Phu Quoc is a district of Kien Giang Province in southern Vietnam, in the Rach Gia Gulf (adjacent to the Thailand Gulf). The island has the total land area of 589km2 with some mountains, mostly flat land, some patches of dense rain forests.
The distance from the top-north to the bottom-south of Phu Quoc is 50km and the widest part of Phu Quoc, which is to the north of the island, is 25km. The island tapers to the south.
The center of Phu Quoc Island is Duong Dong Town which is in the middle on the western side of the island. Phu Quoc National Park with nearly 40,000 hectares of forest is located to the northeast of the island.
Phu Quoc is an extremely popular tourist destination in Vietnam. Most people travel to Phu Quoc for a relaxing beach holiday as there are several pristine beaches around the island. Besides, there are many islands around Phu Quoc which are great places for snorkeling, scuba-diving, boating, fishing,...
Climate on Phu Quoc Island
There are two seasons on Phu Quoc Island: dry season from November through April and rainy season from May through October. During the dry season, it is lovely weather with pleasant temperatures (25oC), except for April that there may be days it get warms at mid day. The dry season is the time that most Western tourists visit Phu Quoc.
During the rainy season, it is mostly lovely, too, except for that it rains daily for half an hour mostly. It is also worth noting that it rains quite a lot in September and October with mostly cloudy sky. Visiting Phu Quoc during the rainy season, you can have nice photographs of the streams and waterfalls on the island. The rainy season, except for September and October, is the busiest tourist season on Phu Quoc as it is the time the Vietnamese have holidays.
Prices for tourist services on the island vary from time to time. The highest prices are expected during the Vietnamese tourist season (May-August) and Western tourist season (November through March).
Tourist attractions on the Phu Quoc Island
1/ Duong Dong Town and the Night Markets
The town, which is on the west of the island, is the tourist center on Phu Quoc with night markets offering a wide array of seafood.
2/ The beaches
Phu Quoc Island is ringed with several premier beaches with fine and white sand. There are several luxury hotels and beach resorts on the island nowadays. For your convenience, the beaches are listed in the counter-clockwise order from the northwest of the island, to the west, southwest, south, southeast, east and northeast of the island.
There are several islands around Phu Quoc with amazing beaches which are found in another section of our guide.
It is worth noting that if you have your holiday on Phu Quoc Island during the period from November to February, then the beaches on the east of the island have strong wind and rough sea and those on the west enjoy calm sea. And it is the other way around from late March through October that the western side of the island has strong winds, and the eastern one has calm winds and sea.
Staying on the east of the island you’ll have opportunities for nice sunrise and staying on the west of Phu Quoc provides magical moments at sunset.
- Ganh Dau Beach located to the top-northwest of Phu Quoc where you could virtually have a glimpse of Cambodia across a sea passage. The beach is small with fine sand, a lovely quiet place for those in need of privacy.
- Bai Truong Bac (Bai Dai, 15km) is also in the northwest of Phu Quoc Island with patches of primeval forest of Phu Quoc National Park in the back. The beach is newly accessible as it was separated by rain forest earlier. Nowadays there are luxury beach resorts, theme parks in this area.
- Bai Vung Bau (20km from Duong Dong Town) is south of Bai Dai and north of Bai Cua Can Beach. The beach has 6km of narrow crescent strip of sand protected in the back by primeval forest. The beach is quiet with some fine sand and clear sea water.
- Cua Can Beach, south of Bai Truong Bac, 10km northeast of Duong Dong Town, is north of Bai Ong Lang. The pristine beach is 3km long with a narrow strip of fine sand. The south of the beach is an estuary of the Cua Can River.
- Bai Ong Lang Beach: On the western side of the island and just 6km north of the Duong Dong Town. The beach has sand and rocks but it is a quiet place far from the crowds.
- Bai Truong Nam (Long Beach to the south, or just Bai Truong) is a long and centrally located beach on Phu Quoc Island. The beach stretches 20km from Mui Dinh Cau (Duong Dong Creek, in Duong Dong Town) to the southwest of Phu Quoc. Most of the first beach resorts and hotels on Phu Quoc Island are on Bai Truong Nam Beach.
- Bai Khem is located on the southeast of Phu Quoc, just south of Bai Sao. The beach is protected by small woods in the back making it quite a solitude place. The sea water is very clear and the sand is just white and fine here! Bai Khem is 5km east of An Thoi Town and 25km southeast of Duong Dong Town.
- Bai Sao is located to the southeast of Phu Quoc, and is one of the most beautiful beaches on the Phu Quoc Island. The beach is quite flat with fine white sand stretching for 7km.
- Bai Vong is located to the southwest of Phu Quoc, north of Bai Sao Beach. Bai Vong is 7km southeast of Phu Quoc International Airport. The beach possesses a 7km strip of sand. The downside now is that it is close to the main port of the island with busy traffic.
3/The Prison Museums
Beach vacations and family holidays on the Phu Quoc Island
Paradissa is a luxury tour operator in Vietnam offering several beach vacations and family holiday packages to the Phu Quoc Island.
Accommodations on the Phu Quoc Island
All tourist facilities are on the only. There is a wide range of hotels and resorts ranging from simple homestay, basic guesthouses to luxurious beach resorts of 5 star standards.
How to get to there
Phu Quoc Island is 45km west of Ha Tien Town (Kien Giang Province) and 120km northwest of Rach Gia City.
There are daily direct flights between Hanoi – Phu Quoc, Hai Phong – Phu Quoc, Da Nang – Phu Quoc, Ho Chi Minh City – Phu Quoc, Can Tho – Phu Quoc and Rach Gia – Phu Quoc.
Alternatively you can travel to Phu Quoc by speed boat from Rach Gia or Ha Tien, there are 5 daily return boat trips between the island and these cities. There are also several daily ferries between Ha Tien and Phu Quoc.
How to get around
You can travel around the by scooter, electric bike or bicycle. To travel from one island to another you can take speed boat trips.
Phu Quoc weather and climate
