The Best of Southern Vietnam: 10-Day Comprehensive Birding Tour

Day 0: Arrival in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)
Arrive in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest city. Depending on your flight schedule, you may wish to arrive a day early to rest and adjust. In required, we can arrange an airport transfer and hotel accommodation upon request. The evening is yours to relax, enjoy local food, sample Vietnamese coffee culture, or simply rest before the birding begins.

Day 1: Go Cong
We depart at dawn, driving south from the city into the coastal wetlands of Go Cong. This rich tidal zone is one of the premier shorebird sites in southern Vietnam. As the tide recedes, vast flocks of waders gather on exposed mudflats, creating a thrilling spectacle for both birders and photographers. We’ll spend the morning carefully scan for the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper, affectionately known as the “Spoony,” as it forages alongside a mosaic of other shorebirds.

This area regularly yields an impressive tally of over 25 wader species, including Nordmann’s Greenshank (another globally threatened specialty), Great Knot, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Asian Dowitcher, and Far Eastern Curlew. More widespread but still rewarding are plovers such as Kentish, Grey, Greater Sand, White-faced, and Tibetan Sand Plover. Beyond shorebirds, the mangrove belt produces its own suite of specialists: Mangrove Whistler, Ashy Tailorbird, Malaysian Pied Fantail and Plain-backed Sparrow. By late afternoon, we return to Ho Chi Minh City, often with more than 70 species already on the trip list, a great way to kick off the trip!

Days 2–5: Cat Tien National Park
The next morning, we set off for Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam’s premier lowland forest reserve and one of Southeast Asia’s most rewarding birding destinations. The park protects a a wide arraay of habitats including dense evergreen forest, wetlands, bamboo stands, riversides, and open grasslands, all supporting an extraordinary diversity of over 350 species.

Over the course of three full days and one half-day, we’ll target both widespread Southeast Asian forest birds and a suite of rarities and near-endemics. Regular highlights include Great Hornbill, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Black-and-red Broadbill, Banded Kingfisher, White-browed Piculet, White-bellied Woodpecker, Germain’s Peacock Pheasant, Siamese Fireback, Blue Pitta, Bar-bellied Pitta, Spot-bellied Eagle Owl, Great Eared Nightjar, Collared Falconet, Wreathed Hornbill, Orange-breasted Trogon, Orange-necked Partridge, Lesser Fish Eagle, Cotton Pygmy Goose, Bronze-winged Jacana, Asian Woolly-necked Stork and more.

Evenings may include spotlighting sessions for Brown Boobook, Blyth’s Frogmouth, and Brown Fish Owl. We’ll also visit Bau Sau wetlands and take jeep safaris to reach more remote sections of the park. Accommodation is inside the reserve, giving us the full forest experience.

By the time we depart Cat Tien, most groups have tallied an additional 100+ forest species, depending on season and migrant activity.

Days 6–7: Di Linh Highlands
Leaving Cat Tien, we ascend into the cooler climate of Di Linh, a transition zone between lowland and highland forest. This area provides our first chance to work on the Da Lat plateau specialties, particularly those tied to mid-elevation habitats.

Two full days here give us excellent chances for species such as Blue Pitta, Indochinese Green Magpie, Long-tailed and Silver-breasted Broadbills, Red-headed Trogon, and the scarce Black-headed Parrotbill. Other highlights may include White-browed and Red-billed Scimitar-babblers, Hainan Blue Flycatcher, Siberian and Dark-sided Thrushes, Burmese Shrike, White-throated Rock Thrush, Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo, and Yellow-eyed Babbler.

Di Linh’s forests are quieter and less visited than Cat Tien, offering both intimate birding experiences and a gradual introduction to the specialties of the Da Lat plateau. Nights are spent in a comfortable local hotel.

Days 8–10: Da Lat Plateau
Our finale is three full days exploring the endemic-rich montane habitats around Da Lat. The Da Lat plateau is rightly famous among birders for its high concentration of localized species many found nowhere else in the world. We’ll explore a network of sites including Ta Nung Valley, Tuyen Lam Lake, Mount Langbian, Dak Ho, and Bidoup Nui Ba National Park.

This is where we focus on Vietnam’s most celebrated endemics: Collared Laughingthrush, Orange-breasted Laughingthrush, Black-crowned Fulvetta, Grey-crowned Crocias, Vietnamese Greenfinch, Dalat Bush Warbler, and Langbian Sunbird. Other iconic targets include Rufous-throated and Bar-backed Partridges, Silver Pheasant (subspecies annamensis), Dalat Shrike-babbler, Annam Sunbird, Dalat Crossbill, and Langbian Tit.

Alongside these, the highlands also host spectacular supporting cast species: Blue Pitta, Rusty-naped Pitta, Spotted Forktail, Green Cochoa, Maroon and Slender-billed Orioles, White-cheeked Laughingthrush, Mountain Scops Owl, and Hodgson’s Frogmouth. Each day brings new habitats and new chances at lifers.

The tour concludes at the end of Day 10. We can arrange a transfer to either the airport or your accommodation. If requested, we can also assist with onward travel—whether returning to Ho Chi Minh City the following day, or, as many guests choose, transferring to Central or Northern Vietnam to continue your birding adventure