The An Thoi islands are a chain of small islands off the southern tip of Phu Quoc, and a speedboat day among them is the island's best-known trip. A shared tour from An Thoi port costs about 350,000 to 700,000 VND per adult in 2026 with hotel pickup, lunch and snorkel gear, and about 1.2 to 1.45 million VND if it adds the Hon Thom cable car. Most boats stop at Hon Mong Tay, snorkel at Hon Gam Ghi, and have lunch at Hon May Rut. Go between November and April, when the sea is calm.
This page goes deep on that one trip. My day trips from Phu Quoc guide compares it with Sao Beach, the north and the theme parks. One thing changed in 2026: in July a speedboat capsized on this route and 15 tourists died, so the safety section below matters as much as the price.
Which islands the tours visit
The An Thoi archipelago has 15 or 18 islands, depending on the count, and three of them are inhabited, Hon Thom, Hon Roi and Hon May Rut Ngoai, according to Vietnamese Wikipedia. Since July 2025 they have been part of the Phu Quoc special zone of An Giang province. Shared tours follow a similar loop, set out in a June 2026 VisitPhuQuoc guide:
| Island | Its usual role on the tour |
|---|---|
| Hon Mong Tay | Usually the first stop; the name means fingernail |
| Hon Gam Ghi | The main snorkelling stop |
| Hon Dam Ngang | An alternative snorkelling stop, with coral |
| Hon May Rut Trong | Lunch, swimming and paddleboards |
| Hon May Rut Ngoai | Inhabited; some tours stop for a seafood lunch |
| Hon Dua or Hon Roi | An optional fourth stop on some tours |
| Hon Thom | The group's main island, reached by cable car on combo tours |
Tours sold as "four islands" either add Hon Dua or Hon Roi or count the two May Rut islands separately, and the order can change on the day with the wind and the crowds. Hops between islands take about 10 to 20 minutes.
What it costs in 2026
Prices vary by operator, boat size and season, and two recent guides give similar ranges:
| Option | Price per adult | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Shared boat, budget | ~350,000-600,000 VND | Pickup, lunch, gear, guide, 2-3 snorkel stops |
| Three islands, no lunch | ~500,000 VND | Boat and snorkel stops |
| Three islands with lunch and shuttle | ~650,000-700,000 VND | The standard day |
| Four islands, basic | ~550,000 VND | Boat and four stops |
| Four islands plus cable car and buffet | ~1.2-1.45 million VND | Boat in the morning, Hon Thom after |
| Private boat | ~2.5-4 million VND per boat | Lunch, gear and your own route |
| Two-dive day | ~2.2-2.8 million VND | Equipment, lunch and transfers |
The budget, private-boat and diving figures come from a VietnamTourism.com budget guide updated in October 2026, which notes that boats of 10 to 15 people cost more than boats carrying 20 to 30, and that peak-season prices on the island generally run 30 to 50% higher. The three- and four-island figures come from the June 2026 VisitPhuQuoc guide. A four-island combination tour checked on the booking site Vietnambooking in late October 2026 charged 1,250,000 VND per adult with the cable car, pickup from central hotels and an eight-dish lunch, but listed extras: drinks, VAT, a seawalker at an artificial coral park, a self-paid charge of about 70,000 VND per person at Hon May Rut Trong, and surcharges for pickups far from the centre.
Before you pay, ask four things: is lunch included, are island fees included, does pickup cover your area, and how many people will be on the boat.
A typical day
- 8:00-8:30 Pickup from your hotel. From Duong Dong it is about 30 km to An Thoi, so the drive takes the best part of an hour.
- 9:00 Board at An Thoi port.
- Morning Hon Mong Tay, then snorkelling at Hon Gam Ghi or Hon Dam Ngang.
- Midday Lunch and a swim at Hon May Rut.
- Early afternoon A fourth island, or the cable car to Hon Thom on a combo tour.
- Mid to late afternoon Back at An Thoi; the run from Hon May Rut Ngoai to the port is about 7 km and normally 15 to 20 minutes.
Expect about eight hours door to door. Pickup and boarding times come from the Vietnambooking listing and the VisitPhuQuoc guide, and the crossing time from Tuoi Tre News's July 2026 report.
Is the snorkelling any good?
Honestly: good for beginners, modest for anyone who has snorkelled in the Philippines or Indonesia. Most sites in the An Thoi islands are shallow, under about 12 m, with soft corals, small reef fish and easy conditions when the sea is flat, as my diving and snorkelling guide explains. Hon Gam Ghi is the usual stop, and the VisitPhuQuoc guide names Hon Dam Ngang as a place to see coral. Visibility is best from about December to April, according to the VietnamTourism.com guide, and drops after rain.
The islands sit in the Phu Quoc Marine Protected Area, which covers more than 40,900 ha of coral reef, seagrass and mangrove that are home to dugongs, sea turtles and dolphins, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. In August 2026, the province's marine protected area board, fisheries inspectorate and forest rangers signed an agreement to patrol it together, targeting boats in the strictly protected zones and unlicensed tourism services. You are unlikely to see the large animals on a day trip. What you can expect is reef fish and coral in shallow water.
