Located in the middle of a gentle river closely associated with the culture and history of the Mekong Delta, Thoi Son Islet has long become an attractive eco-tourism destination, with its rustic and fertile beauty.
With many countryside-style experiences, Thoi Son has held the footsteps of numerous visitors who love peace and closeness to nature. Coming to Thoi Son Islet is to see a Mekong Delta that is simple and warm-hearted.
Orchard identity
Thoi Son Islet is like a peaceful strip of land covered in lush greenery. Favoured by nature, local residents began developing tourism quite early, with unique models that bring visitors appealing experiences. The peaceful beauty of small canals, shaded nipa palm rows, fruit-laden orchards and the gentle lifestyle of the orchards quickly leaves an impression on both domestic and foreign visitors.
Thoi Son Islet has an especially favourable location, lying right below Rach Mieu 1 and Rach Mieu 2 bridges and only about 70km from Ho Chi Minh City, making it very convenient for day trips. Waterway and road routes easily connect with My Tho and Ben Tre wards, helping travel companies flexibly build many linked tours. To explore the islet, visitors can choose to walk, cycle, take an electric vehicle, or, more uniquely, ride a horse-drawn carriage or sit in a small wooden boat drifting through the maze of canals.
Since April, the number of international and domestic visitors to Thoi Son Islet has risen sharply, especially at weekends, thanks to the effect of social media platforms and videos sharing real-life experiences.
At Ba Ngoan Canal, the tourism site’s famous small-boat experience route, dozens of boats have been seen queuing to move along the canal. Many visitors have had to wait for hours before they can enjoy the experience.
Nguyen Thi Xuan Mai, Vice Chairwoman of the Thoi Son Ward People’s Committee, said: “Thoi Son tourism has always been based on local identity. Visitors coming here experience a vivid indigenous cultural space, rich in everyday life. Thoi Son currently has one canal route serving visitors with rowing-boat experiences, 1,500m long, with 162 boats and nearly 300 rowers. Each trip carries a maximum of four guests and lasts 15 to 20 minutes. Therefore, when visitor numbers increase, overloading can easily occur.”
While rhythmically rowing guests along the canal, boatman Pham Van Thuong tells visitors stories about life in the countryside. On average, he makes four boat trips a day, while during the peak period in July, when visitors were numerous, he made eight to ten trips.
Each trip currently costs 15,000 VND for two rowers, so income remains very low, at only about 1-2 million VND per month. For more than 15 years, their main income has largely come from tips given by visitors after the enjoyable experience. Recently, the Dong Thap Province Tourism Association, travel companies, the Thoi Son Ward People’s Committee and the Thoi Son tourist rowing-boat trade union agreed to raise rowing-boat fares on Thoi Son Islet according to a roadmap starting from October 1.
The price of each trip will rise to 30,000 VND. It will then increase by another 10,000 VND after six months until it reaches 50,000 VND per trip. This roadmap ensures that travel companies and visitors have time to adapt, avoiding difficulties for businesses and local people.
Towards sustainable tourism
Don ca tai tu, a traditional musical art form of southern Viet Nam, is an indispensable part of Thoi Son tourism. Many music groups still maintain regular activities connected with performances for visitors. This is a spiritual cultural value that the locality focuses on preserving, including by opening Don ca tai tu classes, designing standard performance spaces, organising contests to build model performance programmes, and promptly inspecting and handling cases of substandard performances.
Pham Long Ho, owner of the Xu Dua Don ca tai tu venue, shared: “Visitors are served five types of fruit available in the garden, drink tea, exchange with performers and listen to Don ca tai tu in a rustic space rich in southern culture. We perform out of passion and a desire to preserve traditional culture.”
When visiting Thoi Son Islet, tourists can stop by handmade coconut candy production facilities, a famous speciality of the region, to watch with their own eyes the process of cooking, rolling and cutting the candy entirely by hand, and to taste pieces of candy still warm from the oven. In addition, handmade weaving workshops with products such as baskets, trays and handbags made from bamboo and rattan also attract the attention and curiosity of many visitors thanks to the skill and meticulousness shown in each woven line.
One experience not to be missed on Thoi Son Islet is visiting lush fruit gardens, home to a wide range of speciality fruits. Under the shade of trees, the air is fresh and cool, with a gentle fragrance from clusters of ripe fruit hanging from the branches. The fruits here are abundant according to the season, from bright red rambutans, plums, mangoes, jackfruit and mangosteens to durians, star apples and watermelons. All are grown and cared for naturally, giving them a rich, refreshing sweetness that is hard to find elsewhere.
Visitors can not only admire the gardens but also pick fruit by hand and enjoy it on the spot, an experience that is both interesting and close to nature. They can also buy fresh fruit as gifts at very reasonable prices, as the fruit is taken directly from the gardens without intermediaries.
According to travel companies, Thoi Son Islet has been included in My Tho-Ben Tre tours for many years and has maintained stable and effective operations. Located at the gateway to the Mekong Delta from Ho Chi Minh City, the destination has the advantage of distance, making it suitable for day trips while still offering all characteristic experiences, including waterways, orchards, cuisine and local culture. Visitors can also choose Thoi Son Islet for an independent weekend tour.
Nguyen Thi Xuan Mai, Vice Chairwoman of the Ward People’s Committee, said: “We do not develop tourism by building large-scale works, but focus on preserving the landscape, promoting cultural values and training local people to participate in tourism professionally while still retaining their inherent sincerity.” Thoi Son Ward aims to form at least two model community-based tourism clusters, attracting visitors with quality products rich in identity.
Thoi Son tourism is taking on a new appearance while retaining its inherent rustic character, winning over visitors with sincerity, simplicity and warmth. It is an ideal destination for those who want to put aside the bustle of urban life and return to nature, to feel the deep beauty of the Mekong Delta’s riverine landscape.
