Phu Quoc Night Market Guide: What to Eat, Buy & Do (2026)

Something that’s changed since most guides were written: the Phu Quoc night market in Duong Dong isn’t the big riverside market it used to be. The ten-year lease on the Bạch Đằng stretch ran out, the stalls along the river were cleared in spring 2026, and that part is being turned into a park.

What’s left is a shorter run of stalls of around 300 metres from the gate on Nguyễn Trãi, still open every evening, a lot quieter than before.

I described it as a hundred-plus stall market not long ago, and that’s no longer true. It’s still worth an hour on a first evening in Duong Dong, but the best eating around it is now just outside it, and for a proper night market evening the newer ones at Sonasea and Sunset Town have taken over.

Below is what’s there now, what I’d eat and buy, and which night market I’d go to depending on where you’re staying.

• Quick Answer: The Phu Quoc night market in Duong Dong is still open, from about 5pm to 11:30pm, at 54 Nguyễn Trãi, but it’s much smaller since the riverside section on Bạch Đằng closed in 2026. Go for grilled skewers, sea urchin and coconut ice cream, agree the price per kilo before ordering any seafood, and eat the cheapest seafood at the stalls just outside it. For a bigger night market, Sonasea on southern Long Beach runs from late afternoon to about 11pm, and Vui-Fest in Sunset Town has the sunset and fireworks. Grand World’s night market in the north is mostly empty.
• Duong Dong night market now:
  • 54 Nguyễn Trãi, about 5pm to 11:30pm, busiest 7pm to 9pm.
  • A stretch of roughly 300 metres from the gate. The Bạch Đằng riverside section has closed.
  • Older guides call it the Dinh Cậu night market. That site closed in 2016.
• Eating around it:
  • Grilled oysters at 8,000 VND each at the stall on Trần Hưng Đạo.
  • Coconut ice cream at Kim Ngân, 2 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, 5pm to 10:30pm.
  • The local Xóm Chài night market at 225 Trần Phú, grilled corn with scallion oil at 12,000 VND.
• Seafood by the kilo: agree the price per kilo and the cooking charge before anything leaves the tank, and watch it weighed.
• Worth buying: flavoured peanuts, dried squid, crochet toys. Pearls only as costume jewellery.
• The other night markets:
  • Sonasea (Bãi Trường): southern Long Beach, late afternoon to about 11pm.
  • Vui-Fest, Sunset Town: food from 4pm, fireworks at 8pm and 9:30pm.
  • Grand World: north of the island, 4pm to 2am, mostly seafood restaurants.

Is the Phu Quoc Night Market Still Open?

Yes, but it’s a smaller market than the one in older guides and photos. The Duong Dong night market, chợ đêm Phú Quốc in Vietnamese and Phu Quoc Night Market & Local Food on Google Maps, is open every evening from about 5pm to around 11:30pm. The location is the gate at 54 Nguyễn Trãi, and the timings that matter are simple: busiest from 7pm to 9pm, quietest before 6:30pm.

The history is a bit tangled, which is why directions online disagree. The original market was on Võ Thị Sáu near Dinh Cậu shrine, and plenty of people still call it the Dinh Cậu night market, though that site closed back in 2016. It moved a hundred metres or so to Bạch Đằng, along the river, where it ran for ten years under a lease that ended at the close of 2025. The island let traders stay through Tết, and the riverside section was handed back at the end of March 2026. The local government has said publicly that it won’t get rid of the night market and is looking for a new site, but for now what you’ll find is the stretch running in from the Nguyễn Trãi gate.

That stretch is mostly food: seafood tables with live tanks, grills, juice and smoothie stalls, rolled ice cream, peanuts, and souvenir stalls further along. It’s less crowded than it was, and I don’t think it’s lost much of what was good about it. It has lost some of the spectacle.

If you’re staying in Duong Dong, it’s walkable from most hotels, which is still one of the better reasons to base yourself in town for a first trip. From anywhere else, I’d look at the other night markets further down.

What to Eat at the Phu Quoc Night Market, and Just Outside It

The cheap grilled things are still the reason to go. Squid skewers, grilled spiny snails with scallion oil, scallops with peanuts, and sea urchin grilled in the shell with a bit of egg, mostly 20,000 to 30,000 VND a stick or a piece. A markup on a 25,000 VND skewer barely registers, which is why these are the things I’d eat at the market itself.

The best food around the market isn’t in it, though, and it’s been that way for a while.

The grilled oyster stall on Trần Hưng Đạo, a few minutes’ walk south of the market, sells grilled oysters at 8,000 VND each and scallops at around eight for 50,000, cooked over charcoal on the pavement. It opens from 5pm until midnight. The sea urchin there is very good, and it’s a fraction of the price of the same thing inside the market.

Kem Trái Dừa Kim Ngân, at 2 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu by the market, does coconut ice cream served in the shell, plus avocado and banana versions, from 5pm to 10:30pm. It’s homemade and not too sweet, and before 7pm you can sit on the little plastic stools out front. If the night market does move, I hope this one stays.

The Xóm Chài night market, at 225 Trần Phú in the fishing village alley, about ten minutes north by bike, is where local families eat. Stalls start around 5pm. Grilled corn brushed with scallion oil is 12,000 VND, three grilled bananas 10,000, razor clams stir-fried in butter 50,000, and sugarcane juice 10,000. It’s right by Bún Quậy Kiến Xây, so it pairs neatly with a bowl of bún quậy first. For a real local night market, this is the one I’d send people to now.

For a planned evening through these and a couple of other stops, the route in my self-guided Phu Quoc food tour still works, with the riverside part now skipped.

