Moving around, and what each way costs you
Phu Quoc is 50 kilometres long with one main road down the west side and red dirt behind it. How you move determines how much of the island you actually reach.
The five options
| How | Cost | Good for | Stops working when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scooter hire | 120,000 - 200,000 dong a day | Everything, if you can ride | It rains hard, or you have no licence |
| Grab car | 25,000 - 45,000 dong in town, 300,000+ to the north | Towns and the strip | You go north of Ong Lang or out after 22:00 |
| Grab bike | From 15,000 dong | Short hops in Duong Dong | Anywhere unsealed |
| Taxi | 20 - 30 per cent above Grab | Airport and late nights | Never really - but agree the meter |
| Private car and driver | 1,200,000 - 1,900,000 dong a day | Families and the north | It does not, but it is the expensive option |
For most visitors the sensible combination is Grab in and around Duong Dong and a private car or a tour for anything north of Cua Can. A scooter is the best option on the island if you can legally and competently ride one, and a bad idea otherwise.
The licence question, answered straight
To ride a motorcycle legally in Vietnam you need a Vietnamese licence, or a foreign licence together with an international driving permit issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention, which Vietnam recognises. A permit issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention - which is what many countries, including the United States, issue - is not valid here. Most rental shops on Phu Quoc will not ask you for any of this.
The consequence that matters is not the police, who rarely stop foreigners on this island. It is insurance. Almost every travel insurance policy excludes motorcycle claims when the rider was not licensed to ride, and a serious injury on a scooter in Vietnam is a genuinely expensive event. Hospital care on the island is limited and a medical evacuation to Ho Chi Minh City runs into thousands of dollars.
We do not check paperwork on our motorbike day and we do not lecture anybody. We offer a pillion seat at a similar price, behind a guide who rides that route weekly, which removes the legal and the insurance problem entirely. About half our riders take it.
The roads
| Road | Surface | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DT47 west coast, An Thoi to Duong Dong | Sealed, good | The main artery. Heavy truck traffic since the APEC works started |
| Duong Dong to Ham Ninh | Sealed, good | 35 minutes, one junction |
| Duong Dong north to Ong Lang and Cua Can | Sealed | Easy, 15 to 25 minutes |
| Cua Can to Ganh Dau | Sealed | Good road, quiet, 35 minutes |
| The northern dirt: Cua Can to Rach Vem to Bai Thom | Red laterite | Fine in the dry season, greasy clay after rain |
| The east coast tracks | Mixed | Long, empty, occasionally sandy |
| Inside the national park | Dirt tracks | Some are restricted. Do not go alone |
Roughly 130 kilometres of the island road network is sealed and several hundred kilometres are not. The red laterite is the reason the north stayed quiet, and in the dry season it is hard-packed and completely rideable on a scooter. After heavy rain it is not, and the transition happens within an hour of the rain starting.
Road closures for the APEC construction happen with little notice, most often around the airport corridor and the south. There is no reliable published source; asking a local at a coffee stall is genuinely the best method and it is what we do.
Hiring a scooter, practically
- Hire through your hotel or a shop with a physical address, not a man on the beach. Expect 120,000 to 180,000 dong a day, less for a week.
- Photograph the bike before you leave, all four sides, including existing scratches. Damage disputes are the most common complaint about scooter hire here.
- Do not hand over your passport. A deposit of 500,000 to 1,000,000 dong or a photocopy is normal and sufficient. Some shops will insist; go to another shop.
- Check the brakes and the tyres yourself, and reject anything with a bald rear tyre - which is common and is exactly what kills you on wet laterite.
- Wear the helmet properly. The ones supplied are usually thin. If you are riding for several days, buy a better one in Duong Dong for around 400,000 dong.
- Fill up in town. There are fuel stations along the west coast road and almost nothing north of Cua Can except roadside bottles.
What we do, and why
Our days run in a nine-seat van with our own driver, or on bikes on the back roads day. We do not use coaches and we do not use the dirt roads in a two-wheel-drive car, because we have pulled enough of them out.
If you are joining one of our days, you do not need transport of your own - pick-up from your hotel is included within Duong Dong, Long Beach, Ong Lang and Cua Can, and costs USD 8 per person from An Thoi, Sunset Town, Ganh Dau or Bai Thom. That supplement is 40 to 70 minutes of driving each way and we would rather charge for it than quietly start an hour earlier.
The dirt roads without the risk
Our guided day rides 45 kilometres of laterite with a support vehicle behind, and a pillion seat if you would rather not ride.
Questions travellers ask most
Is Grab reliable on Phu Quoc?
In Duong Dong, Long Beach and towards An Thoi, yes, at almost any hour of the day. It is cheaper than a taxi and there is no negotiation.
North of Ong Lang it thins out fast and after about ten at night in the north you may wait a long time or get nothing. Book a return with the driver.
Is it safe to ride a scooter here?
Safer than in Ho Chi Minh City and less safe than at home. The main road carries trucks and buses and people overtake into oncoming traffic; the dirt roads are empty but loose.
Wear a proper helmet, do not ride at night on the dirt, and do not ride after drinking, which is the single largest cause of the accidents we hear about.
Can we hire a car and drive ourselves?
Self-drive car hire exists but requires a Vietnamese licence, and it is rarely worth the trouble. A car with a driver costs 1,200,000 to 1,900,000 dong a day and removes every problem.
For a family of four doing two northern days, the driver option is usually cheaper than four Grab return trips.
How long does it take to get from one end to the other?
An Thoi to Ganh Dau, the two extreme ends, is about 95 minutes on sealed roads. Duong Dong sits in the middle and nothing is more than 70 minutes from it.
Add twenty per cent in the wet season and around the construction corridor.
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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.