South islands by speedboat, 09:00 from An Thoi

This is the trip most visitors mean when they say "the island tour". It suits people who want to be in the water: the two morning stops are for snorkelling over shallow reef, and the afternoon is a beach and, if you pay for it, the Sun World park on Hon Thom. You need to be comfortable stepping between a pier and a small boat, sitting in an open speedboat for each crossing between islands, and spending most of the day in sun.

The shape of the day follows the pattern south-island operators publish: hotel pickup around 07:00 from Duong Dong, departure from An Thoi at about 09:00, two island stops before lunch, Hon Thom in the afternoon, and back at the An Thoi pier around 17:00 to 17:30. We run it as a join-in departure with seats sold individually, or as a private boat for one party.

These are our planned windows. They are built on published drive times: about 40 to 50 minutes from Duong Dong to An Thoi, and about 40 to 50 minutes between Duong Dong and the Bai Dai and Ganh Dau area. The exact pickup minute for your hotel is sent the evening before, once the passenger list is final. Be in the lobby at the start of the window; the van waits five minutes after the time we send, then moves on to the next hotel.

Hotels outside the four zones, for example Ong Lang, Cua Can or Ham Ninh, are collected by arrangement or asked to meet the van at a hotel inside a zone. The full rules are on the pickup zones and times page.

The Hon Thom cable car runs from the island back to Ga Anh Duong station in Sunset Town, south Phu Quoc. It holds the Guinness record for the longest non-stop three-rope cable car at 7,899.9 m, and the ride takes about 15 minutes, against about 30 minutes by boat.

The ticket covers the return cable car, the Aquatopia water park and the Exotica rides, so you pay for the park whether you use it or not. Choose this option if you want the park; if you only want the view, the boat back is already in the tour. Cable car guests either make their own way from Sunset Town or are collected there at about 17:45 for the same drop-off run.

Island trips from An Thoi run again after the July 2026 suspension, with stricter inspections since then: vessel registration checks, mandatory life jackets and no overloading. This is the routine we hold every boat to:

1. Registered vessel only, with its registration and inspection papers on board. We use open speedboats and decline enclosed-cabin canoes, which the provincial tourism department asked to be reviewed for island tours.
2. Headcount at the pier against the passenger list. The number on board never exceeds the vessel's registered capacity, whatever the demand that day.
3. Life jackets fitted at the pier, one per person in the right size, children's sizes included, and worn whenever the boat is moving.
4. Safety briefing before departure: where the spare jackets are, how to move on board, what to do if told to hold on.
5. The captain can shorten the route, change the order or turn back at any point. That decision is not negotiable by guests or by us.

Your part: sit where the crew puts you, keep the jacket fastened, and tell the guide before the trip if anyone cannot swim, is pregnant or has back trouble. Open speedboats bump in any chop.

Three parties can stop a boat day. The authorities can halt departures: in July 2023 the provincial port authority suspended boat services when waves of 1.5 to 2.75 m were forecast, and in July 2025 local authorities stopped inter-island boat tours ahead of storm Wipha. On the morning, the captain decides whether the sea at An Thoi is fit to sail. And we decide the evening before if the forecast is clearly bad.

The seasonal pattern matters more than any single forecast. November to April is the smooth season. From May afternoons get choppier and operators move departures earlier; some routes are suspended in September, and An Thoi island-hopping is often unreliable in September and October. If your dates fall then, book the trip early in your stay so there is room to move it. More detail is on when day tours get cancelled.

Phu Quoc has two wind seasons, and they decide how this trip feels. In the north-east monsoon, roughly November to April, the island is dry and sunny and the west coast is calm; the run from An Thoi through the islands is usually flat, and the water is at its clearest for snorkelling. April adds heat: midday temperatures often reach 34 to 36 °C, so the shade on Hon May Rut matters.

In the south-west monsoon, roughly May to October, waves build on the west coast and the water turns murkier. The trip still runs on many days, but with earlier starts, shorter crossings and a higher chance of a stop being dropped. July to September can bring storms with heavy rain and strong wind, though Phu Quoc is among the places in Vietnam least often hit directly.

How we build each quote is on the pricing page; the steps from form to confirmed seat are on how to book.