Introduction -36 hours in Phu Quoc, Vietnam

One place that has been high on my list of places to go has been Phu Quoc, Vietnam, ever since the first time I saw a VietJet flying in from there to Hong Kong. I consider myself fairly well traveled in Southeast Asia, but I had never heard about this island before, so I quickly had to google it and the more I read the more interested I got in going there.

• In this series:
• Introduction to my trip to Phu Quoc
• Review – VietJet A320 Hong Kong – Phu Quoc
• Review – Shells Resprt and Spa, Phu Quoc
• Around Phu Quoc report
• Review – Vietjet A320 Phu Quoc – Hong Kong.

VietJet is the only airline operating direct flights from Hong Kong to Phu Quoc, and unfortunately they only operate a few times per week, so it was very hard for me to find flights that actually suited me on my days off. I think I have been looking for flights ever since March this year, and whenever they would fly on my days off I already had other plans for those days, but finally last month I was able to a flight that suited me.

The booking was made on September 11th, and my flight were to be VietJet VJ977 from Hong Kong to Phu Quoc on October 28, departure 16:40 and arrival 18:25. Return flight on October 30th, VJ976, departure 11:55 and arrival 15:40. The price for the ticket was 643 HKD, plus taxes and fees. VietJet is a low cost operator, and they also charge extra if you want food, seat allocation and checked in baggage. I (as always on a low cost operator) choose to pay extra to get the window seat on emergency exits, and they charged 88 HKD for the seat allocation each way, which I find very reasonable. Total price for the ticket came to 1.324 HKD including all taxes and fees.

Unfortunately the timings of the flight are not too good for a quick visit, arriving at half past six in the evening and departing noon 2 days later gives you an evening and one full day to explore, and just a lazy morning before heading back to the airport. But as the choice was either this or not traveling at all, and with the flight prices being so low I decided to go ahead anyways 🙂

I had spent a while looking on Google maps of the island and areas before I decided what resort I wanted to stay at. I had noticed that accommodation was very reasonably priced, and decided to stay at a more luxurious resort than I normally would, and ended up booking a garden bungalow in The Shells Resort and Spa. It is located on the west coast of the Island, just north of the small town called Dương Đông.

I booked the stay through Agoda.com, and the total price for 2 nights including all taxes and breakfast was 1397.42 HKD, or 700 HKD per night. I was promised a 80 square meters bungalow with garden view, so there should be plenty of space for me there.