Vinpearl Phu Quoc Safari Park – Review (2024)
We spent three gloriously chilled out weeks on Phu Quoc in 2024. If you get a bit bored of hanging out on the beach and swimming in the sea every day then Phu Quoc also has a range of day trip options, including Vinpearl Safari Park.
The boys love any opportunity to see animals up-close-and-personal so we hopped in a Grab from Duong Dong and spent the day exploring Vinpearl Safari Park Phu Quoc. Read our full review and tips for a great day out below!
Where is Phu Quoc?
Phu Quoc is Vietnam’s biggest ‘beach’ destination with long stretches of beautiful white sand and turquoise seas. It’s an island that’s actually just off the south coast of Cambodia but is officially part of Vietnam.
It’s a fab destination for families with lots of good value hotels (think £50 per night right on the beach, £20 per night further inland). It also has a smattering of fab days out, including not only the safari but also a large amusement park, a fab waterpark (read our review here) and snorkelling trips.
Phu Quoc is only a short ferry ride from Ha Tien in Vietnam. It also has an international airport with connecting flights across the region (including several a day to Ho Chi Minh City).
How to you get to Vinpearl Safari Park Phu Quoc?
Vinpearl Safari Park Phu Quoc is in the North of the island, around a 20-minute drive from the main town Duong Dong.
Vinpearl run free buses across the island (the green ones) that pick up and drop off at the amusement park and the safari and run from most of the major tourist spots. You can download the VinWonder app for the timetable.
Alternatively you can hire scooters cheaply across the island, or get a Grab taxi – which costs around Vd300,000 (approximately £9.50) from Duong Dong.
How much is entry to Vinpearl Safari Park?
Entry to the safari park in Phu Quoc is Vd660,300 for adults (approximately £20) and Vd482,500 for children under 140cm (approximately £14.50). This includes a lunch voucher for each person of Vd200,000 for adults and Vd100,000 for kids.
You can also opt to pay for the zoo tram that runs through the ‘walking’ part of the park. This is different to the safari bus that runs through the actual safari part of the park (and is included in your ticket).
Whilst you don’t need to pay for the zoo tram it does make life a bit easier as there is quite a lot of ground to cover. Tickets that include the zoo tram are Vd762,000 per adult (approximately £23) and Vd584,000 per child under 140cm (approximately £17.50). These tickets also include the lunch vouchers.
What is there to see at Vinpearl Safari?
We’d seen a LOT of animals in the wild during our year of travelling but we still really enjoyed our day at Vinpearl Safari.
There are two main sections of the park – a zoo-type area where you can walk between the enclosures or take the safari tram and then the safari area.
The safari bus takes around 25minutes and takes you through the larger enclosures. From the bus you get a surprisingly good view of lions, tigers, rhinos, giraffe, zebra and a whole host of other bigger animals. We all really enjoyed this part of the day as it felt a bit like being transported out on an actual safari.
There’s a decent sized reptile house, several types of primates, crocodiles, otters, lions, tigers, leopards, elephants, bears, hippos, flamingos, an aviary and more.
There is easily enough to entertain the family for the whole day.
What were the highlights of our visit?
As usual, the boys loved the big cats (they have leopards, tigers and lions). Some of the big cats are located in the zoo part of the park whilst the lions and tigers roam through the safari park section.
The otter enclosure was also a firm favourite as you can view the otters above ground, underwater and as they swim through the water while you walk underneath.
The gibbons were HIGHLY entertaining to watch, and the walk across the rope bridges over the massive crocodiles was slightly nerve-wracking!
You can read loads of reviews over on TripAdvisor here if you want more info.
What kind of conditions are the animals kept in at Vinpearl Safari?
We knew that in many places in Asia animals in captivity are not kept in great conditions. For this reason I was wary of zoo/safari day trips.
However, the enclosures at Vinpearl Safari Phu Quoc were a similar size to those we’ve visited in the UK. And certainly in the safari section the animals are given much more freedom to roam (in fact the ethos of this area is that the humans are kept locked in on the bus so that the movement of the animals is less restricted).
How much is the food at Vinpearl Safari Park in Phu Quoc?
The standard entry ticket includes a voucher of Vd200,000 for adults and Vd100,000 for kids that you can spend in any of the restaurants in the park. This is more than enough for a meal deal combo in the restaurants, which includes a choice of meal (western food such as burgers as well as noodle and fried rice options) and a drink. We found that our three adult vouchers were enough to cover four meal deals, then we were able to use the remaining child voucher (Vd100,000) for ice-creams later in the day.
I would really recommend having lunch at the Giraffe House (located just before the entrance to the safari bus). You can use your vouchers here but best of all the tables look out over the giraffes. It’s fab to sit and have lunch while watching the giraffes right next door!
Note that the vouchers can only be used in the restaurants, NOT the snack stands. You are also not allowed to bring your own food and drink in to the park (aside from bottled water).
The verdict
Vinpearl Safari Park Phu Quoc definitely exceeded our expectations. We started the day thinking that as we’d seen so much in the wild on our travels it would just be an OK kind of activity. But we were all won over! There’s a big range of animals to see and learn about. And the whole place is really well-run and easy to get around.
Top Tips
- On the safari bus, try to sit on the left-hand side – there is more space for the animals to roam on this side so you’re more likely to spot them!
- The food voucher included in the ticket price can only be used in the restaurants NOT the snack spots
- If you’ve got young kids or anyone with mobility issues then pay for the safari tram tickets too so you can get around the whole park easily
Planning a family trip to Vietnam?
If you’re planning to take the kids on a tour of Vietnam, then check out some of our other posts below for more inspiration, tips and reviews: