Phu Quoc Island is located in southwestern Vietnam and is about the same size as Singapore. The natural ecological environment is very rich. You can lie on the beach and enjoy the ocean breeze or join the local fisher people fishing for cuttlefish. Phu Quoc is famous for pearls and fish sauce. There are several fish sauce production facilities on the island, and learn about the process of making this popular sauce. Phu Quoc is great for vacationing. You can stroll slowly along the southern white sand beaches and enjoy the romantic atmosphere underneath the palm trees. Take a boat to the outlying islands and you can sunbathe on an amazing natural beach or dip into a renewing mud bath.
Here are 10 reasons that we should not miss to visit this Paradise Island
1. Visa Exemption for all nationalities
If you fly directly to Phu Quoc then you are eligible for a 30-day Vietnam visa exemption, no matter you are a foreigner or a Vietnamese holding foreign passport. In simple words, all visitors from foreign countries do not need a Vietnam visa if they stay in Phu Quoc for no more than 30 days.
2. Local charm and culture
Phu Quoc become Vietnam’s first island city from March 1, following its official recognition as a new city. In recent years, Phu Quoc focuses on tourism development with lots of master plan. It is now home to 320 projects with participating of big group as Vingroup, Sun Group, BIM Group, CEO Group..
Other than tourism, the island’s main industries are farming and fishing. Whether on organized tours or on your own, pepper farms, sim (rose myrtle) wine factories and laid-back fishing villages are just waiting to be discovered.
Tourists can access tours of both the fish sauce factories and pepper farms for a closer look at local life. Or explore pockets of local charm at the night market in Duong Dong, one of the island’s main towns, where you can sample local delicacies.
3. Weather is hot year-round
The island enjoys an average temperature of around 27°C, with the hottest month being April when mercury levels reach 29°C, so Phu Quoc offers comfortable year-round warmth for heat-seekers.
Phu Quoc’s dry season begins from November and lasts through March and this is also best time to visit Island, you can sunbathe, snorkel and swim at Long Beach and Ong Lang Beach. Phu Quoc National Park and Suoi Tranh Waterfall are great for picnicking, jungle-trekking, camping, and bird-watching.
4. It’s full of uninhabited remote islands
The Phu Quoc district is made of 28 islands, most of which are uninhabited while some are planned for development as private resorts. Spanning 574 square kilometres, Phu Quoc Island, where most of the tourism action takes place, is the largest in the district/country as well as in the Gulf of Thailand.
One of the region’s most beautiful remote islands is Hon Xuong – often referred to as the Robinson Crusoe island after the novel of the same name – and can currently only be reached by boat. Camping on the Island is also a optional choice for people that like adventure trip
Hon Thom, the district’s second largest island (also known as Pineapple Island), is connected to Phu Quoc Island via what’s said to be the world’s longest oversea cable car, which travels a total distance of about eight kilometres in 8.5 seconds, carrying up to 3,500 passengers per hour in 70 cabins. With plans underway for the island to be transformed fully into a marine park, it currently offers several watersports activities including snorkelling, diving and yacht tours of the An Thoi archipelago (which occupies 15 of the district’s islands).
5. Beautiful and natural beaches
The district boasts 150 kilometres of coast with ice cream-soft sand and Phu Quoc Island is home to around 20 unspoilt beaches. Khem Beach is one of its most beautiful, overlooking Emerald Bay with powdery white sands caressed by champagne-like effervescent waves.
Sao Beach, considered the “crown jewel” of Phu Quoc, is also known for its snow white beaches, while Long Beach, which boasts a 20-km coast on the west side of the island is ideal for sunsets and among the island’s most popular beaches.
Ganh Dau beach is in the island’s north, Bai Truong beach with its cafes and relaxed eateries, there’s a beach for everyone on Phu Quoc.
6. Half of the island is a protected natural park
Phu Quoc National Park comprises more than half of Phu Quoc Island’s northern region, where adventurous travellers can enjoy a range of outdoor pursuits throughout their tropical vacation. Declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2010, this massive natural attraction spans over 314, 000 square metres of unique flora and fauna, evergreen forest, and dense mountain ranges.
7. It’s getting a luxurious spruce-up
With several hostels offered on the island, Phu Quoc has typically been an off-beat stopover among backpackers travelling around other parts of South-east Asia. But a new crop of luxury hotels and resorts have been springing up along the coast as of 2015, aimed at giving the island an upmarket touch, including a handful of five-star resorts such as the stylish and elegant JW Marriott Emerald Bay Resort & Spa which opened this year with plenty of Instagram-worthy fodder.
The brainchild of renowned hotel architect and interior designer Bill Bensley, the whimsical resort is said to be the first-ever “experiential hotel” built entirely around a fictional history inspired by French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. The sprawling beachfront resort, nestled on Khem Beach, is also home to a 50m-long infinity pool – claimed to be the longest pool in a presidential suite in all of Asia.
Other luxury resorts on the island include the Intercontinental Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort, while a Ritz Carlton is also said to be in the pipeline.
8. Full of marine diversity
Phu Quoc is a hub of marine activity, housing large patches of coastal ecosystems, and nearly 108 species of corals, 135 species of coral reef fish and 132 different types of mollusks, as well as migrating fish and marine mammals in its surrounding waters. Phu Quoc is one of the few places in the country where wildlife enthusiasts can spot unique species like dugong, the hawksbill turtle and green turtle.
9. Unique history
The country’s complex history runs deeper than the Vietnam War, from its battles with France and Spain to its contention with Cambodia over the ownership of Phu Quoc – both countries laying claim.
One of the most harrowing but moving memorials of the Vietnam War can be found at the Phu Quoc Prison, which was the largest prisoner camp in the south of Vietnam back in 1973. While the prison, built around 1950, has been closed, the site has been repurposed as a museum and memorial, built with fake prison quarters and mannequins depicting the prisoners’ life and history of the camp, which is visited by local tourists, including some of the former inmates who are still living today.
10. Easy access
Phu Quoc International Airport is operating for both international and domestic flights, there are some direct international flights to Phu Quoc as from Lon Don, Seoul, Kua Lumpur and some local flights as from Ho Chi Minh, which is just an hour’s flight to the island, and from the capital Hanoi can be reached in just over two hours by plane….
Other ways are by fast ferries from both Ha Tien and Rach Gia to Phu Quoc and in the reverse
11. Ideal Place for golfers to Play & Stay
During your stay you will get to play Vin Pearl Golf Club which is noted for its pristine beauty and makes the most of the natural landscape to create a stunning and sensually stimulating golf course which weaves through the hardware forests, streams and resevoirs.
Made up of three loops of 9, each moving away from the central club house in different directions. The Nha Trang and Phu Quoc are played through the heavily forested areas whilst the Quy Nhon holes are more exposed and meander through the larger lakes on the island
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