Guide · The river

My Son to Hoi An by boat on the Thu Bon River

The sacred river of the Cham rises above the towers and meets the sea at Hoi An. Several tours swap the van for a boat on the way back. Here is how much river you really get.

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Editorial team, mysonsanctuarytour.comUpdated October 24, 2026Reading time about 6 minutes21 sources

The tour behind this guide Early or Morning My Son Sanctuary w. Boat Trip & Local Food 4.8 (2,130 reviews) 5 to 6 hours from$16per person Check availabilityCancel without charge until 24 hrs before pickup

At a glance

01How it works: A van to a pier, then a boat on the Thu Bon; no boat leaves from the towers.
02Time on the water: From 20 minutes on our pick to a cruise from 4:00 to 5:30 PM on another.
03This page's pick: Morning tour, rice paper making, boat at 1:30 PM, from $16.
04Not on dawn trips: The 5:15 AM option of our pick has no boat ride.
05The river: It rises in the My Son basin and reaches the sea near Hoi An.¹

One river from the towers to the sea

The idea of going from My Son to Hoi An by boat follows the landscape itself. UNESCO describes the sanctuary as an elevated basin ringed by mountains that forms the watershed of the sacred Thu Bon river, which flows past the monuments, out of the basin and through the old Champa heartland to the sea near the port town of Hoi An.² ¹

For the Cham the river was holy as well as useful. The site's management board says the Thu Bon, called Mahanadi in Cham inscriptions, stood for the goddess Ganga, wife of Shiva.³ Along its course the Cham built three centres: a port town at the river mouth, a royal capital at Tra Kieu and a holy city at My Son.⁴

A boat ride back to Hoi An therefore retraces an old route between the sacred valley and the trading coast. Today's tours do not sail from the towers themselves. They drive you from the site to a pier lower down the river and put you on a boat for the last stretch, so the van still does most of the work.

The morning option

Towers, rice paper and the river

7:30 AM

Hotel pickup

Pickup in Hoi An between 7:30 and 8:00 AM.
9:00 AM

My Son and a dance

Towers and the Champa dance show until 11:15 AM.
11:30 AM

Lunch and rice paper

Lunch and a rice-paper-making visit at a local house.
1:30 PM

On the Thu Bon

A boat cruise on the river until 1:50 PM.
2:00 PM

Back at the hotel

Drop-off between 2:00 and 2:30 PM.

How the boat leg actually works

Every boat tour compared here follows the same pattern: a guided visit to the towers, a drive to the water, then a cruise towards Hoi An. One sunset tour lists the drive from the sanctuary to its pier at 40 minutes, and its time on the river at 40 minutes. Another lists a transfer to the river wharf at 5:15 PM and a boat cruise back to Hoi An, arriving at about 6:30 PM.

The length of the river leg varies more than people expect. Our pick lists a Thu Bon River boat cruise of 20 minutes, and so does the van and boat tour. At the other end, an afternoon tour from Hoi An puts you on a boat from 4:00 to 5:30 PM with banh mi on board.

So read the listed itinerary before you book. If the river is the highlight of your day, look for the longer cruises in the late afternoon. If it is a pleasant way to finish a cultural morning, a short cruise after lunch does the job and gets you back to Hoi An early in the afternoon.

River time

Minutes on the water, as listed

min

Time on the boat from each listing's itinerary: 40 minutes on the sunset trip, 20 on our pick and on the van and boat tour; one afternoon tour cruises from 4:00 to 5:30 PM.

Boat tours compared

Tours that come back on the Thu Bon

Tour	Boat leaves	On the water	Food	Price
Rice paper & boat	1:30 PM	20 minutes	Lunch	from $16
Van & boat, morning	12:30 PM	20 minutes	Lunch	from $15
Van & boat, afternoon	5:15 PM	Not listed	None listed	from $15
Afternoon & banh mi	4:00 PM	Until 5:30 PM	Banh mi	from $15
Sunset river trip	After 4:15 PM	40 minutes	BBQ or banh mi	from $18
Sunset tour & brunch	5:15 PM	Back by 6:30 PM	Banh mi	from $19

From each GetYourGuide listing and its listed itinerary; the boat is often on one option only, and prices are starting prices.

