700 tourists stranded on Vietnam island as bad weather disrupts travel

Nguyen Thanh and her family said on Monday they are still being stuck on Nam Du, about 75 km from Vietnam’s largest island Phu Quoc and 110 km from Rach Gia, the capital of Kien Giang Province.

Her family planned to return to the mainland two days ago but all ferry services have suspended operation since Saturday morning. They mainly stay at their hotel because their tour package had ended and there are also no other attractions to visit.

“I don’t know when I’ll be able to return home as travel costs are going up, even though the hotel is providing us a little support,” she said.

Every day there are one to four high-speed boat trips from Phu Quoc, Rach Gia, Ha Tien to the island with travel time from two to five hours, depending on the starting point.

Boats anchor at Rach Gia Pier in Kien Giang Province, June 2024. Photo by My Le

Bad weather has also affected tourists on Phu Quoc Island, which was recently voted the world’s most beautiful after Maldives by American magazine Travel+Leisure.

Due to torrential downpours, many roads in Cua Duong Commune on Phu Quoc Island turned into rivers, with some over a meter deep, on Sunday.

Nguyen Van Tam and his colleague from Ca Mau arrived in Phu Quoc five days ago and planned to return home on Sunday but had to postpone their plans as high-speed boats connecting to the island were halted.

“We are worried that coming home late will affect the progress of our work,” Tam said.

Heavy rain over the past few days has left many tourists “stuck in hotels.”

“We hope to return home early, because we cannot afford the living expenses,” said tourist Tran Thi Ngoc from Can Tho who took their children to enjoy a summer holiday in Phu Quoc.

Normally, every day there are more than 30 high-speed boats from the mainland to Phu Quoc.