Sao beach

With white sand like powdered ivory, the delightful curve of beautiful Sao Beach bends out alongside a sea of mineral-water clarity just a few kilometres from An Thoi, the main shipping port at the southern tip of the island. There are a couple of beachfront restaurants, where you can settle into a deckchair or partake in water sports. If heading down to Sao Beach by motorbike, fill up with petrol before the trip as there are very few fuel stations on the way back.

It seems like everyone going to Phu Quoc Island is raving about Sao Beach, indisputably the best beach all over the island. Tourists are proudly exclaiming about its serene isolated beauty, and the irony is, even with its relative fame, it still manages to have deserted beaches even during the peak season. Getting here can be quite a tricky chore, so you will need a trusty map or some help from a local to navigate your way through many villages, road forks and the middle hills of southern Phu Quoc.

From Duong Dong, it is a 27-kilometer (17 miles) motorbike ride, but from An Thoi it is an easy 7 kilometers (4.4 miles). Despite the relative distance, many tourists to Sao Beach are day-trippers from the various hotels along Truong Beach south of Duong Dong. There are a few rocky portions along the beach, but overall Sao Beach is one fine stretch of white sand. Once the busload of day tourists leave the area, you can have the seaside stretch all for yourself. Rent a plastic chair for 20,000 VND (US$1) and sit under an open thatched hut and just while the remainder of the day staring out into the deep blue ocean, having a drink and stopping once in a while to take a dip.

What makes Sao Beach the best beach is not just the powdery white sand and the seemingly requisite upland forests perfect for trekking. It is actually the tame waters even during the punishing monsoon season that makes Sao Beach take the cake. The beach is situated on the eastern portion of Phu Quoc, and with the central hills shielding the shore from the strong winds; you can expect smooth waters particularly during the rainy months. Walk farther out into the sea and even at a distance of 100 meters from the shore you still have the sea up to your waist only. A sand bar will be your pitstop before walking back to the mainland.