Phu Quoc · a cultural day
The island you can’t see from the beach
Temples above the sea, the pepper and fish sauce all of Vietnam knows, and a difficult page of history — in one day, in an air-conditioned car with a guide just for your group.
The base programme is already included in the price. Below is what you can add.
The guide adjusts the order of stops to the weather and the roads. Times are approximate.
Your guide and driver pick you up from any hotel on the island in an air-conditioned car, with cold water on board for the whole day.
Phu Quoc pepper grows on vines, like grapes. You’ll see how it is picked and dried, and taste black, white and red pepper.
A Buddhist temple deep inland where locals come to pray. It is quiet here, and your guide will tell you how Buddhism and reverence for the sea live side by side on Phu Quoc.
The island’s largest monastery sits on a hillside right above the sea. A wide staircase, a bell tower and a view worth the trip even if temples are not your thing.
A museum on the site of a prisoner-of-war camp from the Vietnam War. It is a painful page of the island’s history, and the guide tells it calmly and respectfully. Part of the exhibition is graphic, so with young children this stop can be kept short.
Phu Quoc fish sauce was the first Vietnamese product to get a protected origin in the European Union. You’ll see the huge wooden vats where it matures for twelve months.
A Vietnamese restaurant: your guide will suggest which local dishes to try.
How pearls are grown on Phu Quoc — from the shell to the jewellery. There is no obligation to buy anything.
A stream with cascades in the rainforest and a short walk along a shady trail. The falls are full in the rainy season; in the dry months there is little water and your guide will suggest an alternative.
A small temple on a rock at the mouth of Duong Dong harbour. Fishermen come here to ask the sea goddess for calm water and a good catch. It is the place to watch the sunset, with the night market right next door.
We drive you back to your hotel. Or stay on at the night market — we’ll tell you how to get back.
Photos: Sketyl (CC BY 2.0), Liftold (CC BY-SA 3.0), Frank Fox (CC BY-SA 4.0), Bùi Thụy Đào Nguyên (CC BY-SA 3.0), ntt (CC BY-SA 3.0), Hoangvantoanajc (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
No extra charges along the way. Everything below is already in the price.
Not included: tickets and activities outside the programme, drinks with lunch other than water, personal purchases (pepper, sauce, pearls), optional tips for the guide and add-ons you didn’t choose.
The rules that apply to every tour.
This day is about the island, not the sea: you’ll have the beach at your hotel anyway. If you want both, add a boat day to the An Thoi islands.
Yes: you spend most of the day in an air-conditioned car and the walks are short. Ho Quoc and Su Muon pagodas have stairs. The Coconut Tree Prison exhibition is graphic, so with young children the guide will keep that stop short.
Shoulders and knees should be covered — a light scarf or shirt is handy. In some halls you take your shoes off at the entrance.
Yes. The tour is for your group only: you can drop a stop, stay longer where it’s interesting or head back earlier. We send the final programme in writing before you pay.
In the dry season there is little water at Suoi Tranh. Your guide will then suggest another stop along the way — let us know in advance what interests you most.
Paradise islandsA private boat to the An Thoi archipelago: fifteen islands, living coral, fishing and lunch on board made from your own catch.See the tour →
Phu Quoc LUXA beachfront resort, a cultural day around the island, a sunset catamaran cruise and a personal manager available around the clock.See the tour →
Open-sea fishingFishing at dawn from a boat just for your group: two fishing spots, breakfast and lunch on board, a swim in a quiet bay.See the tour →
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