Covering 60km of Southern Vietnam’s finest scenery, Ben Tre is an abundance of fascinating opportunities for curious tourists

Location & Topography

Ben Tre Province is located 85 km South of Ho Chi Minh City in the Mekong River Delta, with an area of 2,315 km 2.  It lies below Tien Giang Province to the north, Vinh Long to the west, and Tra Vinh to the south. Ben Tre is nestled between two main branches of the Mekong’s largest tributary, which diverges to create a fertile agricultural region and beautiful coastline. 

Ben Tre is generally flat, with some surprising topographical features such as sand dunes and unique rock formations.  There is a lot of farmland which takes advantage of the area’s abundance of fresh water and alluvial soil.  This is a place of diverse and complex river systems, winding water channels and canals. The weather in Ben Tre is typically monsoon tropical with high average temperatures of 26 to 27 o C.  The rainy season usually begins in May and lasts until October, with average rainfall of 1,250 – 1, 500mm a year. This climate provides the province with a wide variety of fruits, trees and animals, many of which are rare and valuable species.

Population

At present, the population of Ben Tre is approximately 1.35 million people, based on the National Population Survey in 2009. The majority of the population is from the Kinh ethnic group, followed by Chinese, Khmer and Cham.  Like people in other areas of the Mekong Delta River, residents in Ben Tre are humble, generous and hard-working, but they are also courageous and indomitable.  This strength of character has proven itself time and again during the two wars of resistance against France and America. 

Tourism

Located at the mouth of Mekong, Ben Tre is considered as the Green Venice with vast orchards. During a boat ride, you will have opportunity to admire the fruit gardens and mangroves that line the banks of multiple channels. It is a poetic promenade dedicated to nature, which is now a major tourist source. Several tourist sites including:

Phoenix Island (Con Phung) covers an area of 28 hectares. The island has many coconut palms and lush orchards of all colors.

Con Oc Island is known for its coconut gardens and grapefruit orchards.

Fairy Islet meanwhile has a lovely beach which attracts both locals and tourists.

Cai Mon orchard along Tien River is considered the core of the fruit trees in southern Vietnam; fruit tastings are also offered throughout the year.

Vam Ho Bird Park is an ecotourism attraction that is home to nearly 500,000 species. The greatest time to observe the stocks here is after 5p.m when they start flying over Ba Lai River to return to green forests, creating an extremely breathtaking scenery and fascinating sound.