Mango Bay Phu Quoc

Mango Bay Phu Quoc, originally uploaded by Kiva.Dang.

Located 15 minutes north of the Phu Quoc airport, the Mango Bay Resort offers a uniquely relaxing atmosphere with two deserted white sand beaches facing Vietnam’s best ocean sunsets.

The resort covers twenty hectares, including one kilometer of coastline and two beaches - “Coconut Beach” and “Casuarina Beach”- and is surrounded by protected forest. Offshore there is a reef and smooth rocks, offering great snorkeling amongst coral and fish.

There is no air-conditioning, television sets or telephones in the rooms for a true fusion with nature at the island’s first eco-friendly resort. All rooms and bungalows have open sea views and offer mosquito nets, overhead fans, al fresco bathrooms, and solar powered hot water.

Location

Mango Bay is 15-20 minutes north of Phu Quoc airport. The island of Phu Quoc is located southwest of Vietnam off the coast of Cambodia and can be reached by a quick flight from Ho Chi Minh (50 minutes - 3 flights a day) and by ferry from Rach Gia (2.5 hours - 2 boats a day).

Restaurant & bar

Mango Bay’s restaurant sits overlooking the ocean, atop smooth rocks against which the waves gently lap. The restaurant is casual, open air, and built on a large tree frame, with leaf-thatched roof, rammed earth walls and hand-finished aggregate floor. The restaurant can sit up to 40 with a 270-degree view of the sea.

Rooms

Plantation Bungalow: The newest addition to Mango Bay, these stand-alone bungalows each have a spacious room and deck, overlooking the beach and garden. All have outside bathrooms and natural wooden decks.

Rammed-earth Bungalows: These are the first Rammed earth buildings in Vietnam, an efficient environmentally friendly building technique using locally available soil to form walls with an attractive natural finish, complete with leaf thatched roofs and spacious decks. Outdoor bathrooms with solar powered hot water look straight out into jungle.

Fisherman’s bungalows: These are traditional Phu Quoc fishermen’s houses, transported and reassembled individually. With spacious rooms, they are suitable for families. All have outside bathrooms and natural wooden decks.

Verandah Rooms: The Verandah is a large wooden and shaded area, built from 60 year-old seasoned timber. The Verandah rooms are more communal in nature and look out under the shadow of coconut palms onto the sea. All have private bathrooms, one of which is outdoors.

All rooms and bungalows have open sea views and offer mosquito nets, overhead fans, al fresco bathrooms, and solar powered hot water.

For your booking, please contact:

Add: Ong lang Beach, Phu Quoc, Vietnam
Tel: International +84 903 382 207 - Vietnam: 0903 382 207

Waiting for dinner... Phu Quoc Island

Waiting for dinner... Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
Originally uploaded by Mau71

Phu Quoc (known as Koh Tral by Cambodians) is the largest island of Vietnam. Situated in the Gulf of Thailand, the island is part of Kiên Giang province. The district of Phu Quoc includes the island proper and 21 smaller islets. The district seat, Dong Duong, which is located on the west coast, is also the largest town on this island, whose total area is 574 km²...

Island tour in Phu Quoc

island tour in phu quoc
Originally uploaded by tammytnguyen

This was an island we visited while staying on Phu Quoc island. There was a lot of reefs so tourist had to swim out to the island from the boat!

Dai Beach - Phu Quoc Island

This peaceful tropical paradise, floats in the warm turquoise waters in the Gulf of Thailand, 50kms from the Vietnamese mainland and a 50 minute flight from Ho Chi Minh City.

(Dai Beach)

In one day, visitors can experience the culture of Vietnam at the local market in the morning, relax on a remote and stunning beach in the afternoon, enjoy a delicious dinner and drinks at one of the restaurants and enjoy accommodation at the variety of hotels and resorts on this superb tropical island getaway. Open year round with a peak season from November to March, Phu Quoc is becoming well known for stunning beaches, untouched natural environment, the easy going and relaxed atmosphere, friendly locals, and fantastic scuba diving and snorkelling.


The island also gives holiday makers the opportunity to discover an amazing array of animal and plant life throughout the year, with the majority of the island dedicated to National Park or protected marine environment. Phu Quoc Island provides a memorable experience, with plenty of exciting activities and places to visit to keep you and the family entertained during your stay........

Plus:

Green field in my liberty

(Click to view full-size)

New romantic tours for couples

Vietnam is growing in popularity as a destination to foreign tourists, of whom many are couples and newlyweds seeking a romantic holiday. In response Vietnam’s tour operators have designed some special tours at Vietnam’s beautiful beaches.



