stuff never makes it to the export market — it’s all eaten locally. Fair warning: once you’ve had a mango straight off the tree, the supermarket version stops hitting the same way.
Explore Vinh Trang Pagoda
On the way back toward Saigon, many tours stop at Vinh Trang Pagoda in My Tho. It’s a mix of Vietnamese, Chinese, and European architectural styles — the main hall has a giant bronze Buddha, and the grounds are full of bonsai gardens and a massive reclining Buddha statue.
It’s not the most ancient temple in Vietnam (built in the 19th century), but the contrast between the serene grounds and the chaos of the main road outside makes it a good last stop before heading back to the city.
Spend 20 minutes here, stretch your legs, and get your final photos of the day.
Before You Go
- Book with a small group — tours with 30+ people turn the canals into a traffic jam. Aim for max 10. AN Tours runs small groups (under 10) into Ben Tre, not the crowded My Tho route.
- Bring sunscreen and a hat — even on cloudy days, the Delta sun is sneaky. You’ll be on the water for hours with no shade.
- Wear sandals or shoes you don’t mind getting wet — the sampan boarding is not a graceful operation. Feet will get damp.
- Leave by 7am — the traffic out of Saigon gets nasty after 8. An early start means smoother roads and cooler morning weather on the water.
- Carry cash — the coconut candy, honey jars, and fruit are cash-only at most stops. Small bills help.
The Short Version
A Mekong Delta day trip is exactly what it sounds like: a long day, a lot of boat rides, and a really good lunch. The sampan ride through the palm canals is worth every second of the drive down.
For a reliable small-group experience that avoids the packed tourist route, check out AN Tours’ Ben Tre Mekong Delta tour — groups of 10 max, all-inclusive, and they actually go to the quiet canals instead of the crowded ones.
If you’re extending your trip, Ben Tre also works well as part of a multi-day Delta itinerary. But for a single day — this covers the essentials. Bring a hat. Bring cash. Don’t skip the fish.
Contact us on WhatsApp/Zalo: +84 70 6666 520 to book or for any questions about getting there.
