For most foreign visitors Gành Dầu means one thing: Bai Dai Beach — the long stretch of idyllic yellow sand that lures in tourists from all over the world. The attractions for fun-seekers are hard to resist: you can visit an amusement park and safari here, play golf, gamble at the Phu Quoc Casino, snorkel and scuba dive or enjoy sunset cocktails at one of the beach front resort bars. In fact, you can do just about everything that the average Vietnamese can only dream about. But to suggest that Ganh Dau terminates at Bãi Dài is like saying Hanoi begins and ends with Halong Bay.
About Ganh Dau
Ganh Dau is the north-west corner of Phu Quoc. It was a commune (xã Gành Dầu) until July 2025, when the whole island became the Phu Quoc Special Zone of An Giang Province. Today it is dominated by the Bai Dai resort strip — theme parks, a casino and big resorts — with two fishing villages, Ganh Dau and Rach Vem, at its edges. It also has the Vinmec international hospital and the 18-hole Vinpearl golf course. The beaches along the west coast all face the sunset.
How to get here
From Duong Dong, follow the main road north past the Cua Can bridge. Ganh Dau village is about 30 km from Duong Dong; the Bai Dai resorts are 30–40 minutes by car, and the Vinpearl resorts run free shuttles to their parks.
Regions
Làng Chài Gành Dầu
Làng Chài Gành Dầu, or Ganh Dau Fishing Village is where the locals live. There is a small market and plenty of little shops. It is a great place for photographers to capture local island living however it is not the cleanest place in the region.
Làng Chài Gành Dầu is the main fishing village in Ganh Dau commune and it is where most of the locals live. The village is located along the northern side of Phu Quoc Island and there isn’t much to see and do here except explore rural living and visiting the local market.
Rach Vem
Rach Vem is a small fishing village on the north coast, within Ganh Dau commune. It is accessible by traveling down a relatively wide side road heading east away from Ganh Dau. The village is located between the “Nhum” and “Coc” canals and faces the sea where Cambodia can be seen in the distance. You can expect to see very basic houses built on stilts, chickens and ducks being farmed, stray dogs and cats running around, and children following you around. The original inhabitants of Rach Vem do not speak much English but are very friendly and helpful. The life here is simple and there is a certain charm that exists in the village.
Chuồng Víc
The less popular resort area of Ganh Dau lies within Chung Vic. Here you will find a few resorts, restaurants, an a low tidal beach.
Bãi Dài
The resort strip along the north-west coast: Vinpearl, Wyndham Grand, Radisson Blu and Meliá, the Corona casino, VinWonders, the safari and Grand World. See Where to stay below and our theme parks guide. The beach itself is covered in our Bai Dai guide.
islands
Hòn Đồi Mồi
Hòn Đồi Mồi or Turtle Island is a lovely uninhabited island that is a popular snorkeling and scuba diving spot. Here one can abandon oneself to utter relaxation for the day feeling like Robinson Crusoe. The boats depart from Bai Dai beach, and most tour/scuba shops also offer excursions leaving from Duong Dong and Bai Trong.
Hon Thay Boi
Just off the coast of Ganh Dau in the north western section of Phu Quoc lies Hon Thay Boi , or “Mouse Island”, a tiny uninhabited island that literally resembles a mouse. Mouse Island in Phu Quoc is an ecotourism destination for low impact activities such as bird watching, freediving and snorkeling.
Hon Bang
Hon Bang Island is located off the north west coast of Ganh Dau across nearby Mouse Island. The island is a popular picnic spot, and a lot of the rubbish stays behind — it is not worth a special trip.
BEACHES
The beaches in the Ganh Dau region — especially those located along the north western coast are the stuff of dreams. You can find long stretches of beach which you can have to yourself and other stretches of beach dominated by luxury resorts, beach bars, and sea view restaurants.
Bai Ganh Dau
Ganh Dau Beach (Bai Ganh Dau) is located in Ganh Dau Village up in the northern part of Phu Quoc Island and it is widely considered to be one of the best beaches on the island. The beach is surrounded by pristine forest & mountains and it also famous for its revolutionary past, where a Vietnamese fisherman named Nguyen Trung Truc set up a base near by and fought off the French.
The beach is arch shaped and about 500 meters in length, fringed by palm trees, and is shielded by two mountains. The sand is yellow in color and a bit coarse due to the vast amount of coral found in the water.
Bãi Rach Vem
Bai Dai Beach
SEE & DO
Rach Vem Floating Restaurants
The floating seafood restaurants off the coast of Rach Vem cater mainly to visitors. There are several restaurants out at sea and you can either walk to them from shore via a wooden bridge or be taken out to them by a small boat. Technically these restaurants are not “floating” but built on stilts otherwise they would be swept away during the monsoon season. The attraction here is not the restaurants per se, all of which serve the same style of seafood, but rather the views of the sea and the long wooden bridges built over the shallow bay of Rach Vem Village. The best time to visit is at high noon when there are less crowds and when the water is at its bluest.
