№ 01One flight, and that is the whole point

Most long trips out of Hoi An are two legs and a compromise. Hoi An to Phu Quoc is not. Da Nang airport, 30 km from town, flies direct to Phu Quoc in 1 hour 45 minutes, with roughly five departures a day. You leave your hotel after breakfast and you are on a beach in the Gulf of Thailand by lunchtime.

That makes this the easiest long-haul route on the whole site — easier than Sapa, easier than Ha Long, easier than anywhere in the highlands. The only thing that needs planning is what time you leave Hoi An, because everything else is one boarding pass.

Door to door: four and a half to five hours, most of which is not moving. Compare that with 24 hours to Sapa and you can see why Phu Quoc is the beach people from Hoi An actually reach.

№ 02Every way to get there, priced

Phu Quoc fares behave differently from the rest of Vietnam. It is a holiday route, not a commuter one, so prices spike over Tet, Vietnamese school holidays and the December–February high season, and collapse in the wet months. A flight booked three weeks ahead in May can cost less than half the same seat booked three days ahead in January.

№ 03The visa trap nobody warns you about

Phu Quoc has a famous rule: foreign visitors can stay 30 days visa-free, regardless of nationality. It is genuinely generous, and it is genuinely not for you if you are reading this in Hoi An.

So plan Phu Quoc inside the visa you already hold, not as a way to extend it. Every year people fly down expecting a fresh 30 days, get counted as a domestic passenger, and discover the problem on the way out rather than on the way in. If your Vietnam visa is running short, the island is not the fix.

№ 04Flying direct from Da Nang

Vietjet runs the route several times a day and other carriers add more, for roughly five departures daily in the high season and fewer in the wet months. The flight is 795 km southwest, over the length of the country and out across the Gulf of Thailand, and it lands at Phu Quoc International Airport, 10 km south of Duong Dong, the island’s main town.

Getting to Da Nang airport from Hoi An is the only part that needs booking: 30 km, about 45 minutes, and worth pre-arranging with your hotel rather than hoping for a taxi at 05:00. Domestic check-in closes 40 minutes before departure, so for an 08:00 flight leave Hoi An by 06:00.

№ 05The long way: the delta and the ferry

There is no bridge and no road to Phu Quoc. If you refuse to fly, the journey is a bus to Ho Chi Minh City, a second bus down into the Mekong Delta, and a fast ferry from Rach Gia or Ha Tien.

Superdong and Phu Quoc Express run both crossings several times a day, and both sell out in the high season and in Vietnamese holiday weeks. The ferries also stop when the sea is rough, which in the southwest monsoon between May and October is a real possibility, so do not build a tight onward connection around one.

This route makes sense for exactly one kind of traveller: someone who actually wants to see the Mekong Delta and is stopping in Can Tho, Chau Doc or Ha Tien along the way. As a way of reaching a beach, it is two days of bus to save the price of a flight.

№ 06Getting around once you land

Phu Quoc is big — 50 km from Duong Dong in the middle to An Thoi in the south, with a national park covering more than half of it. Nothing is walkable except within a single beach strip.

The distances are the thing people underestimate. A resort on Long Beach to Sao Beach on the other side is an hour each way, and the road north to Ganh Dau is longer again. Pick your side of the island before you book the hotel, not after.

№ 07Phu Quoc is now a special zone of An Giang

This one is barely a year old and almost nothing in English has caught up. On 1 July 2025 Vietnam cut its provinces from 63 to 34, and Kien Giang was merged into An Giang. At the same time Phu Quoc stopped being a city and became a special zone (đặc khu) — a status created under Resolution 1654/NQ-UBTVQH15 for a handful of island territories.

In practice: Phu Quoc is now Phu Quoc Special Zone, An Giang province, with its own administration reporting straight to the province rather than through a district layer. Nothing has changed for a visitor — the airport, the ferries, the beaches and the town names are all the same — but an address, a permit, an invoice or a booking form that says “An Giang” may now mean the island, and one that still says “Kien Giang” is out of date rather than wrong.

The same reorganisation reshaped most of the delta you would cross on the overland route, including Can Tho, which absorbed two neighbouring provinces on the same day.

