Introduction

The usual to travel to Con Dao Island are by plane and boat. Travelers usually take speed boats from Vung Tau or Mekong Delta. Back to the mainland by plane after a couple of days or a week. It is so dull if there are no other adventures before or after.  Vietnam Backroads highly recommend traveling to this Island through Mekong Delta by bicycle. The authentic region has excellent cycle routes, beautiful scenery, and Khmer communities in Soc Trang province. However, it takes about 2 hours and 30 minutes from Tran De dock, Soc Trang to Con Dao Island. Just a couple of days cycling through the mighty Mekong delta gives you a moment of your journey to Vietnam. Cycling to Cong Dao Island

Destination
Duration
Tour code
VCT: MBT-4D - SGN - CD
Travel style
Tour meets
Tour ends
Accommodation
3 - 4 star hotels
Single supplement
95.00$
Number Of cycling days
3 days
Ages to ride
8 years old
Average distance per day
45km
MTB Bike hire
$30
Total cycling distance
195km
E-Bike hire
$105.00
Small group
02
Large Group
14
Price in US$
USD $635.00 635.00
Price in VND
What's included
Private A/C vehicle takes up all cyclists, luggage
Truck to carry all bikes
Helmets
All entrance fees, ferry tickets in countryside
3 nights, double room/ twin room
B= 3 Breakfasts, L= 4 Lunches, D= 3 Dinners
Daily snack, cold drinks, soft drinks, facial tissues
Super Dong boat to Con Dao Island
Pick up at hotels/drop off at Ben Dam dock
English speaking guide throughout the tour
What's not included
Personal travel insurance
Other personal expenses
Drinks are not included with any meal

Depart from the hotel at 8:00 am, relax, and watch the bustling Ho Chi Minh as you move throughout the city. Your guide will inform you about the rules of the roads and how your daily ride is going! Arrives in Tan An outskirts around 9:00 am, and we ride along scenic paths, enjoy picturesque hamlets, pass primary schools, and stop at the home of locals making hats and fruit bags from grasses. We ride towards My Tho, passing the vast vegetable farmlands with an irrigation system. We will stop for lunch in My Tho city. Rest on the vehicle for 30 minutes and transfer to Ham Luong Bridge to explore the home of coconut trees. The countryside of Mo Cay is the most beautiful rural District for traveling by bicycle. The routes are smooth concrete paths, crisscrossing through the villages with lush green water palms and crossing small rivers by ferry and small suspension bridges, just for bicycle mopeds only.


The ride in the afternoon is more on shady paths, on narrow country lanes, along villages hide the water palms and lush waterways. Take a small ferry boat crossing the rivers, and stop at some families running small businesses. There will be plenty of time to pause along the country roads and experience local life. We will hop on support vehicles at Co Chien River for a 30-minute transfer luxury homestay - at Coco Riverside Lodge.

Coco Riverside Lodge
Lunch/ Dinner
25 - 55km
Flat - easy/ moderate
support vehicles
cold water, snacks, fruits

Most daily life activities of locals take place early in the morning. It's the best time to experience and see locals in surrounding areas; kids start going to schools, the elderly take farm products to markets by mopeds, and sampan boats move up and down the rivers. Then go back to the homestay for breakfast. 
We start to ride from the homestay, bike through lush farmlands of vegetables, stay on gravel paths, and stop at some small home businesses before across the rice paddy fields on opened smooth air paths. Passing Khmer pagodas, views the stunning rustic landscape, and ride on river trails along creeks to Huu Thanh. There will be many stops along the country roads; visit fruit orchards and vegetable farmlands with endless photos.


Break for lunch at a local restaurant before continuing cycling to Tra On. Take a publish ferry, cross the river to Luc Si Island, see the farmers' life on the islands, taste seasonal fruit at local orchards, and take another ferry to the mainland, where we ride on trails alongside the Mekong River, the Can Tho suspension bridge. We hop on the van for a short transfer to Can Tho City.

TT C Premium Can Tho
Breakfast/ Lunch/ Dinner
25 - 65km
Flat - easy/ moderate
support vehicles
cold water, snacks, fruits

The famous Cai Rang floating market is in action from 6:30 to 8:30 am every day. Locals often bring their farm products to this market by boat. Locals could find sellers and buyers that they get more profit as they wish. After an early breakfast at the hotel, and check out for a boat ride takes us to a floating market. Then we leave the boat behind for a morning ride to Phung Hiep. Option with a transfer you Phung to avoid heat. It is the lovely countryside for cycling, so we take it easy as we could ride slowly and stop along with the ways for photos. There are more Khmer live here than Vietnamese and Chinese. By cycling, you can see locals using waterways as a means of transport in the area. The lovely bike routes in the afternoon are so beautiful; smooth concrete paths, windy single tracks through tiny villages, lakes, and offer you pleasure time to enjoy on your own. We also cycle across the green farmland and stop at some colorful Khmer temples before we have a break and visit Bat pagoda. 

Thuan Phat hotel ***
Breakfast/ Lunch/ Dinner
25 - 65 km
Flat - easy/ moderate
support vehicles
cold water, snacks, fruits

The Super Dong speedboat operates daily speedboats to Con Dao Island, and all are modern- wifi, air-conditioned luxury speedboat. One in the morning departs at 8:00 am and the other at 1:00 pm. Tourists get there by air before and today by boat as well. After an early breakfast at the hotel, enjoy one-hour private vehicle driving through seaside villages to Tra De dock. Get on board at 7:45 am from Tran De Dock, and you will arrive at Ben Dam dock around 10:20 am. You can relax on sandy beaches as long as you wish! Our team spends four hours driving back to Saigon.

Breakfast
Super Dong boat
support vehicles

Dates

Currently, this tour have no schedule, yet.

We were keen to spend a few days in HCMC before a few more in Con Dao. Vietnam Backroads provided the perfect way to bridge the time and distance in between. We did a four-day cycling tour from HCMC to Soc Trang. Mr Cong and Van the Man were the perfect guides, providing a well-planned trip, insightful commentary, thorough service and great care – “BRIDGE! LOW GEAR! LOW GEAR!” A Mekong Delta local, Mr Cong provided wonderful insights into the country. The ultimate organiser, Mr Van charted the perfect course and helped us to renegotiate our travel plans when our ferry trip to Con Dao was cancelled due to bad weather – even letting us hitch a ride with them back to HCMC. As we were a small group, the program was very flexible and relaxed. A constant highlight was the extraordinary food that would be prepared for us in the small villages we’d pass through – often with no warning of our arrival. The bikes were modern and well set up and maintained. Our driver Mr Nghia was never far away with an endless supply of chilled water, refresher towels and his welcoming air-conditioned van! We certainly had a great time travelling and exploring another side of Vietnam with Vietnam Backroads, and recommend them to anyone keen to experience the country at the perfect pace and perspective of a bicycle. 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 Dec, 2017

Beth Beal and …

The guide and driver were excellent and very service minded. They were very good to be flexible. The hotels and food were not that impressive. It would have been nice with a map. 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 Feb 2019

Morten Pederse…
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Cycling Mekong Delta to Con Dao Island