Visit Sa Dec – Official Sadec Travel Guide
Planning a holiday to Sa Dec? Discover top reasons to go, best time to visit, tours and free itineraries, history and hidden gems with the official guide! Find out what to do, where to go, where to stay and what to eat in Sa Dec from the local travel experts who know it best. If you’re not able to visit just yet, plan ahead to make the most of your wish-lists.

The former capital of Dong Thap province, Sa Dec is probably on the radar for most foreign visitors thanks to the vast flower nurseries located on the far side of the river. In addition, Sa Dec was immortalized by Jean-Jacques Annaud’s film L’Amant (The lover), based on the best-selling novel by French writer Marguerite Duras, which tells her love story with Huynh Thuy Le, the 27-year-old son of a wealthy Chinese family, when she was only 15. During the Vietnam War between 1966 and 1967, this Sadec town was a base for American patrol boats and fast boats. Sa Dec is about 175 km from HCMC, 51 km from Can Tho and 105 km from Chau Doc for PhnomPenh Cambodia by speedboat.

Top Reasons to Go
Huynh Thuy Le Ancient House
If you ever fall in love with the novel “The Lover” of the French writer Marguerite Duras, which has been translated into 43 languages and made into film in 1992, this house is a place for you to know more about her passionate love. Made famous by The Lover, Huynh Le Thuy was Duras’ lover—at the time he was 27 and she 15—and while this was his home, their love–nest was in Cho Lon in Ho Chi Minh City. The house dates back to 1895, renovated in 1917, and is a meld of French, Chinese and Vietnamese styles.

Sa Dec Flower Village
For 100 years, it has been one of the largest floral centres in Southern vietnam. Several flowers and herbs such as roses, orchids, arecas, etc., grown alternately, make it a magical village full of colours and aromas. Sa Dec is famous for its rose garden which houses more than 50 kinds of roses that are transported daily to Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces.

Non-touristy
This city is not familiar to intl tourists yet.

Xeo Quyt Forest – Xeo Quyt Relic Area
The forest covers an area of 50 hectares, containing 20 hectares of cajuput over 30 years old. Xeo Quyt Relic Area, which conceals former Viet Cong bunkers deep in the cajeput forest 30km southeast of Cao Lanh. The district’s dense cover provided the perfect bolthole for Viet Cong guerrillas during the American War, and from 1960 to 1975 the struggle against America and the ARVN was masterminded from here.

Getting here and around
Nowadays Sa Dec is getting easier for everyone to get there and get around. It also means that traveling to the town won’t take much sweat, especially when you get here by public bus, car via the highway. We will break this down in detail, so check the information below to choose your best vehicle option.
Air travel: Currently, there aren’t any direct flights to Sa Dec. The nearest one is Tan Son Nhat intl airport and Tra Noc intl (Can Tho) airport.
Bus travel: From Ho Chi Minh city to Sa Dec. The best bus company for getting from Saigon to Sa Dec is the Futa Bus Lines company. You can catch a bus from the Western bus station (address: 395 Kinh Duong Vuong, An Lac Ward, Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City) with the time to travel to Sa Dec is 3 hours (142km), to buy tickets or contact system of specialized vehicles running Saigon – Sadec route such as: Phuong Trang (futa bus lines), add in Saigon: 272 De Tham, District 1. Tel for booking ticket: 19006067. Once you’ve arrived at the Sa Dec Bus Station, take a taxi to your Sa Dec accommodation. Or, if taking the Futa bus line, take the complimentary transportation van which goes to certain areas in 10 km distance. For your return trip, you can pre-book your tickets or have your accommodation help reserve the tickets for you.
Bus travel: From Can Tho to Sa Dec. Take the public bus as Futa bus line. Super easy to have a ticket. These buses are great and new and AC and depart from Can Tho to Saigon. On the way, you can tell the driver to drop you off in Sa Dec if you do not go straight to HCMC.

