Travelog - A travel guide to Vietnam

Ca Mau – a region reclaimed in the late 17th and early 18th centuries – is the habitat of the three ethnic groups: the Viet, the Hoa and the Khmer. This resulted in the mixed cultural features reflected through the unique and rich customs and practices by the locals.

Ca Mau is a vast submerged region in the Mekong River Delta of Southern Vietnam with criss-crossing rivers and canals of thousands of kilometres long. Hence, water transportation plays an important role in the local commercial activities.

The area is endowed by nature with a great potential in eco-tourism. Visitors to this southernmost locality will have an opportunity to wander through the submerged mangrove forests, to visit the islands, bird sanctuary, human dwellings and wild nature conservation areas.

Ca Mau’s most notable feature is the existence of the submerged forests with rich and diverse fauna and flora. Of particular interest is the tidal mud ground, an intersection of the Eastern and Western sea, which, as a natural phenomenon, is annually expanding towards the sea hundreds of hectares in area. Mangrove and other kinds of submerged trees grow there, which help in expanding the submerged area, bringing in a huge profit from shrimp and other aquatic creatures. In a not-too-distant future, on this silt area there will appear a new type of tourist entertainment very unique for this area, i.e. mud skating and crab and oyster catching, which are very attractive to youngsters.

Visitors who love islands will be invited to Hon Khoai (Khoai Islet), a local historical site. They can take a boat from Khai Long Beach to get there. Others who like adventurous activities can take a bo bo – a high-speed cruiser – and depart from Ca Mau City along Trem River to Hon Da Bac (Silver Stone Islet).

Only about 300 metres plus from the river mouth, this islet abounds with oysters, crabs, white bass and other sea creatures. Visitors can take the boat, or walk to the restaurants on the island, all serving local dishes, simple but very tasty, served by friendly villagers. A resort is going to be completed on this island. Deep into the main island are submerged forests with mangrove trees and grass grounds, which are under the water in the rainy seasons. The island has 239 species of primitive flora, 36 species of mammals belonging to 17 families, 194 species of birds, 260 species of fish and many species of amphibians and reptiles. Included are many rare species such as long-tailed monkey, smooth-skinned otter, cat fish, fired squirrel, crocodiles, tortoise, spotted varan, many-coloured boa.

The forest of U Minh Ha (Lower U Minh) is a live bio-museum. The cajeput trees have flowers blooming all the year round that attract bees coming and producing honey of high nutrition. Raising bees for honey is a long-standing undertaking of the local people. In the rainy season, the loc - a kind of fresh water fish - swim along the currents and stay in the swamps where they develop fast.

According to the planning, from the entire 30,000 hectares of forests in U Minh Ha some primitive and special-use forests will be reserved for eco-tourism purpose. Recently, the Song Trem forestry-fishery farm has raised animals of some rare kinds and tamed them, such as deer, crocodiles, bears and ostriches. This helps enriching the local fauna and promoting tourism.

The southernmost region of Ca Mau is really an attractive destination for tourists who come here for different purposes: eco-tourism, picnics, weekends and scientific research.

From VNP