Phu Quoc island, Vietnam – Where to Stay, Visit, Transport – Page 1

Phu Quoc island – Orientation – Maps

Map 1 – Distances to mainland

Map 2 – Transport to Phu Quoc –  Airport + Port

Map 3 – “Duong Dong”  – The main Town of the island

Map 4 – Interactive Map : Attractions + Transport + Beaches

  1. Points in Green : Main Town – “Duong Dong”
  2. Points in Red : Transport (Airport + Ports)
  3. Points in Blue : Tourist Attractions
  4. Points in Orange : Beaches

How is Phu Quoc island ?

The biggest and main touristic island of Vietnam. It became very touristic just in recent years. Before it was just a fishing and agriculture place. Now there are good roads, a cable car and a lot of hotels and resorts. There is a main town called “Duong Dong”, with a good night market. There is an international airport with flights from all over Vietnam and cities like Bangkok, Thailand.

Phu Quoc is located in the south of Vietnam, near the border of Cambodia (see it on the Maps above). It is 50 km long.
There are also smaller islands in the surroundings, with much less tourists and facilities.

Is it worth to visit Phu Quoc island ?

Until recently, it was known that if you want to visit islands in South East Asia, you go to Thailand. There are in Thailand hundreds of islands and some of them are very famous (see my page about the islands in Thailand).
Now Phu Quoc is becoming a popular destination and you may decide to start your Vietnamese journey from Phu Quoc instead of from Saigon (by landing in Phu Quoc). The only problem may be a shortage of time. There are a lot of interesting and special places in Vietnam and if you will spend too many days on that island, you may discover that you are left with no time to visit the wonderful north of Vietnam and you may need to skip (or shorten) places like Hanoi, Halong Bay or Sapa.

How to arrive to Phu Quoc island ?

By Flight

The best way to arrive to Phu Quoc. There are a lot of flights from all over Vietnam and the price is cheap (if you buy it in the right moment). There are flights from Saigon and there are also flights from “Can Tho” the “capital” of the nearby “Delta” region. There are also international flights, especially from Bangkok, Thailand.

  • You can book Flights, Trains and Buses inside Vietnam with the site Baolau or 12Go Asia. Choose the Origin city and Destination city and it will show you All the available Transports to destination.
From the airport to your hotel :

Option 1 from the Airport : Use a Taxi (or Grab App). It costs about 150,000 Dong to the main town “Duong Dong”. Distance about 10 Km. Travel time : 20 minutes.

Option 2 from the Airport : By Bus . There are now beautiful buses (color green) running on the main roads of Phu Quoc. They pass at the Airport, at the Port and the main town Duong Dong. The buses are operated by the private company of the theme park in the north of the island (VinWonders). It is a free service (at the time of writing). You can see details about the lines on their website (and Application) Vinbus.

See location of the airport on the Maps above.

By Speed Boat

There are speed boats that travel from the coastal cities of Rach-Gia and Ha-Tien on the mainland to Phu Quoc island. You can arrive to these cities by bus from Can-Tho city, for example, which is the “capital” of the Delta region (and before, by bus from Saigon). The speed boats arrive to the port of Bai-Vong in Phu Quoc, which is more or less on the right side of the airport.
See location of the port on the Maps above.

The trip on a speed boat between Rach-Gia city and Phu-Quoc island takes 3 hours.

There are several speed boat companies.

  • You can book Flights, Trains, Buses and Boats inside Vietnam with the site Baolau or 12Go Asia. Choose the Origin city and Destination city and it will show you All the available Transports to destination.
From the Port of Bai-Vong to your hotel :

Option 1 from the Port : Use a Taxi (or Grab App) . It costs about 150,000 dong to the main town “Duong Dong”.

Option 2 from the Port : By Bus . There are now beautiful buses (color green) running on the main roads of Phu Quoc. They pass at the Airport, at the Port and the main town Duong Dong. The buses are operated by the private company of the theme park in the north of the island (VinWonders). It is a free service (at the time of writing). You can see details about the lines on their website (and Application) Vinbus.

Where to Stay in Phu Quoc island ? – Hotels

Phu Quoc is a big island (50 Km long). There are hotels for the ones who want to live beside other humans (nightlife, restaurants) and there are corners for the ones who prefer an isolated beautiful beach.
Look at the following Map + at the Maps above.

