A small, stunning island off the mainland of Vietnam with beautiful, picturesque beaches…
We left Saigon after a busy few days seeing the tunnels, war museum, puppet shows and some of the best food of the trip….however, we were ready to escape the city and get ourselves onto the beach.
We had booked some boutique beach hotels and we couldn’t wait to relax on the beach and by the pool, reading, build sandcastles, swim, collect shells, go for walks and of course drink cocktails – our happy place.
Our first stop was Peppercorn Beach Resort in in Ganh Dau in the north of the island, it took about 45minutes from the airport and was a very remote spot. We knew that before booking and were quite happy to just spend 2 nights at the resort recharging and relaxing. We booked a family chalet which was very spacious with 2 double beds, a nice little veranda and just steps away from the beach and pool it cost $138 a night with breakfast.
Unfortunately we had the worst weather of the whole trip whilst we were on Phu Quoc and it rained pretty much constantly. Whilst at Peppercorn Beach Resort I think we only had a few hours break from the rain where we managed to get in the swimming pool. Other than that we spent time sitting on the terrace of the cottage and the boys were more than happy to run around the grounds in their pants collecting leaves, stones, shells and sticks making potions and playing with some of the hotels toys.
We ate all our meals at the hotel and they were lovely, more expensive than the rest of Vietnam but understandable when staying at a remote hotel like this. They had a good kids menu and breakfast was great – the boys (as always) ate loads of pancakes. They had little fish bowls as a centre piece on the tables which kept the boys occupied for ages watching them swimming around.
On the third day we got a transfer to Duong Dong in the south of the island where we booked into Cassia Cottage another beautiful, boutique hotel. We very nearly didn’t book this room because there was no family room available, thankfully we went for a double room and asked for an extra bed and that was more than enough space for the 4 of us – the boys slept really well top and tail in the single bed. There was mosquito nets over the beds, a small balcony and fantastic breakfast – with Starbucks coffee. We booked at $100/80GBP per night but when we arrived the infinity pool was being renovated so was out of access – the hotel offered us 40% discount on everything throughout our stay which was incredible, especially as there were 2 other swimming pools available to use.
This place was absolutely beautiful there were lots of small touches for kids that we loved – a kids pool with a big box full of toys, a monsoon room full of games and books, a great kids menu and games in the restaurant to keep the kids occupied during dinner….and the staff were so friendly and welcoming to the boys. Dylan absolutely loved the ham and cheese toasties and ate them for breakfast, lunch and dinner for days!
The 3 days at Cassia Cottage were spent lazing by the pool, hanging out at the beach and taking walks along the sand. We stumbled upon Rory’s Bar which was just a 10 minute walk along the beach, it was a perfect place to have a few sundowners and watch the sunset. We saw 2 beautiful sunsets, went swimming in the sea and had some delicious, freezing cold beer!
On our last day we got a taxi 25minutes away to Bai Sao beach which we were told would have calmer seas and whiter sand, we were not disappointed. It was stunning! Lots of sunbeds along the beach and a handful of small restaurants, the sea was calm and the boys could splash around comfortably. The sea on the other side of the island in Duong Dong was really rough with crashing waves and we couldn’t let the boys splash and paddle around there unless one of us was with them.
We had a big downfall which we thought was going to end the day but luckily it only lasted about 20 minutes and we were back sunbathing on the loungers with the sun shining through. We left through the small hotel and came out to a few taxis waiting so it was easy to get back to the hotel afterwards.
Phu Quoc was a perfect end to a busy 3 weeks. We were leaving tanned, relaxed and nearly ready to face going back to work – just the hop over to HCM and a night flight back to Dubai to tackle.
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