Things to do in Ca Mau
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Ca Mau
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season and the best time to visit: firm roads, calm seas, birds concentrated in U Minh Ha.
Heaviest rain and storm risk. The worst months for a first trip, despite lush forests.
Flood season: Ngoc Hien is explored by boat and ba khia is at its best in the seventh and eighth lunar months.
Crane flocks are the draw at Ngoc Hien Bird Sanctuary, at the end of the dry season into May.
What's on
- Ca Mau Crab Festival 16-22 November (2025 edition)
The province's flagship week: crab exhibitions, a chef contest, a street festival and the Ca Mau Marathon.
- Nghinh Ong Festival 10th day of the third lunar month
The whale worship festival at Ganh Hao, when hundreds of fishing boats put to sea to greet Ca Ong.
- Choul Chnam Thmey Mid April, around 14-16 April
Khmer New Year, centred on temples like Monivongsa Bopharam, the most culturally alive week in the city.
Best things to do in Ca Mau
Mui Ca Mau
Vietnam's southernmost point, with the GPS 0001 marker, flag tower and the end of the Ho Chi Minh Road at Km 2436.
Ca Mau Floating Market
A modest working dawn market on the Ganh Hao River, worth an early look but far smaller than Can Tho's Cai Rang.
Monivongsa Bopharam Pagoda
Ca Mau's largest Khmer temple, a blaze of red and gold with a reclining Buddha, lotus ponds and pigeons over the roofs.
Phat To Pagoda
Ca Mau's oldest pagoda, built in 1840, a quiet working temple with a founding legend and a tiger tower in the grounds.
Khu Tuong Niem Chu Tich Ho Chi Minh
The Ho Chi Minh memorial complex in Ward 1, with a stilt house, exhibition gallery and lake, best paired with Monivongsa.
Ngoc Hien Bird Sanctuary
One of Vietnam's largest bird sanctuaries, 130 hectares on the Bay Hap River, best at dawn or dusk when the flocks move.
Hon Da Bac
A cluster of silver granite islands off the Gulf coast, stacked into fairy shapes, with temples and fishing life around.
Khai Long Tourist Area
A growing alluvial beach near the cape for a sunset walk on new land and a seafood lunch, not for swimming.
Where to stay in Ca Mau
Ca Mau City Centre
first trip, all round base
Walkable to the river, square, night food market and restaurants, with cars and tours for Dat Mui and U Minh Ha on hand.
Administrative Centre
hotel based evenings, full service comfort
The newer, calmer government quarter west of the centre, home to the Muong Thanh tower and a taxi ride from street food.
Khanh An, U Minh
forest mornings and a quiet night
At the edge of U Minh Ha, for dawn birds and an early boat into the forest, trading town services for a lake and silence.
Dat Mui
one night at the cape for sunrise and sunset
Simple village homestays by the national park put you at the southernmost point at both golden hours, far from city services.
Think twice about
- National Road 1A motel strip outside the centre
Truck stop overnights with highway noise and nothing walkable. Built for drivers passing through, not for visiting the city.
- Dat Mui as a whole trip base
It sits over 100 km from the airport, the forest and city services. Sleep there one night for the cape, base in Ca Mau City.
Best restaurants in Ca Mau
Nha Hang Am Thuc Cua Thu Thiet
Ca Mau City's crab specialist restaurant, where a whole roe crab feast is the splurge and the reason to book ahead.
Hai San SAM
A big live tank seafood house at local prices, strong on mantis shrimp, crab and shellfish, and easy for groups to share.
Quan 257
A family style Vietnamese restaurant the top hotel's front desk recommends, for cha ca, clay pot fish and a hotpot main.
Nha Hang Thang Long Dat Mui
The cape's conventional seafood lunch stop by the monuments, serving the local catch to groups on a schedule.
Rach Goc
The fishing town famous for ba khia, the three striped mangrove crab, eaten salted or in hotpot where it is landed.
Ca Mau Night Market
The evening food market by the square, open 5pm to midnight, for grilled seafood, snails and the Delta's snack canon.
Banh Tam Cari Cay Dao 484
A dedicated house for banh tam cay, silkworm shaped rice cakes in a hot curried chicken sauce, one of Ca Mau's signature bowls.
