Before the resorts, Phu Quoc lived from the sea, and the fishing villages are where you can still see it: boats pulled up on the sand, nets and anchovies drying in the sun for the fish sauce factories, houses on stilts over the water, and seafood restaurants where the catch goes straight from the boat or the cage to the grill. None of them is a polished attraction. They are working villages, often untidy, and the best way to enjoy one is to go for a seafood lunch and an hour by the water.
This page compares the main ones so you can pick. Drive times are from Duong Dong (OSRM routing estimates).
At a glance
| Village | Where | From Duong Dong | Go for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ham Ninh | East coast | 15 min | Crab, stilt seafood restaurants, sunrise |
| Rach Vem | North coast | 50–60 min | Stilt restaurants over the bay, Starfish Beach |
| Ganh Dau | North-west tip | 30 min | Fishing harbour, views of Cambodia, boat trips to snorkel |
| Cua Can | West, on the river | 15 min | River village, stilt houses, wooden bridges, sunset at the river mouth |
| Rach Tram | North coast | about 1 hr | Remote and rarely visited |
| An Thoi | Southern tip | 30 min | The island’s big fishing port and the boats to the southern islands |
Ham Ninh — the crab village
The easiest to reach and the most visited, 15 minutes from both Duong Dong and the airport. Ham Ninh’s shallow seagrass beds are where the island’s famous small blue swimmer crabs come from, and the reason to come is to eat them, steamed with salt, pepper and lime, at a restaurant on stilts over the water. The long concrete pier that used to be the village’s symbol was partly demolished in 2020 as unsafe. Full guide: Ham Ninh.
Rach Vem — stilt restaurants on the north coast
A long way out, at the end of rough village roads, but the most photogenic: wooden jetties run out over a shallow bay to seafood restaurants built on fish farms, and Starfish Beach is at the end of the village. Come for lunch; most restaurants close by late afternoon. Full guide: Rach Vem.
Ganh Dau — the harbour at the north-west tip
Ganh Dau village sits at the far north-west of the island, where fishing boats crowd the harbour and, on a clear day, you can see the Cambodian coast across the water. The beach in the village is a working one — reviewers on Google Maps describe boats, construction and rubbish rather than a swimming beach (4.1 from 280 reviews, October 2026) — but local fishermen take visitors out by boat to snorkel off the nearby islets. One visitor paid 250,000 dong per person for a trip in January 2026; agree where you will go and for how long before you set off, since another reviewer was taken only round the corner.
For lunch, the seafood restaurant at Làng chài Suối Cái, a small fishing village on the coast road nearby (4.6 from 23), has sea views and generous portions. More in our Ganh Dau guide, including the Ganh Dau trail and the islands offshore.
Cua Can — the river village
Cua Can is the only one of these villages built along a river rather than the sea. The houses stand on stilts along the banks of the Cua Can river, one of the island’s main rivers, which reaches the sea at a sandbar on the west coast. Stop on the Cua Can bridge for the view upriver (carefully — reviewers warn the traffic is heavy), take a river tour by boat or kayak, and finish at the river mouth for the sunset. Full guide: Cua Can.
Cua Can. Photo: Bảo Lâm Lê (BaoLam), via Google Maps
Rach Tram — remote and changing
Rach Tram, on the north coast in the Bai Thom area, about an hour from Duong Dong, was for years the place to find an untouched fishing village and an empty beach. Recent visitors are less enthusiastic: Google Maps reviews from 2023 to 2026 describe rubbish on the shore, houses built along the beach and, in 2026, access cut off by development (3.6 from 102 reviews). Unless you are already exploring the north, go to Rach Vem or Ganh Dau instead. See Bai Thom. In the same area, a walkway leads out to the islet of Hon Mot.
An Thoi — the fishing port
At the southern tip, An Thoi is the island’s biggest fishing port, with the boats that serve the An Thoi islands and a busy morning harbour. It is more a town than a village, and the starting point for island-hopping trips. See An Thoi.
Tips for visiting
- Go at lunchtime. The restaurants are the point, and some close in the late afternoon.
- Agree prices first — per kilo for seafood, per boat (and for how long) for boat trips. Our floating restaurants guide explains how to order.
- Be a respectful guest. These are people’s homes and workplaces: ask before you photograph people, and do not walk into houses or onto boats uninvited.
- Do not buy starfish, seahorses or shells sold as souvenirs; see our note in what to eat on Phu Quoc.
Ratings, review counts and visitor comments: Google Maps, October 2026. Drive times: OSRM routing estimates.