I have listed here the main options for staying in Phu Quoc :
(or see all the hotels on the island)

Option 1 : Duong Dong  – The main town of the island

You may choose to live here in order to be near the main nightlife available on the island (the night market) and in order to be near restaurants. It is also an authentic small Vietnamese city and not an artificial tourist resort.

It is convenient to stay here if you don’t want to rent a motorbike. Long beach is at a walking distance.
Note that the best hotels of the island are not located in this town. Most of the Hotels in the town are small, budget ones :

But there is one luxury hotel called Seashells Hotel and Spa.

The hotel is located at a walking distance to the shrine on the beach and to the night market.

Otherwise you can choose an hotel on the south part of the town, at the beginning of “Long Beach”. You will still be at a walking distance to the night market.
For example : Ngoc Chau Hotel.

It has a sea view

And it is close to to the beginning of Long beach :

And the hotel has a cat who likes to sit inside the elevator, for some reason :

See Hotels in the Main town Duong Dong, Phu Quoc island. After you click and fill the dates, you will see a Map icon. Click on the Map icon and look for hotels in the zone you want. The Map is a great way to search for the right hotel (you immediately see the price and the score received by visitors).

Option 2 : Long Beach (south of the city of Duong Dong)

This is the main beach of the island and this is where most of the tourists are staying. The beach is about 3 Km long and there are a lot of hotels and resorts along the way. The resorts are located on the beach and the regular hotels a little bit inside.

There are several advantages of staying here :

  1. The beach is long. You can walk on the sand for about one hour from one end to the other.
  2. You will see other people walking on the beach.
  3. You can drink a Cappuccino in one of the many resorts.
  4. There are Western restaurants on the internal road and in the resorts.
  5. The main nightlife of the island is along Long Beach and in the town “Duong Dong”.
  6. Central location. In the middle of the island, close to the town “Duong Dong” and just about 10 Km from the airport.

Disadvantage :

If you dream about an isolated place, on an island, this isn’t the best option. There are also better beaches on the island.

See Hotels in Long Beach, Phu Quoc island. After you click and fill the dates, you will see a Map icon. Click on the Map icon and look for hotels in the zone you want. The Map is a great way to search for the right hotel (you immediately see the price and the score received by visitors).

Option 3 : Ong Lang Beach (north of the town of Duong Dong)

It is located about 7 Km north to the town of Duong Dong. The atmosphere here is like of a small village, very quiet.

There are almost no luxury resorts here but rather Bungalows or small hotels (but I saw constructions…). There are some western restaurants and the beach is wonderful. It is one of the best public beaches on the island, when it is clean.

See Hotels in Ong Lang Beach, Phu Quoc island. After you click and fill the dates, you will see a Map icon. Click on the Map icon and look for hotels in the zone you want. The Map is a great way to search for the right hotel (you immediately see the price and the score received by visitors).

Option 4 : Near one of the attraction parks

There are 2 groups of tourist attractions on the island that you will surely want to visit. One is at the bottom of the island and the other at the top. Around these attractions, there are a lot of hotels. So, you may choose to stay here instead of travelling in the morning.

Attraction 1 : At the South of the island Sun World Park – Cable car. The famous cable car that takes to the small island of Hon Thom. The view is wonderful from the cable car, so this is a must visit while in Phu Quoc. Very nearby an Italian style town was built like in the Amalfi coast of Italy.

See Hotels near the Sun World cable car, Phu Quoc island. After you click and fill the dates, you will see a Map icon. Click on the Map icon and look for hotels in the zone you want. The Map is a great way to search for the right hotel (you immediately see the price and the score received by visitors).

Attraction 2 : At the North of the island. There are 3 tourist attractions here. One is the wonderful Safari, the other is a Disneyland style park called VinWonders and the third is an artificial city style Venezia. Also in this case hotels were built around.

See Hotels near Vinpearl park, Phu Quoc. After you click and fill the dates, you will see a Map icon. Click on the Map icon and look for hotels in the zone you want. The Map is a great way to search for the right hotel (you immediately see the price and the score received by visitors).

