Mekong River Cruise Guide

A Mekong river cruise is a voyage of one or more nights on a cabin vessel along the Mekong River, most often
between Saigon and Siem Reap through Vietnam and Cambodia. This Mekong river cruise guide covers five decisions
in turn: route, season, length, cost, and vessel size.

Calypso Mekong operates one vessel on the Saigon to Siem Reap route. This guide includes Calypso Mekong as one
operating option and states its limits beside its facts.

The table gives the short answer to each decision and the section that develops it.

Rows follow the order of your decisions.

The sections below define the product, trace the routes, set the seasons beside the river's water level,
price the fares, compare vessel sizes, describe a day aboard, list the papers you need, and close with seven
questions for any operator. Choose by route, water season, and vessel size, then put those questions to the
operator before you pay.

What is a Mekong river cruise?

A Mekong river cruise is an overnight voyage aboard a vessel with cabins, and it differs from a boat tour that
returns to its pier the same day. Three parameters define the product: the number of nights, the route, and the
number of guests aboard. A river cruise is a voyage on which guests sleep aboard while the vessel moves between
stops.

Five products share the river, listed from the shortest to the longest.

Each range carries its source and date.

Three facts set the Mekong apart from a European river cruise. Water levels change with the seasons: Britannica
records the Tonle Sap Lake at 3 to 10 ft (0.9 to 3 m) deep in the dry season and 30 to 45 ft (9 to 14 m) deep in
the wet season. The route crosses a river border between Vietnam and Cambodia. Tides reach the lower delta, so
departure times on the opening days follow the tide table. 

A Mekong Delta tour is a different product: it covers the lower river around Mỹ Tho and Cần Thơ
in one to three days, while a river cruise follows the water across the border.

One claim recurs, that a cruise to Siem Reap docks at Angkor. It does not. On Calypso Mekong's schedule the
vessel ties up at Chong Khneas on the Tonle Sap Lake, about 30 minutes by road from Siem Reap, and Angkor is a
separate road visit.

If you want an overnight vessel, the Sleeps aboard column separates it from the day tour at a glance. If you want
a day tour, the same column shows you the exit.

Where does a Mekong river cruise go?

Overnight vessels sail three corridors: the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam (1 to 3 days), the cross-border
route from Saigon through Phnom Penh to Siem Reap (3 to 15 nights), and the Upper Mekong in Laos (2 to 11 days).
Three sections follow: the stages of the main route, the choice of direction, and the nights each route needs.

Saigon to Siem Reap: the cross-border route, stage by stage

The route leaves Saigon, crosses into Cambodia at the Vĩnh Xương–Kaam Samnor border post,
passes Phnom Penh, and ends at Chong Khneas on the Tonle Sap Lake, a floodplain reservoir that Britannica names
the largest freshwater body in Southeast Asia. Start and end points differ by operator: some begin at Mỹ
Tho, and others enter Ho Chi Minh City directly.

The eight rows run in the Saigon to Siem Reap direction. They follow the route Calypso Mekong sails, and other
operators differ at both ends.

Does the direction matter: Saigon to Siem Reap or Siem Reap to Saigon?

Direction matters for timing and not for stops. The two directions call at the same stops in reverse order, and
the direction changes arrival times, the last night, and the light at each stop. This holds for Calypso
Mekong’s schedule, the worked example below; the guide has not yet checked other operators .

Upstream means against the current, and downstream means with it. Saigon to Phnom Penh runs upstream on the
Mekong, while the Tonle Sap River reverses by season, so the word depends on the month there.

Choose the direction by where you want to end, not by the river.

How many nights does each route need?

Saigon to Phnom Penh needs 3 to 4 nights, and Saigon to Siem Reap needs 7 to 15 nights, depending on pace. The
table gives each length with its source and date.

Pace changes with length. On Calypso Mekong's schedule the 8-night voyage has no day at rest, the 11-night
voyage has one in Phnom Penh, and the 15-night voyage has three, in Cần Thơ, Châu
Đốc, and Phnom Penh.

