Mekong Delta homestays, 2 to 4 days
Tours · Can Tho
Con Son & Phong Dien, 2 days, 1 night
A day on Con Son, the small islet in the Hau River at Can Tho where households run tourism as a cooperative, then a night at a garden homestay in Phong Dien and a small floating market at dawn. The most hands-on of our trips: cakes, fish, canals and a kitchen.
At a glance
- Length
- 2 days, 1 night
- Party
- Private, your group only
- Starts
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Ends
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Effort
- Easy; some wading if you drain a canal
- Price
- On request
Who this trip is for
People who would rather do things than look at them. Con Son is about 70 hectares in the Hau River, in Binh Thuy ward, some 7 km from the centre of Can Tho. Until 2014 it had no grid electricity and no running water; community tourism started the year after. Today more than seventy households and nearly three hundred people live there, and a cooperative set up in early 2022 coordinates what each garden house offers: one raises fish, one makes folk cakes, one cooks the lunch that is carried across to you.
We do not sleep on Con Son. The islet is set up for day visits and we have not found an independent source describing overnight rooms there that we could check. So you spend the day with Con Son families and sleep at a garden homestay in Phong Dien, the orchard country south-west of the city, which has a long record of hosting overnight guests and puts you close to the Phong Dien floating market for the morning.
Sources: Sai Gon Giai Phong, 9 Nov 2025 — a day on Con Son; Bao Van Hoa, 25 Oct 2019 — Con Son; Vinpearl guide, 24 Jan 2024 — Con Son · checked .
Day by day
Day 1
Ho Chi Minh City to Con Son, evening in Phong Dien
Draining a canal on Con Son with the household that owns it
Pick-up at 06:30. Can Tho is about 171 km by the expressways and the new My Thuan bridge; allow three to three and a half hours. The car parks at the Co Bac landing, on a side lane off Dang Van Day road in Binh Thuy, and a boat takes you across in ten to fifteen minutes.
On the islet you walk; the lanes are too narrow to make a vehicle worth it. Late morning is at a fish raft, where you can feed the fish, and at a pond where snakehead leap for food. Lunch is the cooperative's 'flying menu': each garden house cooks one dish and carries it over. In the afternoon you make folk cakes with the family that bakes them, bánh xèo in a hot pan or bánh khọt in moulds, and, if your group wants to get wet, drain a section of canal with the household and catch the fish by hand. The catch is cooked if you want it.
Around 16:00 you cross back and drive across Can Tho to a garden homestay in Phong Dien. Dinner is in the family kitchen, with whatever the garden and the day produced.
Day 2
Phong Dien at dawn, a morning in the garden
The Phong Dien market between 05:30 and 07:30
At about 05:30 a small boat takes you to the Phong Dien floating market, where the Can Tho River forks. It is busiest from about 05:30 to 07:30 and much smaller than the pictures most people carry in their heads: recent guides count it in dozens of boats at most. A bowl of noodle soup from a boat started at about 20,000 VND in a 2024 guide.
Back at the house you work the garden with the host until the heat comes up: picking, watering, weeding, or whatever the season asks. You cook and eat lunch together, then drive back to Ho Chi Minh City, arriving between 16:30 and 17:30.
The Con Son and Phong Dien profile
A word on the Con Son prices above: they come from guides published in 2024 and 2025 and the households change them. On this trip we pay the households directly for what you do and show it on your quote. The canal draining is charged per canal, not per person, which makes it good value for a family and a poor one for a couple.
Where a homestay or garden is named on this site, the name comes from published press coverage or a dated travel guide listed under that section, with the date we read it. Naming a house does not mean it is the one on your trip. Your quote names the house we have checked for your dates, the room you will sleep in and the bathroom you will use.
Sources: Vinpearl guide, 24 Jan 2024 — Con Son; Mia.vn, 24 Apr 2025 — Con Son; Mia.vn, 21 Mar 2024 — Phong Dien market; Saigon Times, 5 Nov 2012 — Phong Dien gardens · checked .
Price
| Party | Room on the quote | Price per trip |
|---|---|---|
| 2 travellers | Garden room, air-con, private bathroom | On request |
| 2 travellers | Fan room, shared bathroom | On request |
| 3–4 travellers | Two rooms or a family room | On request |
| 5–8 travellers | Rooms in one compound | On request |
The pricing page explains each line; how to book covers holds and payment.
What the price includes
- One night in the Phong Dien room named on your quote
- Lunch and dinner on day 1, breakfast and lunch on day 2
- Private car and driver, Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho and back
- English-speaking guide for both days
- Con Son boat, fish raft, jumping-fish pond and folk-cake session
- Dawn boat to the Phong Dien market
- Life jackets on every boat
What it does not include
- Canal draining (per canal, if you choose it)
- Travel insurance
- Drinks other than water and tea, and food bought at the market
- Tips for the guide, driver and households
- Traditional music sessions, if you ask for one
Gallery
Who this trip is NOT for
- Travellers who want a long evening with a single family on an island; Con Son is a day, the night is in Phong Dien
- Anyone who would rather watch than join in; much of the day is hands-on and some of it is muddy
- People expecting a large floating market; Phong Dien is small and Cai Rang has shrunk too
- Very early risers only by necessity: the market means a 05:30 start
- Groups who want Con Son on a weekend at a quiet moment; it receives many day visitors
Common questions
Questions travellers ask most
Why not sleep on Con Son?
Because we have not been able to check overnight rooms there against an independent source. Con Son is organised for day visits; Phong Dien gardens have hosted overnight guests for many years.
Is the canal draining unpleasant?
It is muddy, warm and noisy, and children love it. Wear clothes you can rinse and leave at the house. You can also watch from the bank.
Can we do the Cai Rang market instead of Phong Dien?
Yes, with a longer boat ride. Cai Rang is larger but increasingly touristic; Phong Dien is smaller and closer to the homestay. We describe both honestly before you choose.
Can we start in Can Tho?
Yes, and it saves most of the morning drive. We collect you from your Can Tho hotel at about 08:30 and the rest of the trip runs the same way.
Related
Read next
Destinations · Can Tho
Con Son & Phong Dien
Con Son's cooperative households and Phong Dien's garden homestays, profiled honestly.
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Tours · Pricing
Pricing
The lines of a quote, the levers that move it, and how the host family's share is shown.
View this journey
Tours · How to book
How to book
The booking steps, what we ask, and what you see before paying.
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Before you go
Homestay etiquette
Shoes, meals, rice wine, photos, gifts, water and money in a Delta family home.
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Example journey
Two homestays, 4 days
Four days, two host families: An Binh, Con Son, then two nights in Phong Dien.
View this journey
Before you go
A homestay night
Hour by hour: rooms, shared bathrooms, nets, noise, roosters, dinner, dawn.
View this journeyStart planning
Tell us which family home you have in mind
A trip, a month and how many of you are travelling are enough to start. We reply by email with questions or a first suggestion that names the house, the room and the bathroom.