Travelog - A travel guide to Vietnam

Photos

Phu Quoc Island, with lush forests inland and fine beaches around the coast, is situated about 1 hour’s flight from Ho Chi Minh City and provides an opportunity to get away from it all for a few days. It is about 48kms long and about 1300sqkms in area. The northern part of the island, facing the Cambodian coast is occupied largely by the Vietnamese military, but unspoilt beaches encircle the southern part. It is almost the same size as Singapore but has been left alone by toursim for many years.

Among the activities on offer are snorkelling, jungle-trekking, limited diving and boat trips to the unspoilt An Hoi islands. Phu Quoc is renowned for producing the best nuoc mam (fish sauce) in Vietnam and a trip would not be complete without a visit to one of the factories.

Diving here has only been happening for a couple of years and new sites are still being discovered. Marine life is very similar to that found in the Gulf of Thailand with few big pelagics but a lot of smaller reef fish and breath-taking, pristine coral. Unfortunately evidence of dynamite fishing can be seen on some of the reefs here but the island does boast one of the best dive sites in the country with Turtle Island off the Northwest coast. We will update this page when further infomation becomes available.

Location: Island in Southern Vietnam, Kien Giang Province. One hour flight from or Saigon, boat 2 hours from mainland.
Best time to travel: from November to June
Depths: 5 - 35m
Viz: 5 - 20m
Currents: Occasional
Activities: water sport, yachting, snorkeling, golfing, wave surfing, diving
Excursion: fishing harbor
Average cost per day/person: from $75 (twin shared, 5* hotel - Superior).
Average cost of a dive: $35