Three boat tours

Morning, late afternoon or sunset

This page's pick

Rice paper & boat

Towers, lunch, a short cruise

Boat: 1:30 PM
Group: Up to 12
Price: from $16

See the tour

My Son Morning or Afternoon Tour from Hoi An and Scenic Boat

Most river time

Afternoon & banh mi

The longest river leg

Boat: 4:00 to 5:30 PM
Group: Up to 13
Price: from $15

See the tour

Hoi An: My Son Morning or Sunset River Cruise BBQ or Banhmi

Sunset cruise

Sunset river trip

BBQ or banh mi on board

To the pier: 40 minutes
On the river: 40 minutes
Price: from $18

See the tour

Decision helper

Which boat suits your day?

Pick the line closest to what you want

I want the most time on the river I want the towers in cooler air I want dinner on the water I want to see rice paper made I am staying in Da Nang

Afternoon & banh mi

Its boat runs on the Thu Bon from 4:00 to 5:30 PM, with banh mi served.

A morning boat tour

Our pick visits from 9:00 AM and boards the boat at 1:30 PM.

The sunset river trip

Its BBQ option serves local food, fruit and rice liquor on board.

This page's pick

Lunch comes with a rice-paper-making visit at a local house.

Rice paper & boat or van & boat

Both of these tours list hotel pickup in Hoi An or in Da Nang.

The source of the Thu Bon river is here and it flows past the monuments, out of the basin, and through the historic heartland of the Champa Kingdom, draining into the South China Sea at its mouth near the ancient port city of Hoi An.

UNESCO World Heritage CentreSource 1

The morning trip with rice paper and the river

The tour this page recommends combines the towers, a meal, a craft stop and the river in one morning. Its morning option picks you up between 7:30 and 8:00 AM, spends 9:00 to 11:15 AM at My Son with the Champa dance show, serves lunch with a rice-paper-making visit at a local house from 11:30 AM, and boards the boat from 1:30 to 1:50 PM.

You are back at your hotel between 2:00 and 2:30 PM, which leaves the evening free for Hoi An. The group is limited to 12 participants, the guide speaks English, and pickup is in Hoi An or Da Nang. It starts from $16, with 2,130 reviews averaging 4.82 and guide, transport and value each rated 4.8.

One thing to check: the same listing also sells an early morning option at 5:15 AM, and that version has neither the dance show nor the boat. If the river is why you booked, pick the later morning option. The entrance fee of 150,000 dong per person is not included on the option sold without it, so read which one you choose.

Map

From the coast at Hoi An to the temple groups of My Son

First the drive inland from Hoi An and Da Nang airport, then the valley itself, where the tower groups stand a short walk apart.

Map of central Vietnam with Hoi An Ancient Town, Da Nang International Airport and My Son Sanctuary inland to the south-west — Hoi An to My Son

Map of the My Son valley with the brick tower groups A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H along the Khe The stream — The temple groups

1
Hoi An Ancient Town
A small trading port of the 15th to 19th centuries near the mouth of the Thu Bon, on the World Heritage List since 1999.⁵ ⁶ ⁷
In Google Maps ↗
2
Da Nang airport
About 29 km from Hoi An Ancient Town; shuttle vans to Hoi An leave hourly from 5am to 11pm.⁸ ⁹
In Google Maps ↗
3
My Son Sanctuary
Open every day from 06:00 to 17:00; the site's board puts it 45 km from Hoi An and 68 km from Da Nang.¹⁰ ¹¹
In Google Maps ↗
4
Groups B, C and D
The tower groups where the show "Echoes of My Son" is staged on the 15th of every month.¹²
In Google Maps ↗
5
Group G
A performance is held here at 9:00 and again at 14:45.¹³
In Google Maps ↗
6
Group H
Cham folk singing on the slope below the group every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.¹⁴
In Google Maps ↗
7
Groups E and F
Tower E1 gives its name to the ancient style, the first in the line of building styles found at My Son.¹⁵
In Google Maps ↗
8
Group A
Group A lends its name to the My Son A1 style, one of the later styles in the sanctuary's sequence.¹⁵
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

Checklist

For a day with a boat

When you book

Pick the option that lists the boat
See if the entrance fee is included
Check pickup in Hoi An or Da Nang

On the day

Hat and sunscreen for the open deck
A light layer for winter evenings
Cash for the gate ticket

Cost calculator

Price a boat tour for your group

Enter your group size to compare three tours with a river leg.

