Best things to do in Phu Quoc
Our family was fortunate to live on Phu Quoc in a resort for three months. We decided to visit Phu Quoc island in December, 2020 to escape the 'cold' of Central Vietnam. We thought we'd stay a month, maybe two. Early on, we didn't think we'd stay long at all, the island was almost deserted because of Covid. It had a bit of a ghost town vibe and it took us a while to find a part of the island we really liked. I'm glad we found our resort, Le Forest, as this was a brilliant location and it made us happy to stay a lot longer than we planned.
Free: Visit Starfish Beach
One of the first places we visited was Starfish Beach. This is in the north of the island. There are a lot of tours you can do that will include this beach. We were fortunate to spread our first ten days around the island, and spent a week at Hani Villa in the north. From that villa, it was a short trip to the northern tip to see the Starfish beach.
We also really liked that it could be a cheap day out, just petrol and a bahn mi on the way. It's always great when you can enjoy family time at the beach on the low to no cost.
Starfish Beach, was a great place to spend New Years day, 2021
Free: Watch Unforgettable Sunsets
We loved the Sunsets from The Palmy Resort and surrounding beaches. The infinity pool here was gorgeous. This was a fantastic place to head to after our dinner and enjoy a drink and swim with the incredible views.
The Palmy Resort, Phu Quoc - One of the nicest spots to watch the incredible sunsets
Free: Night Markets
Another free activity, but maybe not so free if you like to spend money at tourist markets, is visiting the Phu Quoc night markets. This is a great evening where you can walk through the seafood markets and enjoy fresh fish and seafood. Possibly not so fun if you don't enjoy the seafood though.
Our family had a great time at the markets, but our tip is don't make our mistake. We parked at the top end of town, near the wharf thinking it was free parking, as all the locals were parked in the same area. The problem was, there was a sign, in Vietnamese, that we didn't read or notice. When we returned, our bikes were gone! Check out our post below to find out what happened.
Inflatable Park
This awesome inflatable park was a short walk from our stay at Le Forest Resort. It was a fun place to get the kids out and about and jumping around in the ocean. Smaller kids might need a hand, but it was great fun for the older children. It's also at a reasonable price.
Again, we were spoilt to be visiting at at time when there weren't many other people around. Our family had the whole park to ourselves. I'd expect it to be quite different now, since Vietnam has opened up again.
In front of the bar located here: Map Location
Our kids had fun climbing over the obstacles on the inflatable water park - 2021
Rory's Beach Bar
Mini Golf and a salt water ocean pool make this place an awesome place to visit on the Eastern side of the island. It's owned by Rory, a cool Australian guy that may or may not have a Lamb roast on a Sunday. We just happened to stop by on the right day and enjoy a local gathering. It was a place we'd planned to return to, however, for some reason, we just never made it back over there. We'll definitely head back over when we do Phu Quoc, Round 2 in February / March 2023.
Free: Volleyball
If you're anything like us and have children who are kind of like animals (they need to run for ages otherwise they are somersaulting off the furniture), then sports are always a lot of fun. We found a few places to play volleyball. These can be free, but you'll probably need to bring your own ball.
Sailing Club
The Sailing Club was the closest area for us to play volleyball for free. It is on the South Eastern side of the island. At the time we visited, this area was a bit of a ghost town. Parking wasn't an issue and we had the place to ourselves. It was an easy morning or evening out for our family, and great fun seeing everyone improve their skills. We'll definitely head back this way.
I wasn't as fit as the rest of the family, so I spent a bit of time just chilling on the swing, hanging below the palm trees near the Sailing Club - February 2021
Bãi Khem
Of all the beaches we visited, this one place felt like paradise. It's the part where all the big resorts are. Again, we were really lucky to visit at a time where there were no tourists. It was just us. We parked our bikes, and wandered through the palm trees to the beach that was simply stunning. There aren't really words to describe it. I do have a video, surprisingly I haven't got any actual photos of this one. So you'll have to trust me. It's worth a visit. This would be my pick of the best place to visit / thing to do in Phu Quoc. It is truly stunning.
Sunworld
Our family is always a fan of water parks anywhere we go. We'd visited Sun World Ba Na Hills (not a water park) and the Vin Pearl Land in Hoi An (which did have a water park). I'd say this Sun World park was our favourite waterpark we visited in Vietnam. It was extra special because you take a ride there in a gondola over the islands. You can see what that's like in our video below.
This is the kind of day you can get up early for, grab a bahn mi and enjoy the whole day running around laughing with the family. I know it'll be one of the first places we go to when we return. And I'd say if we have to let the kids vote, this would be at the top of their list of best things to do in Phu Quoc, probably close to the top of my list too!
There are so many places to see and things to do in Phu Quoc. Even though we were there three months, we still missed a lot of things. If you do visit, it's unlikely that you'd be bored!
Have you visited? What do you think are the best things to do in Phu Quoc? Let us know in the comments below. We'd love to hear what we've missed so we make sure to get there when we return in 2023.
