Cai Be is a district located to the west of Tien Giang District, which is famous for Cai Be floating market, a featured highlight of the lives on the rivers of Mekong Delta in the South of Vietnam. The district situates on the northern bank of My Thuan Bridge and is also the gateway to reach Vinh Long City and the entire delta region here. Cai Be has an eponymous township and 24 communes with the main economy are agricultural products including rice and tropical fruits.
Cai Be is the district owning the largest orchard in Tien Giang Province with a lot of renowned kinds of tropical fruit such as oranges, mango, guava, star apple, green skin pomelo, pineapple, sweetened tangerine, rambutan, etc. Here is also a prominent stop in both many Mekong Delta on-land tours and cruise itineraries due to its ideal location, the rich local history, and the vivid spectacles of orchard culture & ways of life on the water.
The main tourist activities in Cai Be include numerous travel experiences that offer the most insightful understanding of the rustic yet very exotic local life here such as traditional houses visit; villages discoveries through biking or strolling along the green shady roads, lush orchards or rice fields; local drink & food tasty treats; family businesses & local life observations; and, of course, experiencing the feelings of sitting on a local boat or sampan ride sneaking into the narrow canals system and visiting the iconic wholesale floating market on Tien River, Cai Be Floating Market.
Cai Be floating market was established in 1732, which lead to the name of the town housing the market itself. The market often takes place in the river’s section along Tan Phong Islet and borders three provinces of Tien Giang, Ben Tre, and Vinh Long. This is not only merely a trading place to exchange, buy, and sell various categories of products, here is also the place for locals to communicate and happily share everything of their daily lives. All of the local activities happen right on their ships/boats/rafts and these mobile shops excitingly move on the wide river, which makes the floating market a colorful and attractive picture of Mekong Delta’s lives. Although Cai Be floating market today is not crowded and bustling as it used to be, here is a great attraction for tourists to come, learn about the indigenous history & culture, and experience Mekong Delta’s ways of life like real locals.
