Aqua Mekong – a yacht for exclusive travel in inaccessible places on the planet

River expedition yacht Aqua Mekong is a luxury cruise ship, one of the most luxurious in the world. This model can be called a five-star hotel on the water for its design, offered opportunities, entertainment, and high degree of comfort.


The vessel was designed by the Vietnamese company Noor Design and is intended to navigate a new route along one of the largest Mekong rivers in Southeast Asia. It travels between Vietnam and Cambodia on organized excursions. The motor yacht belongs to the Peruvian company Aqua Expeditions, which specializes in organizing luxury cruises in the Amazon and Mekong. The operator provides boat excursions for 3, 4 and 7 nights.

Design features, technical characteristics

The floating hotel Aqua Mekong was built in 2014. It can accommodate 40 guests. Its length is 62,4 m, width - 11,5 m. The number of cabins is 20. All rooms are luxury and have a view of the river. They have panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows providing excellent visibility. The yacht consists of 3 decks, 2 of which are reserved for luxury cabins.


This cruise ship truly resembles a luxury residence: the design uses handmade varnished wall panels, silk fabrics, and oriental art objects (sculptures, paintings).

Yacht layout

As we mentioned above, this ship includes 20 cabins. The area of ​​each of them is 30 m2. This is enough to comfortably accommodate 2-3 passengers. Options with and without a balcony are available.

Each cabin has:

✅ bed (1 x 2 king-size beds or 2 single beds)
✅ bathroom with a spacious shower and overhead rain shower
✅ air conditioner
✅ electronic safe

The bathrooms have all the necessary amenities, including a hairdryer. Each room has professional Nespresso coffee machines.


Public areas will not let any passenger get bored. On board the yacht Aqua Mekong there is:

✅ bars and restaurants – indoor and outdoor
✅ first aid station
✅ gym with panoramic windows overlooking the river
✅ shop of antiques and handicrafts
✅ sunbathing area where you can sit in comfortable sun loungers

There are 40 crew members on board the ship, including a paramedic, as well as 4 English-speaking guides. Even at maximum occupancy, the ratio of staff to guests is 1:1. There is enough space for everyone, there is no tightness in free space.

Advantages and disadvantages

Aqua Mekong is a modern vessel that creates comfortable conditions for long trips on the water. Full meals and pleasant leisure time are organized on board. The advantages of this yacht are:

✅ Free Wi-Fi throughout the entire territory. Thanks to satellite communications, passengers can always stay online. True, the connection is interrupted from time to time, but you will not be left completely without it during the trip.
✅ Lots of entertainment on board. Vacationers have access to an outdoor swimming pool, a spa center, a separate cinema hall, and a library. Professional massage, foot reflexology and manicure services are available on board
✅ Daily excursions. For yacht passengers, 2 walks in the fresh air are carried out - in the morning and in the evening. This option is optional, but hardly anyone will refuse to get acquainted with the local unique nature and vibrant culture. Excursions are conducted on our own skiffs. These include river walks, visits to local coastal villages, cycling through rice fields, kayaking
✅ Great food on board. On the yacht Aqua Mekong, the famous Australian chef David Thompson is in charge of cooking. He developed the entire menu for the passengers of this ship, and he accompanies some flights himself and personally prepares for the guests. David Thompson is the owner of the Michelin-starred restaurant Nahm, one of the world's top 50 restaurants. On board this yacht you can try Asian cuisine, including the famous Mekong sweet and sour fish soup and beef Pho. The menu in the restaurant changes daily

One more point regarding food: on board the tastes and needs of all passengers are taken into account. Here you can order a menu with no or low salt content, vegetarian and gluten-free food.


Despite the abundance of advantages, there are also disadvantages. These include only the high cost of renting a boat (we’ll talk about this below) and intermittent Internet.

Interesting facts about the yacht Aqua Mekong

The floating cruise hotel that we are talking about today is not only a set of technical characteristics and conditions for a luxurious vacation. He also became the object of attention for television representatives. In addition, he received a number of prestigious awards. Let's talk about this, as well as other interesting facts that are associated with this watercraft:

✅ The Cooking on Water project demonstrates how food is prepared on board the Aqua Mekong, as well as what adventures passengers experience. Chefs reveal their secrets through virtual cooking classes. They break down complex recipes so that anyone can reproduce them at home.
✅ The yacht has more than once appeared in the frames of cameramen filming documentaries about the nature of the Mekong region, as well as the culture of local peoples (for example, “The Living Mekong” and “Mekong: The Soul of the River”)
✅ The ship has received many signs of recognition and distinction, as well as awards. Many associations have awarded this yacht recognition for its best river cruising and outstanding achievements in the field of sustainable tourism. Aqua Mekong received high ratings from international travel publications and websites - Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure

The yacht received awards from the World Travel Awards, an award that is the most prestigious in the tourism industry. In particular, in 2015 it was recognized as the best cruise ship in Asia.

Travel magazine Travel + Leisure included Aqua Mekong in its list of the best cruise ships in the world. The publication emphasized the comfort, high level of services and unique routes along which the yacht travels.


The American travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler in 2018 mentioned this model in the list of the best cruises, defining its high status among other luxury yachts. Aqua Mekong also received the World Travel Luxury Awards, the most prestigious award in the field of tourism.

Rent price

Aqua Mekong is available for rent for river excursions. Cost – $358 per week (000 million rubles at the current exchange rate). It’s easy to guess that the cost of one room will be no less than $31 (5 million rubles), and this is without the organizer’s markup. In addition to the specified amount - expenses for flights to the destination, purchases in shops and boutiques on board, cocktails and soft drinks, visits to the spa. But all shore excursions and transfers are included in the rental price, as well as laundry and ironing services.

Aqua Mekong is a river yacht for those who like to explore little-visited but unique places on our planet. As statistics show, the main “audience” of this ship is people aged 40-70 years who have seen the world and want new experiences. Most often there are Americans, British, Canadians, and residents of European countries on board, but our compatriots choose such a cruise extremely rarely.


The main highlight of Aqua Mekong is not the ship itself, but its route. Only on it will jaded passengers be able to get to places inaccessible to many others. Thus, the holiday becomes truly exclusive.