Island Hopping
From the western coast of Ganh Dau you can see three islands, Turtle Island (Hon Doi Moi), Ban Island (Hon Ban) and Mouse Island (Hon Thay Boi).
Ganh Dau Coral Gardens
Safari
Vinpearl Safari opened in December 2015 as Vietnam’s first open-range safari park, on about 380 hectares next to VinWonders. The core of the visit is an enclosed bus through the free-range area. Google rates it 4.6 from 27,238 reviews and lists it open 9:00–16:00 (October 2026); go in the morning before the heat. Details in our theme parks guide.
Amusement Park
VinWonders Phu Quoc — formerly Vinpearl Land — is the island’s big theme park: roller coasters, a castle, a water park and the turtle-shaped Sea Shell aquarium (4.8 from 18,591 reviews, open 9:00–19:30). Next door, Grand World is a free-to-enter canal town that comes alive after dark. The Vinpearl resorts on Bai Dai run free shuttles to both. See our theme parks guide.
Casino Phu Quoc
The Phu Quoc casino is a unique casino in Vietnam that allows international visitors as well as locals to gamble. The casino has numerous hotels and resorts connected to it and offers more than just gambling. There are live shows, concerts, and great international cuisine.
Nguyen Trung Truc
Nguyen Trung Truc was a leader of the Anti-French Colonist movement of Vietnam from 1861 to 1868. He is known for two great military achievements: 1) The sinking of the French warship named Esperanza (December 10, 1861) and 2) Taking back Rach Gia from the French on June 16, 1868. Nguyen Trung Truc was eventually captured on Phu Quoc Island, imprisoned, and executed. There is a temple devoted to him at Ganh Dau Village on Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam.
One of the first things you will notice at the temple is a variety of different colored bark laid out on mats and left to dry. These barks are actually used to treat a variety of illnesses and are available for free for all guests. Just ask for a small bag and grab a handful.
The bed Bark is called “Cao Dang” and it is used to treat headaches. The lighter yellow bark is called “Phuch Linh” and it used for heart aches, insomnia, and for urinary tract infections. The darker yellow bark is called “Do Trong” and it is used to treat arthritis. The way you process the bark is by boiling it in water, filtering out the bark, and then drinking the juice or “tea”. Some also put the bark in alcohol, usually rice wine, and let it sit for several days before consuming it.
Snorkeling
Mouse Island is surrounded by a shallow reef teeming with marine life. You can snorkel its shores. Getting there is easy – join a our a take a local boat from Bai Dai Beach.
shopping
Rip Curl
Rip Curl has shops at Wyndham Grand and at VinWonders on the Bai Dai strip, if you need branded beach gear.
Where to eat
Most visitors eat at the resorts or in Grand World, where the canal is lined with restaurants. The best-reviewed there (Google rating and reviews, October 2026) are Hải sản Cường Kua for seafood (4.8 from 3,990), Mai Huong (4.8 from 3,709), and the Grand World Food Court (4.9 from 1,760) for cheaper stalls under one roof. For a more local meal, go to the floating seafood restaurants at Rach Vem or the seafood stalls by the market in Ganh Dau village.
WHERE TO STAY
Nearly all of Ganh Dau’s accommodation is packed into the Bãi Dài strip along the north-west coast, part of the large Phú Quốc United Center development. The properties below sit within walking distance of one another and all face the sunset.
Vinpearl Resort & Spa Phu Quoc
The original Vinpearl property on Bãi Dài — a long curved block built around one of the biggest swimming pools on the island, a short walk from the beach.
Wyndham Grand Phu Quoc
Renamed from VinOasis Phu Quoc on 1 May 2023, so older reviews and maps may still use the previous name. Family-oriented: a cluster of water slides sits beside the main pool, with villas set back in the gardens.
Corona Resort & Casino
The anchor of the Bãi Dài strip, and home to Corona Casino — opened in January 2019 and the first casino in Vietnam to admit Vietnamese citizens. Vietnamese nationals need a paid day ticket plus proof of income; see our casino guide for the current conditions. Foreign passport holders enter as at any other Vietnamese casino.
Radisson Blu Resort Phu Quoc
A few minutes’ walk from Corona Casino at the quieter end of the Bãi Dài development, with rooms and garden villas arranged around a lagoon-shaped pool.
Grand World Phu Quoc
Not a resort but the entertainment and shopping quarter of the complex — a Venice-style canal lined with colourful shophouses, restaurants, bars and small hotels. Worth knowing about even if you stay elsewhere on Bãi Dài, since it is the one part of the strip with somewhere to walk to after dark.
LOCATION
Map
Loads Google Maps when you tap. Or open in Google Maps.
