★★★★★
Bigdog702
“I booked way in advance, and had a hotel change a week before the cruise, but all I did was whats app them the new hotel, and all was good.”
Tripadvisor, May 2026
Private tourNEW 2026Ho Chi Minh CitySmall group · Local experience
Private Overnight Sampan Trip in Ben Tre: Con Oc Island and Mo Cay Market
A wooden sampan for your group alone, with its crew and a guide, and a night on board in the quiet Vam Nuoc Trong... Ava Travel price: from $431.
Questions before you book? Message us on WhatsApp or send an email. Phone +84 904 251 545. Ava Travel Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Style
Private tour
Ho Chi Minh City
Duration
Flexible itinerary
Pickup support available
Book this tour
Live prices for the date and group size you pick. Ava confirms your departure and pickup within 1 hour of booking.
Prices are the total for the travellers and the date you pick. Ava reconfirms the departure and the pickup point within 1 hour.
Tour optionWhat's includedPrice
Private tour
Your group onlyPriced for your group size, so each person pays less in a bigger group
✓ Accommodation as listed✓ Local English-speaking guide✓ Meals as listed
—total · 2 travellers
Secure checkout
- We confirm your departure and pickup within 1 hour
- Cancel more than 30 days ahead at no cost
- No booking fee. The price shown is the price you pay
Full refund if you cancel more than 30 days before check-in
- More than 30 days before check-inFree
- 30 to 11 days before check-in15% of total
- 10 to 7 days before check-in30% of total
- Less than 7 days, or no-show100% of total
A change of travel date counts as a cancellation and a new booking, and the same scale applies.
If the operator cancels the cruise, or in case of severe weather or force majeure, we move your date free of charge, or refund you in full if we cannot reschedule.
Price includes all taxes and service charges.
Ho Chi Minh City tour overview
Why this trip
- A wooden sampan for your group alone, with its crew and a guide, and a night on board in the quiet Vam Nuoc Trong canals.
- Before you sail you watch rice paper being made by hand, then cruise the An Hoa River with a welcome drink while the crew loads your bags.
- The afternoon is cycling, a rowing boat through water coconut canals and a walk on Con Oc island, known for its coconut products.
- Dinner is cooked on board after a demonstration, and the morning brings a bike ride, the coconut fibre makers and the wet market at Mo Cay.
An honest note: the route follows the tides, so the order of stops can change on the day, and a stop the tide rules out is not refunded. You also finish at Mo Cay Bridge at 10:00, not where you started, so your onward car has to meet you there.
At a glance
| Duration | About 23 hours, 1 night on board |
| Start and finish | Ben Tre at 11:30 on day 1, Mo Cay Bridge at 10:00 on day 2 |
| Group size | Private, your group only, up to 6 guests |
| Walking | Short village walks and gentle cycling on both days. You step on and off boats that can sit up to 1 m above the dock |
| Best for | Couples and small groups who want a night on the water rather than in a hotel |
| Guide | Local English-speaking guide, plus the boat crew |
Price
Private departure. Your own guide and vehicle, your own pace. The total falls per person as your group grows.
| Group size | Total | Per person |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person | $1238 | $1238 |
| 2 people | $1238 | $619 |
| 3 people | $1512 | $504 |
| 4 people | $2015 | $504 |
| 5 people | $2155 | $431 |
| 6 people | $2586 | $431 |
Children. Children under 4 travel free. From 4 to under 11 they pay 70 per cent of the adult price, and from 11 they pay the adult price. Tell us the ages when you book and we apply it before you pay.
How it works
- Book and confirm. Pay at checkout or message us on WhatsApp first. We confirm your date, pickup time and guide within one hour.
- Pickup. Your guide meets you in Ben Tre at 11:30, then you board at a riverside pier. Car from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) not included.
- On the day. About 23 hours, 11:30 on day 1 to 10:00 on day 2. Your guide keeps the timings loose enough for photographs and questions.
What's included
Private overnight sampan with crew, for your group onlyLocal English-speaking guideLunch, dinner and breakfast on board, with a cooking demonstrationBicycle, rowing boat and tuk tuk ridesEntrance fees and all activities in the programVAT
Your itinerary
Ben Tre, Phong Nam and Con Oc island
Meals: lunch, dinner. Overnight: on board your private sampan.
- 11:30 your local guide meets you and takes you to Mrs Sau Tuong's family, who make rice paper, the best known specialty of My Long village.
- Board your sampan at the riverside pier and head out onto the An Hoa River with a welcome drink while the crew brings your luggage on board.
- Stop at an old coconut processing house and cycle through the village, then take a rowing boat through small canals lined with water coconut to a local house for green tea and coconut candy.
- A tuk tuk ride back to the big river, where the sampan waits and lunch is served on board.
- Cruise on to Con Oc island and walk or cycle the coconut road past fruit orchards and village houses.
- Back on board for the sunset, then a cooking demonstration and dinner on deck. The boat moors for the night in the Vam Nuoc Trong canals.
Vam Nuoc Trong to Mo Cay
Meals: breakfast.
- Breakfast on board, then a bike ride through the nearby village.
- Visit a coconut fibre workshop to see how the locals use every part of the coconut.
- Walk through the local wet market at Mo Cay.
- Back on board to freshen up, then check out at 10:00 and step off at Mo Cay Bridge for your onward trip or the drive back to Saigon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers for planning this trip with Ava Travel.
Yes. The sampan, the crew and the guide are for your group only, up to six guests. No other travellers share the boat.
Your guide meets you in Ben Tre at 11:30 and you board at a riverside pier. The trip ends at Mo Cay Bridge at 10:00 the next morning, so we plan your car to meet you there.
The crew changes the order of the stops to follow the water. Occasionally a stop has to be dropped, and that part is not refunded.
Yes, but the boat and its crew cost the same for one guest as for two, so a solo traveller pays the two-person minimum.
The group price is per person. The private price is the total for your party and the table on this page shows it for every group size. Prices are in US dollars and include taxes and service charges, and there is no booking fee or card surcharge, so the total at checkout is the total you pay.
Within one hour. We come back to you with the pickup time, the meeting point and your guide, and tell you what to bring.
More than 30 days before departure costs nothing. From 30 to 11 days we keep 15 per cent, from 10 to 7 days 30 per cent, and inside 7 days or a no-show is charged in full. Changing your date counts as a cancellation and a new booking. If we cancel, or weather makes the tour unsafe, we move your date at no cost or refund you in full.
What guests say about Ava Travel
5.0Tripadvisor rating
These are real Tripadvisor reviews of Ava Travel as your booking agent, quoted word for word. They are not reviews of Private Overnight Sampan Trip in Ben Tre: Con Oc Island and Mo Cay Market itself.
★★★★★
Kehren Eade
“She made the process SO easy, SO manageable, we felt we were in great hands at all times, even though everything was done by remote!”
Tripadvisor, August 2026
★★★★★
Arshia Z
“Whenever we had questions or needed assistance, the response was prompt, helpful, and reassuring.”
Tripadvisor, June 2026
Photos
Images on this page are used under a Creative Commons licence. Author and licence for each:
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