Quan Bun Nuoc Leo Cay Xoai
The named house for bun nuoc leo, the Khmer rooted fermented fish noodle soup that is Ca Mau's classic breakfast bowl.
Outdoor things to do in Ca Mau
U Minh Ha National Park
A peat swamp melaleuca forest explored by vo lai boat on black canals, plus a 24 metre tower over forest to every horizon.
Mui Ca Mau National Park
A canoe through Vietnam's largest pristine mangrove, past oyster rafts, forest villages and mudflats full of birds.
Dat Mui Community Eco-tourism Area
A community eco area at the cape for canoeing, mudflat walks, mudskipper catching and crab trap setting with local families.
Hon Khoai Island
A wild forested island with a French era lighthouse, reached by chartered boat with border guard permission arranged ahead.
Thi Tuong Lagoon
A 700 hectare lagoon of floating shrimp farm houses, best experienced on a hosted boat with fishing, food and an overnight.
Ho Chi Minh Road
The 58 km mangrove highway from Nam Can to the cape, a journey of canal bridges and shrimp ponds best done by motorbike.
Best hotels in Ca Mau
Muong Thanh Luxury Ca Mau Hotel
The province's only full service luxury tower, with a pool, spa and a front desk known for fixing Dat Mui trips.
Phu Cuong Hotel Ca Mau
The best rated central business hotel, walkable to the river and night market, at about half the luxury tower's rate.
Anh Nguyet Hotel
The established central alternative to Phu Cuong, a notch older and cheaper, and the usual fallback when Phu Cuong fills.
Ruby Hotel Ca Mau
The central budget pick from about eight dollars a night, functional and variable, so check the room before paying in full.
Bungalow - Farmstay Hoa Rung U Minh
Five lakeside bungalows at the U Minh forest edge, for dawn birds, a family welcome and a boat into the park before day tours.
Is Ca Mau expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | ₫600,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | ₫1,200,000 a person |
| Splurge | ₫2,800,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- U Minh Ha National Park: a few days ahead
- Mui Ca Mau National Park: a few days ahead
- Dat Mui Community Eco-tourism Area: a few days ahead
- Hon Khoai Island: weeks ahead
- Thi Tuong Lagoon: a few days ahead
- Nha Hang Am Thuc Cua Thu Thiet: a few days ahead
- Hon Khoai needs border guard permission and a chartered boat arranged days ahead, in the dry season only.
- Book a Dat Mui homestay or Thi Tuong Lagoon overnight through a city hotel or Mekong operator, as online inventory is thin.
- Phu Cuong and the Muong Thanh fill on weekends and in Crab Festival week. U Minh Ha boats are best set a day ahead.
Is Ca Mau safe?
- Water is everywhere and unfenced. Watch young children closely around canals, lagoons and boats.
- Do not ride the unlit Nam Can to Dat Mui road after dark. It is shared with trucks.
- Carry repellent in the forests, follow U Minh Ha fire rules in the dry season, and stick to paths in overgrown areas.
- Serious healthcare means Can Tho or Ho Chi Minh City, so carry travel insurance with evacuation cover.
Ca Mau travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- The old City Bird Garden is largely built over by the Ho Chi Minh Memorial Park. Do not plan around it; go to Ngoc Hien.
- The floating market is not Cai Rang. A dawn look is free, but a paid market tour sold as a headline is not worth it.
- At any crab tank, agree the crab type, size and per kilo price and watch it weighed before anything is cooked.
- Khai Long is not a swimming beach, and Mui Ca Mau as a midday day return is the worst value format in the province.
Getting around Ca Mau: public transport and more
- Walk the city centre. Taxis and Grab cover the rest of Ca Mau City cheaply.
- Most visitors arrive by sleeper bus from Ho Chi Minh City in 6 to 8 hours, or on the single early flight to Ca Mau Airport.
- Hire a car with driver or join a tour for Dat Mui and U Minh Ha. Public transport strands you at the far end.
- Boats are priced per boat, not per seat. Confirm life jackets before paying, and carry small cash notes outside the city.
Who Ca Mau suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Ca Mau your trip
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