Things to do on Phu Quoc, once the beach gets boring
On this page
Phu Quoc is a beach island first and everybody knows it. The things to do in Phu Quoc that are not the sand fill about two days, which is exactly what you need when lying down stops working.
What is actually here?
Six things worth the time, spread across an island roughly 50 km long and about 574 square kilometres in area, which makes it the largest in Vietnam. The things to do in Phu Quoc are not concentrated in one place, and that is the planning problem. That length matters: the north and the south are an hour apart, and planning a day badly means spending it in a taxi.
The Phu Quoc hub covers the beaches, the visa exemption and which end to stay on. This is the list for the days in between.
| What | Where | Time | Worth it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| An Thoi cable car | Far south | Half a day | For the ride |
| Duong Dong night market | Centre-west | An evening | Yes, for seafood |
| Fish sauce factory | Duong Dong | Under an hour | Yes, and it is free |
| Pepper farms | East and centre | An hour | Pleasant, small |
| Phu Quoc prison | South | 1 to 2 hours | The serious one |
| An Thoi snorkelling | Southern islands | A day | Adequate, not remarkable |
Is the cable car worth it?
The ride is, the destination depends on your group. The line runs from An Thoi across open water to Hon Thom, roughly eight kilometres, and is among the longest over-sea cable cars anywhere. Hanging above fishing boats for fifteen minutes is a genuine experience.
What waits at the other end is a water park with slides and a beach club. Families tend to be glad; couples looking for a quiet island day tend not to be. You can ride out and straight back if that suits.
What is the night market like?
Busy, seafood-heavy and the best eating on the island. The Duong Dong market runs every evening with tanks out front, and it is where the island's own catch is sold to visitors.
Prices are by weight, as everywhere on the Vietnamese coast, and the seafood guide sets out the four questions to ask before anything is cooked. Ask them here: proximity to the boats does not make a tank cheaper.
Should you see a fish sauce factory?
Yes, and it costs nothing. Phu Quoc holds a protected designation of origin for its nuoc mam, and several producers run short visits around the wooden fermentation vats.
An hour is plenty and the smell is not exaggerated. Entry is free at most producers, and a litre of first-press sauce costs 150,000 to 300,000 dong at the factory gate. The fish sauce page explains what the grades on the bottles mean, which turns the visit from a novelty into something you understand.
What about the prison?
The prison museum in the south is the one site here with nothing to do with a holiday. It covers the French period and then the American war, with reconstructed cells and figures showing what was done in them.
The prison museum is unsparing, and it is not a stop to make casually between beaches. The war sites guide covers how this history is presented across the country.
Is the snorkelling good?
Adequate. Boat trips run to the An Thoi islands off the southern tip and the water is clear from November to April, which is also the island's dry season.
The reefs have taken years of heavy traffic and the honest expectation is fish rather than coral. Anyone who came to Vietnam for what is underwater should look at Con Dao instead — the island comparison sets out why, and why the two islands' seasons do not overlap.
How should you plan the days?
By geography, not by interest. Group the southern sights together and do them on one day: the cable car, the prison and the An Thoi boats sit within twenty minutes of each other. All three are an hour from the northern beaches.
Keep the night market and the fish sauce factory for an evening and a morning near Duong Dong. The pepper farms fit whenever you are crossing the middle of the island anyway. That single decision saves more time here than any other.
FAQ
What is there to do on Phu Quoc besides the beach?
The An Thoi cable car, the Duong Dong night market, a fish sauce factory, the pepper farms and a snorkelling trip to the southern islands. The prison museum in the south is the serious one. Two days covers all of it at an unhurried pace.
Is the Phu Quoc cable car worth it?
For the ride rather than the destination. It runs from An Thoi across the water to Hon Thom and is among the longest over-sea cable cars in the world, roughly eight kilometres. What waits at the far end is a water park, which suits some groups and not others.
Should you visit a fish sauce factory on Phu Quoc?
Yes, and it takes under an hour. The island holds a protected designation of origin for its nuoc mam, several producers run visits, and the wooden fermentation vats are genuinely impressive. The smell is exactly what you are expecting.
What is the Phu Quoc prison?
A former prison in the south of the island, used by the French and then during the American war, now a museum with reconstructed cells and tableaux. It is unsparing and it is the one site here that has nothing to do with a beach holiday.
Is snorkelling on Phu Quoc any good?
Adequate rather than remarkable. Trips run to the An Thoi islands off the southern tip, and the water is clear from November to April. The reefs have taken heavy boat traffic, and Con Dao is the better island for anything underwater.
How many days do you need on Phu Quoc?
Four to seven for a beach week with two days of doing things. The island is about 50 km long, so crossing it takes real time, and most people underestimate how far apart the north and the south actually are.