How much does a Mekong Delta tour from Ho Chi Minh City cost?

A group day tour — from $15–25; A small-group day tour — $35–60; A two-day tour with the Cái Răng — $56–67 (floating market); A private English-speaking guide — $50–250 per person (a day, by group size); Doing it yourself by bus and boat — around 1,350,000 VND (~$52, for two days).

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The Mekong Delta: floating markets and day trips from Saigon

The Cai Rang floating market comes alive at four or five in the morning and is almost empty by eight. It's a 3.5-hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho, so to catch the real market you go overnight. Day tours show you the canals, fruit orchards and coconut groves — also good — but the floating market is a two-day affair.

Updated 27 September 20268 min read

Floating market in the Mekong Delta — trading boats loaded with fruit and vegetables from above — The Mekong floating market — vendors trade straight off their boats while buyers pull alongside and load up

The Mekong Delta is 40,000 km² of flooded plains, canals and rice paddies southwest of Ho Chi Minh City. About seventeen million people live here, they grow more than half of Vietnam's rice, and much of the trade still happens on the water. The nearest point, My Tho, is 70 km from the city.

A trip into the delta is a classic among the day trips out of Ho Chi Minh City. It's often paired with the Cu Chi tunnels into a two-day itinerary. If you're still mapping out the city itself, start with the attractions guide.

Floating markets — the types and how to reach them

Trading boat loaded with coconuts at a floating market in the Mekong Delta — A shop-boat at the floating market — goods hang from a tall pole above the boat: see a pineapple, and that's what they sell

Floating markets are the Mekong's calling card. Vendors hang samples on long poles above their boats: a bunch of pineapples means pineapples for sale. Buyers pull alongside, haggle and load up. It all happens on the water, no jetties involved.

One catch: the markets are shrinking. Bridges and roads make trading on land easier. Cái Răng in 2026 is still impressive, but it's no longer the chaos of hundreds of boats it was ten years ago. Worth the trip — just go with realistic expectations.

Some tourists said they had initially expected to see a bustling floating market… Instead, they found only a few boats selling goods, while around 80 percent of the boats were tourist vessels carrying visitors around the marketCa Linh and Dong Nguyen, Tuoi Tre News, 2026

Comparison of Mekong Delta floating markets
Market	Town	Hours	Distance	Character
Cai Rang	Can Tho	04:00–09:00	170 km (3.5 h)	Large, wholesale
Cai Be	Dong Thap (formerly Tien Giang)	05:00–09:00	110 km (2.5 h)	Closer, more authentic
Phong Dien	Can Tho	05:00–07:00	180 km (4 h)	Small, for locals

Cái Răng is a must-see if you can spare two days. It's the biggest floating market in southern Vietnam — wholesale trade, with boats piled high with watermelons, pineapples and pumpkins. The best view is from a boat among the vendors.

Cái Bè is the day-trip option if you leave Saigon around 5 a.m. Closer to Saigon and open a touch longer. Smaller in scale, but the atmosphere is more real — traders here deal with each other, not with tourists.

Day trips from Ho Chi Minh City

A rower in a sun hat steering a wooden rowing boat along a muddy Mekong Delta channel — Tourists are rowed through the delta's narrow channels in small wooden boats. After the chaos of Saigon, the contrast is a relief. Photo: Jim Bendon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

The day tour is the most popular format. In 8–10 hours you'll see canals, islands, fruit orchards and coconut groves. A floating market usually isn't part of it — it empties out by 8–9 a.m., and you leave HCMC at 7:00–8:00.

A typical itinerary (My Tho + Ben Tre)

07:30 — depart Ho Chi Minh City
09:30 — arrive in My Tho, transfer to a boat
10:00 — Unicorn Island (Cù lao Thới Sơn): fruit orchards, tastings, folk music, honey
11:30 — lunch (grilled "elephant-ear" fish, the signature dish)
13:00 — Bến Tre canals by sampan: narrow channels among the coconut palms
14:30 — coconut workshop: candy, oil, coconut wine
15:30 — return to Saigon (arriving ~17:30)

What genuinely impresses: the Ben Tre canals. Narrow channels, palms leaning overhead, the boat barely squeezing through. Silence.

