What to do? What to do?
We had planned three days on Phu Quoc with no real agenda other than quality time together and relaxation. After one full day of eating, drinking and lounging, we thought we’d day trip somewhere and take a tour. Of course, we checked in with the lady at the front desk of Vida Loca for any insight and she raved over Red River Tours. Cue the next chaper of Operation W.E.I.R.D.! This company is one of two more popular ones on the island. Both companies had mixed reviews online but we went with Red River after visiting the other company – whose name rhymes with Tohn’s Jours – and receiving poor customer service regarding general questions about currency exchange. So we booked a little something for the both of us: snorkeling for Kim and fishing for yours truly.
Do we need an alarm?
I don’t know about you, but there is a definite difference in waking up early on vacation and waking up early to go to work. I will happily get up before the sun if I’m going out on a boat but a 9AM alarm to go to work? Forget it. We set an early-ish alarm to wake up for our shuttle to the dock to catch our boat the next day.
I’ve mentioned the adventure of staying at a resort not located on the main road: we sat at Vida in our swimsuits with one small day pack, waiting for the dock shuttle. Finally a man on a motorbike came. We looked down the road for the second motorbike but there wasn’t one. It was amusing to scootch up behind him on the seat and the three of us go puttering away. We had a Kim sandwich there for a minute. Definitely quality time.
Do we need a schedule?
Overall the tour was fine. We paid less than $20 each for a full day that included a meal. We were bused to the dock, boarded the boat, fought with some Russians over the best lounge chairs on the sun deck, and sat and relaxed for about an hour while we cruised to our first spot.
As soon as the anchor dropped, we finned and goggled up and hit the water. (Well, I try to avoid hitting water at all costs. I cowardly cringed my way into it. Kim was much stronger and more graceful. Last year when we snorkeled with Aubrie, that daredevil jumped off the top of the boat into the ocean!)
I floated around for a bit and tried to my legs tucked while treading water. We had read a lot of negative comments about damaged coral reefs and lack of education regarding touching them – you shouldn’t – or standing on them – you also shouldn’t – from many people. The tour guides did not mention coral at all but we knew from our research to stay off. So I tucked and treaded while Kim snorkeled and strained to see fish. There wasn’t much to see, unfortunately.
Anchors aweigh!
I was just starting to prune up when they called us back to the boat to move onto the fishing spot. We swam back, hopped on board and lounged some more until the boat stopped again. This time, we went downstairs to get a hand reel (similar to the yellow one pictured to the right) complete with bait! It looked like a little piece of squid on my hook. We fished for about 20 minutes. Kim watched as I tossed my squid bit overboard and let the sinker on the line take it down to where I thought the fish were.
I was wrong. There were no fish on my side of the boat. They were on the other side where those seat-hogging Russians were! Beautiful speckled spiny fish. No one kept their catch but catch-and-release is always fun. And just casting and being in the sun on the boat with my Babe was fun too.
Left to right: just a girl and her reel (and no fish.) Our comrade and his pretty speckled catch. Quality time on the boat!
Soon after fishing, we had lunch onboard. We had a few dishes to choose from that included tofu, spicy chicken, rice and a noodle dish. For dessert we had watermelon. Could the portions have been bigger? Yes, according to this healthy American eater. Could we have had more variety? Maybe. I’ve never planned or cooked a meal on a ship so I can’t answer that. It was enough nourishment for our day of snorkeling, beach hopping and fishing.
Next up, more snorkeling?
We stopped at one more island but were never told to gear up for snorkeling. Instead, we jumped into a big dinghy and were taken close to the shore of a busy island that had a restaurant, bar, and the finest stash of beach treasures (i.e. sea glass) I found in Vietnam. The sand was white, the beer was cold, the ice cream was cheap and we just hung out until it was time to catch the dinghy back to the boat. Then we took that boat back to the dock and hopped on the bus. We thought we were going back to the resort but then we stopped one last time at what was billed as “the most popular beach.”
It was dead. Keep in mind, this was weeks before Covid-19 so it was just odd. Maybe it was the time of day. Maybe we were tired but this beach was not that exciting. There were no chairs to lounge on for quality time. We were ready to go back to the resort for a shower and some rest from our busy day and thankfully, after about 20 minutes on this beach we loaded up and headed back.
In case you missed how this vacation began, click here to read more.