Can Tho Floating Markets

The Largest Floating Market In The Mekong Delta, Where Boats Loaded With Pineapples, Watermelons And Sweet Potatoes Hang Their Wares From Tall Poles And Sell Wholesale From Dawn. Reached By Small Boat From Can Tho In The Early Morning. Smaller Than It Once Was As Bridges And Roads Have Taken Trade, And More Of A Tourist Show Each Year · Can Tho, Can Tho

Cai Rang is the biggest floating market in the Mekong Delta, on the Hau river about 6 km from the centre of Can Tho, roughly 170 km from Ho Chi Minh City. It is a wholesale market: big wooden boats gather from before dawn, and each one hangs a sample of its cargo from a tall pole so buyers can see what is for sale, a pineapple, a sweet potato, a watermelon. The busy hours are about 5 to 8 am, so you leave the Can Tho waterfront in the dark. Visitors hire a small boat, drift between the big boats, and have a bowl of noodles or a pineapple handed across from a floating kitchen. Phong Dien, further out, is smaller and calmer, with more fruit and fewer tour boats. Be honest about the trend: trade is shrinking as buyers move to roads and bridges, the market is thinner than older guidebooks describe, and by mid-morning it can be almost empty. Cai Rang is also very touristy. It is still a real working scene and worth the early start. The wider Mekong Delta is a separate tier 1 row.

Cai Rang floating market on the Hau river, about 6 km from the centre of Can Tho, and Phong Dien further out, Can Tho, Can Tho, Vietnam

Trading starts before dawn and is busiest roughly 5 to 8 am, then fades fast, and by late morning most big boats have left. Phong Dien is similar but ends a little earlier. There is no fixed opening time or gate, so you go when your boat does. Watching from the bank or the bridge is FREE, but getting among the boats needs a hired boat. The market is not closed on a weekday. On Tet (lunar new year) many boats stop trading for several days, and heavy rain or a storm can stop tourist boats. Confirm the current schedule with your hotel.

Can Tho Floating Markets on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos