Ganh Dau Cape Day Trip: Budget Guide for 2026

The north of Phu Quoc gets a fraction of the visitors that crowd Sao Beach or the Night Market. Most people who go once tell us it was the day trip they remember longest. Ganh Dau cape sits at the far tip of the island — dense forest on one side, the Gulf of Thailand on the other, and on clear days a visible strip of the Cambodian coastline 15 km across the water. It is not difficult to reach. It costs almost nothing. You just need to know the road.

Getting to Ganh Dau: The Road North

From Duong Dong, the route is straightforward: take the main road north out of town, pass through the national park checkpoint (no fee for motorbikes in transit), and continue another 8–10 km on increasingly quiet tarmac until the road ends near Ganh Dau village. Total distance by road: roughly 28 km. Time: 50–60 minutes at a relaxed pace, including one stop for a photo.

The first 18 km, through Ong Lang and into the park fringes, is well-paved two-lane road. After the park checkpoint the tarmac narrows, traffic drops to almost nothing, and the road surface gets patchier. It is still rideable on a standard 110cc automatic scooter — just slow down for the rough bits and watch for the occasional motorbike coming the other way on blind corners.

Fill up on fuel before you leave Duong Dong or Ong Lang. There are no reliable petrol stations north of Ong Lang. A 110cc scooter running a 56 km round trip uses about 1.5 litres — well within a full tank. Do not assume you can top up in the north.

What You Find at Ganh Dau Cape

Ganh Dau village is small — a cluster of houses, a few fishing boats, and some simple food stalls. The cape itself is a few hundred metres past the village: a rocky point jutting into the gulf, with forest behind and open water ahead. There are no facilities, no sun loungers, no souvenir sellers. That is entirely the point.

The sea view from the point is genuinely good. Northwest, on a clear dry-season day, you can pick out the Cambodian coast with the naked eye. The border is close enough that the islands in the foreground look like they belong to both countries at once. I have stood there with guests who did not believe me about Cambodia until they looked it up on a map. It is about 15 km across the water.

Swimming here is possible in dry season when the sea is calm. In wet season the current off this cape can be strong — do not push it. Stay close to shore and watch how the water is moving before you go in.

Starfish Beach (Bai Rach Vem)

About 5 km southeast of Ganh Dau village, down a side road that branches off the main track, is Bai Rach Vem — known to most visitors as Starfish Beach. The name is accurate. In calm clear conditions the seabed in the shallow bay is covered in large orange starfish. They sit on the sand in a metre or two of water and you can wade out among them easily.

The bay is protected, so the water is calmer than at the open cape. It works as a swimming spot even when conditions elsewhere in the north are rough. A few small stalls sell cold drinks, coconuts and very basic snacks. Prices are honest — $1 for a coconut, $1–1.50 for a soft drink. No beach chairs or umbrellas, so bring a sarong or a thin mat if you want to sit on the sand.

One thing worth knowing: the starfish are best visible in the morning before any wave disturbance clouds the water. By early afternoon on busy days, boat traffic from the few tour operators who come here can reduce visibility. Arrive before 10 am if clear water matters to you.

The National Park Road

The ride from Duong Dong to Ganh Dau passes through the northern section of Phu Quoc National Park — which covers more than half the island's land area. You do not need to pay anything to ride the main road through it. The park checkpoint you pass through is simply a logging of vehicles going north; no ticket required.

If you want to stop and walk into the forest, some entry points do have a small fee (around 20,000–30,000 VND). For most day-trippers the road itself gives enough of the experience: dense green canopy overhead, the occasional monitor lizard crossing the tarmac, and the sound of the forest replacing road noise about 5 km past the checkpoint. It is a proper national park, not a manicured garden.

Do not expect marked hiking trails with signs and facilities. The paths that exist are rough and you would need a local guide for anything deeper than the road margins. What the park gives you on a motorbike day trip is atmosphere, not a structured walk — and that is more than enough.

Full Cost Breakdown

This is a genuinely cheap day out. Here is what you actually spend:

No ATMs exist north of Duong Dong. Bring cash for the day. The stalls at Starfish Beach do not take cards. Most vendors anywhere north of Ong Lang will only accept Vietnamese dong, so convert before you leave — $15 in VND is more than enough for the day.

What to Pack for the Day

The checklist is short but the items on it matter more than they would on a trip to a developed beach:

• Water — at least 1.5 litres per person. The stalls at Starfish Beach have cold drinks, but the road between the checkpoint and the cape has nothing.
• Reef-safe sunscreen and a hat. The north has zero shade structures at the cape itself.
• Cash in dong — 300,000–500,000 VND per person covers everything.
• Fully charged phone for Google Maps. Mobile signal is patchy north of the park — download the offline map the night before.
• A thin mat or sarong for Starfish Beach — there are no sunloungers.
• Basic snacks if you prefer not to rely on the stalls.

Leave anything you do not need at your accommodation. Riding a loaded motorbike on rough northern tracks is less comfortable than riding light.

Best Time to Go

November to April is the sweet spot. The sea is calm, the roads are dry, and the starfish are clearly visible. February and March are particularly good — stable weather, low humidity, and the northern forest at its greenest after the rains have finished.

May to October works if you are flexible. The showers usually come in the afternoon, so leaving Duong Dong by 7:30–8:00 am gets you to the north before any weather develops. The ride back in a light rain is fine; the ride back in a heavy tropical downpour on an unfamiliar rough road is not fun. Check the sky before you leave.

Avoid any period during Tet (late January to mid-February) when locals are travelling and the roads north of Duong Dong, usually empty, see more traffic than usual. The starfish crowd experience varies — you might arrive to find five other visitors, or twenty, depending purely on what tours have come through that morning.

Combining Stops for a Full Northern Loop

A Ganh Dau day trip pairs naturally with two other northern stops that add almost no extra riding time:

Pepper farms. The red-earth tracks branching off the main northern road pass through working pepper farms. Entry is usually free or tip-based. You see the pepper vines growing up wooden stakes, can ask to taste the different stages (green, red, dried), and can buy good-quality black pepper direct for much less than the tourist-shop price. We always stop at the same small farm about 12 km from Duong Dong on the right-hand side — the family there have been farming the same plot for two generations and the pepper is exceptional.

A forest viewpoint stop. About 3 km past the park checkpoint there is a short pull-off on a hillside where you can see the national park canopy stretching south. No facilities, no signage — just park the bike and look. Five minutes. Worth it.

The full loop — Duong Dong, pepper farm stop, national park road, Starfish Beach, Ganh Dau cape, back to Duong Dong — takes about 5–6 hours at a relaxed pace including swimming time. A half-day, comfortably done before lunch if you leave early.

If you want a full day in the north, combine it with a hike in the national park — our separate national park hiking guide covers the accessible trails in detail.

Frequently Asked Questions