Hoi An Basket Boat Tour

One of the BIG tourist attractions in Ha Noi is the boat rides on the river during the day or at night to release lanterns. We have always walked back this in Hoi An and declined for a few reasons. One being it is very crowded on the river. Two it appears to be expensive and it is super touristy (normally this means the price is high). Whether you are seeing individual backpackers, couples or the large group of tourists following a flag a lot of people seem to do this excursion. But it has never been something either of us have wanted to do.

However we stopped one afternoon for a snack just outside of Hoi An on a side street. This restaurant was also selling Basket Boat Tours. They asked if we wanted to go right then! That day we were tired from a different excursion, we were only interested in a quick snack but we did ask about the cost. We both thought "here we go, this is going to be expensive", the lady told us it was 150,000 VND for a one hour tour, about $8.78 CAD. We were surprised by this price and agreed we would return to do a tour with them.

We picked a really nice sunny day to go do this boat ride, we went just after lunch hoping it wouldn't be too busy. When we arrived, they remembered us, hard to forget Ryan’s blond hair and ginger beard. They ushered us into a boat right away. They helped us into the boat, told us that the hats and umbrella were included. Down the river we went towards Cua Dai Bay. Our guide instantly started singing different popular songs to us, he spoke very little English so we did not ask any questions. He just kept singing to us and laughing, this lasted the entire tour.

Photo Credit : V.Gray

Going by restaurants on the riverfront, floating by houses and other boat men sleeping in their boats it was a peaceful ride. He did stop and take our pictures a few times for us from inside the boat, with directions on how he wanted us to sit.

Photo Credit : Boat Guide Photo Credit : Boat Guide

As we floated down the river the guide pointed out the coconut trees, crabs, fish and kept singing merrily. When we left the dock, we did not see any other boats leaving. However, the closer to the bay we got we caught up to a few boat and the music got loud so we knew other people had the same idea.

Photo Credit : V.Gray Photo Credit : V.Gray

He paddled us straight through the bay past the other tourists and into another little green area. Doing a big loop around and coming out near the back of the parties. There were boat spinners, who would let you join in while they spun (for a fee). Fishermen toss their nets, that would let you come on board and show you how to toss nets (for a fee). Along with bunches of basket boats around little floating pads with karaoke parties going on in the middle of the bay.

Photo Credit : V.Gray Photo Credit : V.Gray

We both picked to not get in the basket boat while it was being spun, these guys go really fast! Personally, just watching made me dizzy. We watched the boats spin and other tourists got in and spun for a little bit. The boats are painted such bright colours, they really captivate you (video below).

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/05f7d2_ebfe576a0de34aea8f8defee6051f3a4/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Video Credit : V.Gray

After watching the party in the bay for a few minutes, we carried on back towards the river we came down. As we started back down the river, our guide took us to the water's edge. He then pulled out a fishing rod and started fishing for crabs. Moving up the waters edge towards the docks, Ryan learned how to catch crabs along the way by holding a small piece of meat in front. The crab will then jump at the meat and latch on, 3 crabs later we were done fishing.

Photo Credit : V.Gray Photo Credit : V.Gray

We came to a wider part of the river and our guide decided he would spin us, without exactly telling us what was going to happen. The notice we got was him pointing at the side of the boat, a railing and making a fist. Then he started spinning us and singing! After 20 seconds he stopped spinning us, thankfully! Any longer I am sure both of us would have been sick, we were both very dizzy by the end.

Of course no tourist attraction with a guide is complete in Vietnam or anywhere in South East Asia without a photo shoot. Our guide tied us off for a few moments, snapped a few more pictures of us and then of himself with Ryan, before returning us back to the dock.

Photo Credit : Tour Guide Photo Credit : V.Gray

When we got back to the docks, we got our bill. This is where we thought "crud we are paying 150,000 VND /each ($8.78 CAD/ each) for that 50 minute boat ride?", was that really worth it we didn’t go into Hoi An?! NOPE, it was 150,000 VND for both of us for 50 minutes. WICKED! This was completely worth it, it was a fun way to kill an hour in the afternoon heat. The sunshine was beautiful, the wind off the bay cooled us off, the guide was hilarious and the entire experience is a memory we will always laugh at or feel dizzy over.

Cheers!

We used Tram Tran Coconut for our tour, their information is below!

**Please note that all opinions and views expressed in this post are my own, from my own experiences. If you would like to see more pictures follow me on Instagram vikki.gray **