Delta trips led by people with a craft
Understand · Seasons
When to go, by what you want to see
The delta has two seasons, but our trips follow four calendars: the flower growers before Tet, the fruit orchards in summer, clear dry-season mornings for boats and cameras, and the flood season when boat yards are busiest. This page sets them side by side.
Calendar
Four calendars at a glance
● ideal · ◐ good · ○ off season. Flowers peak in the weeks before Tet (6 Feb 2027; 26 Jan 2028). Fruit peaks May–August. Dry season December–April. Flood season September–November.
No month is closed. Every month suits something, and every month has a reason to choose a different trip.
Sources: Wikipedia — Tet, table of dates 2020–2043; Vietnam National Authority of Tourism — Mekong Delta; Nhan Dan — Ba Dai boat-building village, 5 Jan 2025 · checked .
The weeks before Tet: flowers
Tet, the Lunar New Year, falls on 6 February in 2027 and 26 January in 2028. In the four to five weeks before it, the Sa Dec flower village is at its fullest, with growers bringing on Tet plants on raised beds above the canals. Cai Mon, the second plant centre, follows the same rhythm, with buds set in the second half of the twelfth lunar month.
Visitors from Ho Chi Minh City arrive in numbers at the weekends. Some private gardens in Sa Dec close from the 23rd to the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, a about a week before Tet, and visitors seldom come during Tet itself. Many family workshops also stop for the first days of the new year. We plan weekdays in early to late January for 2027.
Sources: Wikipedia — Tet, table of dates 2020–2043; Bao Van Hoa — Sa Dec flower village before Tet, 23 Jan 2022; Mia.vn — Cho Lach orchards and Cai Mon flowers, 13 Oct 2025 · checked .
December to April: dry mornings
The dry season is the time the national tourism authority recommends, and the time our trips run most smoothly. Rain is rare, mornings are clear, and sun-dried crafts such as rice paper and puffed rice cakes are made every day. December and January are Can Tho’s coolest months; April is the hottest, with mean daytime highs near 34 °C, which pushes sessions earlier.
Sources: Vietnam National Authority of Tourism — Mekong Delta; Wikipedia — Can Tho climate table · checked .
May to August: fruit, with rain
The rainy season begins in May, and Can Tho records rain on about 16 to 22 days a month through the summer. In exchange, the orchards are at their heaviest from May to August — rambutan, durian, longan, mangosteen, mango — and the delta is at its greenest. The flower village is quieter; plants are sold all year, but not at Tet scale.
Dengue peaks in southern Vietnam from June to October. Bring repellent and cover up at dusk.
Sources: Mia.vn — Cho Lach orchards and Cai Mon flowers, 13 Oct 2025; Vietnam National Authority of Tourism — Mekong Delta; WHO Viet Nam — dengue · checked .
September to November: high water
September is Can Tho’s wettest month. The flood season peaks upriver from September to November, and in October and November riverside streets in Can Tho and Vinh Long can flood at the highest tides. It is also when the wooden-boat yards near Sa Dec are busiest, as orders come in for the flood.
For photographers, the season brings heavy skies and high water; for everyone, it brings the risk of a lost morning. We add a spare half-day to trips in these months where we can.
Sources: Wikipedia — Can Tho climate table; Ministry of Agriculture and Environment — 2025 Mekong flood outlook, 3 Oct 2025; Nhan Dan — Ba Dai boat-building village, 5 Jan 2025 · checked .
Heat, rain and what to pack
The delta is warm in every month. In Can Tho, mean daytime highs run from about 30 °C in December and January to about 34 °C in April, and humidity stays high all year, highest in the wet season. Pack light, loose clothes that cover shoulders and knees for temples and old houses, a hat, and sandals that can get wet stepping in and out of boats.
From May to November add a light rain layer and mosquito repellent for dawn and dusk sessions; in Can Tho it rains on most days from June to October. On boats in the early morning a thin long-sleeved layer is welcome even in the dry season, and life jackets are carried on every boat we use.
Sources: Wikipedia — Can Tho climate table; WHO Viet Nam — dengue · checked .
Which trip for which month
| Months | Trip that suits | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Early to late January (2027) | Sa Dec in Flower Season | Flower beds at their fullest before Tet |
| December – April | The Photographer’s Delta | Clear dawns |
| December – April | Craft Villages of the Delta | Sun-dried crafts every day |
| All year | Delta Kitchen | Markets and kitchens work in any month |
| September – November | A trip built around the boat yards | Yards busiest in flood season |
The destination pages give each place its own month chart, and the experience catalogue shows the season for each session.
Common questions
Questions travellers ask most
What is the single most rewarding month?
It depends on the trip. For Sa Dec, January before Tet. For photography and crafts, December to March.
Is the rainy season a bad time?
No, only a different one. Expect some wet mornings, but the orchards are full and the delta is at its greenest.
What happens at Tet itself?
Families celebrate, many workshops stop, and the flowers have been sold. We avoid planning sessions in the first days of Tet.
When is Tet in 2028?
26 January 2028, so the flower weeks fall in late December and January.
Related
Read next
Example journey
Sa Dec in Flower Season
Two nights in Sa Dec before Tet: growers, the Huynh Thuy Le house and a wooden-boat yard.
Example journey
The Photographer’s Delta
Four days, three dawns: Cai Be, Sa Dec and Can Tho with a photographer-guide and a consent etiquette.
Example journey
Craft Villages of the Delta
Three days with weavers, rice-paper makers and popped-rice families around Ben Tre and Cai Be.
Example journey
Delta Kitchen
Two days in Can Tho with a home cook: night market, Cai Rang at dawn, market and kitchen.
Destinations · Dong Thap
Sa Dec
Sa Dec: the flower village before Tet, the Huynh Thuy Le house, nights, access and costs.
Places
Destinations
Sa Dec, Cai Be, Ben Tre and Can Tho compared: what each is for, nights, distances and seasons.
Start planning
Tell us which session or trip you have in mind
A month, how many are travelling and the session or trip that interests you are enough to start. We reply by email with questions or a draft plan that names each session by role, each hotel and every price line.