Rice paper & boatMorningfrom $16 Afternoon & banh miLongest river legfrom $15 Sunset river tripBBQ or banh mifrom $18

People 2

Total from$31

each from $16

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Each total multiplies a listing's lowest GetYourGuide starting price by your party size and shows it in your currency at today's ECB rate; the entrance ticket at My Son is paid on top, and checkout gives the exact sum.

Video

Back from My Son to Hoi An on the Thu Bon River

Until you tap play, the video stays unloaded.

Late boats and the sunset on the Thu Bon

The afternoon boats are the ones people picture: warm light, a quiet river and the towers behind you. A My Son Sanctuary and Thu Bon River cruise in the late afternoon is offered by several operators. One collects you at 1:00 to 1:30 PM, reaches the site at 3:00 PM and transfers to the river wharf at 5:15 PM, with banh mi on board.

Another drives 40 minutes from the site to its pier at 4:15 PM and serves a BBQ with fruit and rice liquor on the boat, or a banh mi on the other option, ending at 5:30 PM. The trip this site recommends for its towers has an afternoon option with a boat as well, leaving the site around 4:00 PM.

Do not count on a postcard sunset. One late operator says plainly that the vibrancy of the sunset depends on the weather, and another warns that from November to February evenings come sooner and the boat can be dim and cool. A light layer and realistic hopes make the ride a pleasure in any light.

What you see from the water

The lower Thu Bon is a working river. Expect boats, villages and fields along the banks, and wide views of water and sky that feel very different from the closed, forested valley of the towers. It is the landscape that connected the Cham holy city to its trading port, and the boat lets you see it at walking pace.

Hoi An itself sits on the north bank near the mouth of the Thu Bon, and UNESCO describes it as a small trading port that was active from the 15th to the 19th century.⁶ ⁵ The national tourism authority adds that during the Cham dynasties, from the 7th to the 10th centuries, the area was an economic hub where merchants from Asia, Persia and Arabia traded.¹⁶

Arriving by water, you approach Hoi An the way its traders did. If you would like more time on the river afterwards, the tourism authority suggests a half-hour sunset cruise from the town's ferry quay, at about 150,000 to 200,000 dong after a short negotiation.¹⁷

Morning boat or afternoon boat?

Choose a morning boat if you want the towers in cooler air and the river as a calm finish around lunchtime. The morning options board between 12:30 and 1:50 PM and have you back in Hoi An by early afternoon. The van and boat tour's morning option also adds a rice paper village that its afternoon option skips.

Choose an afternoon boat if you want the river in the late light and do not mind walking the towers in the heat. The national tourism authority advises avoiding the harsh midday sun in the area, so carry water and a hat.¹⁸ The van and boat tour notes that its afternoon option has no rice paper workshop.

Either way, check which option includes the boat: on several listings it is tied to one specific option, and the same tour sold at a different hour comes back by road. None of the boat tours compared here charges you for calling off a booking a day or more before departure.

After the boat: the river in Hoi An at night

A boat back from My Son is not the only way to meet the Thu Bon. Hoi An's old town comes into its own after dark, when, in the national tourism authority's words, thousands of lanterns light the streets and set the river glowing with reflections.¹⁹ If your boat lands in the late afternoon, stay in town for the evening rather than heading straight to your hotel.

The lantern festival is held on the 14th day of every lunar month, at full moon, when the town dims its electric light and candle-lit lanterns are set adrift on the river for good luck.²⁰ The tourism authority singles out the first such festival of the Lunar New Year as the biggest celebration of all.²¹

Put together, a morning among the towers, a boat down the sacred river and an evening by the lanterns of the old port make a day with one clear thread running through it. It joins the holy city of the Cham to the trading town that grew up at the river mouth, which is the story the whole valley tells.

Your morning