Coconut boat tour (Basket boat tour) at Coconut Village in Hoi An without package tour. With the price is only 80,000VND, you can take a tour to ride the basket boat which includes watching coconut boat dance with fast spinning around, seeing Vietnamese traditional fishing showing by throwing fishing, enjoying to catch crabs, singing on the river. Basket boat is also called as bamboo boat or coconut boat, a special boat in Vietnam
What are activities during the boat ride?
The activities are managed by local government, Hacoconut will provide coconut boat with fisherman. Our fisherman will paddle to the central of Bay Mau Coconut Forest on Thu Bon river to watch these activities
Explore the Bay Mau Coconut Forest central
The best way to explore Bay Mau coconut forest is to ride a basket boat. You will be able to see how the Vietnamese traditional way of transporting goods or go fishing in the past. Moreover, you can also paddle the basket boat by yourself. It seems to be basic but actually many our tourists have paddled the basket boat in circles. If you want to ride it fluently you have to learn some special techniques and it usually takes few weeks.
On the way going to explore the coconut forest central, you will have a chance to see water coconut. It is a special coconut in Vietnam which you might not see anywhere else. When you go deeply inside into the forest you will be able to enjoy the fresh air and every small sound of leaves swaying in the wind.
Watch fast spinning basket boat (coconut boat) performance
At this part, you will have a chance to watch basket boat performance. Local fishermen perform to spin the basket boats very fast in the exciting music. You can watch this activity but if you want to enjoy it, you may need a little tip to the fishermen spinner.
Traditional fishing style in Vietnam
One of the daily activities of locals here is going fishing. So when you come here, you will experience the ways fishermen catch fishes. And the most typical one is throwing a fishing net, fisherman stands on the basket boat and throwing the fishing net into the river. You can watch and try this activity for free but you need to join the coconut boat by 4PM because the activity is ended at 4:30PM. Please note that, it is just a performance to reproduce the traditional fishing so no real fish will be fished in this show!
Singing on the river
On the river you will see some men sing on the river, if you would like to sing you can try it, this maybe a chance to show your talent to your family and for tourists.
Catching crabs with coconut boat driver
Bay Mau Coconut Forest is not only a monument has special historical value but also a unique ecological area with water flooded forests charming landscapes. At this place there are a lot of valuable marine species, especially shrimp, crab and molluscs. You will have a chance to try to catch crabs and release them after that. Catching crabs will be on the way go back from the coconut village central.
Coconut boat tour (basket boat tour) opening hours
Coconut boat tour open from 6AM - 6PM everyday. For online support we are always available. These timing is applied for all weekdays, weekends, holidays.
What should we note about the timing for coconut boat
All activities start at 8am
The time is not crowded is before 10:30AM
Traditional fishing net performance is ended at 4:30 PM, it means that to see this activity you need to join boat ride by 4PM. Other activities is ended at 6PM
Last boat ride is started at 5PM so you need to come to our business by that time
First boat ride can start at 6AM, but we recommend to enjoy the coconut boat tour after 7:30 to see all activities. If you are hurry up in your plan and you don’t need to watch activities during the boat ride then we can start boat ride from 6AM - 7:30AM
What time is the best for enjoying coconut boat ride
The best hours depends on how experience do you expect on the boat ride. We really recommend that you should enjoy the coconut boat ride from 7:30AM to 10:30AM, because at that time the river is not crowded and you can avoid the sun.
You can also avoid the crowd and avoid the sun by joining after 3:30PM, also after 3:30PM you can see the sunset, but you should consider the weather on that day because if it rains then you will not have a chance to see sunset.
How much is the price of the boat trip
the price of hiring a basket boat (coconut boat, bammbo boat: other names of basket boat) with our fisherman who will paddle the boat for you is:
80,000 / Pax for about 55-60 minutes
Child under 1.4m tall is half of price
Kid under 1m tall is free of charge
What is included in the price
Entrance fee ticket
Boat ride 55-60 minutes on Bay Mau Coconut Forest
1 fresh cold drink bottle water / person
All activities free watching
You can also try these activities for free but if you want to enjoy the fast spinning boat then you will need to tip to boat spinner 50.000 VND / person / time
What is excluded in the price
Other drinks
Pickup / drop off (If you want to have pick up / drop off service you can book with us in advance, the price will be similar with Grab / Taxi service)
Booking and payment policy
Booking in advance is required, you should book the boat ride at least an hour in advance
Payment in advance is not required and you can pay by cash at our place
Cancellation policy
If you want to cancel the boat ride please inform at least 1 hour in advance so that we can arrange boat ride to other tourists
You will have all refund if cancel the booking (excluding transfer fees)
Other notes
Kid can join our tour safely
From ancient town areas to our location is about 5-7km
Vietnamese hats, umbrella, life jackets, raincoats (if it rains) are provided during the tour so you don’t need to prepare any things for boat tour
History of Bay Mau Coconut Forest in Hoi An Coconut Village and Vietnam’s basket boat (coconut boat)
Hoi An is an attractive destination in Vietnam not only because of the history but also because of the nature and Bay Mau Coconut Forest which is also called as Coconut Village in Hoi An is one of the best candidates for the nature destination in Hoi An. About few hundred years ago, people brought seven (Bảy in Vietnamese) samples(Mẫu in Vietnamese) of water coconut to plan in the area, with the good nature environment the water coconut grows very fast and become very popular in Hoi An. From that, it has the name Bay (seven) Mau (sample) Coconut(water coconut - the coconut that live in water) Forest.
Basket boat is special boat in Vietnam, it was invented by poor fishermen during XIX century. Because the size of the boat is small, gradually it becomes more popular because of it’s convenience, easy to use and cheaper to buy. Sometime you may hear other people call it as coconut boat, bamboo boat but don’t be confused because it is the same name of basket boat. You may ask why it has so many names?, the answer from it’s shape is circle (basket) and the material (coconut and bamboo) to make it. With the basket boat you will be able to see how the Vietnamese traditional way of transporting goods or go fishing in the past.
