Tan Loc Islet - "sweet island" of Can Tho

Where land and people are united and in harmony

Tan Loc Islet is located about 40km from Can Tho city. To get here, visitors must go to the center of Thot Not district, then take a 10-minute ferry ride to immerse themselves in the cool, peaceful green space of Tan Loc Islet. The reason this place is called "sweet island" is because in the past, people on the island mainly lived by growing and making sugarcane. During a visit to the islet, musician Pham Tuyen composed the song "Our homeland has a sweet island". Since then, Tan Loc has been named after this song. In addition, this place is also known by many other names such as "fish island" associated with the commercial tra fish farming industry; "three-province island" because it is located at the border of three provinces Can Tho, Dong Thap, An Giang ; or "Sa Chau" (sand island) because it is deposited by the alluvium of the Hau River.

Tourists visit the guava garden of Mrs. Le Hong Diep's family.

Tan Loc Islet is 20km long and has an area of about 3,200ha. According to local people, this islet was formed 4 centuries ago. This place not only develops many fruit gardens but is also a place where unique cultural values of the Southern region crystallize. The history of the formation of the islet is reflected through a system of relics such as Tan Loc Dong communal house and more than 10 ancient houses of the families of Mr. Tran Ngoc Tanh, Nguyen Van Ti, Huynh Quang Que...

The oldest, largest and most beautiful ancient house in Tan Loc Islet is the house of Councilor Tran Thien Thoai, built in 1935, currently looked after by Thoai's son, Tran Ba The. Through many storms and sunshine, the house still retains the East-West architectural style with a square house, an area of about ^400m2 , including three rooms and two wings, tiled roof, and walls built with two layers of bricks. The facade of the house is designed in Western style with a balcony, carved arches, and columns supporting the roof with delicate decorative patterns.

Inside the house, the ceiling is designed high and wide with airy windows. The interior is made of wood, the walls are painted with patterns. In the center of the house is the family altar with the 10-generation genealogy of the paternal and maternal families. For nearly a century, all the objects in the house have been kept intact by the generations of the family, making visitors feel like they are going back in time to learn about the family's lifestyle, culture and customs.

On Tan Loc Islet, the indigenous cultural imprint is strongly preserved in Tan Loc Dong Communal House. The Communal House was formed in the late 19th century, as a place to worship the Local God. In the early 20th century, the Communal House was moved to another place with a larger scale.

Tan Loc Dong Communal House was built in the typical Southern architectural style with the shape of the letter "Nhat", with an area of 2,884m2, including the three-door gate, the martial hall, the martial hall, the main hall, the guest house... The unique feature of the communal house is that in addition to the traditional architectural features, the communal house also has a martial hall where troupes perform folk art to serve the people. The central area of the martial hall has an altar for the Hung Kings and President Ho Chi Minh . The main hall is the place to worship the local tutelary god, the ancestors who reclaimed the land and established the village, the ancestors who taught the villagers and those who contributed to the country...

Interesting eco -tourism spot

Coming to Tan Lap Islet, visitors cannot miss the experience of exploring interesting fruit gardens. Thanks to the alluvial deposits of the Hau River, the trees here are very lush, the fruits are delicious and have high productivity. The most famous specialty of Tan Lap Islet today is plum (Roi fruit), which brings in hundreds of millions of VND per hectare of land. Tan Loc plum products are now available in provinces such as Dong Thap, An Giang, Vinh Long, Ho Chi Minh City... In addition, visitors can visit the 4,000m2 clean guava garden of Ms. Le Hong Diep's family or the rambutan, strawberry, and orange garden of Mr. Do Trung Ngon's family. "In addition to freely picking fruit to enjoy right in the garden, visitors can row a boat, feed the fish... Around May - June, my family welcomes nearly 100 guests/day because this is the season of blooming fruits" - Mr. Ngon said.

Many people, when they first set foot in Mr. Le Tan Nhuong's coconut garden, mistakenly thought they were lost in Ben Tre coconut land because on an area of about 7,500 square meters, his family planted 550 coconut trees of all kinds... Visitors can spend hours here participating in experiences such as rowing a boat on the canal, exploring the "coconut land", enjoying fresh coconuts, hanging hammocks to rest under the coconut trees... Mr. Le Tan Nhuong shared: "At first, my family only planned to grow coconuts to bring to places of consumption, but more and more people visited and liked this garden. In addition, the local government also guided us on how to do tourism, so my family boldly added some experiences to serve tourists."

Identifying tourism as a suitable direction to promote the natural and cultural strengths of Tan Loc Islet, since 2019, Can Tho City has implemented the "Tan Loc Ward Ecotourism Development Project". Accordingly, Tan Loc Islet is oriented to become a destination for experiencing community, ecological and resort tourism in Can Tho; forming a tourism infrastructure system including: Service center, reception service, providing tourism information; homestay experience points in ancient houses and gardening households; rustic eco-tourism resort with the characteristics of the river village in the north and high-class, modern resort in the south of the Islet. Although there are many difficulties and limitations due to objective conditions of the transportation system, quality of human resources and connections with travel businesses..., but with the right orientation of the project, it is believed that Tan Lap Islet tourism will soon become a bright spot on the Can Tho tourism map.

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