Option 5 : In one of the luxury resorts on the island

Some of the most beautiful bays in Phu Quoc are occupied by luxury resorts. These resorts restrict the access to non guests, so if you want to enjoy these beaches you need to stay in one of the resorts. They are located in remote corners on the island and you usually depend on their services for restaurants and transport. Some of the resorts are “stand alone” and some are in clusters.

One cluster of luxury resorts is at Khem beach (bottom, right corner of the island). Marriott hotel is here, among others.

See Hotels in Khem Beach, Phu Quoc. After you click and fill the dates, you will see a Map icon. Click on the Map icon and look for hotels in the zone you want. The Map is a great way to search for the right hotel (you immediately see the price and the score received by visitors).

Take note of Premier Village hotel which is located on a wonderful bay, on the south corner of the island (they really restrict access to everyone)

The south part of Long Beach (south of the airport, left side of the island) is filled with big hotels like InterContinental Puo Quoc.

And the beach here is wide and pleasant

On the north, left corner of the island you can find :

Chez Carole Beach resort – a very beautiful and isolated beach here. And next to it Green Bay resort.

Nam Nghi hotel has access to the micro island Rock island.

Mövenpick Resort Waverly is a huge hotel in an isolated area.

To find luxury resorts on the island use the Map and Filters. After you click and fill the dates, you will see a Map icon. Click on the Map icon and look for hotels in the zone you want. The Map is a great way to search for the right hotel (you immediately see the price and the score received by visitors).

Option 6 : Isolated small beach, anywhere on the island

You may be surprised but there are still corners on the island which are not exploited by huge construction companies. These places have quiet beaches and affordable accommodation (“Home stay”, run by families).
The upper, right side corner of the island is such. For example Local Beach.

From this point, there is a scenic road that goes to the south with many Km of beaches. You can find here an isolated and quiet accommodation.

See Hotels in Phu Quoc. After you click and fill the dates, you will see a Map icon. Click on the Map icon and look for hotels in the zone you want. The Map is a great way to search for the right hotel (you immediately see the price and the score received by visitors).

How is the Climate in Phu Quoc island ?

Like in all Vietnam, also in Phu-Quoc island, there is a dry season and a rainy season. It is very rainy during the months of May to October. As for the temperatures, you don’t have to worry, it is always hot. You should have air conditioning in your hotel room.

Here are the average temperatures and precipitations in Phu-Quoc island :

Month
Max (C)
Min (C)
Rain (mm)
January 30 22 34
February 31 23 29
March 32 25 54
April 32 25 149
May 31 26 298
June 30 25 413
July 30 25 418
August 29 25 546
September 29 25 473
October 30 24 387
November 30 24 169
December 30 23 59

How to Move in Phu Quoc island ?

By rented Motorbike

If there is a place in South East Asia where you need a motorbike, it is exactly when you happen to be on an island. All the local people in Phu Quoc have a motorbike and all the tourists (who can drive) are getting one from the very first day.

The rent price is about the same in all Vietnam : 150,000 Dong a day. You can rent a motorbike from your hotel and in that case they will just bring you a motorbike from an agency outside the hotel. If you rent it from your hotel, they will not ask you to leave your passport (in an agency yes).

The condition of the roads in Phu Quoc is very good, unless you choose unpaved paths, like I did in some occasions.

Take note of the old airport near the town, it is cool to pass there with the motorbike and imagine you are an airplane.

The old airport is not operational, of course

Putting fun aside, people are driving like crazy on this island. The big cars tend to drive on the opposite lane and push the small vehicles to the side (apparently, in Vietnam, the bigger is your car, the bigger are your rights on the road). I witnessed in Phu Quoc a very grave road accident between a Taxi and 2 passengers on a motorbike. I don’t know who caused the accident (I arrived 1 minute later), but the 2 on the motorbikes were unconscious and they were finally evacuated with a normal taxi and not with an ambulance. Be very careful.

By Taxi

There are enough of them, in Phu Quoc. If you don’t have a motorbike or you have suitcases, you will need to use a Taxi. A ride from the main town Duong Dong to the airport, may cost 150,000 Dong, it is a ride of about 10 Km.

One of the Taxi companies is called “Cheap Taxi”. Cool name.

Grab (like Uber)

Yes, in now functions in Phu Quoc island. You can call a car or a motorbike via the smartphone application Grab.

