Located about 50 kilometers distant from the center of Ho Chi Minh City, Can Gio District is famous for the mangrove swamp, the beautiful beaches and fresh sea foods. It is definitely an ideal place to travel for a backpacking tour on weekend.
Two most convenient transportations for backpackers to get to Can Gio District are the bus and the motorcycle. If travelling by bus, from Ben Thanh Market, take a bus to Nha Be; the bus would stop at one side of Binh Khanh Ferry. From here, you would buy a ticket to go on the ferry-boat. Once get to Can Gio, you take another bus to goto the beach. On the way, if there is some place you like to visit, feel free to ask the bus driver to drop you off because Can Gio does not have anybus sign.
The second way – easier and more practical, is to travel by motorbike. The bus might be a little inconvenient since you have to walk to the tourist areas and cannot fully contemplate the small, special places of Can Gio during the sight-seeing. The motorbike route to Can Gio is quite simple. From Nguyen Van Linh Boulevard, District 7, turn right to Huynh Tan Phat Street, go straight ahead to the very end of the street where you meet Binh Khanh Ferry. The ticket price to get on a ferry-boat updated on March: Walkers: 1,500 VND; With motorbikes: 4,500 VND.
Get off the ferry-boat and you step on Can Gio District. Drive straight ahead to Can Thanh Commune, which has Can Gio Beach. Other tourist areas like Vam Sac, Dao Khi are all located along the route from the first part of Can Gio District to the center of Can Thanh Commune.
Once get to Can thanh Commune, you might stop by the “April 30th ” tourist area which has the beach of the same name. The road is all tiled from the first part to the center of the commune and you can easily hear the gentle breezes of the sea wind. Along this road, there are quite many good sea-food restaurants where you can freely taste fresh sea foods. These restaurants do not stick it on; besides, their sea foods are always fresh so you don’t have to worry about the price and the foods’ quality.
Driving straight ahead the tiled road following Can Gio Market direction (located at the end of Duyen Hai Street), tourists can visit the Temple of Thuy Tuong Nam Hai which worships the Ong Fish (the giant fish, thought to be the whale); the temple is located next to the market. The temple processes a 12-meter skeleton of the Ong Fish since 1971. Every year on the 16th day of the eighth lunar month, local people formally celebrate a special festival called “Nghinh Ong Festival” with the participations of hundreds boats.
On the way, if there is any available time, tourists can also buy tickets to do a sightseeing tour through Dao Khi (Monkey Island); a ticket for an adult costs 30,000 VND on weekdays and 35,000 VND on weekend. From Monkey Island, we can hire a motorboat to visit Vam Sat Mangrove Swamp – one of the world’s two most sustainable developed ecotourism places in Vietnam. Price for a motorboat (updated on March) is 500,000 VND which can carry to 8 adults.
Some tips on bike-travelling to Can Gio:
- The first part of the route lead to Can Gio (near Binh Khanh Ferry) is very deserted; the road-bed is wide but includes quite many cobble stones, not flat and smooth, so a preparation with fine tires is necessary. If you intend to travel on weekdays, take notice that there is no bike-mending store along two sides of the route; if the bike gets broken, you can only carry it on to a bus to find a nearest store to fix which costs quite much money.
- In general, the route lead to Can Gio is very desolate.
- The route usually has traffic police, so make sure you follow closely the traffic rules.
- Once entered to Dao Khi (Monkey Island), it’s necessary to preserve your poverty and personal stuff carefully. The monkeys here are quite impish and likely to try grabbing your stuff.
- If it’s convenient, you can start going to Can Gio on late Saturday afternoon, then stop by one of the hotels located along “April 30th” tourist area or Can Thanh Commune to take chance to contemplate the beautiful sea by night and have more time to discover Can Gio the days after.
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