Sources disagree on length: Enjoy Vietnam Travel files Vietnam–Cambodia cruises at 4 to 9 days, while Small
Ship Travel lists programmes of 13 to 15 days that include land days. Fewer than 7 nights covers one section of
the river, and the full route needs 7 nights or more in the sources read

When is the best time for a Mekong river cruise?

This guide uses two calendars. Dry weather runs from about November to April (Small Ship Travel, 3 June 2026),
and the water is highest from about August to November . The right month depends on which calendar matters to
you, because the two do not line up. A season, here, is the period in which a vessel can sail its full route.

Two calendars: weather season and water season

The weather calendar and the water calendar differ, and many guides merge them under the label "dry
season". The table separates them month by month.

Rows run along the calendar, and each row says what changes on board.

Small Ship Travel names November to April the dry season (3 June 2026), VinWonders agrees and recommends November
to January (12 December 2025), and VietnamNet places the peak at October to March (9 May 2024).

These sources describe the weather. The river follows a separate cycle: Britannica places the reversal of the
Tonle Sap River in the June-to-November monsoon. Calypso Mekong's season, about mid-August to December,
falls inside the high-water months and includes rainy months.

How the river's water level sets the season, and what changes in low water

The Mekong rises with the monsoon and falls in the dry season. At Phnom Penh the Tonle Sap River reverses once a
year: it flows into the lake from June to November, according to Britannica, and out of it as the water falls.
The lake draws in the flood each year and returns it in the dry months.

The lake changes size with the river. Britannica records about 1,050 sq mi (2,700 sq km), 3 to 10 ft (0.9 to 3 m)
deep, in the dry season, and about 4,000 sq mi (10,360 sq km), 30 to 45 ft (9 to 14 m) deep, in the wet season.
Britannica records about 1,050 sq mi (2,700 sq km), 3 to 10 ft (0.9 to 3 m) deep, in the dry season, and about
4,000 sq mi (10,360 sq km), 30 to 45 ft (9 to 14 m) deep, in the wet season. The Mekong River Commission holds
the station readings that track this change .

Each operator sets a lake depth threshold, the minimum depth at which it will cross. Calypso Mekong's
threshold is 7 ft 3 in (2.2 m), read against the Mekong River Commission station, with a local pilot aboard on
the lake. Other operators use other thresholds .

Calypso Mekong does not sail in low water, and its season ends on the last day the lake can be crossed. One claim
recurs: the dry season suits every cruise. The dry season suits the weather, a small vessel's lake crossing
depends on depth, and operators handle low water in different ways.

How much does a Mekong river cruise cost?

Starting fares in the dated sources run from USD 239 for a two-day Delta boat (VinWonders, 12 December 2025) to
USD 21,500 for a Saigon to Siem Reap suite (Small Ship Travel, 3 June 2026). A fare depends on nights, vessel
class, and what the fare includes. A starting fare is the lowest price per person, in the lowest cabin grade, on
the date of the source.

This guide does not rank operators by price. Fares change with the season and the departure date, and
side-by-side comparisons suit specialist travel comparison sites, which hold live quotes. The table gives the
range for each type of voyage, so you can read any quote against it.

Rows run from the shortest voyage to the longest. Operator page addresses .

On the Saigon to Siem Reap route, Small Ship Travel lists starting fares from USD 3,694 to USD 21,500, a ratio of
5.8 to 1. Some fares include excursions and drinks, others cover the cabin only, and fares vary with season and
departure date. Treat the figures as reference points, not quotes.

The second table shows what a fare covers.

Rows follow the order of a booking.

Four factors move a fare: the number of nights, the number of guests aboard, the cabin and deck, and the season
and direction. A single-occupancy supplement, fuel cost, or the cost of a waiting day can sit outside the listed
fare. Some sailings reduce or waive the single supplement (Small Ship Travel, 3 June 2026), so ask who pays when
the route changes. Calypso Mekong's policy on a waiting day is .

