Phu Quoc - Day 5 (Công Viên Bạch Đằng (Dinh Cậu) - Sunset & Night Squid Fishing)

It's our fifth day in Phu Quoc, and we're still not bored with the hotel breakfast. They offer something new each morning, and today's highlight for me was the baked penne with cheese. It was rich, cheesy, and absolutely delicious. The fried egg was excellent too, with perfectly crispy brown edges. The only letdown was the chicken stew with red jujube, which turned out a bit tough and dry.

We had a slow, relaxing breakfast that stretched until 10.45am. The weather was either uncomfortably hot or rainy, which made it less than ideal for sightseeing. VinWonders and Vinpearl Safari were on my list of places to visit, but I chose to forgo them due to the weather and the long travel time (approximately 50 minutes by VinBus) from Dusit Princess Moonrise Beach Resort.

Salad section

Steamed flour filter cake and green bean dumplings

Mung bean sticky rice and baked beans

Grilled pork ribs with BBQ sauce and baked penne with cheese

Vegetable fried rice and potato O'brien

Chicken stew with red jujube and baked sweet potato

Stir fried cabbage and stir-fried vegetarian beef with lemongrass chili 

Pomelo salad and pastries section

Pastries section

Tea section

My breakfast

My breakfast

My breakfast

His breakfast

My breakfast

My breakfast

Before his buddy returned the motorbike, they made a quick trip into town to pick up coffee from An Ba Cafe. They bought us a cup of Ca Phe Sua (black coffee with condensed milk), but we found it just average in taste.

While relaxing in the resort lobby with our coffee, we decided to book the sunset and night squid fishing tour. It costs 330,000 VND per person, with pickup from the resort lobby at 4.45pm and estimated return around 9pm. The package includes a free shuttle bus, dinner, a bottle of water, and local fishing gear. If the weather is permitting, you also get to enjoy the sunset from the boat. The dinner menu features BBQ shrimp, stir-fried noodles with vegetables, squid porridge, and fresh fruit. The booking process was simple. We just need to inform the resort staff and pay when we board the tour.

Ca Phe Sua (black coffee with condensed milk) - 55,000 VND

We decided to have our late lunch at Mộc Cuisine, while his buddy and his wife went for AC noodles instead. We left around 1.15pm and took the VinBus from the Khu nghỉ dưỡng Salinda stop to the Holiday Sense stop. From there, it was a short walk to the restaurant, which was empty when we arrived. We ordered a cup of salted coffee and chicken pho. The salted coffee was thick, salty, and slightly bitter at first, but the flavour gradually grew on us. The pho broth was rich and flavourful, but the noodles lacked smoothness, and the chicken breast was dry. I chose this shop based on its impressive 4.9 rating on Google Reviews, but unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations.

Mộc Cuisine Phú Quốc: Salted coffee small (ca phe muoi) - 45,000 VND

Restaurant ambience

Chicken pho (pho ga luan) - 65,000 VND

Address:

Mộc Cuisine Phú Quốc

107 Đường Trần Hưng Đạo, Khu phố 7,

Phú Quốc, Kiên Giang 92500,

Vietnam

Opening hours: 7.30am to 10pm

After our late lunch, we took a 14-minute walk, about 1km from Mộc Cuisine to King Kong Mart. My partner wanted to pick up some Vietnamese coffee for both his family and mine. He ended up buying a few different types: Mr. Viet Coconut Coffee (101,000 VND for 15pcs x 17g), Mr. Viet Ginseng Coffee (94,000 VND for 12pcs x 20g), Mr. Viet 3-in-1 instant coffee (101,000 VND for 15pcs x 17g) and Trung Nguyen (117,000 VND for 50pcs x 2g).

King Kong Mart

Trung Nguyen - 117,000 VND

Mr. Viet Ginseng Coffee - 94,000 VND per box

Address:

King Kong Mart

141A Đường Trần Hưng Đạo, Khu Phố 7,

Phú Quốc, Kiên Giang,

Vietnam

Opening hours: 8am to 11pm

After finishing our shopping, we boarded the VinBus at the Bảo Tàng Cội Nguồn stop, which is located just in front of the Coi Nguon Museum, and headed back to the Khu nghỉ dưỡng Salinda stop. We arrived at our resort around 3.45pm and took a short break before heading out again at 4.35pm for the sunset and night squid fishing tour. 

