Published on Dec, 2024
Highly recommended. This tour was one of the highlights of our trip. We did the cu chi tunnels/mekong delta tour the day before, but the mangrove forest tour surpassed it in every way.
The forests are a pocket of tranquility, they feel far away from the chaos and noise of Ho Chi Minh. In fact, this area still seems relatively unappreciated by tourists. Throughout the roughly 4-hour trip, we only saw one or two other small groups. For the most part, the islands we visited and the river we travelled on between them were the preserve of a few boatmen and oyster fishermen.
Aside from the general beauty of the local environment, getting up close with the wildlife was the other highlight of the trip. Little monkey fellas are always incredible and feeding the crocodiles was great fun too. We were only just able to make out the flying foxes in the forest canopy, but it didn't bother me too much as we floated through the mangroves on our canoe.
Our tour guide Bin was fantastic, very friendly and patiently answered all of the many questions that I had. I also really appreciated that we weren't pushed to buy anything the whole time, a pleasant absence of gift shops.
Overall, a wonderful experience. I just wish that we had had more time to spend with the monkeys and wander around the island. (I wanted to see the wild boar!)