Can Gio Biosphere Reserve Tour by Luxury Speedboat

Once the target of chemical warfare and now resplendent with acres of mangrove forest, the UNESCO-designated Can Gio Biosphere Reserve, located south of Ho Chi Minh City, is teeming with wildlife and biodiversity.

After meeting your guide in your hotel lobby, you’re transferred to Ho Chi Minh City’s central pier in the morning. Then depart by luxury speedboat for the lush, green tributaries of the Mekong Delta. A light breakfast of pastries or sandwiches, tropical fruit and Vietnamese coffee is served on board as you relax in spacious comfort during the approx. 2-hour journey into Can Gio.

En route, your small-group tour visits the bustling Can Giuoc Market, which provides great photo ops of a traditional riverside market scene where you can sample the local produce. After you depart, the slow-paced agricultural world of the Mekong Delta begins to give way.

Cruise past a tapestry of green paddy fields, tropical fruit trees and water palms and move into a landscape of mangrove trees looming overhead. Once inside the reserve, listen as your guide discusses one of Vietnam’s most important ecosystems, which provides a habitat for 52 flora species and 200 fauna species.

Visit traditional fishing hamlets, where fishermen knot their nets by hand by the river, and then take to the tranquil waters of Giant Bat Lagoon by rowboat. After a short, guided trek through the mangroves, enjoy a traditional Vietnamese lunch at a private riverside location, including fresh spring rolls, lemongrass chicken and a delicious Mekong Delta specialty.

In the afternoon, arrive in Vam Sat Eco Park, where you can visit a crocodile reserve (and feed them via a fishing rod if you wish) to learn about the once-plentiful crocs that were hunted to near extinction. Be sure to keep an eye out for gibbons and monkeys swinging from trees in their natural habitat. Enjoy crab fishing and bird watching for local and migratory species, including painted storks and duck-billed pelicans, or take another mangrove jungle walk with your guide.

At the end of your full-day tour, depart Can Gio’s mangroves for Ho Chi Minh City, arriving back at the central pier where you’re taken back to your hotel by air-conditioned vehicle.