Coi Nguon Museum

Address:

Coi Nguon Museum

149 Đường Trần Hưng Đạo, Khu phố 7,

Phú Quốc, Kiên Giang 92500,

Vietnam

Opening hours: 7am to 5pm

We were picked up from our hotel at 4.45pm by a large bus, but only four of us were on board at the first stop. The bus driver made a quick stop in front of John's Tours to get some drinking water, and a female tour guide joined the group. The bus departed at 5.03pm, making multiple stops along the way. First, four Korean passengers were picked up in front of Heaven Cafe and Lounge, followed by a Western family of four outside Selina Spa, and finally seven more passengers from China and Hong Kong at Thien Thanh Resort.

We arrived at Công Viên Bạch Đằng (Dinh Cậu) at 5.25pm, boarded the boat, and waited for the rest of the group to join. The boat set off at 5.35pm, heading out to sea not too far from the Công Viên Bạch Đằng (Dinh Cậu) to catch the sunset at 6.10pm.

There was a brief five-minute demonstration on how to fish for squid. We spent about an hour trying our luck but didn't manage to catch any. Only four persons succeeded. At one point, a Mediterranean man ignored the safety instructions, and while casting his line, accidentally hit a young boy from Hong Kong on the head with the sharp bait. The boy's father firmly warned him not to repeat it. Thankfully, the boy wasn't seriously hurt. The fishing ended at 7.35pm, and dinner was served at 7.45pm. The boat returned to the port around 8pm, while we were still finishing our meal!

We had to share the meal with four other people, and to be honest, the food wasn't enjoyable. The taste was quite underwhelming, which made the dining experience a bit of a letdown after the fishing trip. Despite the food not living up to expectations, the sunset views were beautiful. We were thankful that the weather held up, and we were able to catch the sunset as planned.

Free shuttle bus

Complimentary drinking water

Free shuttle bus

Boat

Boat

View from the boat

Công Viên Bạch Đằng (Dinh Cậu)

Công Viên Bạch Đằng (Dinh Cậu)

Sunset in Phu Quoc

Sunset in Phu Quoc

Boat

Our tour guide promoting the seafood

Seafood for sale

Sunset in Phu Quoc

Sunset in Phu Quoc

Sunset in Phu Quoc

Sunset in Phu Quoc

Local fishing equipment

Local fishing equipment and crew cooking dinner for us

A lady and a guy managed to catch the squid

Squid caught using the local fishing equipment

Final catch of the day

Chili sauce

Stir-fried noodles

Squid porridge

Watermelon

BBQ shrimps

The bus was supposed to drop us off at our hotel. However, we asked them to stop near King Kong Mart so we could walk and look for a seafood restaurant. Along the way, we came across Quán Ốc Thuỷ Tiên 39k and decided to give it a try. We ordered fried squid, grilled mackerel with tomato sauce, grilled pork, fried vegetables with garlic, and fried rice with seafood.

The fried rice was decent, and the fried squid was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The grilled mackerel with tomato sauce was just okay. Unfortunately, the vegetables were quite bitter, and the grilled pork lacked flavour. My partner ordered a can of Coke and asked for ice cubes. The ice cubes were large with a hole in the middle. Basically, one ice cube was enough for a glass. After a while, one of the staff did something that we found rather unhygienic. She came over, removed the ice cubes from our glass, and replaced them. Shockingly, she then returned the used ice cubes to her pail, seemingly to reuse them! Overall, the food was average.

(Total bill - 598,000 VND)

Quán Ốc Thuỷ Tiên 39k

Condiments

Coke - 18,000 VND

Fried squid - 150,000 VND

Fried rice with seafood - 85,000 VND

Grilled mackerel with tomato sauce - 150,000 VND

Stir fried vegetables with garlic - 55,000 VND

Grilled pork - 140,000 VND

Address:

Quán Ốc Thuỷ Tiên 39k

279 Đường Trần Hưng Đạo, Dương Tơ,

Phú Quốc, Kiên Giang,

Vietnam

Opening hours: 10am to 4am

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by a convenience store. His buddy bought beer, while I grabbed a mango ice cream. It was crunchy on the outside but had an artificial mango flavour and wasn't too sweet. We reached the hotel around 11pm, and since it was our last night in Phu Quoc, we decided to relax on the beach until midnight. The beach was windy, but I couldn't see any stars due to the high light pollution.

Note: 1,000 VND = RM 0.18

Mango ice cream - 25,000 VND

Address:

Mini Mart 79

Cửa Lấp, Phu Quoc, Kien Giang,

Vietnam

Opening hours: 7am to 11.30pm