Western tourists enjoy catching crabs and digging for blood cockles in Ca Mau

Two years ago, Mr. Tran Van Bi (born in 1993, from Ca Mau) traveled across Vietnam. During the 68-day trip across the country, he "witnessed" many attractive eco-tourism and community tourism models in the localities.

Realizing that his hometown still had a lot of potential for exploiting experiential tourism, Mr. Bi quit his job in Can Tho City to return to his hometown (Tan Thanh Hamlet, Phong Lac Commune, Tran Van Thoi District), renovating his family's 5,000m2 land into a garden homestay to welcome guests.

9X said that the homestay was built in a way that retains the simple, rustic features of the West with thatched-roof bedrooms, simple decoration, and open views of the fish pond and garden.

In May 2023, this place was licensed with diverse activities from eco-tourism, recreational fishing to accommodation, sightseeing services, etc.

After completing the accommodation, he collaborated with some local households to design a tour to experience “a day as a Ca Mau resident”, introducing to tourists activities related to the daily life and farming of the people.

Interestingly, the tour does not have a specific schedule because the experiences are seasonal. However, Mr. Bi proactively arranges and changes the schedule flexibly so that visitors can still have experiences imbued with the identity of the West.

“Experiential tourism in Ca Mau is not seasonal but varies by region. Ca Mau has 3 regions: fresh water, salt water and brackish water.

In which, Dat Mui is a saltwater area with mangrove forests. Thi Tuong lagoon is brackish water with about 700 hectares of surrounding water coconut forests. And U Minh Ha forest is a freshwater area. Depending on each area, we design tours with different activities," said Mr. Bi.

With the experience tour at Thi Tuong lagoon, visitors will have the opportunity to follow the locals to catch shrimp, crab, fish, cast a line or dig for blood cockles, clams, and pick water spinach - a specialty plant of Ca Mau.

With the tour to explore U Minh Ha forest, visitors can experience going to the forest with the locals, catching fish with primitive tools such as stoves or setting traps to catch eels, setting traps to catch mice and especially harvesting beehives.

In addition to the activities on the tour, visitors can also enjoy delicious dishes and specialties made from natural, locally available ingredients. Some dishes are even made from ingredients collected and caught by the visitors themselves.

As a companion and direct guide, Mr. Bi does not build tours for large groups and limits group tours.

Each tour is limited to less than 10 people. Even if there are only 1 or 2 guests, he always welcomes them warmly so that anyone who comes here can have the most complete and interesting experience in the southernmost land of the Fatherland.

The 31-year-old admitted that the initial implementation of the model was quite difficult because the local people did not understand what experiential tourism and community tourism were. He had to go to each house, share the method and benefits to convince them to participate.

Currently, there are nearly 10 households participating in the tourism model implemented by Mr. Bi, bringing in a good source of income.

Not only known to domestic tourists, Mr. Bi's homestay and "a day as a Ca Mau" experience tour also attract foreign visitors from many countries such as India, England, America, France, etc. Every month, he welcomes an average of 2-3 international groups of visitors.

To improve the quality of service and experience for tourists, 9X also proactively improves his English skills, and teaches people the most basic and easy-to-remember communication sentences.

“I want to do tourism but still have to keep the original nature and unique features so that tourists can have authentic experiences like locals.

I also hope that the destination of Thi Tuong lagoon will be known to more tourists, and more broadly, the culture, cuisine and people of Ca Mau, thereby contributing to promoting the development of local tourism, creating jobs for local people and attracting young people to return to build their homeland," Mr. Bi expressed.

As one of the foreign tourists who joined Mr. Bi's "becoming a Ca Mau" experience tour last July, Aravindhan (from India) said he had 4 memorable days when he participated in some rustic activities "he had never tried before in his life".

In addition to catching crabs and visiting the small village, Aravindhan was also invited to attend the wedding party of the host family, where he registered to stay.

“I was very impressed with the enthusiasm, friendliness and warmth of the local people. Not only did I feel the lively and cozy village atmosphere of the people here, but I also enjoyed many delicious meals, from morning to night,” the Indian guest expressed.