Boat travel: Not a public boat yet.
Speed Boat travel: From HCMC to Sadec. Not yet
Speed Boat travel: From Can Tho to Sa Dec. Not yet
Cruises: Bassac cruise starts from Can Tho to Vinh Long Sadec Vinh Long Cai Be Tien Giang

Train travel: Not yet.
Bicycle and motorcycle travel: While it’s possible to rent a motorbike to explore the Sa Dec, most visitors choose to utilize the free bicycles offered by most resorts and homestays. The roads are bumpy and occasionally muddy but the distances are relatively short. You’ll notice that many of the locals opt to travel by bike as well so you’ll be in good company. From HCMC you can find “Thanh Lam motorbike rental shop: Address at No.17C Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, contact: 0902 840 361” or “Style Motorbikes motorbike rental shop: Address at No.42/24 Tran Dinh Xu Street, Co Giang Ward, District 1, contact: 0915.139.796” and “Dragon Bikes motorbike rental shop: Address at No.182/5A De Tham Street, Cau Ong Lanh Ward, District 1, contact: 0909 283 280.

Ferry travel:

Best time to Visit Sa Dec
Sa Dec welcomes you in any season all year round, each of which will certainly offer you specifically different types of pleasure and satisfaction. However, the best time to visit Sa Dec is in the dry season, from November to April, because the landscape and ecosystem are quite distinctive. If you visit Sa Dec in January or February (Tet holiday – Lunar New Year in Vietnam), don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of Sa Dec’s flower village
Floating season (September – December): It is the best time to visit Sa Dec and the Mekong Delta region in general.
Rainy season (May – October): It is not a bad choice when traveling to Sa Dec during rainy seasons since the rains are short and will not affect your trip. May is also a great time for birding in Gao Giong bird sanctuary, many other places. If you want to see thousands of flying cranes in the sky at dawn as in a fantastic picture, you should visit Tram Chim National Park from late April to May.
Dry season (January – April): If you plan to travel to Sa Dec in the dry season, the sun can rise to 37-38oC, dry weather, canals begin to dry up, dry fields.

Sa Dec Tourist Attractions
Sa Dec Flower Village
Located near the Tien River, this village is becoming famous for its exotic and colourful varieties of flowers planted on 600 hectares. For 100 years, it has been one of the largest floral centres in Southern vietnam. Several flowers and herbs such as roses, orchids, arecas, etc., grown alternately, make it a magical village full of colours and aromas. Sa Dec is famous for its rose garden which houses more than 50 kinds of roses that are transported daily to Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces. You can also see century-old bonsai trees made by talented artists with beautiful and strange shapes. The particularity of Sa Dec flowers is that they are not planted on the ground but in bamboo baskets to avoid submergence. The best time to visit the flower village of Sa Dec is about 10 to 15 days before the Tet before they are shipped to markets in other parts of southern Vietnamese provinces… Read more info & pictures

Huynh Thuy Le Ancient House
From the Sa Dec market, walk back to the river again and walk further north along the river’s edge and, on your left you’ll see Huynh Thuy Le Ancient Home (admission 30,000 dong). If you ever fall in love with the novel “The Lover” of the French writer Marguerite Duras, which has been translated into 43 languages and made into film in 1992, this house is a place for you to know more about her passionate love. Made famous by The Lover, Huynh Le Thuy was Duras’ lover—at the time he was 27 and she 15—and while this was his home, their love–nest was in Cho Lon in Ho Chi Minh City. The house dates back to 1895, renovated in 1917, and is a meld of French, Chinese and Vietnamese styles. The Huynh Thuy Le old house, now administered by Dong Thap Tourism, features some elaborate carved panels and lashings of gold lacquer work, as well as some photos of the couple in question. The 119 year old house is recognized as one of the most impressive destinations in Vietnam by the Vietnam Federation of UNESCO Associations

Tu Ton Rose Garden
A few kilometres north of town by the river, Sa Dec’s famed flower nurseries consist of more than a hundred farms cultivating a host of ferns, fruit trees, shrubs and flowers. The expansive grounds of Tu Ton Rose Garden get the lion’s share of tourists visiting the area. In addition to the varieties of rose cultivated here, over 580 species of plant are grown, ranging from orchids, carnations and chrysanthemums, through to medicinal herbs and pines grown for export around Asia… Read more info & pictures

