The island has a reputation for resort pricing, and most of that pricing is optional. The beaches are free, the fishing villages are cheap, and a motorbike costs less than one taxi ride.
Phu Quoc has a reputation as the expensive Vietnamese island, and the reputation is half earned. There is a corridor of large resorts, theme parks and cable cars down the west and south of it, and if you book into that, it will cost what a resort costs anywhere. But Phu Quoc on a budget is entirely possible, because the best thing on the island, the beaches, is free, and the second best thing, the seafood, is cheapest exactly where the tourists are not. This is how to do it without cutting anything that matters.
Phu Quoc on a budget starts with the season
Timing does more for your budget here than any other decision. The dry season runs roughly November to April and is when the sea is calm and clear; December to March is the peak in both conditions and price. The rainy months, May to October, bring rooms down by 30 to 50 percent and flights with them. The rain usually falls in heavy bursts, often in the afternoon, so mornings are frequently swimmable. May to June and September to October are the two best value windows on the calendar.
Flights, and the ride in from the airport
The flight is normally the biggest single cost. Book one to two months ahead, compare carriers, and take the early-morning or late-evening departures, which are consistently cheaper. Phu Quoc airport is roughly 10km (6 miles) from Duong Dong, the main town, and a taxi in runs an estimated 120,000-180,000d (roughly US$5 to 7). Ask when you book your room whether an airport pickup is included, because many of the smaller hotels offer one.
- Return domestic flight: an estimated 1,200,000-2,000,000d (roughly US$46 to 77) if booked early and off-peak
- Motorbike hire: an estimated 120,000-180,000d (roughly US$5 to 7) a day, the single best value on the island
- Simple hotel or guesthouse near Long Beach: an estimated 300,000-600,000d (roughly US$12 to 23) a night in low season
- Four travelers together: a self-drive car or a taxi by the leg splits down to less than the bike
The beaches are the free part
Almost every beach worth swimming at costs nothing. Sao Beach on the southern coast is the famous one, powder-white sand and clear shallow water, and you pay only for parking and whatever you drink. Khem Beach nearby is calmer and good with children. On the west coast, Long Beach runs for kilometers and is where the sunsets happen, best watched from around 5 to 6pm; the rocky headland at Dinh Cau, at the edge of Duong Dong, is the classic free viewpoint.
The north of the island is the budget traveler's advantage. It has been built on far less than the south, and Rach Vem is a stilt-house fishing village where the shallows fill with red starfish in the dry months and the seafood costs a fraction of the resort strip. Getting there is a rough ride on a bike and worth it.
- Sao Beach: the best sand on the island, parking an estimated 10,000-20,000d, go before 9am
- Khem Beach: clear and sheltered, good for families
- Long Beach and Dinh Cau: free sunsets, walking distance from most cheap rooms
- Rach Vem: starfish, stilt restaurants and prices well below the tourist coast
Rent the motorbike on day one. Every taxi fare you avoid to the southern beaches costs more than the day's hire, and the island is small enough to cross in an afternoon.
Eating well for very little
Phu Quoc's seafood is the reason to come hungry, and the price depends almost entirely on where you sit down. Skip the restaurants attached to the resort strip and eat at Ham Ninh fishing village on the east coast, at Rach Vem, or at the Duong Dong night market, where a full seafood dinner runs an estimated 150,000-300,000d (roughly US$6 to 12) per person if you order sensibly.
- Goi ca trich: raw herring salad dressed with lime and coconut, rolled in rice paper with herbs, an estimated 60,000-100,000d
- Bun quay: a noodle soup found only here, where you mix your own chili, lime and fish sauce at the table, an estimated 40,000-60,000d
- Steamed crab at Ham Ninh: buy at the village and have it cooked, far cheaper than a restaurant order
- Always ask the price per kilo and see the scales before anything is cooked
The one ticket worth paying for
If you spend on a single attraction, make it the Hon Thom cable car, a three-cable line running close to 8km (5 miles) over the sea to an island off the southern tip, with fishing boats and small islets underneath. A combination ticket runs an estimated 500,000-600,000d (roughly US$19 to 23) and normally includes the water park and beach at the far end, so treat it as a full day rather than a ride. Book online, bring your own snacks and water, and go early.
A three day plan
- Day 1: land, collect a bike, swim at Long Beach, sunset at Dinh Cau, dinner at the Duong Dong night market
- Day 2: ride south to Sao Beach for the morning, then An Thoi and the cable car for the rest of the day
- Day 3: north to Rach Vem or east to Ham Ninh for crab, buy fish sauce and pepper at a producer, then fly out
- Three day total excluding flights: an estimated 2,000,000-3,500,000d (roughly US$78 to 135) per person
Small savings that add up
- Buy fish sauce, pepper and rose myrtle wine at the producers rather than the souvenir shops
- Bring sunscreen, swimwear and sandals from home, since island prices for all three are steep
- Ride yourself instead of buying packaged day tours, if you are a confident rider
- Drink coconuts and eat local fruit rather than imported cold drinks
- Book rooms slightly back from the beachfront, where the same standard costs noticeably less
