Vietnam has the longest sea cable car in the world and it is situated on the island of Phu Quoc. In fact, the Phu Quoc cable car crosses several islands in the archipelago connecting Phu Quoc to Hon Thom island nearly 8km away.
Once in Phu Quoc, I was sure this was an experience I was really willing to have as the views look amazing on a sunny day. I made sure to go on a sunny day because usually, the water colors on islands fade a lot when the weather is gloomy, just like it happened when I visited May Rut Trong which ruined the idyllic blues the sea waters have.
I booked this Phu Quoc cable car trip through my hostel as she- the receptionist- quoted me 300K dong or 350K, I don’t remember clearly, for the trip, which ended up being a big misunderstanding as I asked for a total price to get there and come back, plus the cable car, but apparently this price wasn’t. After asking her what would be the cheapest way of doing it, because I was in the Duong Dong area and the cable car is much southern, she said if I did it with her it would be 300K. She never mentioned another number even once. I paid that amount in advance to make sure it was the value of this whole trip, and I haven’t been mistaken. But apparently, she was quoting me only the Phu Quoc cable car, when I clearly asked her the price for everything, cause I needed to get there somehow obviously… The next day she asked me for another 600K for the transport!!! This was the 1st time ever I felt like someone was trying to fool me big time.
So, the previous day, I said I wanted to pay for the trip and she accepted only 300K so the next day she could ask me for more??? What was the point of me paying half in advance if I ALWAYS mentioned to her I was looking for transport to the cable car too? I felt very scammed with this situation and for the 1st time ever in my life, I had an argument with a local in Asia. She was not being fair to me and I knew it because had she ever mentioned 1Million Dong I would never do it because I was heading south the next day and I could rent a motorbike to go there. But as she said 300K, I thought it was a good deal and decided to do it.
I told her I wouldn’t pay for it and after a discussion where all the guests were staring at us, we agreed to split the costs of the transportation. Because she pretended she didn’t understand me, I’m sure she did understand, but I thought it wasn’t fair anyway for me to just pay nothing for the transport. I don’t know exactly what she tried to do, but one thing I’m sure of, she knew I was trying to get the cheapest option to do this Phu Quoc cable car trip, and her service was not it. This was the most dishonest person I met so far, and honestly, I’m not surprised it happened in Vietnam, even though I love this country, it is filled with tourist scams.
I really don’t know what could have I done differently to avoid this misunderstanding, because I made sure to ask so many times the price for the whole trip, and I think it is obvious that I somehow needed to get to the cable car, so I obviously needed a price for the transport.
Phu Quoc cable car
Anyway, I was still able to enjoy a very sunny day with an amazing view from the longest cable car in the world which takes about 20 minutes to complete its trajectory. I didn’t know much about the area where the Phu Quoc cable car was, so it was a surprise when I got there. This place looks familiar haha It looks like freakin’ Europe!!! There is the Colosseum, an Italian famous clock tower, and some Roman-like ruins, and the architecture of the houses is definitely European-inspired. What on earth! There are Roman figures painted on walls and overall a feeling that this is not Vietnam. Weird the least.
The cable cars are not running all the time. There is a break for lunch time I guess. When I went in the morning, there was a big line of people, mostly Vietnamese.
The ticket includes a cable car ride both ways and access to the waterpark attractions on Hon Thom Island. I think it is a good price. There is also a more expensive option that includes a buffet lunch on the island.
The views from the Phu Quoc cable car are awesome. We come across several different landscapes as we come closer to different islands on the way to the final destination.
Hon Thom Island Park
Once at Hon Thom Island, I was free to do whatever I wanted. There are several attractions and water slides and I made sure to try some of them. One of the attractions I was really wanting to ride was the wooden roller coaster. I have a friend who mentioned how fun it was, so I went after it the 1st thing I could. The ride was definitely fun so it felt short! I could have done it for longer! Was pretty cool even though I have been to scarier roller coasters!