Ordering Seafood by the Kilo Without a Surprise Bill

The seafood tables at the night market sell by weight from the tanks out front, and cook whatever you pick. The bills that go wrong nearly always go wrong the same way: nobody agreed a number first.

So agree two numbers before anything leaves the tank, the price per kilo and the cooking charge on top. Then watch it weighed. I’d also keep an eye on, or take a quick photo of, whatever you’ve picked, because there are stalls that keep frozen or ice-display seafood as well as live, and swapping a lobster on the way to the kitchen isn’t unheard of.

The cooking styles are worth knowing too. Nướng mỡ hành is grilled with scallion oil, hấp sả is steamed with lemongrass, and bơ tỏi is garlic butter. For most shellfish I’d go with scallion oil.

Lobster, mud crab and abalone are where night market bills climb fastest, and I’d eat all three at the seafood places on the east coast, where it’s cheaper and usually better. For Muslim travellers, most stalls aren’t halal, so the seafood and fruit stalls are the safest bet, and it’s worth asking before anything with a marinade goes on the grill.

What to Buy at the Phu Quoc Night Market

Night market shopping in Duong Dong is mostly repeats: the same peanuts, the same dried squid, the same t-shirts and the same pearl counters, so there’s no need to buy at the first stall. Souvenir prices are a bit negotiable, food prices less so.

Flavoured peanuts in big jars, coated in garlic and chilli, coconut or wasabi, are the thing I always end up buying. Vacuum-packed dried squid travels well. Crochet toys and bags have become a bit of a speciality and make easy gifts. Sim wine, the sweet pink berry wine, is better tasted before buying a big bottle.

Pepper is cheaper and better at the pepper farms in the north. Fish sauce is better bought at one of the fish sauce factories in town, and it can’t go in hand luggage anyway. As for the pearls, most of what’s on the night market counters is costume jewellery whatever the label says, which is fine if it’s priced like a souvenir. For a real pearl I’d go to an established showroom.

Sonasea Night Market (Bãi Trường)

Sonasea night market, also called the Bãi Trường night market, is on the pedestrian street of the Sonasea development at the southern end of Long Beach, a few minutes from the InterContinental, Novotel and the other resorts there. It opens in the late afternoon and runs until about 11pm, busiest from around 7pm.

Since the Duong Dong market shrank, the Sonasea Phu Quoc night market is the one with the most going on. There are grilled seafood stalls, a lot of Korean restaurants and some Italian and French ones, juice stands, pearls, clothes and souvenirs, and no motorbikes on the street, which makes it easy with children. Prices aren’t lower than in Duong Dong.

39k Seafood & BBQ, at lots 03 and 05 in the market, open 2pm to midnight, is the seafood place I’d sit down at. The garlic butter prawns are the order, and like several restaurants here they bring free morning glory and a mango dessert with the meal.

The by-the-kilo rule still applies: half a kilo of scallops can turn out to be four shells, so ask how many before ordering. And if you see a juice stand using a chained monkey to draw customers, it’s one to walk past.

Vui-Fest Night Market in Sunset Town

The Vui-Fest night market in Sunset Town, near An Thới at the southern tip of the island, is the cleanest and most organised night market on Phu Quoc. Food stalls open from about 4pm and the bazaar runs from 6pm to midnight, with rice and noodle dishes, grilled food, desserts, milk tea, crochet, pearls and gifts. A coconut is around 25,000 VND.

It’s a tourist street more than a market, and it doesn’t feel like Duong Dong’s. What it has is timing: the sunset from about 5pm, dinner, then fireworks at 8pm and 9:30pm along with the sea show by the Kiss Bridge.

It’s close to the Hon Thom cable car, so it works well at the end of a day in the south. If you’re staying down there, a few of the small boutique hotels in Sunset Town look straight out over the fireworks.

Grand World Night Market

The Grand World night market is in the Vinpearl area in the north, open from 4pm to 2am, and the free VinBus runs there from Duong Dong and the airport.

Grand World is enormous and a lot of its shopfronts are empty, so the night market is mostly seafood restaurants and massage places, with little to buy and not much atmosphere on a quiet night. Ốc Đêm Vũng Bầu, just outside on ĐT45, is cheaper and better than most of what’s inside.

If you’re staying at one of the northern resorts it’s handy. I wouldn’t cross the island for it.

Phu Quoc Night Market FAQ

Is the Phu Quoc night market closed? No. The riverside section on Bạch Đằng closed in 2026, but the market is still open every evening from the gate at 54 Nguyễn Trãi.

What are the Phu Quoc night market opening hours? About 5pm to 11:30pm every day, busiest from 7pm to 9pm.

Where is the Phu Quoc night market? In Duong Dong town, entering from 54 Nguyễn Trãi, near Dinh Cậu shrine and the river mouth.

Is the Dinh Cau night market still there? No. The original Dinh Cậu site closed in 2016, and the name now usually means the Duong Dong night market.

Which is the best night market in Phu Quoc now? Sonasea for the most choice, Sunset Town for the fireworks, and Duong Dong for the street food and the stalls around it.

Is the food at the Phu Quoc night market safe? Generally. Busy grills, food cooked in front of you and seafood taken live from the tank are the safest choices.

How much does dinner at the night market cost? Street food for two comes to around 300,000 to 400,000 VND. Seafood by the kilo can go well past that, so agree prices first.

What Happens to the Duong Dong Night Market Next

The island’s government has said the night market is part of its plans for Phu Quoc after dark and that it’s surveying a new site for the traders, without a date or a place so far. Until that’s settled, the Nguyễn Trãi stretch is the Duong Dong night market, and the riverside walk along Bạch Đằng is a building site on its way to becoming a park.

I’ll update this when the new site opens. If you’re in Duong Dong and find the traders have moved before I do, I’d like to know where they’ve gone.

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