10 reasons to visit this secret paradise island (before everyone else does)

Phu Quoc (pronounced "foo kwok") - an unassuming Vietnamese island sitting pretty just off the coast of Cambodia - is one of south-east Asia's best-kept secrets. If last month’s launch of the first direct flights from London to Phu Quoc via TUI has tickled your interest, here are 10 more reasons to visit this untapped paradise now (before the crowds do).

It's full of uninhabited remote islands
The Phu Quoc district is made of 28 islands, most of which are uninhabited while some are planned for development as private resorts. Spanning 574 square kilometres, Phu Quoc Island, where most of the tourism action takes place, is the largest in the district/country as well as in the Gulf of Thailand.

One of the region's most beautiful remote islands is Hon Xuong - often referred to as the Robinson Crusoe island after the novel of the same name - and can currently only be reached by boat.

With no accommodation available on site, the island is a popular day trip spot and its protected waters and picturesque beach can be enjoyed overnight by camping on the beach as part of a tour, but not independently.
Hon Thom, the district’s second largest island (also known as Pineapple Island), is connected to Phu Quoc Island via what’s said to be the world’s longest oversea cable car, which travels a total distance of about eight kilometres in 8.5 seconds, carrying up to 3,500 passengers per hour in 70 cabins. With plans underway for the island to be transformed fully into a marine park, it currently offers several watersports activities including snorkelling, diving and yacht tours of the An Thoi archipelago (which occupies 15 of the district’s islands).

. ...and unspoilt beaches
The district boasts 150 kilometres of coast with ice cream-soft sand and Phu Quoc Island is home to around 20 unspoilt beaches, trodden mostly by locals or tourists from Asian countries nearby. Khem Beach is one of its most beautiful, overlooking Emerald Bay with powdery white sands caressed by champagne-like effervescent waves.

Sao Beach, considered the “crown jewel” of Phu Quoc, is also known for its snow white beaches, while Long Beach, which boasts a 20-km coast on the west side of the island is ideal for sunsets and among the island’s most popular beaches.
There’s also a ‘secret’ patch on the eastern end of Rach Vem Beach known as “Starfish Beach” for its rich population of red starfish found bathing in the sun just a few feet from the water’s edge.

Year-round heat
The island enjoys an average temperature of around 27°C, with the hottest month being April when mercury levels reach 29°C, so Phu Quoc offers comfortable year-round warmth for heat-seekers.

And while the winter chill settles in Britain and the rest of Europe, Phu Quoc’s dry season begins from November and lasts through March, making it an excellent winter sun spot.
. It’s getting a luxurious spruce-up
With several hostels offered on the island, Phu Quoc has typically been an off-beat stopover among backpackers travelling around other parts of South-east Asia. But a new crop of luxury hotels and resorts have been springing up along the coast as of 2015, aimed at giving the island an upmarket touch, including a handful of five-star resorts such as the stylish and elegant JW Marriott Emerald Bay Resort & Spa which opened this year with plenty of Instagram-worthy fodder.
The brainchild of renowned hotel architect and interior designer Bill Bensley, the whimsical resort is said to be the first-ever “experiential hotel” built entirely around a fictional history inspired by French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. The sprawling beachfront resort, nestled on Khem Beach, is also home to a 50m-long infinity pool - claimed to be the longest pool in a presidential suite in all of Asia.

Other luxury resorts on the island include the Intercontinental Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort, while a Ritz Carlton is also said to be in the pipeline.