Thach An Island has been considered as an ideal destination for summer cruise for those who travel on a budget. Not featuring the extraordinary scenery or fascinating tourists services, Thanh An Island has captured the eyes of tourists by the « super » reasonable spending, of course, the friendliness and hospitability of the locals, and a variety of nice dishes. Not having to pay too much, and you can temporarily set aside all your concerns and worries. It’s worth, right!
Thanh An Island is situated in Thanh An Commune, Can Gio District, Ho Chi Minh City. There are different ways to get there fro the city center. If you travel by car or motorbike, you might come across Binh Khanh ferry, go straight ahead about 40 minutes to reach Can Thanh then ask locals the way to Co-opmart. After that, you might park your car or motorbike here to get to the island by ferry boats (Do). Meanwhile, if you travel by bus, you could get on Bus 20. It might take you 10 minutes to travel by ferry. Then, you take the Bus 90 (3$/ ticket) and get off at Co-opmart to walk to the ferry boat station.
Here is the ferry boat timetable of departing, particularly at 6 :30 a.m, 9 a.m, 10 : 30 a.m, 12 a.m, 2 p.m and 5 p.m, and the returning timetable is at 6:30 a.m, 7:30 a.m, 10:30 a.m, 12 a.m, 2 p.m and 5 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday, the boat might depart earlier if has enough guests.
There are 2 ferry-boat stations on the island, in which travelers might get on and get off at a different one. Therefore, you had better ask the locals the way of traveling before leaving the island so that you won’t get lost, or even miss the boat. If you return the mainland at 5 p.m, you will catch the bus to the center of Ho Chi Minh City in time. Bear in mind, you should get to the ferry boat station 30 minutes earlier at the weekend because it ‘s very crowded in these two days.
When the island was still an « unfamiliar » destination, it didn’t offer the accommodation for tourists. Therefore, when they wanted to stay on the island overnight, they had to ask the locals to sleep in their house. Of course, they were available to satisfy your need because they were friendly and hospitable. However, now you can stay at guesthouses and homestays which are built to serve accommodation for visitors.
Many visitors only visit the island during the daytime to have a chance to enjoy fresh seafood and take check-in pictures. They do not want to stay overnight because actually, the island does not have many attractions. Yet, to fully experience the quiet and peaceful daily life of the local residents, you should get there before the sunset, stay overnight, and come back to the mainland the next afternoon.
All the guesthouses on the island offer fans and air-conditioners. Moreover, you can cook right at the landlord’s house and hire a boat to spread out the net off the shore. There is one thing special that the seafood is available at all time on the island, yet, to buy the freshest seafood, you should get there in the late afternoon when the boats arrive at the dock. Or, you can enjoy fresh seafood at 2 large restaurants on the island at remarkably affordable prices. Although it does not have a variety of seafood as Can Gio, they are very cheap.
It’s worth mentioning that this small island is attractive with various tasteful snack foods on the main road, namely banana fried cake, sweet soup, noodles, particularly Vietnam-style bread, banana ice cream, etc. You probably have a crush on them right away.
If you want to organize a BBQ feast, you make it at the embankment. Yet, it’s quite hard to burn a fire in the evening because of the strong wind. Therefore, you should bring a LED or any lightening gadgets to light it up.
If you travel during the day, you might miss enjoying two best moments on the island, the sunset , and sunrise. So, you should be available on the island at sunset to greeting it at the embankment, pick up fresh sea breezes, and take nice pictures. In the early morning of the next day, you had better get out of your « nest » early to welcome the stunning sunrise and immerse yourself in the peaceful atmosphere of a new day on the island.