About Dai Yem Waterfall (Thác Dải Yếm)
The Dai Yem Waterfall (Thác Dải Yếm) was actually a series of two waterfalls in a well-developed, themed park near the town of Moc Chau.
The first waterfall spanned the main river cutting through the park, and from what we could tell, it might have some diversion and flood-control aid with a small wall placed right at its brink.
The second waterfall (which I’d argue is the larger, main one) was on a side stream that dropped over travertine and was said to have a cumulative drop of 100m.
I suspect it’s the second waterfall that is what people refer to when they mention the Dai Yem Waterfall.
As far as the waterfalls themselves were concerned, it has been reported that the main waterfall had a cumulative height of 100m, which seemed generous until you include the lower travertine tiers beneath the trail.
Another source had this waterfall’s height at 50m tall and around 70m wide, which might be more reasonable than the 100m height figure.
Given our late Dry Season visit in mid-April 2025, however, much of the lower tiers weren’t flowing at all, and so that may have conspired to make the main waterfall seem smaller than what it ought to be.
I suspect that in order for this waterfall to have a more fuller and vigorous appearance, you’d have to come here towards the tail end of the Wet Season (which I suspect is around August or September time frame).
Historically, the area around Moc Chau has its Wet Season from April to September while the Dry Season is said to be from October to March.
Anyways, even though the waterfalls were impressive enough to designate the area as an “ecotourism site”, the authorities of Moc Chau decided to build a tourist-friendly theme park around them.
This theme park, which was contrary to the more understated, naturesque ethic that the ecotourism site designation would imply, certainly was front and center in terms of how our visit in April 2025 went.
Experiencing The Dai Yem Waterfall
After arriving at the spacious car park for the Thac Dai Yem Waterfall complex (see directions below), we paid someone 100k VND for our driver to park.
We then proceeded to go to the ticket booth, where we paid an additional 150k VND per person to enter.
So right off the bat, Mom and I paid 400k VND total (about $16 USD) for the two of us along with the parking, and it was already turning out to be one of our more pricier waterfall visits in Northern Vietnam.
It would become apparent why that was the case as we delved deeper into our visit of the Thac Dai Yem Waterfall Ecotourism Park.
Once we got through the entrance station and turnstiles, we then followed a wide asphalt road, where after 100m a sign directed us to go right and cross a bridge over a wide stream or river.
After crossing the bridge, we then pretty much remained on the east side of the watercourse going past some colorful bird houses en route to a noisy part of the main stream.
At about 150m or walking from the bridge, we then encountered what the park called Waterfall #1.
Although we could have crossed stepping stones going across the brink of this waterfall (going towards some kind of coffee shop), we were content to continue further downstream to look back at the waterfall’s full width.
Continuing further downstream, we then approached some more bird houses along with our first look at the so-called Glass Bridge of Love in the distance.
This was an imposing structure that was completed in April 2019 (making it the first “5D suspension bridge”) perched about 80m long, 2m wide, and 22m high across the main watercourse.
Apparently, this bridge was labeled “5D” because the glass surface was said to be able to provide effects like glass cracking, making hearts, simulating flower opening, and animating fish swimming, among others.
I suspect this bridge was a huge reason why our entrance ticket was on the pricier side as far as Vietnam Waterfall entrance fees were concerned.
In any case, continuing past the bird houses, the trail then ascended towards what turned out to be Waterfall #2, and this was what I supsected was the actual Thac Dai Yem Waterfall.
The trail allowed us to go around its plunge pool towards a dead-end where we could look back at its main upper drop, which I estimated to be around 20-30m tall.
Then, the continuation of the trail went down among the lower travertine tiers of the Dai Yem Waterfall (which was mostly dry during our mid-April 2025 visit) where we encountered a trail fork.
The left path continued to descend among the travertine towards the level of the main stream and eventually reaching some kind of cafe or coffee shop perched above the stream (kind of treehouse style).
The path on the right continued to front some of the lower travertine tiers of the Dai Yem Waterfall before reaching steps that went up to one end of the Glass Bridge of Love.
Upon reaching the bridge, where there was some kind of shrine or prayer room dedicated to love, an employee directed us to put on shoe covers (I guess to keep the glass surface of the bridge as transparent as possible).
Then, we went through some heart-shaped archways onto the vertigo-inducing suspension bridge, where we could look back at the context of the Dai Yem Waterfall as well as the stream bed below, and a more elevated view of the surroundings.
After getting to the other side of the bridge (and its heart-shaped archways), we then took the shoe covers off and put them in a used bin.
Afterwards, we descended steps to a wider concrete path going past some cute houses, the treehouse-like cafe in the middle of the stream, and then a series of shops pushing ethnic curios.
Eventually, the path continued through this shopping row before reaching the cafe by the first waterfall that we saw earlier.
At this point, we continued to a road fork, where we had the option of ascending on the path to the right to the exit, or going back through the entrance gate in a bit of a flatter walk.
Overall, our counterclockwise loop walk of the complex was about 1.6km according to my GPS logs, and we spent about 90 minutes away from the car.
You don’t have to do the loop in the direction we went on, but I suspect the authorities wanted you to do it this way because you encounter the shopping towards the end (when you’re likely to be in a happier, ready-to-buy mood).
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that the park’s hours are typically from 7am to 6pm (pending holidays and weather conditions) so our mid-afternoon visit closer to closing time was delightfully quiet.
The Meaning Behind The Dai Yem Waterfall
During our visit, there seemed to be quite a heavy emphasis on the love theme (not unlike the Thac Tinh Yeu Waterfall near Sapa).
This goes back to the varying interpretations of what the word dai yem meant and why this waterfall was so named.
One interpretation that seemed to be recurring in the literature had the meaning of dai yem coming from the Thai word sai peng meaning “love thread” or “pink blouse” or “the sash”.
This interpretation was due to a 700 year-old legend about a couple that loved each other deeply but had to be separated due to war, where the boy had to go on duty while the girl waited for him.
Then, one fateful day, a storm caused the waterfall to swell and flood, and it swept the girl away leaving behind an embroidered scarf as the only evidence of her presence and love.
Locals who felt sorry for the couple had named the waterfall “dai yem” as a result of that piece of cloth that was found.
A variation of this story had the girl saving the boy from the flood but sacrificed herself in the process (instead of being separated by war and fate).
In any case, this tragic interpretation of love and ultimate sacrifice seemed to give rise to the theme park really playing up the love theme (especially manifested in that Glass Bridge of Love or Cầu Kính Tình Yêu).
Finally, in the spirit of varying interpretations and the ethnic minority influence here, the Dai Yem Waterfall also goes by the name “Nang Waterfall”, “Ban Vat Waterfall”, “Talet Waterfall”, and “Thai Hung Waterfall”.
Authorities
The Dai Yem Waterfall resides in the Muong Sang commune of the Moc Chau District in the Son La Province, Vietnam. It may be administered by the Moc Chau District government. To inquire about current conditions, you may want to try the Moc Chau Government website.
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