Smash Travel Vietnam

Can Gio forest is the green lung of Saigon and that is a destination for exploring mangrove ecosystems and historical sites in Vietnam.

Cần Giờ Biosphere Reserve

Select the satellite view on Google Maps and you’ll see a conspicuous, dark green patch just southeast of the grey urban sprawl of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

This is Cần Giờ Biosphere Reserve, an alluvial peninsula dominated by a vast mangrove forest interwoven with rivers and tributaries, leading all the way to the East Sea. Variously known as the “Lungs of Saigon” or the “Forest of Assassins” – depending upon whom you ask and which aspect of the area and its history they want to accentuate – Cần Giờ is the closest true wilderness to Ho Chi Minh City.

Thanks to the Rừng Sác Road, a thread of smooth asphalt bisecting the peninsula from east to west, Cần Giờ is also the easiest, quickest and most enjoyable road trip getaway from the southern metropolis, taking you from the dusty, loud and congested chaos of downtown Ho Chi Minh City to the green, serene canopy and earth-scented air of the peninsula in just an hour.

There are forest trails and observation towers, wildlife and war relics, boat trips and kayaking, fishing villages and delicious seafood.

How to go to Cần Giờ?

Cần Giờ can be visited year-round. However hot it might be in the city during the dry season (November-April), Cần Giờ is several degrees cooler and offers abundant shade under the boughs of trees. During the rainy season (May-October), Cần Giờ experiences heavy downpours, but the forest is thicker and greener than at any other time and the sea breezes are refreshing. Although Cần Giờ is perfect for a weekend escape from Ho Chi Minh City, if possible try to avoid visiting on Saturday and Sunday because this is when the peninsula is at its busiest. By contrast, from Monday to Friday Cần Giờ and the Rừng Sác Road are virtually deserted