Overview of Con Son Islet in Can Tho
Con Son islet is a small region located in the Hau River with poetic scenery and fresh tropical fruits. There are a total of 100 households living there, creating a community for the tourism service. Each household has contributed to developing the tourism of the whole village. Apart from the peaceful natural landscape, Con Son islet is a well-known destination for those who would like to experience many different activities.
Where is Con Son Islet located?
Con Son Islet, located in the middle of the Hau River, is about 8 km from Can Tho City. With an area of more than 70 ha, the place first included many households, living up growing fruits and fish. After that, the islet developed a tourism community spot and attracted many tourists.
How to get to Con Son Islet?
Move from Saigon
From Saigon to Can Tho about 170km, visitors can travel by bus such as Phuong Trang, Thanh Buoi, etc. and it takes them about 3 and a half – 4 hours to get to Can Tho city. Or you can travel by motorbike (about 5-6 hours) to get to Can Tho.
Travel from Hanoi
Visitors can take flights from Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo Airways, and Vietjet Air with a travel time of about 2 and a half hours to Can Tho airport. A convenient point is that Can Tho airport is quite close to Con Son, about 4km.
Then, you can travel from Can Tho Center to Con Son by motorbike or taxi. This route is about 7km long. Then, it will take you about 10 minutes to go from Co Bac ferry station (Binh Thuy ward, Binh Thuy district) to the island. The ticket price is about VND 10,000/person.
The origin of Con Son Islet
Con Son islet was named after a typical tree in the region. At first, many gardenia trees (Son trees) grew and densely covered the area. People use the sap of the trees to paint wooden furniture, lacquer art, and other purposes. That’s why people called the islet “Con Son”.
Con Son islet possesses great potential for developing tourism
Con Son islet is one of the pearls of the Mekong Delta with great potential for tourism development. Its tourism development plan started in 2014 and conducted many tourism programs. Initially, there was a picnic for a group of students with the program name: “A Day as a Farmer”.
The excitement in the students’ faces motivates the idea of developing tourism in Con Son. People have begun to have greater hopes, and the tourism model here is growing stronger and stronger. Since 2015, Con Son islet has officially begun the a tourist destination in Can Tho Province and the Mekong Delta.
The uniqueness of community tourism in Con Son Islet
Community tourism here carries a solidary and humanitarian meaning. Everyone joins hands to support them economically, professionally, or simply spiritually.
Particularly, every household is responsible for its service. Households with fruit gardens are offered for visitors to choose from. Any household that has a fish raft will bring visitors to visit. Any household with skills will guide guests to make cakes. Each contributes to supporting the development of tourism, as well as the socio-economy of the whole area.
The best time to go to Con Son Islet
The land belongs to Can Tho Province, so its climate is mild and warm all year round. Each season in Con Son has a distinct beauty and flavor to experience. Con Son tourist season usually starts from March to June of the lunar calendar. It’s the time when Can Tho fruit gardens, such as longan, rambutan, star apple, jackfruit, guava, etc. are ripe and in the harvest season.
Experience interesting activities of community tourism on Con Son Islet
Visiting the floating fish farm of Uncle Bay Bon
It is a great chance for visitors to admire the beauty of thousands of strange and colorful fish jumping around under the raft. People raise different kinds of fish, such as pangasius, strabismus, etc. Moreover, there are a lot of colorful Koi fish under the raft for visitors to watch. There are also giant fish like tigerfish, nearly 50 cm long. Besides watching fish, tourists can try the fish massage in the floating fishing village, one of the most popular tourist activities here.
Feed the fish in the fish farm
This experience can only be found at Song Khanh’s garden house. Tourists can try feeding schools of catfish and basa fish with each spoonful of rice. When it’s time to eat, people here will use sticks to make noise to attract fish in the lake. However, not everyone can experience this service. Remember to contact Song Khanh Garden House in advance before coming.
Watch snakehead fish fly in Con Son Islet
One of the must-tried experiences when coming to Con Son islet is watching “Flying snakehead fish”. This is a wonderful performance that has spread across websites, newspapers, and radio.
For the fish to perform, the gardener must train them to respond to sound by dividing food into small portions every day and using a gong to tap each time they feed. This activity is repeated many times, causing schools of thousands of fish to throw themselves into the air like “jumping” to catch the bait every time they hear a sound.
Make Southern traditional cakes
Visiting Con Son Islet, tourists can make their Southern traditional cakes such as jackfruit leaf cake, hot cake, xeo cake, etc. under the instruction of the local people. If you want to try this activity, you can visit Mrs. Bay Muon’s house. She is very skillful at making cakes and can make 50 kinds of Southern traditional cakes.
This will be a time-worthy experience when you make your cakes from the prepared ingredients, mix, pour the mixture, and then enjoy your masterpiece.
Check-in to the lotus field and the monkey bridge across
Con Son also has brilliantly blooming lotus fields. The green lotus leaves are decorated with pretty pink flowers and the monkey bridge is across. It’s a perfect background for photography enthusiasts.
You will have beautiful and idyllic photos when you come here. In addition, enjoying lotus is always something special for our souls.
Visit the fruit orchards, catch fish, and sing
Each season, the Con Son islet has its tropical fruits. It’s a great experience to pick and enjoy the ripe fruits right in the fruit garden.
The fruits here are organically grown, so don’t worry too much about the pesticides or harmful substances. Also, there are dozens of jackfruit trees stretching along the path. Thus, visitors can take photos while walking around the area.
Besides, tourists can catch fish at the pond and make it into their favorite dishes. For those who love music, they can try singing karaoke here.
What to eat in Con Son Islet
Tropical fruits
One of the most popular specialty foods in Con Son is tropical fruits. Each season, several different Southern fruits will ripen. You will be guided to which fruit gardens are ripe during the season. There are many types of fruit gardens here such as grapefruit, jackfruit, rambutan, longan, and mango, etc.
Local dishes in the Mekong Delta
Your trip to Con Son islet wouldn’t be complete without tasting the Southern dishes prepared by villagers here. There are many local dishes such as grilled snakehead fish, fish sauce hotpot, Vietnamese Sweet and Sour Snakehead fish Soup, etc. People use available ingredients such as fish in the pond, and vegetables from their garden to cook the dishes. Thus, these dishes are hygienic, and fresh with a unique taste.
Southern traditional cakes
Coming to Con Son, you can enjoy many traditional folk cakes that people make here. Traditional cakes such as Pig skin cake, cow cake, apricot leaf cake, cast cake, Xeo cakes, etc will leave you with an unforgettable experience.
Tips for traveling to Con Son Islet
- Con Son provides tourism services, so if you travel alone, there will be different fees for each attraction. The fish rafting is just open for the group of tourists. It is better to visit this islet with your friends, family and in groups.
- Before you visit Con Son islet, you should contact the households in advance so that villagers here can arrange and prepare everything more thoughtfully. The contact phone number is 0939 729 609.
- The road here is very narrow; thus, it’s better to park your car at the Co Bac ferry station and walk around the islet to enjoy the wonderful scenery here.
- Remember to bring a pair of sports shoes to make sure you feel convenient and comfortable while walking for long hours.
