About 20 minutes by boat from downtown My Tho, the orchards on Cồn Lân stretch out in green, growing longan, coconut, star fruit, and rose apple all mixed together. Visitors paddle small sampans through the waterways, honey scents the air near the beehives on shore, and now and then the sound of southern traditional music (đờn ca tài tử) drifts by.
Backed by both Vietnam's national tourism authority and the Vietnamese Wikipedia — one of the province's densest orchard areas at about 1,200 hectares
Vietnam's national tourism authority vietnamtourism.gov.vn has run a feature on Thới Sơn's orchard-based ecotourism, and the Vietnamese Wikipedia entry "Cù lao Thới Sơn" records the islet's area at about 1,200 hectares, one of the densest orchard regions in Tien Giang province, supplying several major wholesale markets. Several independent travel outlets (klook.com, mia.vn, bazantravel.com) cross-confirm the scale of the orchards, beehives, and craft villages here. The islet also offers ecotourism activities like sampan rides, honey tasting at beehive farms, and southern traditional music (đờn ca tài tử) performances, with orchards mixing longan, coconut, star fruit, and rose apple rather than growing a single fruit exclusively.
Honest clarification: the coconut candy workshop on the tour is actually a demonstration of a Ben Tre-originated specialty, not a My Tho or Tien Giang original
It has to be said honestly that coconut candy (kẹo dừa) workshops commonly appear on this islet's tour itineraries, letting visitors try making and tasting the candy — but coconut candy fundamentally originated in the neighboring province of Ben Tre. Several travel outlets record that it was first created in the 1930s in Ben Tre's Mỏ Cày District, and what's on Thới Sơn is only a demonstration replica for tourists, not a My Tho or Tien Giang original specialty. This entry honestly does not list coconut candy as a My Tho dish in its own right — it's noted here only as a clarification.
How to Enjoy It Like a Local
- A half-day islet tour with about a 20-minute boat ride is a good plan, with sampans winding through the orchard waterways.
- The mixed orchards of longan, coconut, star fruit, and rose apple yield different fruits depending on the season.
- Beehive honey tasting and southern traditional music performances are common add-ons to the itinerary.
An Honest Look at This Sweet Treat's Origins
- The coconut candy workshop offers visitors a chance to make and taste it, but the specialty itself originated in neighboring Ben Tre.
- This entry honestly does not list coconut candy as a standalone My Tho dish — it's noted here only within this islet entry.
- The orchards themselves are the real deal — a genuinely dense fruit-growing region of Tien Giang, unrelated to where the coconut candy comes from.
Paddling a sampan through 1,200 hectares of orchard waterways, the scent of longan, coconut, and star fruit is genuinely Tien Giang's islet specialty. But honestly, the piece of coconut candy sampled along the way has its true home in a sugar pot over in neighboring Ben Tre, not in My Tho's own kitchens.