For couples wanting to escape from a noisy, urban life, Saigontourist Holding Co. has introduced a cluster of romantic, short tours called “Take care together”.

The three-day tour “Love at the Vinpearl Land” is priced at VND13.8 million per couple, exclusive of flight ticket, and the three-day tour “Romance on Pearl Island – Con Dao” is priced at VND3.7 million a couple exclusive flight ticket.

The four-day-and-three-night tour “Nha Trang – the beauty of sea and island” costs between VND4.6 million and VND5.9 million a couple and the two-day-and-one-night tour “romantic night in Ha Long” is VND9.25 million a couple.

The “Love at the Vinpearl Land” tour features a fascinating trip in cable car to the Vinpearl Land resort in the central coast city of Nha Trang for time to relax in a hot spring mineral bath and mineral mud silica at Thap Ba Hot Spring Center. The fresh air and blue sea water melt away daily worries.

Newlyweds will enjoy spending some time along in the five-star hotel with a view over the sea as they plan their new life together. They will be welcomed with warm greetings and luxury buffet parties.

In Con Dao, couples are free to discover isolated sand dunes such as Dam Trau dune, Da Trang rock field with endless rocky layers in mysterious white color and Love top, the ideal place for couples to express their feelings.

As part of these special honeymoon tours, Saigontourist will give the happy couples meaningful gifts and flower boutiques, an umbrella and a discount voucher for their next visit.

Fiditour Tourist Company has also designed special tours and programs and packages called “Only us”, including the following four-day-package tours: “Nha Trang – the happy paradise”, priced at VND17.3 million a couple, “Phan Thiet – Mui Ne- Love Paradise” priced at VND11.6 million a couple, “Con Dao – isolated nature” priced at VND10.5 million per guest, “Phu Quoc – Passionate Love” priced at VND12.1 million, “Hoi An – together in the ancient town” priced at VND19.8 million a couple. The three-day package tour “Ha Long –poetic Love” is priced at VND20.44 million.

At Saigon Phu Quoc Resort and Spa couples will have unforgettable moments with a romantic dinner on the beach, excursions to the islands, diving and onboard fishing.

For more information, visit Saigontourist Travel Service: 49 Le Thanh Ton Street, District 1, HCMC. Call (08) 3 8279 297 or infor@saigontourist.net. Fiditour: 129 Nguyen Hue Boulevard, District 1, HCMC. Tel: (08) 3 914 1414, email: fiditour@hcm.vnn.vn, or the representative office of Saigon-Phu Quoc Resort and Spa: 81 Bui Vien Street, District 1, HCMC. Tel: (08) 3 920 5640, email: sgphuquocresort@hcm.vnn.vn

Source: The Saigon Times

Phu Quoc pearls out of reach

Visitors to Phu Quoc Island may not know that Phu Quoc pearls are said to be the best in the country, but they will certainly notice the abundance of pearl stores dotting the island. Despite the fame of Phu Quoc pearls, most pearls sold do not originate there, and are mostly cheaper fresh-water pearls. Connoisseurs say genuine Phu Quoc pearls are scarce and expensive.

Ho Phi Thuy is the owner of the largest pearl producer on Phu Quoc Island.

The 39-year-old man, who could not afford to attend university, has over 1.5 million oysters, capable of producing about 200kg of pearls each year.

"No shop on the island buys pearl from my workshop," Thuy said, "Our products are mainly exported to Japan."

Although pearls are sold everywhere on the island, Thuy’s claim should spark the curiosity of visitors. Many stores claim to sell Phu Quoc pearls, and prices vary widely from store to store, ranging from several hundred thousand dong to thousands of dollars for a necklace.

According to a manager of a pearl shop on Phu Quoc island, the price is dependent on the pearls’ age and lustre.

Normally, it takes between six months and one year to produce a pearl. This explains why there are only four pearl producers on the island. Most of them are joint ventures with foreign companies.

Asked if the pearls were from Phu Quoc, a shop owner named Le Bich Ngoc in Rach Ham Hamlet, Ham Ninh Commune replied, "I do not know where they come from. It is said that these pearls are brought in the north."

Ngoc said visitors had usually bought pearl necklaces for a few hundred thousand dong each. She said the most expensive one she had sold was worth VND3 million (US$181).

Director of the Centre for Gem and Gold Research and Identification, Pham Van Long, said Phu Quoc pearls were the most beautiful in Viet Nam because the island water was cleaner and the layer of mother of pearl was usually thicker and more lustrous than pearls grown in other parts of the country.

