Cà Mau travel guide
Canal city at the edge of the mangroves and Ca Mau Cape
A canal-built city near the southern tip of mainland Vietnam, used as a base for U Minh Ha forest and Ca Mau Cape. Come in the dry season, December to April. Two nights covers the city and one long day at the cape. Costs are low, and many passports need no visa.
Ca Mau is the last city of any size on the way to the southern tip of mainland Vietnam, about 350 km south-west of Ho Chi Minh City. It grew up on canals, and much of its freight still moves by barge. The reason to come is the wetland country beyond: mangroves, melaleuca forest and the cape itself.
Within town, the Lam Vien bird park shelters thousands of nesting egrets and herons, a strange sight among the apartment blocks. North-west of the city, U Minh Ha is a protected swamp forest cut by canals, home to the wild honey that Ca Mau sells everywhere. Ca Mau Cape National Park lies about 90 km south, where the mangroves push out into the sea a little further every year.
Food is the other draw. Ca Mau crab is prized across the country, and the markets along the Ganh Hao river pile up dried shrimp, salted crab and jars of fish paste. Small Khmer and Chinese communities add pagodas and temples to the mostly Vietnamese town.
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Top things to do in Cà Mau
A bird park, swamp forest, the southern cape and crab dinners.
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Best time to visit Cà Mau
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Highs of 30-33C and only 13-32 mm of rain a month from January to March; calm water for the cape boats.
Over 300 mm of rain a month from June to October, peaking at about 430 mm in July; afternoon downpours and high water in the canals.
Highs of 33C as the rains begin; start boat trips at dawn and rest at midday.
Boats to Ca Mau Cape are far cheaper from Nam Can than from Ca Mau, and fares are negotiable, so agree the price before boarding.
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Getting there
Mien Tay sleepers, the CAH runway and the Rach Gia hydrofoil
Most travellers reach Cà Mau by sleeper bus from Ho Chi Minh City, a long ride down National Route 1 through the delta. The town also has a small airport (CAH), and hydrofoils run from Rạch Giá across the peninsula on the Gulf of Thailand coast. Phuong Trang, Mai Linh and Tuan Hung all run the route; Phuong Trang boards at Mien Tay bus station and its own office in District 10, while the other two collect from central Ho Chi Minh City. Book a few days ahead, and more around Tet. Arrivals pull into Ca Mau central bus station in Ward 6. Flying is quicker: Ca Mau Airport sits only about 2 km from downtown, so a taxi or xe om takes a few minutes, though flights are few and leave early in the morning. Another route is to fly into Can Tho and continue by bus for about three to four hours. From Rach Gia, a hydrofoil has run down the coast in about three hours, which makes a good loop without backtracking.
- Sleeper bus from Ho Chi Minh City
- Phuong Trang, Mai Linh or Tuan Hung, from Mien Tay station or central pick-ups
- Ca Mau Airport (CAH)
- About 2 km from the centre, a few minutes by taxi
- Via Can Tho (VCA)
- Fly to Can Tho, then about 3-4 hours by bus
- Hydrofoil from Rach Gia
- About 3 hours by water
- Take a window seat on the bus south of Can Tho; the last stretch runs past shrimp ponds and canal villages.
Where to stay
Phan Ngoc Hien, the Ganh Hao riverfront or Nam Can for the cape
Cà Mau's centre is compact, and most visitors stay near Phan Ngoc Hien street or the Ganh Hao riverfront, close to the restaurants and cafés. If Dat Mui is the main aim, move south to Nam Can for a night, because starting the boat trip from there saves hours on the water.
- Phan Ngoc Hien Street
- Central hotels and some of the better local restaurants; busy traffic
- Nguyen Trai Street
- More hotels and the Lang Toi restaurant, a short walk from the centre
- Near Ganh Hao bridge
- River views and evening bars; noise from the boats and late music
- Nam Can
- Basic guesthouses near the boats to the cape; little to do in the evening
Getting around
Xe om to Lam Vien and boats from Nam Can to Dat Mui
Central Cà Mau is small enough to walk: the hotels on Phan Ngoc Hien, the market and the riverfront are all within a few blocks. Lam Vien bird park is a short xe om or taxi ride, with Mai Linh and local firms running metered cars, and the cape needs a boat from Nam Can. For U Minh Ha, rent a motorbike or hire a driver and follow the signposted paved road into the forest, which runs between canals to a ranger station. Do not wander off it, since the ground on both sides is swamp. The cape is the big trip. Boats leave Ca Mau and take about four hours each way, so most people travel by road to Nam Can and board there, cutting the water leg to about 90 minutes. Agree the price and return time before you set off.
- On foot
- Phan Ngoc Hien, the market and the Ganh Hao riverfront
- Xe om or taxi
- Lam Vien bird park and the airport
- Motorbike or driver
- U Minh Ha on the signposted road
- Boat from Nam Can
- Ca Mau Cape in about 90 minutes
- Carry water, a hat and insect repellent for the forest and the mangroves.
Know before you go
What makes Cà Mau worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- Lam Vien bird park, with thousands of birds nesting in the middle of town.
