Vietnam (Phu Quoc & Gulf Islands)

Bottom line: Phu Quoc is what Phuket was 30 years ago. Empty beaches, jungle interior, decent diving, cheap food, and not yet completely overrun. Won't last. Probably 5 more years before it goes the same direction. If you've been thinking about it, go now.

I went solo in early 2024 — Ruger had to stay topside, dive trip — and stayed two weeks. That was about right. Could have used a third week.

[IMAGE: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1582967788606-a171c1080cb0?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop | A long-tail boat anchored off a quiet beach on Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam — turquoise water in the foreground, jungle-covered hills in the background]

Quick facts

Phu Quoc is Vietnam's largest island. Sits in the Gulf of Thailand off the southwest coast — closer to Cambodia than to mainland Vietnam, actually. About 575 sq km. Population around 180,000. Roughly half the island is national park (Phu Quoc National Park, designated 2001). The rest is split between fishing villages, the increasingly large resort developments at the south end, and a few inland farming areas growing pepper and producing the famous Phu Quoc fish sauce.

Vietnam's been pushing visa-free entry to the island since 2014 — most Western passports get 30 days visa-free if flying directly to Phu Quoc International Airport. Worth knowing if you don't have a Vietnam visa already.

Why it's worth the trip

Few reasons:

• Empty beaches. The west coast (Long Beach, Ong Lang) has resorts but the long beaches between them are mostly walkable in solitude even in high season. The east coast (Bai Sao, Bai Khem) has the best sand on the island and is genuinely empty most days.
• Decent diving. Not Similan-tier but legitimately good — clear water, healthy soft corals, a few wreck sites, regular sightings of seahorses, eagle rays, occasional whale sharks. Half the price of Thai diving.
• Cheap food. Vietnamese cooking everywhere, plus a good seafood scene because of the fishing fleet. A solid meal of grilled fish, rice, vegetables, beer at a local night-market stall is ~$5.
• Easy logistics. Direct flights from Hanoi, Saigon, and increasingly direct international flights. The island has actual taxis, motorbike rental everywhere, decent road infrastructure.
• No mass tourism (yet). You can still find empty stretches of beach and quiet fishing villages without trying. Phuket and Bali, this is not.

How to get there

Phu Quoc International Airport is south of the main town (Duong Dong). Direct flights from:

• Hanoi: ~2 hours
• Ho Chi Minh City: ~50 minutes
• Direct international: increasingly available — Korea, Singapore, occasional charter routes from Europe

There's also a hydrofoil ferry from Rach Gia or Ha Tien on the Vietnamese mainland (~2.5 hours), useful if you're already on a Mekong delta itinerary.

From the airport, taxi to Long Beach is about 200,000 dong (~$8). Most resorts include free pickup if you ask in advance.

Where to base yourself

Three options:

Long Beach (Bai Truong) — west coast, mid-island. The main tourist strip. Most resorts, restaurants, dive shops, Western food. Pleasant beach but the most developed. Convenient. Around $40-100/night for a mid-range room walking distance to the beach.

Ong Lang — west coast, north of Long Beach. Quieter, smaller resorts, a few bungalow places among coconut palms. Best balance of facilities and quiet. About $60-150/night.

Sao Beach / Khem Beach area — south coast. The best beaches but limited dining outside the resorts. The big VinPearl/JW Marriott complexes are here — luxury all-inclusive feel. $200-500/night. Most travellers day-trip to these beaches rather than staying.

Skip the far north (Bai Thom). Pretty but no infrastructure — only worth visiting if you want to be off-grid.

I stayed at a small bungalow place in Ong Lang the whole two weeks. About $55/night including breakfast. Walking distance to a quiet beach, motorbike rental on-site. Couldn't fault it.

Diving operations

Two main areas:

An Thoi Archipelago (south of Phu Quoc, cluster of small uninhabited islands). The main dive area. Sites like Hon Buom Island and Hon Roi reefs. Soft corals, anemones, schools of barracuda, occasional reef sharks. Visibility 8-15m typical. Two-tank day trips ~$70-90. Operators include Rainbow Divers (the big one, well-established) and Phu Quoc Diving Company.

Northern dive sites (less developed, more current, harder to reach). Less commonly visited. Better marine life if you can get there.

A wreck of a small Soviet-era ship at 18m off An Thoi is worth doing — covered in soft coral, schools of fish, easy navigation.

