Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam

Phu Quoc: The Island That Changed Faster Than Most Visitors Expected

Phu Quoc welcomed nearly 1.6 million international visitors in the first 11 months of 2025 – up 81 percent year-on-year. In 2010 it was a quiet fishing island with dirt roads and a handful of guesthouses. In 2026 it has luxury international resort strips, a Guinness World Record-holding cable car, a Vegas-inspired entertainment complex called Grand World operating around the clock, and an airport that handles direct international flights from multiple Asian cities. The transformation is real, rapid, and not universally welcome. Phu Quoc is in the middle of becoming something, and the version you find depends heavily on which part of the island you visit.

The northern half retains the character that made the island famous: Phu Quoc National Park covers more than half the island’s total area with primary tropical forest, and Sao Beach on the southeast coast – awarded “Region’s Leading Beach 2025” – remains genuinely exceptional, with white sand and turquoise water that need no promotional photographs to convince you of their quality.

The Beaches

Sao Beach (Bai Sao) is the reference point for Phu Quoc’s beach reputation: fine white sand, calm turquoise water, and a tree line that keeps it shaded in the afternoon. Long Beach (Bai Truong) on the west coast runs about 20 kilometres and was historically the main tourist strip – now more developed, with resort frontage replacing much of the original character, but the sunset view over the Gulf of Thailand remains good.

For something quieter, Bai Om and the beaches around the northeast coast are less visited and more accessible with a rented scooter.

Fish Sauce and Pepper

Phu Quoc produces some of Vietnam’s most celebrated fish sauce: an anchovies-and-salt fermentation that runs for a minimum of 12 months in large wooden barrels before bottling. The factories near Duong Dong offer tours showing the process, and the difference between the premium Phu Quoc variety (protected designation of origin, like champagne) and the cheap industrial fish sauces available elsewhere is immediately apparent once you taste them. The island also grows black pepper on farms in the interior; the Phu Quoc pepper is notably aromatic and exported to restaurants internationally.

The Cable Car

The Hon Thom Cable Car to Hon Thom (Pineapple Island) holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s longest three-wire cable car system. The crossing of about 8 kilometres takes 15 minutes over the Gulf of Thailand. The island arrival has beaches and a water park; the journey itself, 800 metres above the water at peak height, is the point.

Practical Timing

November through April is the dry season: calm seas, good visibility, ideal conditions for diving, snorkelling, and beach activity. May through October brings humidity, rain, and rougher water; the island is significantly less crowded and prices are notably lower. The wet season has its own appeal if you’re comfortable with afternoon rain and want the island quieter.

Eating

The seafood is genuinely good and the night markets – particularly the Duong Dong Night Market – are the right place to find it at reasonable prices: grilled squid, fresh oysters, hot pot, and street food alongside the fishing community’s daily catch. The premium fish sauce, applied as a condiment, makes an immediate case for itself as one of the better flavour enhancers available in Vietnamese cooking.

Staying

The west coast resort strip has international luxury properties (JW Marriott, Fusion, Regent) at serious prices. The northern part of Long Beach and the quieter areas near Duong Dong town have mid-range options and guesthouses at more accessible rates. If the Grand World complex’s “sleepless city” aesthetic is what you want, there are hotels directly in that area; if you came for the national park and the fishing village, stay elsewhere.