Aerial view of Bai Sao's turquoise waters and white sand lined with forested hills on Phu Quoc island.

Southern Vietnam

An island with two halves and two seasons

Vietnam’s largest island, an hour from Saigon by air. The south is developed and easy, the north is still mostly forest and empty beach, and the month you come decides which sea you get.

Plan my trip

Orientation

The island in one page

Phu Quoc is 50 kilometres long, closer to Cambodia than to mainland Vietnam, and has changed more in ten years than anywhere else in the country. The southern third now has large resorts, a cable car, a theme park and a busy strip at Duong Dong. The northern half is still largely national park, red dirt roads and beaches with two restaurants on them. Both are legitimate holidays and they are not the same holiday.

Three nights is enough for a beach stop at the end of a trip. Five makes it a proper island week with a boat day, the north and enough time to do nothing. Anything less than three, given the flight, is not worth the transfer.

Nights: 3 to 5
Flight from Saigon: 1 hour
Calm sea: November to April
Rough sea: July to September
Where to stay: South for resorts, north for quiet

Where to stay

Area	Who it suits	Trade-off
Long Beach (Truong)	First visit, sunsets, restaurants within walking distance	Busiest stretch of sand
An Thoi / south	Resorts, families, boat trips to the islets	Feels built; car needed for anything else
Ong Lang	Couples, quiet, still ten minutes from town	Beach is rocky in places
The north (Cua Can, Ganh Dau)	People who want almost nothing around	45 minutes from the airport, few restaurants

A green wooden boat rests in shallow turquoise water off a white sand beach in Phu Quoc.

A woman swings on a beach in Phu Quoc, surrounded by palm trees, sun loungers and turquoise sea.

Small huts sit among palm trees along a rocky shore with clear turquoise water near Phu Quoc's An Thoi archipelago.

Stilt houses and seafood restaurants line the water at Ham Ninh pier in Phu Quoc under a blue sky.

What to do

What to do, beyond the beach

A boat day to the An Thoi islets — snorkelling, three or four stops, best from November to April when the water is clear.
The national park in the north — forest, dirt roads and two or three beaches with nobody on them. Hire a car and a driver rather than a scooter unless you ride well.
A fish sauce distillery — the island’s actual industry, enormous wooden vats, and a smell you will remember. Twenty minutes, genuinely interesting.
The night market at Duong Dong for seafood, which is cheap and good if you pick the busy stalls.
Sao Beach on the east coast — the postcard one, best before ten in the morning.

Timing

The season, which decides everything

From November to April the sea on the west coast is flat, the water is clear and the island is at its best. From July to September the southwest monsoon puts swell on the west coast, the water turns cloudy, boat trips get cancelled and some of the small beach restaurants close. May, June and October are in between — usually fine, with afternoon rain.

If your dates are in the wet window

Con Dao is calmer in exactly those months, or the east coast beaches here hold up better than the west. We will say which rather than sell you a boat day that gets cancelled.

Not for everyone

Who should skip Phu Quoc

If you want an undeveloped Southeast Asian island, this is no longer it in the south, and the north takes effort to reach and has little infrastructure. If you are travelling between July and September and the sea is the point, go elsewhere. And if you have twelve days for Vietnam, three of them on a beach is a real cost — we will tell you what you are giving up before you book it.

Common questions

Questions travellers ask most

How many nights on Phu Quoc?

Three at the end of a trip, five if the island is the holiday. Fewer than three is not worth the flight.

When is the sea calm?

November to April on the west coast. July to September brings swell and cloudy water, and boat trips are often cancelled.

Do I need a visa for Phu Quoc?

Phu Quoc has historically had its own visa exemption for direct arrivals, separate from the mainland rules, and the terms change. We check the current position for your passport rather than printing a rule here that may be out of date.

Phu Quoc or Con Dao?

Phu Quoc for resorts, restaurants and easy flights. Con Dao for emptiness, better diving and almost nothing to do.