Do not touch, stand on or collect coral, a point the VisitPhuQuoc guide also makes. If diving is your main interest, the Phu Quoc versus Con Dao comparison weighs the two islands.
Sea conditions by season
Phu Quoc's sea follows the southwest monsoon, the opposite of central Vietnam. The An Thoi islands lie off the southern tip, exposed to that wind.
| Months | What the sea is like | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| December to March | Calmest seas, clearest water | The best time |
| April | Still calm, visibility still good | Good, and hotter |
| May to October | Southwest monsoon: rough seas, heavy rain peaking in August and September, cancellations | Book flexibly |
| November | The monsoon ending; a late storm is possible | Better in the second half |
The VietnamTourism.com guide describes the dry season from November to March as having the calmest seas, the best diving visibility from December to April, and rough seas and cancelled boat tours in the May to October rains. My Phu Quoc weather guide has the monthly rain and sea temperatures. Storms add to it: when Typhoon Wipha brought heavy rain in July 2025, the provincial tourism department told Phu Quoc to keep tourists safe and operators were urged to avoid areas with large waves, as Viet Nam News reported.
Safety after the July 2026 accident
At about 13:00 on 11 July 2026, a speedboat carrying 32 Indian tourists, three crew and a Vietnamese guide overturned about 400 m from shore on the way from Hon May Rut Ngoai to An Thoi port, and 15 of the tourists died, as Tuoi Tre News reported. Authorities said the boat met strong winds, with southwest monsoon gusts in the days before, and the report noted that strong waves and complex currents form in the gaps between the islands. Operators suspended their island tours.
Five days later, Tuoi Tre reported that Phu Quoc had more than 100 speedboats carrying tourists to the islands, of which about 70 met the SB standard, the registry class for boats running from the shore to the islands, and that the rest were not eligible to carry passengers. Boats that failed inspection were suspended, police opened a criminal case, and the authorities said they were investigating videos that suggested some passengers had not been wearing life jackets. One operator, Rooty Trip, announced on 22 July that island boat tours had been allowed to restart from 23 July.
What that means for you:
- Go in the calm season if you can, and book the boat for your first free day, so a cancelled trip can move.
- Ask whether the boat is registered and inspected to carry passengers to the islands. A reputable operator will answer plainly.
- Wear the life jacket on every crossing, including the short ones back to port, and check that there is one for every passenger, child-sized for children.
- Accept a cancellation or a shortened route. If the operator or the crew say the sea is too rough, they are right.
- Check your travel insurance covers boat trips and snorkelling; the Vietnam travel insurance guide explains the exclusions.
The Hon Thom cable car: add-on or alternative
Sun World's cable car leaves the An Thoi cable car station and crosses the sea to Hon Thom on a 7,899.9 m three-rope line, which Guinness World Records lists as the longest of its kind, in about 15 minutes each way, according to Sun World's October 2026 itinerary.
Sun World's January 2026 ticket guide lists:
| Ticket | Adult | Child 1-1.4 m |
|---|---|---|
| Cable car return, Aquatopia water park and Exotica park | 850,000 VND | 700,000 VND |
| The same plus a buffet lunch | 1,150,000 VND | 900,000 VND |
Children under 1 m ride free. The same guide gave operating hours of 9:00 to 11:30 and 13:30 to 17:00; the October page says schedules vary, so check before you go.
As an add-on, the combination tours work if you want both the snorkelling and the water park, but they cut the time in the water, and the cable car is the most expensive part of the day. As an alternative, the cable car is the better choice with young children, for non-swimmers, or on a day when boats cannot sail and it is still running. The view from the cabin over the islets is the closest you get to the archipelago without a boat.
Practical tips
- Where to stay for it. The boats leave from the far south, so a base around An Thoi or Long Beach shortens the morning drive; where to stay on Phu Quoc compares the areas, and the 3 days in Phu Quoc itinerary shows where the boat day fits.
- Bring a dry bag for your phone, a rash vest or long sleeves for the sun, water, and cash for drinks and extras.
- Snorkel gear is included, but masks vary. If you have your own, bring it.
- Lunch is usually seafood on one of the May Rut islands; tell the operator in advance about allergies or vegetarian meals.
- Seawalker and other extras at the coral stops cost more, so ask the price before you agree.
Limitations
Tour prices come from two travel guides dated June and October 2026 and one booking listing, not from a survey of operators, and the same tour name can hide different inclusions. I could not find the official rules the Phu Quoc authorities set when boats restarted after the July 2026 accident, only an operator's notice and press reports, and I could not find a coral survey of the An Thoi islands from the last few years. Cable car prices are Sun World's January 2026 list; the October 2026 page gives no prices.
Workaround: confirm the price, the inclusions, the number on board and the boat's registration in writing before you pay, check the latest cable car price on Sun World's own booking site, and be ready to swap the boat for the cable car if the sea is up.