Next, there was this tower with a 360º view of the island. There is an area where people sit that spins as it goes up and down so you can have a 360º view of Hon Thom. Beautiful view of two beaches from there so I totally recommend it!
There are more water-related activities in this park that I didn’t try, so the rest of the time I spent exploring the island. From the Phu Quoc cable car, I saw a beautiful beach further that I tried to access by foot, but there was a site under construction on the way there and people didn’t allow me to go through. They must be building something big in that area. Being that, I was left with 2 other beaches to explore.
Bien Hon Thom beach
Bien Hon Thom is the most popular one and where everybody stays. It has free sunbeds and a beautiful grass-covered area filled with coconut trees that look stunning. This area is really beautiful!! The water is beautiful too and the scenery is idyllic. There is even a lifeguard station… but, if you dare step a few meters to the left, the image totally changes. Amazing how truly just a few meters away the idyllic scene turns into a poor scene. Just next to that beach is a local area where there are small houses made with metal sheets surrounded by trash. Even the water at the beach is dirty and trashy and smelly, all this a few meters away from paradise, amazing! I dared to walk until I could in this trashy smelly area overlooking the fishing boats from the people that live on this island. The community seems to be small. There are some floating houses too, or fishing stations I’m not sure, and I can surely hear them singing karaoke, what else haha
Bai Truong beach
After meeting this reality, I decided I wanted to visit the other not-so-popular beach that I saw from the viewpoint tower. At first, people told me I couldn’t go there, but once in this local area, I saw a street that I thought would be the way so I followed. Here there were some locals with fruit stalls, and the food stalls were closed when I passed by. If you want to buy something on this island for a Vietnamese price, this is the area. Out of here, everything is very overpriced.
I walked past the local community towards Bai Truong, but no one seemed to walk there. There is a fence that separates the path that I’m walking now, from the attractions of the park. This area seems to be prepared to receive some construction work soon. Probably in the future, this area will also be more tourist-dedicated. Once I reach this beach opposite to Bien Hon Thom, the reality is very different. There is absolutely no one here, it is very windy and dirty. The sand is filled with trash and obviously, no one cares about this beach for now. But, there were some freshly planted coconut trees and the area seemed to be working towards a brighter future. I saw absolutely no one while here.
When the time of the last Phu Quoc cable cars was approaching I left for another beautiful bird eye view of the islands near Phu Quoc. Beautiful!
Sunset town beach
As I still had some daytime to enjoy, I decided to walk around the very European-looking area that surprised me. This is definitely not a place where you come to see Vietnam. It feels really weird because it is so European, so clean, and empty, I have mixed feelings about it cause the place surely looks gorgeous but it doesn’t make sense to see what I’m seeing there haha. I think this area might be more oriented to Asian tourists who have never been to Europe and would like to have a look at it. For Europeans, I think this place doesn’t make a lot of sense even though no one can take the architectural beauty away from it.
There is also a man-made beach with clean white sand and palm trees. It looks great. I also came across a public infinity pool. Yes, you heard it. It was just there a completely empty infinity pool overlooking the ocean with some quite pleasant background music. No one was there to stop me from getting in If I wanted, so I guess everyone can enjoy this swimming pool. I was honestly blown away by this place, everything was just so unexpected Oh lord, surprise at every corner. It makes it weirder for being so depleted of people… there are many houses there but I think no one lives in this ghostly-like place. It was a new experience!
I stayed there for sunset and more people showed up for that time. There is also an area that is still under construction: a walking path on the water that leads to a distinct shaped building that I guess will be one more attraction soon. At the time I didn’t know, but there is apparently some kind of water show going on there at dusk.
And that was how I spent my day in Phu Quoc. Honestly, I really recommend the Phu Quoc cable car trip as it offers beautiful views. I think going with some friends would be nice so you could have fun at the water attractions in the park on Hon Thom. I think you can enjoy a full day in Hon Thom cause I believe it is worth it.
