Phu Quoc Guide

Finally we reached the last stop of our Vietnam trip - Phu Quoc. Some people may find this name unfamiliar, but I want to assure you that this is the place to go if you are looking for unpolluted, beautiful beach but you want to avoid the crowd in popular islands such as Boracay or Phuket. To note that there is no direct flight from Malaysia/Singapore to Phu Quoc.

Transport

There are two ways to get to Phu Quoc from Ho Chi Minh (HCM):

1. Domestic flight

We took Jetstar. The flight duration is close to 1 hour. We booked our flight ticket with Jetstar, priced at SGD 131.94, not considered as cheap for a domestic flight. However, this would be the most convenient way especially when you are travelling with bulky luggage.

2. Bus and ferry

If time is not a concern and your ultimate goal is to save as much money as possible, this is probably the way. Firstly, you have to take a bus from HCM to Ha Tien pier by bus, followed by a ferry ride to Phu Quoc. The trip will take about 11 hours in total and cost about 20 USD.

Goodbye to HCM.

Accommodation
Cassia Cottage
Probably the most expensive stay during our trip, but this 2-night stay worth any penny and I wish I stayed longer. Located at a peaceful corner of the island, you do not need to worry about the transport because it offers pick-up service from airport. We chose to stay in garden cottage as it was one of the cheaper option. The interior design of the cottage is elegant. The beach is just about 5-min walk away. You can also choose to spend time at their own swimming pool.

Activities
Full Day Snorkeling Tour
We signed up the tour with John's Travel. At 17 USD per pax, you get the transfers between hotel and the South Phu Quoc, a visit to pearl form (which I found it rather boring as the one at Halong Bay was better maintained), fishing session (equipment will be provided, do not expect professional kind, it's just merely for exposure and fun), snorkeling at 2 sites, lunch on board and finally relax & swim at Sao Beach. It is a full-day tour from 8.30am to 5pm. The tour was definitely over-crowded with participants, but given the cheap price, we shouldn't complain much. As our hotel is located quite far from the port, so we were picked up at 7.20am instead.

We sneaked out at night to view the beach. The wind was blowing really strongly.

This is the early morning view.

The evening view. I must have been obsessed with that coconut tree.

The colour was pale as the sky was gloomy. Still, I was amazed by its beauty and cleanliness.

Waiting for our turn to board the long tail boat.

So crowded. Luckily it was just a short trip to get to the larger ferry.

Sea urchins! So many of them!

I was actually afraid of this little spiky creature.

A small seafood shop on the sea, where you can select and make purchase of the freshest catch of the day.

It is easy to operate, but be careful as a tour mate was accidentally cut by the bait hook.

We caught a little poor fish, that we released back to sea afterwards.

They come in raw and grilled version. 1 USD for one.

I tried one and it was so yummy!

Ready to embrace the sea.

The water was crystal clear. Though we didn't see a huge variety of fish species.

Lunch! The dishes were shared by a lot of people (in fact I lost count) and I had to admit that I wasn't full at all. We even had difficulty to fit everyone at the table.

Relaxing on Sao Beach.

Sunrise and Sunset
Back in hotel, after taking a shower, we decided to chill at the beach outside Cassia Cottage. It's a private beach reserved for the guests, thus it wasn't crowded at all. We stayed to watch the sunset before heading out for dinner.

Though I found my expression childish, but the streaks of sunlight were so beautiful.

Sunrise on the next morning.

Food
The Spice House
Their breakfast buffer is so awesome!!! We were too busy eating that we didn't snap any photo. However, we had our first dinner in Phu Quoc here, because we came via an evening flight, thankfully that the restaurant was still in business at the time we reached. Here's the food we ordered. The food was delicious, though the price fell at the higher range.

Street Food

We took a taxi out for dinner. It was booked by the kind hotel receptionist, who also made the recommendation of the dining place (sorry, I couldn't remember the name, but it wasn't far from Cassia). Surprise, we met out guides from John's Travel!!! We sat down together to chat, drink beer and enjoy our seafood. It was a fun night filled with laughter though we might not fully understand what each other was talking about.

My face turned red easily after just half mug of beer.

Leaving Phu Quoc to Cambodia
We took a ferry to Ha Tien. We opted for fast ferry in order to save time. The journey took about 2.5 hours. The trip was quite comfortable, we just slept through the journey. It would be a long journey to Siem Reap.