The cooking class was the best part. Otherwise buyer beware. They offered hotel pick up but when I asked what time the pick up would be, we were instructed to meet at a tailor shop in town. Not a huge deal as we went in town early to explore, just shouldn’t be offered if they aren’t going to deliver. Then we were asked if we could ride bicycles but no other details given. After a quick trip through the market, we started on a 30 minute bike ride that we were not expecting and was not in the description at all. Once making it to the bamboo boats, we went down a fairly sludgy canal that did not serve the river beauty in the country side as promised in the tour description . On to the cooking class which was quite fun and the food was delicious, the only reason I’m giving 2 stars instead of 1. The ingredients were fresh and we all had a chance to prepare many parts of the meal and enjoy all of them. This was worth the $30 but the rest of the trip really brought the whole experience down. We ended with another 30 minute bike ride back to town where I was run off the road by a bus just before we finished. Overall not the worst, but just be prepared for what you’re in for. We had limited time in Hoi An and thought we would get the nipa forest experience combined with this tour as my husband really wanted to see this, but it sadly disappointed and we didn’t have time for a real trip.

The cooking class was nice and fun, and we got to eat our own dishes which were very tasty. However, the dishes are prepared just by following the chef's instructions, there is little explanation and the dishes are the chef's own recipes, so not really "traditional" Vietnamese meals. For the rest, the trip to the market was pretty useless and the "crab fishing activity" was just about rocking around and spinning on a small boat with a local who couldn't speak English. As other reviews mention, these activities could be skipped to dedicate more time to the actual cooking class. Overall, the activity was a lot of fun and I got to know nice people, so I enjoyed myself and in that sense it was worth it. However, there are probably better cooking workshops out there.

This tour does the bare minimum. These are for the following reasons: - Market tour was 1.5 stars/ 5 stars. There is no explanation of the fruits, vegetables etc. apart from pointing out the obvious and we just wander around aimlessly through the markets inside old quarter. - Coconut Boat Tour was 1 star/ 5 stars. BEWARE because this does not take you on the official area where you go through the bamboo forest or see the performers eg spinning coconut ride or the fishers. Rather, they just take you to a random bush and camp there for 5 minutes. The only upside was the ladies rowing the boat were very enthusiastic. - Cooking lesson and food was 3 stars/ 5 stars. The cooking lesson was a bit random and with no real explanation of what we were cooking and the meals were (1) charcoal eggplant (2) stir fry chicken Cao Lau (3) mushroom pancake and (4) banana blossom salad. We went on the Hoi An Tropical Cooking Tour the year before so perhaps it’s unfortunate to compare, but the food (clay pot rice, fried spring rolls, traditional Vietnamese pancake, papaya salad). lesson and experience was way better (not to mention it actually took us to the offical coconut boat ride site). However, the food we made was still good which justifies the 3 stars. Overall, 1.8 stars, but rounding up it is 2 stars. Would not recommend. Grateful they did not ask for any tips.