Dong Thap Museum
While in town, it’s worth having a look around the Dong Thap Museum. Though there are no English signs, this place has a well-organized display of fossils, skulls, farming tools, fish traps, basketware and textiles, as well as the inevitable paintings of heroic Vietnamese forces repelling French and American troops… Read more info & pictures

Xeo Quyt Forest – Xeo Quyt Relic Area
The forest covers an area of 50 hectares, containing 20 hectares of cajuput over 30 years old. You’ll most likely need to go through the local tourist office if you want to take a trip out to Xeo Quyt Relic Area, which conceals former Viet Cong bunkers deep in the cajeput forest 30 km southeast of Cao Lanh. The district’s dense cover provided the perfect bolthole for Viet Cong guerrillas during the American War, and from 1960 to 1975 the struggle against America and the ARVN was masterminded from here. The boggy nature of the terrain made a tunnel system similar to that of Cu Chi unfeasible, so they made do with six submerged metal chambers sealed with tar and resin. If you travel through the cajuput forest in a sampan during your trip to Southern vietnam, you will have the opportunity to contemplate the beauty of the relic… Read more info & pictures

Gao Giong Eco-Tourism Park (Cao Lanh)
It has long been famous as a “green oasis” with the charming natural landscape, the land is like a miniature Dong Thap Muoi of the southwestern region by the wild and rustic features bestowed by nature. Gao Giong Dong Thap tourism, after purchasing the entrance ticket, you will be invited to drink lotus heart tea, eat roasted lotus seeds, watch an overview and detailed video introduction about the resort. Before visiting the garden, you will get to the observatory 18 meters high and borrow binoculars. From here, you can observe almost the entire bird garden with deep green Melaleuca forests… Read more info & pictures

Lai Vung Tangerine Garden
Lai Vung is a district in Dong Thap province. It’s located in the southern key economic region of Dong Thap province, with a very important position. Between the Tien and Hau rivers, adjacent to Sa Dec industrial park, across the Tra Noc industrial park in Can. Poetry and adjacent to major urban centres of the region such as Can Tho city, Long Xuyen city (in An Giang) are very convenient for attracting investment and development. Lai Vung was famous in the past for Nam Bo Nem Chua, in addition to there are tangerines… Read more info & pictures

Tram Chim National Park (Birding tour)
Of the 220 species of bird nesting at Tram Chim National Park (previously Tam Nong Bird Sanctuary), it’s the sarus cranes, with their distinctive red heads, which most visitors come to see. In flight above the marshland of the sanctuary, the slender grey birds reveal spectacular black-tipped wings. Cranes feed from the land, so when the spate season (July to November) waterlogs the delta, they migrate to Cambodia. Visiting the park can be quite expensive, so this is a trip for committed bird enthusiasts only – if you’re keen, ask at the office of Dong Thap Tourist in Cao Lanh for details. Most people do the rounds of the park by boat, though there’s not much to be seen outside the months of December to May… Read more info & pictures

Kim Hue Pagoda
Kim Hue Pagoda was built in 1806 by the tranquil channel of Cai Son, Sa Dec, Dong Thap Province. The highlight of the pagoda is its unique Chinese-styled architecture with red-brick walls, ancient tile roof, and solemn wooden pillars. Kim Hue Pagoda was once the Buddhism school for local monks in the Western Vietnam, which makes it one of the most famous pagodas in this region for hundreds of years. If you’re searching for a rare peaceful moment among bustling city life in Ho Chi Minh City, then taking a trip to Kim Hue to enjoy the sounds of placid wind chimes and peaceful wooden bells is a great idea… Read more info & pictures

Thap Muoi Lotus Field in Dong Thap
The outskirts of Sa Dec Town are home to immense lotus swamps that you can hardly find anywhere else in Southern Vietnam. One of the best things to do in Dong Thap is to unlock the lotus fields in Dong Thap Muoi where the hidden gem and its traditional beauty is. Tourists can weave in and out the farm for sightseeing, photos and studying more about lotus as the national flower of Vietnam.… Read more info & pictures