Sunset, then hand lines under the lamps
Four hours on a working squid boat. You will probably catch something; if you do not, dinner happens anyway. It is the cheapest genuinely good evening on the island.
At a glance
- Duration
- About 4 hours on the water, 15:30 – 21:30 door to door
- Group
- Max 12
- Starts
- Hotel pick-up from 15:30
- Ends
- Back at your hotel by 21:30
- Difficulty
- Easy
- From
- USD 29 per person
Who this evening is for
Anyone who wants one good thing to do in an evening, does not want to spend much, and is not precious about a boat that smells like a boat. Families do it, couples do it, and people who have had enough of resort buffets do it.
Squid fishing off Phu Quoc is not a tourist invention. The fleet out of Duong Dong and Ham Ninh works these grounds every night from roughly September through May, drawing squid up toward banks of high-wattage lamps hung over the side. The boats we use are the real thing with a passenger deck added: wooden hulls, a diesel that you will hear, plastic stools, and a cook who does one job very well.
The method is a hand line with a weighted, barbless lure — no hook to catch your finger on — dropped fifteen to twenty metres and jigged. Everyone learns it in about ninety seconds. On an average night in the season a boat of ten people brings up somewhere between six and thirty squid. On a bad night it is two, and you will still eat, because the cook brings fish.
The evening, hour by hour
| Time | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 15:30 – 16:15 | Hotel pick-up | Your hotel |
| 16:30 | Board, life jackets, the boat clears the harbour mouth | Duong Dong |
| 17:15 | Anchor for a swim if the water is flat enough | Off Long Beach |
| 17:50 | Sunset from the water — the west coast faces it squarely | On the water |
| 18:40 | Lamps on, lines down, everyone learns the jig | The fishing ground |
| 19:30 | Dinner cooked on deck as the catch comes in | On the water |
| 20:40 | Lines up, run for the harbour | On the water |
| 21:00 – 21:30 | Ashore and back to your hotel | Duong Dong |
Day by day
One evening on a working squid boat
Pick-up is from 15:30 and the boat leaves Duong Dong harbour at about 16:30. The first ninety minutes are the pleasant part with no fishing in them: an anchored swim off Long Beach if the sea is flat, then sunset, which on the west coast of Phu Quoc drops into open water with nothing in the way of it.
Fishing starts when it is properly dark, usually between 18:30 and 19:00. The lamps come on, the lines go down, and the deck gets quiet in the way that only fishing does. You will lose lures. Children take to it faster than adults, consistently.
Dinner is cooked on deck while the fishing continues — your squid, grilled and boiled, with rice, greens, a dipping sauce that is mostly lime, salt and chilli, and fish that the cook brought in case the sea was unkind. Beer and soft drinks are on board and are not included, and the prices are the same as a shop on land.
Prices
| Group size | Shared seat, per person | Private boat, whole boat |
|---|---|---|
| 1 traveller | USD 38 | USD 240 |
| 2 travellers | USD 34 | USD 260 |
| 3 – 6 | USD 31 | USD 290 |
| 7 – 12 | USD 29 | USD 340 |
What the price includes
- A working squid boat with a passenger deck, capped at 12
- Hand lines, lures and instruction
- Dinner cooked on board, including your catch
- Life jackets for adults and children
- Hotel transfers both ways
- Drinking water
What it does not include
- Beer and soft drinks, sold on board at land prices
- Travel insurance
- Seasickness tablets — bring your own, take them at 15:00 not 18:00
- Tips
Gallery
Who this tour is not for
- Anyone who gets seasick easily. The boat sits at anchor for two hours in a low swell, which is the exact motion that causes trouble. Take something at 15:00 or take the road trip instead.
- People who want a comfortable boat. This is a working hull with plastic stools, one basic toilet and a diesel engine three metres from where you sit.
- Travellers in June, July or August. We run it when the sea allows, which in those months is perhaps one night in three, and we would rather you did not build an evening around it.
- Anyone expecting a guaranteed catch. Some nights the squid are not there. The dinner is guaranteed; the squid is not.
- Children under six, who find two hours in the dark on a moving deck long.
Questions travellers ask most
What are the odds of actually catching something?
In season, between October and May, most people on the boat catch at least one and the boat total is usually somewhere between six and thirty. Outside the season the numbers fall sharply, which is why we do not sell it in July and August.
The cook always brings fish. Nobody has gone home hungry because the squid did not come up.
Is it suitable for children?
From about six. Children are usually the best fishers on the boat because they are patient with the jig in a way adults are not. Life jackets are on board in child sizes and are worn from the moment the boat leaves the harbour.
Can we swim?
If the sea is flat, yes, at the anchored stop off Long Beach before sunset. It is not part of what you are paying for and we skip it without hesitation if there is any chop, because getting eight people back up a ladder in a swell in fading light is not a risk worth taking for a fifteen-minute swim.
What should I bring?
A light layer — it drops several degrees once the sun is down and the boat is moving. Shoes you do not mind getting wet, a towel if you plan to swim, and seasickness tablets taken well in advance. Leave anything you would hate to drop overboard at the hotel.
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