Vietnam's Secret Plan Could Help You Get Rich

When the Vietnamese government's plan is realized, this beach will be bustling.

International Living Postcards-- your daily escape

Friday, March 23, 2007
Phu Quoc, Vietnam

Although I’ve no qualms about spilling this secret, other travel writers would probably keep word of it all to themselves. (Plus, I wilt in tropical heat, get bored by beaches, and avoid wildlife wherever possible…so this undiscovered paradise is all yours.)

You see, my real reason for coming to Phu Quoc wasn’t to sample its $3 massages or ice-cold beers for 60 cents. (And it certainly wasn’t to fall asleep at 10 p.m. to a lullaby of waves.) Rather, it’s because Vietnam’s government has unveiled a master-plan to transform the island into the next Bali or Phuket.

Anchored off Vietnam’s southern tip, Phu Quoc’s platinum-blonde sands are barely imprinted by tourist flip-flops. Disturbed only by diving sea eagles and the rickety boats of squid fishermen, the island’s seas glint like blue topaz. Here it’s difficult spending $30 on a seafood dinner for two--and that includes a bottle of Bordeaux in Carol’s, an up-market French-Vietnamese restaurant. Choose beer instead, and you’ll cut your bill to less than $10 in beach-shack eateries. They also serve treats such as giant shrimp, stuffed crabs, and plump fish, whose firm white flesh flakes off the bone.

A double room and breakfast in a locally-owned hotel such as the Kim Hoa costs around $35. Don’t expect five-star resort standards, but you get fresh baguettes for breakfast, the beach is at the bottom of the garden, and there’s a pool.

Shaped like a teardrop, Phu Quoc is 31 miles long and 17 miles wide at its broadest point. Study a map, and it’s actually nearer to the Cambodian mainland--nine miles away. Getting here is easy with daily flights from Ho Chi Minh City (55 minutes each way).

Without a car, getting around isn’t quite so simple. As few roads are paved, motorcycle taxis aren’t for the faint-hearted. But unless you’re desperate to visit fermented fish-sauce factories, traveling isn’t necessary. Phu Quoc’s major selling point is all about doing nothing.

Away from its raucous riverside market, the main town, Duong Dong, is a sleepy provincial hollow. (If there’s any nightlife to speak of, it certainly eluded me.) Inhabited by flying squirrels, a jungly interior of mountains and waterfalls lie beyond the numerous pepper plantations. But with few tracks, this wilderness is difficult to explore.

The few Westerners who know about this place generally come for lazy-day beach relaxation or to fish, snorkel, and dive. The best place for underwater explorations is around the coral gardens of the An Thoi islands. Numbering 15 in total, these little islets lie a 30-minute boat ride south of Phu Quoc.

If you want to experience Phu Quoc before it turns into some overpriced hellhole for the packaged masses, go soon. Armed with blueprints for golf courses, a motor racetrack, and high-end resorts with more than 2,000 rooms, some large developers have already moved in.

Steenie Harvey
Roving Travel Writer, International Living

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P.S. I’ll explain more about what’s happening in Phu Quoc--and how you, too, can possibly get in before the crowds--in an upcoming print issue of International Living. According to the Vietnamese Embassy in the U.S., nearly 150 foreign and domestic investors have already registered for business licenses. To become a subscriber to IL in time for my full report.