Tam Coc in Vietnam is a wonderful place, the natural beauty of which is often compared to Halong Bay, only on land. Indeed, Tam Coc National Nature Reserve is a river Ngo Dong, flowing between limestone cliffs of different heights, some of which are up to 100 meters high! The river has washed out caves in 3 cliffs, and that is how the name of Tam Coc Reserve is translated – 3 caves. The reserve Tam Coc is located 10 kilometers from Ninh Binh town, but that is where the name Ninh Binh is associated with when you look somewhere for information or excursions to this place. Almost everyone who comes to Ninh Binh wants to admire the natural beauty of Tam Coc.
Tam Coc Vietnam – description
There are boat rides for about 1.5 hours in Tam Coc National Park. The boat together with a boatman who will row is rented for 2 people for VND 390 thousand. This fee includes the rental of a boat, the boatman’s work, also after the walk it is customary to give a tip of 30-60 thousand VND or as much as you like. Working hours of the reserve – from 7am-6pm. Boat trip begins at the boat station.
On the way you will see the beautiful rocks around the river, sail through 3 caves, admire the beautiful views of the place.
How to get to Tam Coc Vietnam
- Tour
This is the most common way from Hanoi. You can buy an excursion directly from your hotel. Usually tours in Ninh Binh are 1 day long. Tam Coc is a must-see in all tours in Ninh Binh. If you bought a tour in Hanoi, you will be taken to Ninh Binh by bus, travel time is about 2.5 – 3 hours. The distance from Hanoi is 100 kilometers.
- On your own by train or bus
- This is also a popular way; we, for example, took the train for about 2.5 hours. It’s about the same time as a bus ride. There are a lot of flights, you can choose any convenient for you in terms of time and price on the website asia
- On your own by moped, bicycle, taxi or car
If you have already reached Ninh Binh and are not part of a tour, then from your hotel you will need to get to the pier, from which the boats depart for the walk on Tam Coc.
Right at your hotel you can rent a moped as well as a bicycle, as everything here is close to each other, and drive yourself to the pier with the boats. If you don’t want to rent a vehicle, then you can take a cab, also order it at the reception of your hotel or use the app Grab, and order a cab about 1.5-2 times cheaper than from the hotel. We very often used this app in Vietnam, it is an analogue of Uber. Everything is easy and simple.
Good Hotels in Tam Coc on Booking:
Our visit to the Tam Coc Nature Reserve Vietnam
We arrived in Ninh Binh from Hanoi in the morning by train. Our train arrived in Ninh Binh at 11:25 am, we called a cab through Grab app and in 15 minutes it took us to our hotel Tam Coc Bungalow. I carefully chose this hotel in advance, and very many people advised to stay in it for 1-2 nights, because it is right along the river, on which everyone goes boating. It is very picturesque and beautiful around it. That’s what attracted me and so I booked a room overlooking the river. Looking ahead it was well worth it! We checked into the room, had lunch right at the hotel, watching the boats as people were floating by us on the river. With anticipation of a good time, we left the hotel and made the 10 minute walk to the pier. My husband bought tickets and immediately without a queue we were assigned a boatman, mostly women, although I saw a couple or three men as well. The two of us got in the boat, which is a big plus that there were no other people with us. The boats here are basically designed for 2 people, and a child can fit in as well. And we hit the road!
On the way we sailed past our hotel, which also has a small dock, and on the way back we asked the lady boatman to stop us here, she did it with no problem.
Then our way followed the widening river, the views all around were mesmerizing. Rocks appeared here and there, one after the other, creating an incredible impression of local nature.
To the right and left in the river grows rice, so it is not very deep here. By the way, when you get on the boat give you a vest and they are required to be on you until you swim away, then you can just take them off and put them on the bottom of the boat.
Of course, it is much more pleasant to sail between such stunning rocks in sunny weather, but they will leave a deep impression on you in cloudy weather as well. We were lucky, at first it was a little overcast, and as a consequence, not very hot, gradually the sun appeared and illuminated all around.
You may be surprised, but the local boaters, just in Tam Coc, do not row with their hands, but with their feet! This is quite unusual, many people take their photos and they smile back, probably already accustomed to such attention. All wearing Vietnamese hats, I can not resist, and on the pier bought one for myself, very atmospheric for Vietnam (Admittedly, then almost 2 weeks of our journey, carried it with me, and never once more put on)
But, of course, the photos in it turned out great!
Then we went to the first cave called Hang Sa, the longest of the three. It is 127 meters long and 20 meters wide. When we swam into it, there was no light at the end of the cave. The cave is very low, at times we tilted our heads.
Hmm, well, the very feeling that the rock above you is 60-100 meters high, as it did not give us courage. I like caves, but not long and wide ones.
But the exit from the caves is always very beautiful.
Just a few minutes later we swam into the second cave – Hang Gia. Its length is about 60 meters. And the last, third grotto – Hang Soi – the shortest cave, its length is only 46 meters.
At the end of the cave is a so-called blind alley, here are crowded a few boats with tourists, which local vendors also on the boats offer to buy something: water, chips, snacks.
If you do not want to buy anything, just firmly say no, and ask the boat lady to swim back. The locals will talk you into buying water for your boatman, don’t fall for it, then they give them the goods back and take their money. We were also asked to buy water for our attendant, to which we gave her our water and of course she refused. After that we swam back.
In the opposite direction, the views are just as fascinating as the first. By the way, if you get a good boatman, like ours, for example, he will show you something on the way. They don’t know English very well, but they can show you with their hands what to look out for. So, for example, we saw mountain goats on the rocks. I can’t believe how they hang in there! Also, as we were sailing to the first side, we saw Mount Mua, which we went to climb immediately after finishing the water walk in Tam Coc Reserve. The views of Tam Coc and the places we were sailing on now are incredible from there. Highly recommended!
I hope you are impressed by the photos of this wonderful place, as I was when I was looking for beautiful places to visit in Vietnam, and you will definitely come here if you are vacationing near Hanoi.
If you still have doubts about visiting Tam Coc National Reserve, I suggest you to watch the following video. I think after watching it all your doubts will disappear.
At the end of our walk we asked our boat lady to drop us off at our hotel Tam Coc Bungalow, Which she did with no problem. We gave her a tip as everyone advises but she is not a prodigy and she started asking for it. In another no less beautiful place and some people like it even more than Tam Coc – Trang An, it is forbidden to ask for tips and in general, everything is more strict there, but about this in the next article.
We had a great time riding in the national park of Tam Coc and then went to see the other beauties of northern Vietnam.