VIETNAM - Phu Quoc Island - 7th to 11th March 2026

DAY 19 - 22 - Phu Quoc

Phu Quoc left me with mixed feelings, it is afterall quite controversial...a plan by Vietnam in 2017 to identify a paradise island to completely transform and development into a huge (European themed) series of complexes, to compete with Bali and Phuket, for the SE Asian, Indian, Chinese and Russian markets....Covid stifled it, but development continued with an attitude build first, the tourists will come later...but there are a lot of empty spaces....  

I stayed at Khem Beach (total Russian, which I'm not totally comfortable with)  which I thought was a quieter part, I clearly did not research enough, all along the beach are top end brand new complexes....although I walked to the end of the beach and came across a Vietnamese kitchen on the beach....I ordered a mixed fish noodle broth...and all the ingredients came on my table, including a cooker for me to cook...out came ChatGPT, and cooked away....and it was delicious! 

 

 

 
 It’s an island clearly being reshaped at speed into a major resort destination, and in places that ambition is very visible. Large developments dominate parts of the coastline, from vast hotel complexes to surreal themed (hilarious) towns with faux Mediterranean streets, Roman-style amphitheatres and even Bavarian castle-like architecture(the funniest). In several areas the scale of construction feels far ahead of the number of visitors actually there, creating the slightly strange impression of grand places waiting to be filled. It’s not hard to imagine how different the island must have felt only a decade or two ago.

 

But travelling around the island by scooter revealed another side that still exists if you take the time to look for it. The east coast in particular felt much closer to the traditional character of the island. At Ham Ninh, houses stood on stilts over extremely shallow water and fishermen wade far out into the sea collecting shellfish from the tidal flats. Near Hòn Một Island, a rickety wooden bridge leads across to a tiny mangrove-covered islet where locals fish in the shallows. These stretches of coast feel quiet and unpolished, with fishing boats, nets drying in the sun and small village life continuing much as it always has.

 

Further north the island becomes quieter again. The road winds through forest and rural areas before reaching Rach Vem, where the shallow water is famous for red starfish — although now also famous with tour buses and day-trip boats. Continue a little further and you reach the far northwest tip at Gành Dầu Cape, where the atmosphere changes completely. Sitting on the rocks at sunset, watching fishing boats heading out across the Gulf of Thailand while a couple of local kids were fishing close to me, it’s easy to imagine how peaceful the island must once have been.

  

I also spent a couple of good days diving around the small islands south of Phu Quoc, which was the main reason for me coming to the island..first dive total friggin Russian but rescued by Joe a Frenchman...but 2nd day out more mixed with some nice French girls, and much better diving..... The diving here is quite variable — visibility can be limited and the reefs are generally patchy compared with places like Bali. But the better dives revealed colourful soft corals, plenty of reef fish and an impressive number of nudibranchs, which made for some enjoyable macro life even if the big pelagic encounters found elsewhere in Southeast Asia are largely absent. ** 3mm shortie tried 3kg but went up to 4kg

One of the most pleasant surprises was Sao Beach, particularly the quieter northern end where white sand, palm trees and fishing boats in the bay created the sort of tropical scene people imagine when they first hear the name Phu Quoc. Arriving late in the afternoon after most visitors had left made it feel calm and unhurried.

Overall, Phu Quoc isn’t my favourite place in Vietnam, and it’s probably not somewhere I’d hurry back to. The pace of development suggests the island will become even more heavily resort-focused in the years ahead. Yet despite that, there are still small moments of authenticity and beauty scattered around the island if you’re prepared to explore beyond the obvious tourist spots. Those quiet discoveries — fishing villages, sunset viewpoints, and unexpected wildlife underwater — ended up being the parts of Phu Quoc that will stay with me the most.