– DCody from Fritz Creek, Alaska –
Tam Coc Boat Tour – Tips, Price and Time to The Splendid Landmark
Tam Coc boat tour is what you don’t want to miss planning for a trip to Ninh Binh. Give it a chance to amaze you to the fullest! You will be surrounded by a dreamy and romantic river with lush green banks on a wooden boat floating amidst – yes, you will fall in love with this Tam Coc boat ride for sure.
>>> And fall in love with Best Things To Do in Ninh Binh <<<
Boat ride is the best way to explore Tam Coc – the “Halong Bay on land”
1. Tam Coc Boat Ride Ninh Binh Overview
Tam Coc is a part of Ninh Binh, which is located around 100 kilometers from Hanoi and famous for being an ideal off-the-beaten-track tourism destination in Viet Nam. Possessing surreal karst beauty along the Ngo Dong River, it is immensely popular with domestic tourists.
And there is one more special thing about the boat trip in Tam Coc is that the boatmen will sail your boat with their feet, not their hands. The reason is that they always have to sail for long hours with hands, which can hurt their arms seriously. Therefore, Vietnamese boatmen have come up with this idea to help reduce the bad effects of their jobs, and also create a unique trend only seen in Ninh Binh.
Local boatmen have the skill of sailing with their great feet that will make the boat go a long way.
2. Tam Coc boat tour price, time and opening hours
Tam Coc boat ride price
To get on a boat, first, you will have to purchase your ticket. You can easily buy a ticket from Van Lam Port. The ticket office is at the main gate and the maximum capacity of a boat is 2 to 4 visitors.
The Tam Coc boat ride cost includes visit ticket and boat trip price. Visiting ticket costs 120.000 VND/ticket while boat trip ticket costs 150.000 VND/boat (2 to 4 visitors)
Tam Coc boat tour time
It takes around 1.5 hours to 2 hours on the water surface for a full tour through all three caves: Ca Cave, Hai Cave and Ba Cave. This is the time for you to relax and contemplate all the gorgeous landmark!
Tam Coc boat tour opening hours
The boat tour service is available from 8:00 to 18:00, so you will have a lot of choices to arrange your trip. However, it is recommended that you take the boat trip in early morning or afternoon to avoid the strong sunlight at noon – which can much tire you out quickly.
You may want to witness the gorgeous sunset while taking a tam coc boat tour
3. Tam Coc boat ride route – What can you expect from the trip?
Now, you may curious of what to witness on a Tam Coc boat tour. Let’s see!
>>> Have a look at the itinerary of Hoa Lu Tam Coc Mua Cave trip to know what can you expect!
Tam Coc is well known for its wonderful sight with Ngo Dong River surrounded by limestone mountains and rice paddy field. At the halfway of the Tam Coc boat tour, you will have a chance to admire the magnificent Mua Cave from outside and other serene sightseeing destinations.
While you are on board, you can appreciate an amazing Tam Coc Ninh Binh: mesmerizing sceneries of the blue sky, crystal-clear water, giant karst mountains – you will surely be captivated.
In this boat tour, you will be visiting three caves altogether. The first one is called Ca Cave (The First Cave) with the length of 127 meters; the second one is the 60 meters long Hai Cave (The Second Cave) and of course, the last Ba Cave (The Third Cave), a bit smaller in size. All three caves are quite near each other, so it will take up at most 2 hours for you to tour through all of them.
The beauty inside the caves
The insides of these caves are really wonderful with colourful stalactites hanging down from the top just like crystal chandeliers made by Mother Nature. This place holds significant value to both tourism and research purpose and its beauty is undeniable. You will be able to take a lot of great photographs to keep as a souvenir as well as admire the charm of Tam Coc on water.
Also, you will be able to witness the floating market, which is unique to Vietnam. People sell everything on small wooden boats: from food, drink to basic necessities just like a real market in land. The colourful life of common people will lie there, waiting for you to explore.
And you should pay more attention to your boatmen because they sail like no other – they sail with their feet. In that way, the stress on the back and arm will be minimized and help them prevent any potential injury. According to local people, this unique way helps to reduce the pressure on the back and arm. Sailing the boat by feet is not only more effective but it also requires less effort.
Another great thing when sailing with feet is that the people can use their free hands to do other things. For example, using the phone, eating or drinking water, basically every simple task. And furthermore, it becomes a great pattern exclusive to Tam Coc boat tour, just like a brand name for them.
>>> Start your adventure with Hoa Lu Tam Coc day trip now!
Do you want to try to ride the boat on your own?
4. How to plan a great Tam Coc Boat Trip?
The best time to take Tam Coc boat tours
First, you should check when you are going to Ninh Binh. The best time to get on a boat tour in Tam Coc is from the end of May to June also known as harvest season when the rice fields which are ripe in golden yellow and the atmosphere is good for outdoor activities. Or you can contact with our local experts for support on choosing the right time visiting this place!
Tam Coc rice fields with appealing color arrays of yellow in around May and June
How to get to Tam Coc boat ride
If your starting point is Hanoi, you can easily get to Tam Coc in many ways sauch as train, bus, private car and even motorbike. The most popular way for tourists will be booking a tour to Tam Coc with transfer included, or else travellers have to arrange their means of transportation themselves.
>>> Check out Hanoi to Tam Coc – Transports and Tickets
On the way to Tam Coc, you can witness many stunning landmark as the whole Ninh Binh is beautiful
5. Small tips for a big trip – Tam Coc boat ride tips
- Remember to bring smaller notes of Vietnam Dong to pay for local people if you want to buy something from them, they will be grateful. Because many local people only manage a small vendor, large bills will be a bit troublesome for them.
- You should bring sun-protecting gear: a hat, sunglass or suncream in order to avoid sunburn or fatigue under the direct heat from the sunlight. Also, bringing a bottle of water is not a bad idea.
- Remember to check the life jackets on the boat. As always, you have to make sure that you are safe in any situation.
- Tips are not compulsory, but the boatmen will be happy if you give them a small tip for great service.
The boatmen always expect a small tip around 2 US$ at the end of trip as they deliver a great service
6. Take a look of Tam Coc boat ride reviews on Tripadvisor
Before taking a trip to Tam Coc you may want to check out some reviews from Tripadvisor – the largest travel review site!
“Boat Ride through Limestone Hills and Valley
Tam Coc is part of the Trang An Landscape Complex (UNESCO World Heritage since 2014) and is recognized to be with outstanding value and beauty. The river flows in between limestone peak valley, where its floodplain is grown with padi.
The river also flows right through some limestone peaks. A boat ride on the river is a journey through a beautiful valley and limestone caves. So basically you get to see paddy field, beautiful river valley, many limestone peaks, and three caves where the river flows/ boats ride through them. It’s a worthwhile trip for nature lovers.”
– BigAsianChoice from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia –
“Don’t Miss The Boat Ride
Tam Coc is an interesting place in Ninh Binh Provence. One of the highlights is the boat trip through 3 gives. There is literally a floating snack bar at the turn around point. Beautiful scenery, rice fields and more!”
And that is all the things about Tam Coc Boat Tour that you should know before going for a trip. We hope that you will find this helpful and encouraging you to visit Tam Coc someday.
If you have any questions or if you want further information and advice, please feel free to contact us, the Original Hoa Lu Tam Coc team. It is our pleasure to help you plan your perfect trip to Vietnam!
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