Which type of vessel suits you?

Vessels on the Mekong come in four size classes, from 6 guests to more than 100. Size decides which channels a
vessel can enter, who shares your dining table, and how large the group is on a shore visit. A vessel class is a
group of vessels by guest count and draught. Choose by size, then by brand.

Four vessel size classes, compared

The class boundaries are this guide's proposal: up to 12 guests, 13 to 40, 41 to 70, and 71 and above . Rows
run from fewest guests to most.

Guest and cabin figures come from Small Ship Travel (3 June 2026), VinWonders (12 December 2025). Draught is a
vessel’s depth below the waterline. Operators use “suite” and “stateroom” as
labels for a cabin, and this guide uses “cabin” for the room you sleep in.

Size changes five things. Those are the channels and bridges a vessel passes, the number of transfers to a small
boat, the size of a shore group, the number of anchorages, and the services aboard, such as a spa, a pool, or a
lift. A vessel in the smallest class can enter narrow canals such as the Chợ Lách and Thầy
Cai, and it carries no spa, pool, or lift .

Matching the vessel to the traveller

You should choose by three questions: how long you want to travel, where you want to sleep, and how large a group
you want. The table gives a gain and a cost for each answer.

A vessel in the up-to-12 class does not suit travellers who need a lift, a spa, or evening entertainment on deck
.

What is a day on a Mekong river cruise like?

A day has three parts: a walk ashore in the morning, time on deck while the vessel moves, and dinner and rest in
the evening. Calypso Mekong sails by day only. Some other operators sail at night .

The shape of a day on board and ashore

The vessel leaves after breakfast, anchors before the afternoon ends, and rests at its anchorage through the
night. The fixed hour is 04:30 on lake-crossing days, when the captain decides whether to go: wind above 15
knots (17.3 mph, 27.8 km/h) or visibility below 1.2 mi (2 km) moves the crossing. This is a designed procedure,
not a record of past voyages.

A day at rest keeps the vessel in place: on the 15-night voyage, Cần Thơ, Châu Đốc,
and Phnom Penh each hold one. Water Log line .

Food, language, services and what to pack

Four practical questions come up most: what you eat, which language the guide speaks, what the vessel provides,
and what to bring. The table answers each in turn.

Rows follow the order of the four questions.

What should you arrange before you travel?

Three things need doing before departure: visas and border papers, the way you reach and leave the vessel, and
your health and safety plan. Entry rules change, so this guide links to the official portals and does not copy
their terms.

Visas and the river border crossing

A traveller on the Saigon to Siem Reap route needs entry permission for Vietnam and for Cambodia, and clears the
border at a river post. The table gives the rules for British passport holders as GOV.UK states them, checked on
6 October 2026.

Check the official portal for your passport on the day you book; rules change. Other nationalities should read
their own government's travel advice.

Getting to and from the vessel

The vessel starts and ends in Saigon and Siem Reap, so you should book flights after the boarding time and before
the disembarkation time on the published schedule. The boarding pier for Calypso Mekong sits on the voyage pages
.

Health, safety and accessibility

Vaccines and preventive medicines are a decision for a travel doctor or a health agency, and this guide gives no
doses. NHS Fit for Travel (UK) and CDC Travelers' Health (US) publish country advice .

Which seven questions should you put to any operator before booking?

The seven questions below cover the largest differences between operators, and each has an answer you can request
in writing.

1. Confirm the guest count and the vessel's draught. Guest count sets the size of every shore group,
   and draught decides which channels the vessel enters. A good answer gives both in feet and inches with
   metres (see vessel size).
2. Ask what the plan is when the water is low. Low water closes the lake to small vessels. A good answer
   names the depth threshold, the month the season ends, and any road transfer (see water level).
3. List what the fare includes and what it excludes. Excursions, drinks, hotels, and visa fees move a fare
   more than the cabin does. A good answer is dated and itemised (see cost).
4. Find out who decides to change the route, and who pays. A waiting day costs fuel and crew time. A good
   answer names the decision-maker, the trigger, and the payer (see cost).
5. Check the guide's working language and the guest-to-guide ratio. A shared voyage runs in one
   language. A good answer gives both numbers (see food and language).
6. Request the medical cover aboard and the distance to the nearest hospital. A good answer states who
   carries the kit, how far the hospital sits by river and by road, and what insurance covers (see health).
7. Obtain the cancellation terms in writing, with the date of the quote. Fares and terms shift with the
   season. A good answer gives the deposit, the refund dates, and the quote date (see cost).

