Five villages, and the honest state of each
Phu Quoc is 574 square kilometres with about 180,000 people on it. These five places are where most of them live and work, and they are changing at different speeds and in different directions.
The five, at a glance
| Place | What it is | Worth your time? | Our day that goes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ham Ninh | East coast crab and squid village | Yes, between 05:30 and 09:00 only | Fishing village morning |
| Rach Vem | Northern stilt hamlet in shallow water | Yes, but it is busier every year | Back roads by motorbike |
| Cua Can | River mouth, gardens, small boats | Yes - the most intact of the five | Village homestay |
| An Thoi town | Southern port town, the real harbour | Yes, for the harbour, not for the town | None yet - we visit on request |
| Duong Dong | The island capital and market town | Yes, and you will be there anyway | Street food night walk |
An Thoi is the one we have no scheduled day for. It is a genuinely interesting working port and it is also the part of the island most disrupted by construction, so we run it privately on request rather than selling a day we cannot promise.
How to think about the island
Phu Quoc splits into four bands and they are nothing like each other. Understanding that saves more time than any list of attractions.
The west coast strip
Duong Dong down to An Thoi: the airport, almost every hotel, Long Beach, the night market, the cable car. This is where you will sleep and it is not where the island lives.
The east coast
Ham Ninh and the shore facing the mainland. Shallow, muddy, no beach worth the name, and where the crab and squid actually come from.
The north
Cua Can up to Ganh Dau, Rach Vem and Bai Thom. Gardens, pepper, red dirt, forest and the emptiest roads. This is where our days spend most of their time.
The middle
The national park and the pepper country at Khu Tuong. Forest, laterite, a few farms and almost nobody.
What has actually changed, and how fast
It is worth being specific, because the general statement that Phu Quoc has been ruined is both widely repeated and not quite true.
| Change | When | Effect on these five places |
|---|---|---|
| Airport opened to international traffic | 2012 | Duong Dong tripled in size. The other four barely moved for a decade |
| The west coast resort build-out | 2015 - 2022 | Long Beach and the southwest became continuous hotel. Villages unaffected |
| Ham Ninh old stilt pier demolished | Around 2020 | The single biggest loss on this list. The village works off the shore now |
| Rach Vem discovered by domestic tourism | 2019 onwards | Cafes on stilts, a car park, and starfish handled to death at weekends |
| APEC 2027 construction programme | 2025 - 2027 | Roads, resettlement, dust. Worst around An Thoi and the airport corridor |
| Provincial reorganisation into An Giang | 2025 | Administrative only, but old addresses now say Kien Giang and confuse people |
The honest summary: two of the five have been changed materially, one has been improved by attention and two are close to what they were. Which is why we have a whole page arguing the question - see is Phu Quoc still authentic.
Where to base yourself for these villages
Almost nobody sleeps in the villages themselves, and only one of them has anywhere to sleep at all. The practical question is which part of the west coast strip you stay on, because it decides how much of your day is spent driving.
| Base | To Ham Ninh | To Cua Can | To Rach Vem | To An Thoi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duong Dong | 35 min | 25 min | 55 min | 40 min |
| Long Beach | 40 min | 30 min | 60 min | 30 min |
| Ong Lang | 40 min | 15 min | 45 min | 50 min |
| An Thoi / Sunset Town | 55 min | 60 min | 90 min | 5 min |
| Ganh Dau | 75 min | 35 min | 30 min | 95 min |
Ong Lang is the quiet compromise and Duong Dong is the practical one. Staying at the far southern end makes every day on this site 40 to 70 minutes longer each way, which is why we charge a supplement rather than pretending it is free. There is more in where to stay.
Questions travellers ask most
Can we visit these villages on our own?
All five, yes. Ham Ninh, Rach Vem and Cua Can are on public roads and nobody will stop you. Hire a scooter or take a Grab and go.
What you will get is the look of the place rather than the working of it, because the difference is entirely in whether anyone talks to you. If you speak Vietnamese, go alone and have a better time than most of our guests.
Which single village should we choose if we only have one morning?
Ham Ninh, before 07:00. It is the only one of the five where you can watch a whole working economy happen inside ninety minutes.
If you cannot face a 05:00 start, Cua Can in the late afternoon is the better answer, and it is closer.
Are the villages safe to walk around?
Yes, including after dark. Phu Quoc has very little street crime and the villages have effectively none.
The genuine hazards are traffic on the sealed roads, dogs that guard specific houses, and wet concrete on the piers. None of them are a reason not to go.
Is there anywhere to eat in the villages?
Ham Ninh has several seafood places aimed at day tour groups from about eleven, and one very good kitchen behind the pier that is not aimed at anybody.
Cua Can and Rach Vem have a handful of small places. An Thoi and Duong Dong have proper food in quantity. Nowhere in the villages takes cards.
Read next
Tell us what you want out of the island
Dates, party size and the places you care about are enough to start. You get a draft route and an indicative price, not a brochure.