What disappoints: Unicorn Island. Too geared to tourists — "folk" music, staged photos with pythons, a hard sell on honey. Bearable, but not authentic.

Two-day tours with a floating market

Many trading boats with fruit at the early-morning floating market in the Mekong Delta — Morning at a floating market — dozens of boats selling fruit, vegetables and hot food right on the water

The only way to see Cái Răng is to spend the night in Can Tho. The market starts around 4–5 a.m., peaks at 5:30–6:30 and is nearly empty by 8:00 — there's simply no way to get there from Saigon in time.

A typical itinerary (2 days / 1 night)

Day 1: Saigon → My Tho → canals → Ben Tre → Can Tho. Overnight in Can Tho (hotel or homestay).

Day 2: 05:00 — boat out to the Cái Răng market. Two hours among the trading boats. Breakfast on the water — pho from a boat-kitchen. Back in Saigon in the afternoon: Can Tho is 3.5–4 hours by road.

Some visitors also hoped to sit on a boat and enjoy food on the river. However, boat operators took them to a floating raft for breakfast… the boat stopped at a location resembling a shop selling Mekong Delta specialtiesCa Linh and Dong Nguyen, Tuoi Tre News, 2026

A two-day group tour runs from $56–67. It includes transfers, boats, the overnight, meals and an English-speaking guide. A private day with a local guide is $250 solo, dropping to $50 per person in a group of ten.

A homestay in Cần Thơ is from 350,000 VND a night (~$13) with breakfast — cosy houses by the river, mosquito nets and quiet. Book ahead in high season, as the good riverside ones fill up.

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On your own: bus and boat

The park on the Ninh Kieu waterfront in Can Tho, a boat-pier arch on the left and hotels on the right — The Bến Ninh Kiều waterfront in Can Tho — boats to the Cai Rang market leave from here at dawn. Photo: Christophe95, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Going independently is three to five times cheaper, and more interesting if you don't mind the language barrier.

A two-day route

Day 1: Take a Futa (Phương Trang) bus from the Bến xe Miền Tây station in Saigon to Can Tho. Departures every 30–40 minutes, 165,000–250,000 VND (~$6–10), 3.5 hours. Reclining seats, A/C, WiFi. Buy at the station counter or book ahead on the FUTA app or Vexere.

Evening: the Bến Ninh Kiều waterfront in Can Tho — restaurants, a night market, the river. Overnight from 350,000 VND.

Day 2: Up at 04:30. Walk or grab a Grab to the pier (5 minutes). A boat to Cái Răng is 350,000–400,000 VND (~$13–15) per boat for two to four people, a 2–3 hour cruise. Breakfast on the water. Back to Saigon by bus.

Independent total: ~400,000 VND transport + 350,000 VND overnight + 400,000 VND boat + 200,000 VND food = about 1,350,000 VND (~$52) per person. An organised tour for two starts at $112.

Alternative: My Tho as a half-day

Cargo boat on the Mekong River between the green banks of Vietnam — Life on the Mekong — boats haul cargo, fishers work the water, villages sit right on the river

A Futa bus to My Tho is 80,000 VND (~$3), 1.5 hours. There you hire a boat through the canals from 200,000 VND. No floating market, but you still get the canals, islands and fruit. You'll be back in Saigon by lunch. To stay overnight, see our guide to My Tho, Ben Tre and Vinh Long.

Prices in 2026

Mekong Delta tour and transport prices from Ho Chi Minh City in 2026
What	Price (VND)	Price (~USD)
Group day tour (English)	—	from $15–25
Small-group day tour	—	from $35–60
2 days with Cai Rang (group)	—	from $56–67
Private day tour (English guide)	—	$250 solo, $50 pp in 10
Futa bus to Can Tho	165,000–250,000	~$6–10
Boat to Cai Rang (per boat)	350,000–400,000	~$13–15
Homestay in Can Tho	from 350,000/night	~$13
Bus to My Tho	80,000	~$3

Prices current as of July 2026 (~26,000 VND = $1).