- The road into U Minh Ha, lined with banana trees and canals full of birds.
- Ca Mau crab at a local restaurant on your last night.
Good to know
- Stay on the road in U Minh Ha; the ground either side is swamp.
- Negotiate cape boat fares hard, and leave from Nam Can if you can.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Cà Mau, month by month
Cà Mau, at Vietnam's southern tip, is hot all year, with a dry season from about December and heavy rain from May. Tap a month for long-term averages.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Cà Mau (Vietnam Institute for Building Science and Technology, via Wikipedia).
Mangroves, melaleuca and the land's end at Dat Mui
Cà Mau takes two days: an afternoon in town, then a long day out to the cape at Dat Mui. Walk the Ganh Hao riverfront and the market streets, where barges tie up beside the stalls, then go to Lam Vien around five o'clock, when flocks of egrets and storks come back to roost in the trees.
Give the next day to the cape and start before dawn. Ride or drive to Nam Can, take a boat through the mangrove channels and land at Dat Mui. At the tip, a ship's-prow monument points out to sea, a marker records the southern end of the Ho Chi Minh Road, and a lookout tower gives a view over mudflats where the forest keeps advancing. On a clear day you can see the Hon Khoai islands offshore. Eat lunch at one of the stilt restaurants serving fresh crab and shrimp, then head back before the afternoon storms in the wet months.
Keep the third morning for U Minh Ha. Ride out on the road between the canals, watch for kingfishers and storks, and stop at the ranger station at its end. Local beekeepers work the melaleuca forest, and bottles of their wild honey are sold along the way. Back in town, catch an afternoon bus or the hydrofoil north.
Ca Mau crab, banh tam cay and U Minh honey
Crab is what everyone eats in Cà Mau. The local mud crabs, raised in mangrove ponds, are heavy and sweet, and restaurants steam them simply with a dip of salt, pepper and lime. Ask for female crabs with roe in season, and order by weight after seeing them alive in the tank.
For breakfast, try banh tam cay, short thick rice noodles with shredded pork skin, coconut cream and spring onion oil. Markets sell ba khia, small salted crabs eaten with lime, chilli and sugar, and bags of dried shrimp from Rach Goc, a common gift to take home.
Fermented fish is the backbone of delta cooking, and lau mam, a hotpot built on fish paste with river fish, eggplant and a pile of wild vegetables and flowers, is the dinner to share with a group. Grilled snakehead fish, wrapped in rice paper with herbs, is another good order. Finish with a spoon of U Minh honey stirred into lime juice, sold at stalls around town.
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How we research our Cà Mau travel guide
Cà Mau's boat times to Dat Mui and its bus links change more than most, so we recheck them against the official Cà Mau website, the city's Wikipedia record and Vietnam Travel, with visa rules from the e-Visa portal.
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Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of Cà MauVietnam official e-VisaVietnam Travel
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Cà Mau.
General
Yes, Phuong Trang boards there and at its District 10 office. Mai Linh and Tuan Hung run the same route with pick-ups in central districts.
The terminal is about 2 km out, so a xe om or taxi takes only a few minutes; walking with bags in the heat is not much fun.
Yes, by motorbike or with a hired driver on the signposted paved road to the ranger station. Stay on the road.
Steamed, with salt, pepper and lime. Choose your crab live and pay by weight.
A Ca Mau breakfast of thick rice noodles with shredded pork skin, coconut cream and spring onion oil.
A hydrofoil has run between the two in about three hours; check current departures locally.
For an early boat, yes, as it saves hours on the water. Ca Mau has more hotels and restaurants.
Central Cà Mau is small enough to walk: the hotels on Phan Ngoc Hien, the market and the riverfront are all within a few blocks. Lam Vien bird park is a short xe om or taxi ride, with Mai Linh and local firms running metered cars, and the cape needs a boat from Nam Can. For U Minh Ha, rent a motorbike or hire a driver and follow the signposted paved road into the forest, which runs between canals to a ranger station.
Cà Mau is best known for:
- Lam Vien bird park, with thousands of birds nesting in the middle of town
- The road into U Minh Ha, lined with banana trees and canals full of birds
- Ca Mau crab at a local restaurant on your last night
Getting there
Go by road to Nam Can and take a boat from there, about 90 minutes. Direct boats from Ca Mau take about four hours.
Prices & payment
A ship's-prow monument, the marker at the end of the Ho Chi Minh Road, a lookout tower and mangrove boardwalks.
Timing & weather
Late afternoon, when the egrets and storks return to roost in the trees.
April is the warmest month in Cà Mau, with average highs of 33°C, and January the coolest, with lows of 23°C. July is the wettest month, at about 433 mm of rain; February is the driest. Cà Mau, at Vietnam's southern tip, is hot all year, with a dry season from about December and heavy rain from May.
Visa & documents
Citizens of a number of countries, including the UK and many EU states, can visit Vietnam visa-free for up to 45 days. All nationalities can apply for a single or multiple-entry e-Visa valid for up to 90 days on the official portal.
Health & safety
Vietnam is generally safe. Traffic is the main hazard, and bag snatching from motorbikes occurs in cities.
