Eleven kilometres into the interior
Over half of Phu Quoc is national park and almost nobody walks in it. This is a proper day on foot — eleven kilometres, a stream crossing and a ridge — with a permit and a guide who knows where the leeches are.
At a glance
- Duration
- One day, on the trail 08:30 – 15:00
- Group
- Max 8 walkers plus a guide
- Starts
- Hotel pick-up from 07:00
- Ends
- Back at your hotel by 16:30
- Difficulty
- Moderate — 11 km, 400 m ascent
- From
- USD 65 per person
Who this day is for
People who walk. Not people who would like to have walked — this is eleven kilometres in humidity that rarely drops below 80%, and it is the hardest day we sell. If you regularly do a half day on foot at home you will be fine. If you do not, take the six kilometre version, which is the same forest with less of it.
Phu Quoc National Park covers roughly the northern half of the island, about 31,000 hectares, and forms the core of a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve. What it protects is lowland evergreen forest on a granite spine — the Ham Ninh range, which tops out at just over 600 metres. It is not the Amazon and there are no large mammals you are realistically going to see. What there is: closed canopy, buttressed dipterocarps, hornbills if you are lucky and quiet, macaques you will certainly hear, and a stream system that runs clean.
The reason so few people walk here is that the trails are unmarked, the permits are awkward and the humidity punishes anyone who starts late. We solve the first two and work around the third by starting at 07:00 and being off the ridge before the worst of the afternoon heat.
The day, hour by hour
| Time | What happens | Terrain |
|---|---|---|
| 07:00 – 07:45 | Hotel pick-up and drive north | Road |
| 08:15 | Ranger post — permits, water check, leech socks issued | Road head |
| 08:30 | Into the forest on an old logging track | Wide, flat, muddy |
| 09:45 | Leave the track for the stream line | Rock, water, roots |
| 11:30 | Break in the stream bed, a swim if the pool is full | Rock |
| 12:00 | The climb — 400 m over roughly 2.5 km | Steep, rooty, humid |
| 13:00 | Lunch on the ridge, the one open view of the day | Exposed rock |
| 13:45 | Descend by a different line | Steep, loose in places |
| 15:00 | Out at Suoi Da Ban, swim, change, cold drink | Stream pools |
| 15:45 – 16:30 | Back at your hotel | Road |
From June to November there are leeches on the stream section. They are harmless, they do not carry disease here, and they are unpleasant if you are not expecting them. We issue leech socks and salt. Most groups collect between two and ten between them across the day.
Day by day
Into the Ham Ninh range and back out at Suoi Da Ban
The first hour is easy walking on an old logging track wide enough for two abreast, which is where the guide does the botany while people are still fresh enough to listen. Then the route leaves the track and follows a stream line upward, and the day changes character: wet rock, roots, and about ninety minutes of picking your way rather than walking.
The climb to the ridge is the hard part — roughly 400 metres of ascent over two and a half kilometres, under closed canopy, with no breeze. It takes most groups an hour. The ridge itself gives the only wide view of the day, north across unbroken forest to the sea beyond Bai Thom, and it is worth the hour precisely because nothing else on the walk shows you the scale of what you are inside.
The descent takes a different line and comes out at Suoi Da Ban, a granite stream bed with a series of pools. In the wet season these are deep enough to swim in properly; in March and April they are damp rock, which is one of the two reasons we do not sell this trip in the dry months. Dry clothes stay in the vehicle.
Prices
| Group size | Full day, 11 km, per person | Short version, 6 km, per person |
|---|---|---|
| 1 traveller | USD 110 | USD 82 |
| 2 travellers | USD 82 | USD 62 |
| 3 – 4 | USD 72 | USD 54 |
| 5 – 8 | USD 65 | USD 48 |
What the price includes
- National park entry and the ranger permit, arranged in advance
- A guide who walks these trails weekly, capped at 8 walkers
- Leech socks, salt and a basic first aid kit including a snake bite protocol
- Lunch carried in, fruit, and three litres of water per person
- Hotel transfers both ways
- A dry bag for your phone and documents
What it does not include
- Walking shoes — bring your own, trainers with grip are enough, sandals are not
- Travel insurance, which must cover hiking
- Insect repellent
- Alcohol
- Tips
Gallery
Who this tour is not for
- Anyone who does not walk regularly. Eleven kilometres in this humidity is harder than eleven kilometres at home, by a wide margin. Take the six kilometre version and enjoy it instead of enduring the long one.
- Children under about ten, and under twelve for the full day.
- People who are seriously bothered by leeches, mosquitoes or spiders. All three are present and we cannot make them not be.
- Travellers here between February and May. The streams are low or dry, the pools do not fill, and the walk loses half of what makes it good. We sell it anyway if you insist, and we will tell you what you are missing.
- Anyone hoping to see large wildlife. You will hear macaques and possibly hornbills. You will not see a slow loris, and any operator promising one is guessing.
Questions travellers ask most
How fit do I actually need to be?
If you can walk for five hours with breaks, on uneven ground, in heat, you are fine. Pace is set by the slowest walker and the guide is under instruction not to push anyone. Nobody has been left behind, and nobody has been carried out.
If you are unsure, book the six kilometre version. It is the same forest, the same stream and the same guide, and it turns back before the climb.
Are there snakes?
Yes, including venomous species, as in any Southeast Asian lowland forest. In practice they leave before you arrive because eight people make a great deal of noise. The guide carries a bite protocol and knows the evacuation route to the road, which is between 40 and 90 minutes depending on where you are on the loop. This is the reason the trip requires insurance that covers hiking.
Can I do this trek independently?
The park is open to the public in places, but the route we use is unmarked, requires a permit obtained in advance and crosses two stream sections where the line is not obvious. People do get lost here every year. We would not do it without a guide ourselves.
What if it rains?
We walk. Rain in the southwest monsoon is usually one or two heavy hours and the canopy takes most of it. What cancels the trip is a stream in flood, because the crossings become genuinely dangerous — in that case we offer another date or a full refund, and we decide by 06:00.
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