When to go

Boat with a rower in a conical hat in a canal through nipa palm thickets — The Ben Tre canals in the dry season — perfect conditions for a boat trip

Best time to visit the Mekong Delta by season
Period	Weather	Pros	Cons
Dec–Feb	Dry, 28–32°C	Best weather	Peak season
Mar–May	Hot, 33–35°C	Fruit season starts	Hot
Jun–Aug	Rain, 30°C	Best fruit	Downpours
Sep–Nov	Rain, 28–30°C	Lush green	Markets irregular

The best window is December to April: dry, comfortable, markets running reliably. May to August is a trade-off — hot with occasional downpours, but the fruit is unbelievable: mangosteen, durian and rambutan season.

I visited during the New Year holiday [Tet]. The floating market was chaotic, with touts everywherea reader, Tuoi Tre News, 2026

Practical tips

A vendor on a motorboat with baskets of fruit passing goods to tourists at the Cai Rang floating market — Fruit straight off the boat — watermelon, mangosteen and bananas at a third of Saigon prices. Photo: Christophe95, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

What to bring: sunscreen, a hat, water. There's little shade on the boat — you'll burn in an hour. Bring cash; villages don't take cards.

Haggling: at the floating market prices are fixed (it's wholesale). On the tourist islands, haggling is fair game — a 20–30% discount is realistic.

Language: outside Saigon, English barely works. Google Translate with the camera is a lifesaver. Or learn Bao nhiêu tiền? ("How much?") — it handles 80% of situations. On an organised tour the guide bridges all of this.

Photos: the early-morning light at Cái Răng is gold. Bring a wide lens or a phone with a good camera. The best shots are from water level.

Combo with the Cu Chi tunnels: a popular pairing is day 1 (Cu Chi) + day 2 (Mekong). Two-day tours often bundle both — from $100 with an overnight.

For the wider picture of the city, see our Ho Chi Minh City guide.

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Pros and cons

Village on the bank of the Mekong River with palms and boats, seen from above — A village in the Mekong Delta — life here runs along the river, not the roads

Pros

Floating markets — a unique sight that's disappearing
A contrast with Saigon: quiet, nature, an unhurried pace
Budget-friendly: day tour from $15, cheaper still on your own
Fruit: things you won't find in the city (or will, at three times the price)

Cons

Day tours are a tourist conveyor belt. Unicorn Island, staged music, a python around your neck. Fun, but not authentic
The floating market needs two days. A day tour won't include it — the market empties out by 8–9 a.m.
The markets are shrinking. Cái Răng isn't what it was ten years ago
Heat on the boat. No shade, sun straight down. Without sunscreen and a hat, a burn is guaranteed
Language barrier. Outside organised tours, few people speak English

FAQ

A group day tourfrom $15–25
A small-group day tour$35–60
A two-day tour with the Cái Răng$56–67floating market
A private English-speaking guide$50–250 per persona day, by group size
Doing it yourself by bus and boataround 1,350,000 VND~$52for two days

Not Cái Răng in Can Tho. The market runs roughly 4 to 9 a.m., busiest 5:30–6:30, and it's a 3.5-hour drive from Saigon, so you need an overnight in Can Tho. Cái Bè is closer (2.5 hours) but smaller. Day tours usually show the canals and islands without a market.

Cái Răng is bigger and more of a spectacle, but needs two days (an overnight in Can Tho). Cái Bè is closer to Saigon (2.5 hours), fits a day trip only if you leave around 5 a.m., and feels more authentic. For a first visit — Cai Rang. For a return — Cai Be.

Yes. A Futa (Phương Trang) bus to Can Tho is 165,000–250,000 VND (~$6–10), 3.5 hours, every 30–40 minutes. You hire a boat to the market at the Ninh Kiều pier — 350,000–400,000 VND per boat. The language is a barrier, but Google Translate handles it.

Grilled "elephant-ear" fish (cá tai tượng) is the signature dish of My Tho. Tropical fruit straight off the tree: mangosteen, rambutan, longan, dragon fruit. Coconut candy and wine in Bến Tre. At the floating market, pho from a boat-kitchen (15,000–25,000 VND, ~$0.60–1).

December to April is the dry season with the best weather. May to August is peak fruit season but brings downpours. September to November is very wet and the markets run irregularly. Cái Răng operates year-round, but at the height of the rains the boats sometimes stay in.

Data current as of July 2026. Prices and conditions can change — check official sources before you travel.