Ha Tien, the delta’s edge on the sea

Ha Tien is a border town of low streets around a lagoon, with limestone hills behind it and the Gulf of Thailand in front. Its history is unusual for the delta. Mạc Cửu, born in Leizhou in Guangdong, received the title of Okna from the Cambodian king in the late seventeenth century and led a community of Chinese and Vietnamese settlers on this coast. In 1708 he sent tribute to the Nguyễn lords and was named governor of Ha Tien; he died in 1735. His tomb and 59 others make up the Bình San relic complex, a national site since 1989.

What you find today is modest: the tombs on a wooded hill, a few temples and pagodas, a cave shrine, the lagoon and a beach. There is no grand old town. The value of Ha Tien on a heritage journey is that it closes the story of the delta’s peoples with a fifth thread — a Chinese-led principality on the sea — and that it is the gateway to Phu Quoc by boat.

• Đông Hồ lagoon: about 1,300 hectares, of which about 900 are water and more than 200 mangrove; the evening light over it is the town’s main event.
• Mũi Nai: a beach on the Gulf of Thailand, known in old texts as Lộc Trĩ.
• Hòn Phụ Tử: the “father and son” rocks about 40 km away near Kien Luong. The larger “father” rock collapsed in 2006; what remains is smaller than old photographs suggest.

Hours and fees for Ha Tien’s sights come from travel guides rather than official sources, and none that we found is current enough to print. Your guide confirms them on the day.

Two. You arrive in the afternoon after the drive from Chau Doc, perhaps with a morning at Oc Eo on the way. The full day goes to Bình San, Phù Dung and Thạch Động in the morning and the lagoon in the evening. The next morning you take the boat to Phu Quoc.

With one night you see the lagoon at dusk and catch the boat, which is a fair choice if Phu Quoc is the priority; but the Mạc tombs are the reason to stop here.

• From Chau Doc: about 93 km, an hour and a half to two hours.
• From Oc Eo – Ba Thê: about 99 km, around two hours.
• From Ho Chi Minh City: about 327 km, six to seven hours; Rach Gia airport is about 100 km away.
• From Phu Quoc: fast boats link Bãi Vòng port on Phu Quoc with the Ha Tien terminal in about 1 h 15 – 1 h 30. Operators include Superdong, Phú Quốc Express and Hòa Bình Seabus, plus a car ferry. Bring your passport to board.
• From Cambodia: Ha Tien’s international border gate is on Vietnam’s 2023 e-visa list.

• If your journey ends in Ho Chi Minh City — it is six to seven hours back by road
• If you want beaches above all; go straight to Phu Quoc
• In the windiest, wettest weeks if a missed boat would cost you a flight
• If you expect a historic old quarter; Ha Tien’s heritage is a handful of sites, not a townscape

Ha Tien is the penultimate stop on Delta to the Sea. To reach it from the Khmer side of the delta, combine Tra Vinh or the Khmer Delta with the western half of that route. Chau Doc is the usual last stop before it.