The price of one Phu Quoc pearl ranges from $2 to $2,000, depending on its size, shape and colour. For example, a beautiful, shining pearl of between 15mm and 16mm is sold at $2,000.

Sea-water pearls are more lustrous than those grown in fresh water.

Long said Chinese pearls were rampant in the island, with 90 per cent of them grown in fresh water.

Local business

Island people recall their ancestors diving for pearls, but nowadays they use nets to trawl for oysters. They said that some families had found very valuable pearls this way.

Known as the pearl island, Phu Quoc is surrounded by pure, blue water gulfs where oysters abound.

Holding a handful of Phu Quoc pearls, Ho Phi Thuy’s wife Khong Thi Truc said she had sold pearls for VND9 million each. She said she had sold one pearl at a price of VND100 million. The cheapest necklace she sold was worth several million dong.

Head of Kien Giang Planning and Investment Department’s Business Registration Section, Le Quoc Tuan, said one local had bought a pearl production establishment from a Japanese business in An Thoi Town. But Tuan said he did not know where the establishment was located at present.

Thuy, who now owns the business, worked odd jobs for years after high school, with one stint as a deep-sea diver that left him with perforated eardrums and temporarily deaf.

His company in An Thoi Town, Duong To Commune now employs 30 workers who get a monthly salary of VND2 million ($120) each. Last year, he earned a monthly profit of VND2.6 billion ($156,626).

Originally from Quang Nam Province, Thuy grew up in a poor family with many children. After graduation from high school, he tried his hand at many jobs before moving to Phu Quoc Island in 1989 to deep-sea dive.

"That was a very dangerous job, although I made good money," he said. "But my eardrums were perforated from having to dive so deep and I had to have an operation."

Thuy, whose hearing was restored, then decided to sell his fishing boat to a Japanese man who cultivated pearls on the island, and began working for him.

After the Japanese company went bankrupt following the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Thuy, who had learned cultivation techniques from his boss, bought equipment, cages and vessels from the Japanese company.

Beginning with 3,000 breeding oysters, Thuy began to turn a profit and expanded his business to two hectares. In 2005, his pearls brought him VND4 billion ($2.4 million) in profit.

He is now re-employing his ex-boss at US$2,500 a month.

Viet Nam News

Con Dao-attractive destination

Looking at a map, Con Dao Island looks like a bear rising from the sea to south east of Vietnam. Originally a prison for patriots and revolutionists during the French and American resistance, Con Dao Island sheltered brave revolutionary spirits of the Vietnamese people. More than 22,000 prisoners who dedicated their lives to national independence were incarcerated on the isolated island of Con Dao.

Location: Con Dao Island is situated in Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province

Characteristics: Con Dao Island is also famous for its nice beaches shaded with evergreen trees, fresh air, clear blue waters, and primitive forests.

Con Dao was recognized as a nature reserve in 1984 and a national park in 1993. The total protected area of the park is 20,000ha, including 14,000ha of sea and 6,000ha of forest on 14 islands. There is also a buffer zone that is 20,500ha wide. Con Dao National Park encompasses oceanic and coastal ecosystems such as mangrove forests, coral reefs and sea grasslands. Over 1,300 species of sea animals have been identified here. The park is the most important egg-laying area in Vietnam for sea turtles. The island also has many precious animals, the most important being dugong (called “sea cows” by locals). Between late 1996 and early 1997, officials at the park counted 10 dugong in the sea surrounding the island. With high oceanic biodiversity, Con Dao is classified as one of the areas given optimum priority in the world's system of oceanic reserves.

The best time to visit Con Dao Island is from March to June, when the sea is calm. Some of those beaches include Dam Trau, Hang Duong and Phi Yen where visitors can relax and enjoy the warm temperature. The ocean around Con Dao Island is a heaven for sea life and the splendid forest cloaks the land. This is ecotourism at its best. Clean, smooth sand banks, blue sea, dolphins jumping and racing after boats, tropical almond trees swinging in a cool sea breeze, peaceful narrow roads, and forest covering most of the island, make Con Dao seem like heaven to visitors from far and wide.

Con Dao is one of the few places in Vietnam that is home to rare dugong, sea turtles, and dolphins, and to varieties of orchids found nowhere else in the country. In addition, the island has large and diverse coral reefs comparable to the most famous ecotourism spots in the region. This peaceful island district has 5,000 people whom nature seems to have created with kind hearted and generous characters and adventurous enough to choose the remote island as their home. Visitors will arrive there to enjoy themselves in an intact natural environment and have a good time with dugong, sea turtles and dolphins playing freely around the island paradise.