Suite-class ships sell out the pick of their cabins six to twelve months ahead for the December and January peak,
according to Small Ship Travel (3 June 2026). If an operator cannot answer three of the seven in writing, you
should move to another operator.

How does a six-guest vessel fit these choices?

Calypso Mekong operates one Aquila 44 power catamaran, 44 ft 1 in (13.44 m) long, with three cabins and up to six
guests, sold by the cabin on a published schedule. It sails by day on the Saigon to Siem Reap route. This
section puts the seven questions to that vessel, and Calypso Mekong sells a voyage on this route.

Calypso Mekong answers the seven questions

Each row answers one question, and a row without a published answer says so.

Three of the seven questions have no published answer yet, and the voyage pages will state them once approved.

The six sailings, mapped to the routes in this guide

Calypso Mekong has three lengths, 8, 11, and 15 nights , and each runs both ways: Saigon to Siem Reap and Siem
Reap to Saigon.

Dates, price, and availability live on each page, and this guide lists no departure dates.

Questions about Mekong river cruises

The eight questions below are the ones readers ask after they have chosen a route and a vessel.

Can children and older travellers take a Mekong river cruise?

Yes, if the vessel's boarding steps and cabin layout suit them. Two conditions apply: the steps to the vessel
and the tender, and the minimum age and safety rules, which Calypso Mekong has not yet published . Health
guidance sits in the health section above.

Can you cruise the Mekong all year?

On some stretches and some vessels, yes. A small vessel cannot sail the full Saigon to Siem Reap route across the
lake all year, and Calypso Mekong sails from about mid-August to December. The two calendars above hold the
detail.

What is a shallow-draught vessel?

Draught is the depth from the waterline to the bottom of the hull, and a shallow-draught vessel needs less water
to float. Calypso Mekong's lake threshold is 7 ft 3 in (2.2 m); the vessel's own draught is .

How does a river cruise differ from a land tour of Vietnam and Cambodia?

The two differ in four attributes, and neither is better in every case.

The two do not replace each other, and many travellers combine them.

Which routes other than Saigon to Siem Reap can you cruise?

Four routes run besides the cross-border voyage, and Calypso Mekong sails only Saigon to Siem Reap.

Which Angkor extensions can you add to a Siem Reap voyage?

Three groups of extension sit at Siem Reap: the Angkor temples (Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm), the
floating villages on the Tonle Sap, and extra rest days in Siem Reap. Calypso Mekong's land extension policy
is , and the voyage pages hold the detail.

Can the kitchen cater for dietary needs?

State dietary needs (vegetarian, allergy, or religious) at booking and get confirmation in writing. The
galley's capability on Calypso Mekong's vessel is , and no "yes" is given until it is
approved. See the food section and question 3.

Which pages on this site cover each part of a voyage?

The table points to the page for each part.

When is a Mekong river cruise the wrong choice?

A Mekong river cruise does not suit you if your dates have no slack, if you need a hospital close by, if you want
evening entertainment aboard, if you have few days, or if you want to travel outside the small-vessel water
season.

Calypso Mekong does not suit the needs in rows one to three . If this table does not describe you, return to the
seven questions and put them to the operator you picked.

How was this guide compiled, and when was it last reviewed?

This guide combines sourced figures with dates, states where data is missing, and was reviewed before
publication.

Readers can report an error, and the guide records the date of the fix. Calypso Mekong sells a voyage on this
route.