Four days, including the forest
The first length that reaches the interior. Three guided days plus a forest morning at Suoi Da Ban, and a free afternoon that is genuinely free.
At a glance
- Duration
- 4 days, 3 nights
- Group
- Max 8 on land, 12 on the boat
- Starts
- Phu Quoc airport or any island hotel
- Ends
- Phu Quoc airport or any island hotel
- Difficulty
- Easy, with one 6 km forest walk
- From
- USD 385 per person
What the fourth day buys you
Two things, and they are worth separating. The first is the interior. Over half of Phu Quoc is national park and it is invisible from every road a normal itinerary uses. Six kilometres on a forest trail is not a wilderness expedition, but it does show you that the island has a middle, which three days does not.
The second is an afternoon with nothing in it. Four days is the first length where we can leave one half-day unscheduled without the tour feeling thin, and after three days that each start before 08:00 that afternoon is not a gap in the itinerary — it is part of the design. Most people sleep, swim and eat somewhere they found themselves.
The forest morning is seasonal in the opposite direction to the boat day, which is worth planning around. The streams at Suoi Da Ban run from about June to December and are largely dry rock from February to May. The An Thoi boat day runs best November to April. The overlap — November, December, and to a lesser extent June and January — is when this tour is at its best.
Day by day
Southern beaches and the sunset at the southern tip
Met at the airport or your hotel. Bai Khem for the first swim, lunch on the sand, then Bai Sao through the middle of the afternoon.
Down to An Thoi and Sunset Town for sunset over open water, then back to your hotel by 19:30 or dropped at the Duong Dong night market if you would rather eat there.
The An Thoi archipelago
Aboard at 08:45, first reef at 09:20, three snorkelling stops and a beach lunch at Hon May Rut. Twelve people maximum, guide in the water, back ashore at 16:30.
The evening is free. This is the night the squid fishing boat fits if you want it, at USD 29 per person — it is a long day and plenty of people do both.
North through the pepper country to Ganh Dau and Rach Vem
Depart 08:00. A working pepper smallholding at Khu Tuong, a fish sauce house where you walk between the vats, then Ganh Dau at the western tip for lunch on the sand.
Rach Vem in the afternoon, with starfish in the shallows if the tide is low and calm, and a river stop at Cua Can on the way home for the late light. Back by 17:30.
A forest morning at Suoi Da Ban, then an afternoon that is yours
An early start — 07:00 — because the forest is bearable before 11:00 and hard work after it. Six kilometres on a marked trail inside the national park, under closed canopy, with a ranger permit and a guide who walks it weekly.
The route ends at the Suoi Da Ban stream pools, which in the wet half of the year are deep enough to swim in. Dry clothes stay in the vehicle. You are back at the hotel by 13:00 with the whole afternoon free, and we run you to the airport whenever your flight requires.
Prices
| Group size | 3-star hotel, per person | 4-star beachfront, per person |
|---|---|---|
| 2 travellers | USD 520 | USD 670 |
| 3 – 4 | USD 440 | USD 565 |
| 5 – 8 | USD 385 | USD 500 |
Upgrading day four from the six kilometre walk to the full eleven kilometre trek costs USD 22 per person and moves your return to about 16:30, which removes the free afternoon. Do it only if you walk regularly; the trek page is honest about how hard it is.
What the price includes
- Three nights with breakfast in one hotel — no moving mid-tour
- All island transfers including both airport runs
- An English-speaking island guide on all four days
- The An Thoi boat day, capped at 12, with gear, lunch and port fees
- The northern road day in a 16-seat van with 8 seats sold
- National park entry, the ranger permit and a packed lunch on the trail
What it does not include
- Flights to and from Phu Quoc
- Dinner on any evening
- Travel insurance, which must cover hiking for day four
- Walking shoes — bring your own
- Tips
Gallery
Who this tour is not for
- Anyone who does not want to walk at all. Day four is six kilometres on uneven ground and there is no shorter version of it — if that is a problem, book three days and add a beach day of your own.
- Travellers here in March, April or May, when the stream pools are dry rock and the forest morning loses most of its point.
- People who want two free days. Four days has one free afternoon; five days has a genuinely open day.
- Anyone with a flight out before 15:00 on day four.
- Groups of nine or more, who need a second vehicle and a second boat.
Questions travellers ask most
Is the forest morning suitable for children?
From about eight for the six kilometre version, which is the one included here. It is a marked trail with no scrambling and a swim at the end, and children generally cope with it better than the adults do. The full eleven kilometre trek is twelve and over.
Can we swap the forest day for a second beach day?
On a private booking, yes, and we will reduce the price by USD 30 per person because the permit and the guide come out. On a shared departure, no.
We would gently push back, though. The forest is the one part of this island that nobody sells and everybody who does it remembers.
What is the free afternoon actually for?
Nothing, deliberately. After three days starting before 08:00 most people want an afternoon on a beach without a schedule. If you want us to fill it, we can — a cooking class, the cable car, a massage, a second beach — but we do not put it in the itinerary and charge you for it by default.
Do you move hotels during the four days?
No. One hotel for all three nights. The island is small enough that moving north for one night costs more time in packing and checking in than it saves in driving, and we have tried it both ways.
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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.