Conditions: best diving is November-April (dry season). May-October is rainy season and visibility drops. Water temp consistently 26-29°C — 3mm shorty wetsuit is plenty.

I dove with Rainbow over four trips. Solid operation, strong safety briefings, decent boats, max 6 divers per group. Recommended.

Other stuff to do

Vinpearl Safari. Open-air drive-through wildlife park (run by the Vinpearl resort group). Tigers, elephants, giraffes, etc. Touristy but the kids love it if you've got them. ~$30 entry.

Suoi Tranh waterfall and trek. Small waterfall and pool an hour's hike inland from Duong Dong. Quiet, jungle, good escape from the beach if you want a half-day in the trees.

Cable car to Hon Thom Island. Was the world's longest oceanic cable car when it opened in 2018 (7.9 km). Goes from An Thoi south to a private island with beaches and a water park. Touristy but the cable-car ride itself is properly impressive — 15 minutes over open sea. ~$30 round trip.

Pearl farm tours. Phu Quoc has been a pearl-farming centre for decades. Several farms offer tours and shop sales. Skip the high-pressure sales pitches; just go for the tour itself.

Fish sauce factory tour. Phu Quoc fish sauce (nuoc mam) is the most famous variety in Vietnam — the island has dozens of small family producers. Several offer tours. Smelly. Interesting. Free or very cheap. Buy a bottle to take home.

Night market in Duong Dong. The Dinh Cau Night Market is the main local food scene. Pick a stall with a queue of locals. Grilled squid, fresh fish, beer for ~$5. Best food on the island.

Practical bits

Motorbike rental: ~$5/day for a basic 110cc scooter. WEAR A HELMET. Vietnam roads are not Western roads. International driving permit technically required.

Cash vs cards: ATMs at the airport and in Duong Dong work with foreign cards. Most resorts and restaurants take cards. Local stalls and small operators are cash-only. Carry some dong.

Bring: reef-safe sunscreen, mosquito repellent (DEET-based, dengue is around), a power adapter (Vietnam uses both flat-pin US-style and round-pin EU-style sockets — universal adapter is the call), a torch (some bungalows have power cuts), small dry-bag for boat trips.

Don't bring: drone (officially restricted in many areas — confiscation risk if not registered with authorities), recreational drugs (Vietnam has serious drug laws), short-shorts to temples or pagodas (cover up).

What I'd skip

Most of the "tour packages" pushed at hotel desks are overpriced versions of things you can do independently for half the cost. The cable car is worth doing once but the water park at Hon Thom is mediocre — skip it.

The "pearl farm + fish sauce + Vinpearl Safari" combo bus tours are tourist-bus hell. Rent a scooter and do them yourself at your own pace.

When to visit

November-April: Dry season. Best for diving, calmest seas, most consistent weather. Peak season — busier and pricier. December-January are the most expensive.

May-October: Wet season. Daily afternoon thunderstorms, choppier seas, some dive sites cancel. But way fewer tourists and rates drop by half. The rain is heavy but short.

I went in March. Conditions textbook.

Combining with the rest of Vietnam

Phu Quoc works as a beach week tagged onto a longer Vietnam trip. Most travellers fly in from Saigon at the end of a north-to-south overland trip — the old city of Hoi An, Hue, the Mekong, then Phu Quoc to wind down before flying home. The wider Vietnam country guide covers the routes month by month.

For tours in Vietnam, most options either include or pair with Phu Quoc as the end-of-trip beach.

For comparison with another reef-and-beach destination at a similar price point, Koh Tao in Thailand is a different vibe — more dive-school focused, smaller island, more concentrated nightlife.

Official sources

Vietnam Tourism's Phu Quoc page has the visa-free entry rules and current ferry schedules. The Phu Quoc National Park information page covers the protected area's regulations and the few authorised access points.

Last bit

Phu Quoc isn't perfect. The Vinpearl resort developments have pushed the island in a direction I don't love — high-rise hotels at the south end especially feel completely disconnected from the actual island. The road infrastructure is being upgraded constantly which means construction noise in places. Single-use plastic is everywhere despite official campaigns to reduce it.

But the upside-to-downside ratio still leans heavy upside. Empty beaches, decent diving at half Thai prices, solid Vietnamese cooking, walkable scale. Two weeks felt right; three would have been better. Bring your dive cert. Rent the scooter. Stay at Ong Lang. Eat at the night market every other night. Trust me on this one. Ruger would have loved chasing crabs on Bai Sao at low tide. Next time.