№ 08Renting a bike there, and why not here

We rent motorbikes in Hoi An and people ask us every week whether they can take one somewhere far away. For Phu Quoc the answer is not even a judgement call: there is no road to the island. A bike can only get there on a car ferry from the delta, 1,200 km away, which nobody sane does for a holiday.

Rent on the island instead — our Phu Quoc motorbike rental guide covers the shops and the going rates. Scooters go for roughly 150.000 to 250.000₫ a day, the main roads are wide and well surfaced, and the shops are used to visitors. The rules are the same as everywhere in Vietnam: you need a Vietnamese licence or your home licence with a 1968-convention International Driving Permit, helmets are compulsory and enforced, and no insurance covers a rider who was not licensed to be on the bike.

№ 09When to go, and how long to stay

Phu Quoc sits on the other side of the country’s weather. Its dry season is November to April — the opposite of the Gulf of Thailand’s reputation and, usefully, overlapping with Hoi An’s own cool dry months. From May to October the southwest monsoon brings heavy afternoon rain, rough water and ferry cancellations.

On length: three nights is the minimum worth flying for, four or five if you want the south of the island as well as your own beach. Because the flight is short, Phu Quoc also works as a genuine long-weekend from Hoi An in a way that Sapa or Ha Giang never can.

№ 10FAQ

How do I get from Hoi An to Phu Quoc?

Fly direct from Da Nang, 30 km from Hoi An. The flight takes 1 hour 45 minutes with around five departures a day, and door to door the whole trip is four and a half to five hours. There is no road or railway to the island, so the only alternative is a two-day bus journey to the Mekong Delta plus a ferry.

Is there a direct flight from Da Nang to Phu Quoc?

Yes. Vietjet operates the route several times a day and other carriers add services, for roughly five daily departures in high season. It is 795 km and takes 1 hour 45 minutes, landing 10 km south of Duong Dong town.

Does the Phu Quoc 30-day visa exemption apply if I fly from Da Nang?

No. The exemption only applies to foreigners entering Vietnam at Phu Quoc from another country, by air or sea. A domestic flight from Da Nang means you are already inside Vietnam, so your existing visa or exemption continues to apply and nothing resets.

Can I get to Phu Quoc by bus or train?

Not all the way. There is no bridge and no railway. The overland route is a sleeper bus to Ho Chi Minh City, a second bus to Rach Gia or Ha Tien in the Mekong Delta, then a fast ferry of one and a half to two and a half hours. It takes 36 to 40 hours in total.

How much does the trip from Hoi An to Phu Quoc cost?

Budget roughly 1.200.000 to 2.500.000₫ each way for the direct flight, depending on season and how far ahead you book, plus about 400.000₫ for the car to Da Nang airport. Going overland by bus and ferry costs 1.200.000 to 1.600.000₫ and takes nearly two days.

What province is Phu Quoc in now?

An Giang. Since 1 July 2025 Kien Giang has been merged into An Giang, and Phu Quoc itself became a special zone rather than a city. The island, the airport and the ferry routes are unchanged, but paperwork that used to say Kien Giang now says An Giang.

Should I rent a motorbike on Phu Quoc?

Yes, it is the practical way to see the island, which is 50 km long with a national park across the middle. Expect 150.000 to 250.000₫ a day. You still need a Vietnamese licence or your home licence with a 1968-convention International Driving Permit, and helmets are compulsory and enforced.

Flight distances and times follow airline listings current at the time of writing, and fares on this route move sharply with the season and with how far ahead you book. Ferry times and fares follow Superdong and Phu Quoc Express listings and are subject to weather. Visa-exemption conditions reflect the rules in force at the time of writing; confirm your own status with Vietnamese immigration before travelling. The merger of Kien Giang into An Giang and Phu Quoc’s designation as a special zone follow the 2025 provincial reorganisation effective 1 July 2025.

Anh Khoa rents motorbikes, e-bikes and bicycles in Hoi An; we do not sell flights or ferry tickets, we do not run tours or a private car service, and we do not rent bikes for trips outside the central provinces.