By Bus

There are now beautiful buses (color green) running on the main roads of Phu Quoc. They pass at the Airport, at the Port and the main town Duong Dong. The buses are operated by the private company of the theme park in the north of the island (VinWonders). It is a free service (at the time of writing). You can see details about the lines on their website (and Application) Vinbus.

By Guided Tour

There are guided tours, to attractions on the island. Ask your hotel or reserve online.

By Foot

You can go by foot in your neigborhood (beach) but not to visit all the island. If you live in the main town, you may have more opportunities on foot.

What to Eat in Phu Quoc Island ?

Until quite recently, Phu-Quoc was not a popular tourist destination and there was no western food available. Now the situation has improved but it is far from what you can find in Saigon, Hanoi or Hoi-An. There are not a lot of expatriates who have opened a restaurant and if there are, they are usually not located in the main town “Duong Dong”, but rather in “Long Beach”, the beaches south of the city.
In the picture, you can see a Pizza that I ate in Duong-Dong town. Yes, there are french fries on my pizza. An Italian would not approve that.

I will concentrate here on some good western options available on this island because if you want Vietnamese food, you have plenty of choice, everywhere.

Let’s begin with good bread. It is very difficult to find good bread on this island, if your standards are high on that matter.

By miracle, there is one German baker who prepares wonderful breads and Pretzels. It is located 2.5 Km south of the city. It is called Hardy’s German Bakery & Cafe.

He prepares also excellent pastries (apple strudel !!)

If you are looking for the best Pizza on the island, it seems to be The Home Pizza (Long Beach).

There are also several Indian restaurants in Phu Quoc, like Ganesh Indian. Just 1 Km from the city.

If you are not Vegetarian, you can eat that kind of stuff, at the night market, in the “Duong Dong” town.

If you live in isolated parts of the island, you will mostly depend on the restaurant of your hotel or resort.

Note that there are no Mc Donald’s and alike on this island, but strangely there is one Burger King at the airport (at the boarding gates).

As for coffee on that island. There are very few Cappuccino machines. You usually get traditional Vietnamese coffee and you have to wait 10 minutes that all the drops will get into your glass.

What to Buy in Phu Quoc ?

Pearls are quite popular on this island.

They are sold everywhere and they are beautiful.

There are some exhibition centers, like at long beach pearl center.

In these centers there are also explanations about the farms of pearls at sea (they are located in Hon-Thom micro island). You can also buy the pearls in these exhibition centers, of course.

Also at the night market, in town, pearls are sold.

I am not an expert on jewellery so I can not give you advice on buying necklaces, I just know they are very beautiful.

Another product which is popular on this island and especially in the night market in town are peanuts coated with sweet flavour.

They are produced by 2 French who are competitors.

There are a lot of flavours and they are very good. Even Vietnamese people like this product, not only tourists.

Where to go out at Night in Phu Quoc island ?

The main nightlife is the night market in the main town “Duong Dong”. Also the main road along Long Beach is full of restaurants and bars.

Option 1 : The main town “Duong Dong”

The Night Market, in town

This is the right place to be at night. A lot of food and nice atmosphere.

You can drink a juice in one of the cafés and watch the people passing.

At the end of the night market, you can watch a nice water canal

A lot of sea food in this night market, with strange creatures from the sea :

Dinh Cau shrine (Duong Dong town) – near the sea

It is a nice spot in the evening. It is located in front of the sea

And near the shrine, there is a breakwater for walking :

View from the shrine :

Port promenade (Duong Dong town)

Very close to the Dinh Cau shrine and the breakwater, there is a little promenade along a fishing port.

Option 2 : Along Long Beach

The road starts from the town of Duong Dong and go south for about 3 Km. On this road, there are a lot of restaurants and bars and Massages. If you get closer to the beach, the hotels and resorts have bars with music directly in front of the water.

Option 3 : Your neigborhood on the island

If you live in an isolated place, you will depend on your hotel, for the drinks at night.
In a place like Ong Lang Beach there are a cluster of options.

Continue to Page 2 – What to Visit in Phu Quoc island ?

More on Vietnam :

  On Thailand :

Other Stuff :

If you find incorrect data on this page, like a restaurant that has closed or a big river that has moved or you want to tell me something, please write me to contact.

alienviet