Phu Quoc night markets, area by area

The market on Bach Dang street, at the river mouth beside Dinh Cau, was run from 2015 by an operator under a contract with the local authority and had about 100 kiosks along roughly 500 m. It was the island's default evening out: grilled seafood, rolled ice cream, dried squid and pearls. What has happened since is set out below in the order it was reported.

At the April meeting, eighteen vendor households asked to stay on Bach Dang, to stay until the end of 2026, or to move to a new site; officials said the current site no longer had a sufficient legal basis. We found no later announcement. If you are in Duong Dong, walk down to Bach Dang and see; if it is closed, the riverside and the shrine at sunset are still worth the evening.

Vui Phet (also called VUI-Fest Bazaar) is in Sunset Town, the resort district near An Thoi at the southern tip. The operator lists it as open from 16:00 to midnight daily with more than 100 stalls along the seafront streets: crafts, souvenirs, clothes and island products, plus fresh seafood, grilled pork rolls and fish-cake noodle soup.

Getting around inside the district: a buggy costs 15,000 VND per person and runs from 08:00 to 23:00, according to the operator's page, and a free bus runs from Sunset Town to the market from 18:00 to 21:30, a ride of about 10 minutes. The operator says that from the town centre you can see two firework displays in one night. For the shows themselves, see Evening shows.

• Sea urchin (nhum). Grilled in the shell with oil, peanuts and spring onion, eaten with salt, pepper and lime. The national tourism authority lists it as a night-market dish.
• Ham Ninh crab. Small, pink-shelled and spotted, usually boiled and dipped in salt-pepper-lime.
• Herring salad (goi ca trich). Raw herring with coconut, herbs and rice paper; see the caution below.
• Fish-cake noodle soup (banh canh cha ca). A late-night bowl rather than a seafood feast.
• Dried squid and shrimp. The easiest edible gift; many stalls vacuum-pack on the spot.
• Fish sauce and sim wine. Pack in checked luggage, sealed against leaks, as Vietnam Airlines advises.

Pearls are where caution pays most. VOV and VnExpress have both warned that unusually cheap night-market pearls may be imitations made from shell powder and glue. Raw and lightly cured seafood can carry bacteria and parasites; Vinmec advises children, pregnant women and people with weak immunity to avoid it, and lime juice does not cook fish.

• Heavy-rain evenings in August and September. Most stalls are open-air.
• If you want the Duong Dong market specifically. Its status was unsettled at our last check.
• If you are staying in the north and want Sunset Town, or the reverse. It is a long drive each way, and ride-hailing cars are scarce late at night outside Duong Dong and Long Beach.
• If you have a seafood allergy or a weak stomach. Grilled-to-order stalls share grills and sauces.