Well, since we're already talking about the east coast Fukuoka and beaches with white sand, let me tell you about the second beach - Khem.
You should definitely go here! At least once during your vacation. Because if you haven't been to Khem, you haven't been to Phu Quoc 😅
Well, for some reason it is considered that way, although, in my opinion, Khem Beach is unjustifiably hyped and I liked Long Beach much more.
To get a personal impression of Khem, one fine Friday we went to spend the whole day on this beach 🏖
There are several large 4-5 star hotels near Khem.
Plus, 4 km from Khem is Sunset Town , where swimming is prohibited due to cables laid along the bottom of the bay for evening shows. As a result, everyone in Sunset Town (and there are a lot of people there!) goes swimming to Khem. It's the closest beach to them, and there aren't many other options. They don't have to drive 15 km to Long Beach every time.
I am gradually leading you to the fact that there are a lot of people on Khem, from the word “a lot” 😅
It’s not that there’s not enough room to swing a cat, but after our 20-kilometer Long Beach, where there are not many people, we were a little shocked by the number of people and sun loungers that stand in neat rows almost right next to each other 🙈
But due to the large number of people and restaurants on the shore there are quite a lot.
The prices there are high.
While we were choosing a place to set up our mobile office, we went around 6-7 places and looked at prices everywhere. We were a bit stunned.
For example, here on Long Beach, alcoholic cocktails cost from 80 to 150 thousand dong (3-5$).
Here on Khem, cocktails cost from 150 to 285 thousand dong (5-11$)! 😳
We also compared the simplest and most popular dish - fried rice with seafood - on Long Beach a portion costs an average of 50 thousand dong ($2), here on Khem - 150k ($6).
It’s just 2-3 times more expensive out of the blue due to the hyped-up location.
The infrastructure around Khem is not wow - there is not such an abundance of massage parlors, shops, fruit stalls and cafes for every taste as on Long Beach.
For example, several of my friends were vacationing on Khem at the same time as me. So, on their first evening, they walked 19 thousand steps in search of mangoes. 🙈 On our Long Beach, near the hotel, within 150 meters, there were about 6-7 fruit stalls.
☺️ What we liked about Khem:
✅ white sand - yes, it really is quite white. Not the Maldives, of course (and we've been there, so we can compare quite expertly 😅), but it also looks Instagrammable 😎
✅ Lots of beach restaurants and bars with power outlets! - this is important for remote workers ☺️
😢 What I didn't like:
❌ very crowded;
❌ expensive food and alcohol;
❌ very shallow bottom - in order to go neck-deep in water you have to walk a decent distance - 60-70 meters (for example, on Long Beach or Dai Beach, 4 meters from the shore the water is already neck-deep). Where the water is neck-deep and you can swim - there is a strip of plastic garbage floating there!
❌💔 this is the worst thing about Khem - that the currents carry a huge amount of garbage here. Of course, it is constantly cleaned up on the shore, but there is a lot of it in the water and personally I did not like swimming surrounded by bags, bottles and labels 😢
In the end, I only went into the water 3 times, two of them I just lay in the water where it was knee-deep. I didn't go further because of the trash.
But, it seems, there is not always trash, on our day there was 😥;
❌ Oh yeah, and you can't see the magical sunsets here, the beach is to the east, so you can only watch the sunrise here, and that's clearly not my thing. 😁 I like to sit with a cocktail at sunset, admiring the golden path on the water. This is not available in Khem.
In general, in my opinion, it is better to visit Khem once or twice than to live permanently in this bay, but here the choice is yours.
There are people who are ready to foam at the mouth to prove that Khem is the best beach in Phu Quoc.
I generally noticed that Khem is like oysters or the famous Tashkent theater 'Ilkhom' - some adore it, others are sincerely perplexed as to what the joke is and how THIS can be loved 😅
How do you like Khem beach? Are you in the Khem fan camp or like me - those who didn't quite understand Khem 😅🏝
You wrote such nonsense about Khem beach... We are currently vacationing on Khem beach and staying nearby in the Paralia hotel... We didn't see a single bag of trash or plastic.
Excellent beach, beautiful sea and crystal clear water.
You've come at the right time. Khem was indeed wonderful in early December. But overall, if you look at the years, Khem isn't always a great place in winter.
I completely agree with the author.
Day 4 on Phu Quoc. When choosing a hotel, I was tempted by the descriptions and photos of Khem Beach, so I chose a hotel located right next to it. It was a SHOCK!!! After the crystal waters of Karon Beach in Phuket's Andaman Sea, this is simply terrifying!!! I've never seen such a dirty sea in my life!!! (And I've seen plenty of seas). It's full of everything: bags, flip-flops, glasses, toiletries, even a paint roller!! The water, yes, is a comfortable temperature. But even after removing the trash, it's very murky. In 4 days, the water surface was never perfect. Swimming was completely uncomfortable. You could only stand still in the water. In short, a complete disappointment. I admit that you should go to this beach at a different time, but the guide said that now is high season in Phu Quoc, so it's unclear when high season begins on Khem.
And the author's point about the absolutely mediocre infrastructure is spot on. Yes, there are restaurants, but they're expensive. Massage parlors are incredibly overpriced. And there are only three grocery stores. There's nowhere to even buy souvenirs or gifts. Sunset Town is the only place to go: for dinner and shopping. Luckily, there's a free shuttle from the hotel.
In short, I do not recommend this beach or the place to stay near it at all.