Starfish Beach is a stretch of shallow, clear water at the eastern end of Rach Vem on Phu Quoc’s north coast, where red cushion starfish gather on the sand in water a few feet deep. The name dates from 2014, when Minh Thoa found the starfish gathered here and started calling it Starfish Beach. Today it is one of the most-visited spots in the north — and one of the most argued-about.
Before you go: what reviewers say in 2026
Google rates Starfish Beach 3.7 from 3,718 reviews (October 2026). Reviewers love the water and the sand. Almost all the complaints come down to three things:
- The boat pitch. Grab and taxis drop you near the fishing village, where you will be told the only way to the starfish is by boat. Prices reviewers paid in 2026 ranged from about 200,000 VND to 1,000,000 VND for the return trip — for a ride some describe as three minutes long. You can walk instead: follow the shore east from the village. If you do take a boat, agree the price for the return trip and the waiting time before you get in.
- People handling the starfish. Visitors lift them out of the water for photos, and starfish taken out of the water can die. Several reviewers found dead starfish laid out on the sand for photographs. Please don’t touch them, and don’t pay anyone who offers you one to hold.
- Rubbish on the shore near the village. The water further along is clearer and cleaner.
How to get there
Starfish Beach is about 23 km from Duong Dong — roughly 50–60 minutes by car, with the last stretch on narrow village roads. Getting a Grab back from Rach Vem is hard. Reviewers recommend booking a car for the round trip with a wait of a couple of hours (one paid 600,000 VND in April 2026), or riding your own motorbike.
The GPS position on Google Maps is 10.3720, 103.9373.
Photo: kenny cheam, via Google Maps
When to go
- Season: the north coast is calmest and clearest in the dry season, roughly November to April. In the rainy months the sea can be churned up and you see fewer starfish.
- Time of day: come in the morning, before the tour groups, when the light on the water is best for seeing the seabed.
- Bring: water shoes (the bottom has shells and coral fragments), sunscreen, and snorkelling gear if you have it.
Eat nearby
Rach Vem’s stilt restaurants are a few minutes back along the coast — see our Rach Vem village guide and the floating restaurants guide. A seafood lunch on the jetty after the beach is how most visitors do it.
Watch: a visitor’s view of Starfish Beach
Rating, reviews and location: Google Maps, October 2026. Drive time: OpenStreetMap routing (OSRM) from central Duong Dong.
