Phu Quoc travel info

Phu Quoc sits at the very bottom of Vietnam's map, closer to the Cambodian coast than to the Vietnamese mainland. It runs about 50 km from north to south, so think of it as a small province with beaches rather than a dot in the sea. The west coast faces the sunset, and around 6pm everyone on every beach points their phone the same way.

Each part of the island feels different. Duong Dong, in the middle, is a working fishing port, and at night the Dinh Cau market lays out sea urchins, crabs and fish on ice. The far south has the Hon Thom cable car, which swings kilometres out over the water, and Sunset Town's rows of pastel facades. Up north at Bai Dai, Grand World, the safari park and the theme park are packed into one big resort complex.

In between, the island still smells like an island: pepper vines beside red-dirt roads, fish sauce maturing in huge wooden vats, and stilt houses at the Ham Ninh fishing village. The island is due to host APEC in 2027, so the airport and plenty of roads are under construction.

Phu Quoc International Airport (PQC)