Hoi An Cooking Class & Basket Boat Ride: Is It Worth It? [Review]

Planning a trip to Hoi An, Vietnam? If so, you’ve probably heard whispers about the famed cooking class and basket boat tour. Is it a tourist trap? Is it a cultural experience? Does it involve more splashing than seasoning? The following is my take on the Hoi An cooking class and basket boat experience. Very simply, the point is to give you the scoop on if it’s worth your time and money.

What To Expect: A Glimpse at the Experience

So, the general experience usually begins pretty early, right around 8 AM, with a trip to a local market. It’s usually pretty lively, with vendors calling out prices, so, the sights, smells, too it’s almost, can be very, very, intense in a good way. Is that you’ll get to pick out the ingredients you will be cooking with, a chance to practice your haggling skills or just absorb the daily life. The trip itself usually involves a boat ride along the river. This can be rather picturesque depending on the time of day and weather. Don’t be shocked if the water seems rather muddy; that, it’s basically, the natural color of the river around there.

Next, the part we have all been expecting, you will head to the cooking school. Depending on the tour company you selected, the location can range from a riverside restaurant to a family home, so you are sure to find something that catches your interest. Often you’ll be working at your personal station, so everyone is involved in the food preparation, and the teacher will guide you through each step. Spring rolls, papaya salad, and Banh Xeo (crispy pancakes) seem to be tour staples, though different establishments sometimes mix up the menus, too it’s almost.

Finally, the much talked about basket boat element. You get to clamber into one of these quirky round boats and explore the waterways, it might be for around 30-45 minutes. It can be a chill ride, or if you are lucky, the boatman will do some spinning which is a bit like a mild amusement ride. Just, apparently, get ready to get a little wet! Note: Many tours give the option of choosing a ride during sunset and/or bioluminescence viewings.

Digging into the Details: What’s Included?

Now that you know, very generally, what the experience is like, you’re probably wondering exactly what you get for your money, so, here’s a more precise overview. First, transport! Most companies will grab you directly from your hotel. This normally involves either a minivan or, seemingly more common, open-air jeep; just consider if that meshes with your comfort level. Is that all the tours I’ve looked into all-inclusive for this perk.

Market tours and hands-on classes usually involve a pretty personable teacher guiding you along the way, showing you which items to look at, how they are prepared, and which substitutions will do in a pinch. Next comes lunch, it’s all that stuff that you created from scratch. Recipes, they can vary but typically a card with the basics. So, that way you are able to, maybe, attempt to recreate that tasty papaya salad once you come back.

Next, the basket boat part of the tour often, apparently, covers about 30–45 minutes on the water. They include a guide that maneuvers through the water and (if requested and accepted) gives you a pretty exciting, spinning, spectacle. A lot of providers, now, will show sustainability practices on the boats and around the farms. I would seriously investigate this when determining the business that works for you!

Is It Really Worth It? The Highs & Lows

So, should you do it? That depends! It can be one of those things, frankly, it’s fun but comes with the usual set of pros and cons. I’ve weighed them a bit. Market visits really expose you to local products, it could be things you’d never consider using.

Making Vietnamese dishes, really, can give you more appreciation of what goes into the different types of cuisine. What spices make something different and more complex! Finally, so many visitors I see, there on tour, say they can’t believe how fresh everything is! So, getting this, you’re probably going to try to seek out ways to source fresher materials back home! So, overall it might inspire new culinary approaches.

Basket boat rides allow tourists a really neat glimpse into the water coconut palm environment, which most might bypass. Boat spinning, it isn’t for the faint of heart. Getting swirled around the water, too it’s almost, can be both incredibly fun and occasionally a little disorienting. Supporting local families is something the business of most of these ventures promotes. Now, not to downplay the issues with pollution or mass tourism that also surrounds this practice.

Okay, so, let’s move into possible cons of going. It is almost possible the cooking schools may rush to cater for the numerous types of tourists who are scheduled that week or even daily. It makes sense from a income point, alright? But it probably doesn’t lead to real interactions, at the end of the day. Finally, is that vegetarian/vegan visitors usually, in fact, get served options but will still have to make absolutely certain, that fish sauces etc do not feature during dish preparation! I hope these helped frame out any uncertainties with this tourist destination!

Picking Your Tour: A Mini Guide

Finding an enjoyable day tour, for visitors, is basically about choosing companies with reputations that focus on giving personal care. Right? How should visitors find companies who care for tourists, frankly, it starts with really reading previous client reviews of trips done before! Visitors often, in fact, will see red flags, too it’s almost, immediately when companies don’t honor agreements to serve customers correctly or on time. When trips and restaurants become overbooked, now, visitors aren’t going to experience what the locale should show, by the way.

Another consideration should involve getting access to ingredients as fresh and in-season as it possibly gets. I’d attempt to seek companies that can show that ingredients get farmed from local vendors, that could be from school locations. Trips that encourage less plastic (reducing bottled drink usage, for example), can also be an extra sustainable boost, honestly.

You’ll discover quite a range in tour costs! Typically these start close to about $40 and will move up from there. What factors decide tour costs? Does it involve transportation options, which ones, is it more exclusive? Cooking location… a beautiful, specialized set-up versus a basic restaurant can up the prices very swiftly.

Some Extra Nuggets Before you Book

Some really simple items should come to mind before booking something similar! Do these tour plans take into consideration your allergies? If so, you need to let people working the tours, literally, know very clearly well in advance!

Bringing sunscreen, a hat, alright, and insect repellent are absolutely vital items visitors ought to plan to haul, usually, around during boat rides and marketplace walking experiences! And do take hydration seriously… bottled water usually helps avoid heat issues on particularly torrid days in markets.

Last, don’t, in fact, attempt haggling with traders/sellers until you feel prepared, otherwise it might not turn out exactly as expected when on buying tours. Is that visitors who come in speaking Vietnamese might get favorable bargains but otherwise can potentially frustrate sellers during discussions.

The cooking class and basket boat ride in Hoi An can be an enriching experience! Now, its value definitely seems, actually, determined according to what someone values the most during a vacation or tourist excursion! But hopefully this discussion brought more transparency.