The best sand, and the busiest coast
Bai Khem and Bai Sao are the two best swimming beaches on the island. They are also at the end of the most heavily developed road on it. Both of those things are true at once.
At a glance
| Where | The southeastern and southern tip of the island |
| The two beaches that matter | Bai Khem and Bai Sao, both on the east side |
| From Duong Dong | 40 to 50 minutes |
| From the airport | 25 to 40 minutes |
| Season | November to May, when the east coast is in the lee |
| Nights | Two to four if you want a beach holiday with day trips attached |
What this place actually is
The southeast corner of Phu Quoc has the finest sand on the island. Bai Khem and Bai Sao are both east-facing bays of pale, almost powder sand with shallow water that stays shallow a long way out. In the northeast monsoon, roughly November to April, they sit in the lee and are flat calm while the west coast has chop on it. That combination is genuinely hard to find and it is why they are worth the drive.
The southern end of the island is also where almost all of the recent construction has happened. Sunset Town at the southern tip is a purpose-built development, An Thoi is a working harbour town with the cable car terminus attached, and the road south from the airport passes several kilometres of ongoing building. If your image of Phu Quoc is an undeveloped island, the south is where that image collides with the present.
The honest way to use the south is to accept the trade. You are going for two of the best beaches in Vietnam and a sunset over open water, and you are going to drive past a lot of concrete to get to them. That is a good trade for a day. It is a worse trade for a week, which is why we suggest most people base themselves further north.
The beaches, compared
| Beach | Sand | Water | Crowds | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bai Khem | Very fine, pale | Shallow, sheltered, usually calm | Moderate, resort-controlled in part | The better swim of the two |
| Bai Sao | Very fine, white | Shallow, calm Nov – Apr | Busy from 10:00, quiet before | The longer beach, the famous one |
| Bai Truong, southern end | Coarser, golden | Open, west-facing | Thin | For sunsets, not for the sand |
| An Thoi town beach | Working harbour | Not for swimming | n/a | Go for the boats, not the beach |
| Sunset Town waterfront | Built, not natural | Not a swimming beach | Busy at sunset | The sunset, the bridge, the cable car |
Go to Bai Sao before 09:30 or after 16:00 if you can. Between those hours it takes the output of every hotel transfer on the island. Bai Khem holds up better through the day because part of it sits behind a resort and the through traffic is lower.
When to come
| Months | The east coast | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| November – February | Flat, calm, clear, in the lee of the wind | The best window |
| March – April | Hot and still, water like glass | Excellent, busy around Tet |
| May | Turning, still usually good | Good, quieter |
| June – August | The wind swings and the east coast gets weed and chop | The west coast is better |
| September | Wettest month, seaweed on the sand | Skip |
| October | Improving, very few people | Good value |
This is the exact opposite of the west coast, which is calm in the southwest monsoon and choppy in the northeast one. On Phu Quoc there is always a swimmable coast; it is just not always the same one. When to go has the full month-by-month picture.
Getting there and what it costs
| From | Distance | Time | Taxi or Grab |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airport to Bai Khem | 12 km | 20 minutes | VND 180,000 – 250,000 |
| Airport to Bai Sao | 15 km | 25 minutes | VND 200,000 – 280,000 |
| Duong Dong to Bai Sao | 28 km | 45 minutes | VND 350,000 – 450,000 |
| Duong Dong to An Thoi | 30 km | 45 minutes | VND 350,000 – 450,000 |
| Bai Sao to An Thoi | 10 km | 20 minutes | VND 120,000 – 180,000 |
| Item | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sunbed and umbrella at Bai Sao | VND 50,000 – 150,000 | Or free if you eat at the place behind it |
| Lunch on the sand | VND 200,000 – 500,000 for two | Seafood by weight — check the scales |
| Beach entrance where charged | VND 0 – 50,000 | Some access points charge, most do not |
| Cable car to Hon Thom, return | Around USD 12 – 22 | A separate half day |
| Kayak or paddleboard hire | VND 100,000 – 250,000 per hour | Negotiable outside high season |
Pictures
Tours that use the south
Every boat to the An Thoi islands leaves from the harbour here, including our four islands day trip and the diving day. All four of our multi-day tours spend their first day on these beaches, finishing with the sunset at the southern tip, because it is the correct way to start a trip here — you see the best sand on day one and everything after that is a bonus.
When to skip it
- Between June and September, when the east coast catches the wind, the water goes murky and seaweed lands on Bai Sao. Use the west coast instead.
- Midday in high season at Bai Sao, when it is genuinely crowded and the parking is a problem.
- If you are staying in the north. It is a 90-minute drive each way and there are perfectly good beaches 20 minutes from you.
- If new construction spoils a place for you. Parts of the drive south are an active building site and will be for some years.
Questions travellers ask most
Which is better, Bai Sao or Bai Khem?
Bai Khem for the swim and the calm, Bai Sao for the length of the beach and the photographs. If you only have one afternoon, do Bai Khem at 15:00 and Bai Sao at 17:00 as the light drops — they are twenty minutes apart and doing both is easy.
Is Bai Sao free to enter?
The beach itself is public. Some access points are through restaurants or resorts that charge a small fee or expect you to buy something, and one or two charge for parking. Nothing on the level that should change your plans; carry small notes.
Is Sunset Town worth visiting?
For the sunset, yes, once. It is a purpose-built development at the southern tip with a bridge out over the water, and the sunset there is over open sea with nothing in the way. It is also busy, commercial and entirely manufactured, and nobody has ever told us they wanted a second evening there.
Can we swim at An Thoi?
Not usefully. It is a working harbour with the fishing fleet, the ferry berths and the boat traffic for every island trip on the island. Go for the boats and the market; drive ten minutes to Bai Khem to swim.
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