Binh Dai tourism highlight - Tam Hiep Island

30/06/2021 3955 0

Bình Đại is one of the three coastal districts of Ben Tre province, known to visitors for its interesting coastal agricultural and spiritual tourism sites such as: the national architectural and artistic monument Long Phung communal house, Van Phuoc pagoda, Ba Lai dam, Thua Duc beach, Thoi Thuan clam beach, De Dong Ecotourism area, salt fields, and the dried fish processing village. Additionally, domestic and international tourists also enjoy waterway tours and experiencing homestays on the islets and river islands of the district.

Located in the middle of the Tien River, Tam Hiep is a river island commune in Binh Dai district, covering an area of approximately 1,300 hectares with over 1,000 households. The residents mainly grow longan and green-skinned pomelo on the fertile alluvial soil, raise livestock and poultry, and farm fish in cages and catfish. About 12 km northeast of Ben Tre city, visitors can reach Tam Hiep island via Long Dinh ferry or Phu Thuan - Tam Hiep ferry from the center of Long Dinh and Phu Thuan communes.

Tam Hiep island is blessed by nature with picturesque river scenery, tree-lined village roads leading to the famous organic longan orchards of the district, along with OCOP products like dried longan and calamondin; traditional rice vermicelli making facilities of the local people on the island.


Ut Trinh Homestay  on  Tam Hiep Island (photo T.D.)

Since mid-2019, some local farmers have started welcoming international visitors to experience daily life, farming, and relaxation, blending with nature, breathing fresh air, and staying overnight at homestays on the island. This can be considered a new tourism product of 2020, along with the destinations of the island resort tourism model of Ben Tre's Coconut Land, with activities such as rowing in the nipa palm canals, cycling to visit longan orchards, green-skinned pomelo gardens, and Sam leaf gardens (sương sâm), and especially enjoying culinary specialties such as shrimp cooked in coconut water and dishes combining coconut ingredients, which will satisfy tourists.

Currently, the tour programs are often conducted from Ben Tre city or from the gateway district Chau Thanh to Phu Thuan or Long Dinh commune. Tourists visit Long Phung communal house, Long Thanh communal house (national monuments), and Thien Tho pagoda; then take the Phu Thuan - Tam Hiep ferry, turn left to the head of the island, visit the pagoda, and Duc Quang orphanage. Continue cycling along rural roads to visit Mr. Ho Van Hai's longan garden, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc An's pomelo garden, and the free traditional medicine clinic. Experience picking Sam leaves at Mr. Cuong's garden (0.5 hectares), where many foreign tourists enjoy getting lost in the unique Sam leaf garden and tasting the local Sam leaf dish. Stop by Mr. Thanh's honey bee farm to enjoy fruits and drink honey tea. In the evening, visitors can watch the sunset on the Tien River, participate in cooking dinner with the host, and stay overnight at Ut Trinh homestay and Mr. Bay's homestay on the island.

Moreover, from Tam Hiep island with a cooperative vision in the Eastern Mekong Delta tourism cluster, building linked tourism products with Tien Giang province along the Tam Vu, Cho Gao tourism route, and cruising on the Tien River to visit and relax on Tam Hiep island is very feasible and unique.


Visitors experience picking Sam leaves (sương sâm) at Mr. Cuong's garden (Photo: T.D.)

dentifying the strengths to develop community-based ecotourism on Tam Hiep island, connecting the cluster of monuments in Long Dinh and Phu Thuan communes, Binh Dai district has cooperated with the Agricultural Promotion Center and the Information and Tourism Promotion Center to survey, train, and improve tourism skills, guiding local people to gradually develop Tam Hiep island tourism towards creating organic agricultural tourism products and resort tourism on this land


Cooking and guest service training class at homestay services (Photo: T.D.)

By exploiting and connecting the existing potentials, along with the efforts of local authorities and the support and cooperation of tourism companies inside and outside the district, Tam Hiep island is becoming an ideal destination for tourists to explore the waterway garden tourism of Ben Tre, with traditional cultural beauty and natural scenery enough to retain visitors. Hopefully, in the near future, Binh Dai district will have breakthroughs in tourism development, contributing to the socio-economic development of the district in particular and the Ben Tre's Coconut Land Waterway Ecotourism industry in general.

Thanh Sơn

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