Culture finds a home in this idyllic coastal village where the sand is white as the clouds, starfish roam free, and where numerous seafood restaurants try to maintain their balance on wooden stilts out at sea.
Rach Vem is one of Phu Quoc's natural wonders — a place where culture, nature, and ecotourism come together.
Location: Ganh Dau | Vietnamese name: Rạch Vẹm | Directory | Rating: 4/5
Located along Gành Dầu regions northern coast lies Rạch Vẹm — a picturesque village made famous by its relatively new ecotourism attraction: the Rach Vem Floating Village & Seafood Restaurants (Làng Chài Rạch Vẹm). The numerous floating seafood restaurants found just offshore are actually built on top of wooden stilts over the low tidal area of the Gulf of Thailand.
Rach Vem Floating Restaurants
Floating restaurants began appearing off the coast of Rach Vem in the summer of 2016 and quickly became a star attraction. Some of these restaurants are accessible by walking along a wooden bridge from shore while others require boat transport. They all serve the same style of seafood more or less however the prices vary depending on the amenities. Most of these floating restaurants also have fish farms attached to their huts where customers can pick the type of seafood they want to eat.
Rach Vem Fishing Village
The original Rach Vem Village is only 800 meters wide and 4 km long and located between the “Nhum” and “Coc” canals. You can expect to see very simple houses built on stilts, chickens and ducks being farmed, and stray dogs and cats running around. The inhabitants of Rach Vem Village do not speak English but are very friendly and helpful. The life here use to be simple until the island began its resort destination transformation. The future of these inhabitants, most of whom are of Khmer descent, is unknown as Rach Vem will complete its ecotourism transformation by 2030 and this village will no longer exist.
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Walk along a wooden bridge or have a small boat pick you up and take you to one of many seafood restaurants found just a few meters from the beach. Have dinner here and witness a beautiful sunset.
Rach Vem is blessed with a soft white sand coastline, a rare commodity in Vietnam.
You can see how local Khmer communities live on the island. All the residents at Rach Vem Village are quite friendly and are more than willing to talk with you or pose for pictures.
Along the north east corner of Rach Vem there is this magical place where hundreds of red starfish can be seen in shallow crystal clear water. We tried to keep this place a secret for those of you on our facebook page (click here), but the secret is out… say hello to Starfish Beach:
