Phu Quoc is fifty kilometres long and most backpackers give it three days. That sounds tight, but it is not: this is not an island where you rush from sight to sight. Losing half a day to a single beach is easy here, and it is not time wasted.
A few things really belong on your trip: the water around the little islands off the southern tip, one day on a scooter, and the fish you point at yourself at the night market in the evening. Others are big, new and a bit pricier, and they are worth it if you have a day left over next to your time on an empty beach.
So where do your Phu Quoc days go, and what do you save for next time?
Where to sleep, how to get around and how many days to plan are all on our Phu Quoc page.
Snorkelling off the An Thoi islands
The best snorkelling in Vietnam is around the small islands off the southern tip. The water is clear, the reefs are colourful and you swim among tropical fish you would never see from the beach. For a lot of travellers this is the highlight of their whole stay on the island.
The best way to get there is a small speedboat tour with a maximum of ten people on board, which visits several reefs around the islands with professional guides. Between December and April the boats go out to the An Thoi islands every day.
Plan this early in your stay. Between May and November the sea is rough and the trips simply get cancelled, and even in the months either side a day can fall through. If you still have a day spare, you can try again.
Our verdict: absolutely, and do not leave it for your last day
Rach Vem, the village with the starfish
This is the place almost nobody goes, and our own favourite on Phu Quoc. In the northwest lies Rach Vem, a fishing village with wooden jetties over shallow, clear water where you can often see starfish on the bottom. It feels like a completely different island from the busy south.
You can only get there under your own steam: rent a scooter for about six euros a day and set aside a whole day, because the north is big and the roads are slow. Bring cash, as there are hardly any ATMs.
Go outside the high season or go early, and you will have the jetties almost to yourself. And leave the starfish where they are: taken out of the water for a photo, they do not survive.
Our verdict: a must, even though it is on nobody’s list
Sao Beach before ten in the morning
White sand, bright blue water and palm trees right down to the waterline. Plenty of travellers call Sao Beach the most beautiful beach on Phu Quoc, and that is no exaggeration, as long as you are there at the right time.
The beach is in the southeast, 25 kilometres from Duong Dong, so count on just under an hour on the scooter. Walking onto it costs nothing, a lounger about €2.
The whole difference is the clock: be there before ten. After that the coaches arrive and the most beautiful beach on the island turns into the busiest one. Pair it with a ride through the south towards An Thoi.
Our verdict: the whole difference is in the clock, not in the beach
A day on a scooter through the north
More than half of Phu Quoc is protected nature, and you only notice that once you ride north. You pass pepper plantations, a fish sauce factory and stretches of national park, and the beaches at Ong Lang and Vung Bau are as empty as this island gets.
A scooter costs about €6 a day and is close to essential here: the island is fifty kilometres long and taxis are expensive. Give the north a full day, the south needs half a day.
Do it properly, though. The sand roads in the north are trickier than they look, so take them at walking pace, leave your flip-flops at the hostel and always wear a helmet. Take photos of the scooter and its existing scratches before you ride off, and never hand over your passport as a deposit: a copy is enough.
Our verdict: the day you will remember this island for
The Duong Dong night market
This is the most fun evening the island has to offer, and your cheapest dinner too. You walk past tubs of fish, squid and lobster, point at what you want and say how you want it grilled. A little later it is on your table.
The market starts every evening at about five and costs nothing to walk into. Next to the seafood you will find the two products Phu Quoc is famous for across Vietnam: the fish sauce and the black pepper.
One rule, and it matters: always ask the price per kilo and have them show you the weight on the scales before you say yes. Stalls regularly charge per piece instead of per kilo, and that is exactly where backpackers lose money here.
Our verdict: every evening you are on the island
Sunset on Long Beach
Twenty kilometres of beach down the west coast, right below Duong Dong, and the sun drops straight into the sea. During the day Long Beach is a perfectly good swimming beach with beach bars, but the last hour of the day is what it is really about.
It costs you nothing. From almost any hostel in Duong Dong you walk onto the sand, sit wherever you like and at most rent a lounger for about €2. No booking, no entry fee anywhere.
In the rainy season, check the flags before you go in, because there are currents then.
Our verdict: free, and good all over again every evening
The jungle trek to Tien Son Dinh
Almost everyone comes here for the water and leaves the interior alone, even though that is where most of the island is. This six-hour trek takes you through the jungle to viewpoints, past plants and animals you never come across on the coast, far from the touristy parts.
It is a full day and a real hike, not a stroll through the woods. Good shoes, plenty of water and a bit of fitness are not optional extras here.
It is also your plan B: if your snorkelling trip gets cancelled because of the sea, the jungle is still there.
Our verdict: a great pick if you have more than three days
Got time to spare on Phu Quoc?
The cable car to Hon Thom
At nearly eight kilometres this is the longest over-sea cable car in the world, and the view down over the fishing boats is genuinely good. The standard day trip adds a boat ride past three islands and a lunch buffet. Already doing the small snorkelling tour? Then just take the cable car on its own: the view alone is worth it.
Sunset on Long Beach
Sunset Sanato Beach Club is the best-known sunset spot on the island, with artworks on the sand, and charges about €4 entry, usually with a drink included. If you are going for the photos, that is money well spent. If you only want to watch the sun go down, sit in the sand a hundred metres further along for free, with exactly the same view.
Sao Beach early in the morning
The finest white sand on the island, and in the morning you have it almost to yourself. Come after lunch and the loungers are out and it is a lot busier. If an early start does not happen, plan Sao Beach for another morning instead, because the difference here is big.
Getting around the island
On an island fifty kilometres long a scooter is by far the best way to get around, and for the price of two taxi rides to the south you have it for a whole day. Rather not ride yourself? Grab and taxis get you everywhere just fine, and one good organised tour is easier than stringing separate rides together.
Our top five on Phu Quoc
Only got a few days? These are the five we would do no matter what:
- A snorkelling trip to the An Thoi islands, ideally on a small boat
- Rach Vem in the northwest, the fishing village with the starfish
- Sao Beach, but before ten in the morning
- A whole day on a scooter through the green north
- The Duong Dong night market, with your own fish off the grill
Still got time after that? The jungle trek to Tien Son Dinh is the best way to see that this island is more than its coastline. And keep the last hour of every day free for Long Beach, because that sunset is free and rarely the same twice.
So what do you really have to do on Phu Quoc?
Honestly? Nothing on this list is compulsory. Phu Quoc is not an island of big sights to tick off, and for most backpackers it is the last stop after weeks of night buses, cities and mountain passes. That is exactly what this island is good at: a few days of not having to do anything.
If we had to pick just one thing, it is the water. Spend a day on a small boat out to the little islands in the south, jump in and stay in until your fingers wrinkle. That is what Phu Quoc really does better than the rest of your route through Vietnam.
And rent that scooter. On your last day, ride into the north with no plan and stop at the first beach with nobody on it. That is a better ending to your trip than any tour.
