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We did Sun World Hon Thom as a day trip during our stay on Phu Quoc, and it turned out to be one of the most surreal days of our whole year of travel. It was also one of the best value for money days we had anywhere in Asia.
Fake Venice, the world’s longest sea crossing cable car and a water park that puts most of Europe’s to shame, all at the southern tip of a Vietnamese island. Here is our honest take, including the one mistake that cost us thirty minutes in a queue at the end of the day. If you are still planning the rest of your trip, start with our full Phu Quoc family guide.
Getting there: rent the scooter
We rented a scooter and rode down as a family. Yes, all four of us on one scooter, and no, we had no issues. In my opinion you cannot say you have truly visited Vietnam until the four of you are on one scooter.
The cable car station is at Sunset Town in An Thoi, right at the southern tip of the island (here it is on Google Maps). If you are not confident on two wheels, Grab works fine on Phu Quoc too. We explain how Grab works in our Uber in Vietnam guide.
First stop: a Starbucks in “Venice”
The first thing that throws you is that you do not arrive at a theme park at all. You arrive in Europe. The cable car station sits in Sunset Town, a whole man made Mediterranean town with clock towers, coloured townhouses and cobbled squares. We grabbed a Starbucks and wandered around a European city for half an hour before remembering we were in Vietnam.
Sunset Town. Not what you expect to find at the bottom of a Vietnamese island.
A local later explained the thinking to us. It was built like Venice so that Vietnamese people who never get the chance to travel could experience what a European city feels like. Once you know that, the whole place makes a lot more sense, and it is actually quite a lovely idea.
The world’s longest sea cable car
From Sunset Town you board the Hon Thom cable car, and the good news is that the return crossing is included in your park ticket. There is nothing extra to pay at the station.
If, like me, heights are not your favourite subject, it is also potentially the world’s longest journey. But it is worth the sweaty palms. The views over An Thoi’s islands and fishing boats are genuinely spectacular, and the kids had their faces glued to the glass the whole way.
The record, for the nerds: the Hon Thom cable car holds the official Guinness World Record for the longest non stop three rope cable car. It runs 7,899.9 metres from An Thoi across the islets of Hon Dua and Hon Roi to Hon Thom, and the crossing takes around 15 minutes each way. For most of the route there are no support towers rising out of the sea. Try not to think about that bit.
The descent into the park is the best bit. You glide down over the jungle onto the island and it feels like the opening scene of Jurassic Park. Really impressive arrival.
The view on the way over. You can just make out the European city behind us.
Aquatopia Water Park
This is where the day gets hard to believe. We have been lucky enough to visit theme parks all over the world, including in countries far more developed than Vietnam, and I honestly cannot think of a water park of this quality anywhere. It is modern, it is huge, it is spotless, and there was room everywhere. We walked straight up and got seats by the pool, and at times it felt like we had the place to ourselves.
The model of the islands in reception. The cable car crosses all of this.
One big warning for families with younger kids: the height restrictions here are stricter than you might be used to. A lot of the bigger slides require 1.2m, where similar slides in Europe are often 1.1m. Our five year old missed out on a fair few because of it. She still had tons to do with the splash zones, smaller slides and the lazy river, but if your kids are just under 1.2m, set expectations before you go.
Food in the park
Look, it is Vietnam, where you can eat brilliantly for pennies, and this is not that. You are on an island inside a theme park and the prices reflect it. That said, we paid the equivalent of about $5 USD each for a genuinely tasty burger, chips and drink meal with an ice cream thrown in. Compare that to a UK theme park, where you would pay three or four times as much for worse food, and it is hard to complain. Nobody bats an eyelid if you bring your own food either. Plenty of families around us were far better prepared than we were.
What we didn’t get to
One full day was not enough. There is more on the island than we managed, and back at Sunset Town there is an evening show we would do if we went again. Kiss of the Sea is a fire, laser and water spectacle on the beach, and there are combo tickets that bundle it with the park. There are no hotels on Hon Thom itself and no two day park ticket, so the smart play is a full day at the park, then come back over for the show another evening. For where to base yourself on Phu Quoc, see our full Phu Quoc family guide.
Our top tips
Book tickets in advance on Klook. Same as Universal Studios in Japan, it is cheaper and easier than sorting it at the gate, and everything is on your phone. Adult tickets were around $24 USD when we checked, with cheaper fares for kids. Check current Sun World Hon Thom ticket prices here.
Leave 30 minutes before closing. This is the one we got wrong. The park closes, everybody leaves at once, and the only way off the island is a cable car that moves at exactly the same speed as it did all day. We queued for a good thirty minutes to get out. Leave half an hour early and you will walk straight on. You will not miss anything worth thirty minutes of queueing with tired kids.
Check your kids against 1.2m before promising them the big slides. Trust us on this one.
Is Sun World Hon Thom worth it?
Absolutely. It is one of the most impressive man made attractions we visited in a year of full time travel, and one of the strangest, in the best way. A European town, a record breaking cable car and a world class water park in one day, for a fraction of what a comparable day out costs back home. We spent the whole day there and could easily have filled two.
Book your Sun World Hon Thom tickets here on Klook, and if you are planning the rest of your trip, our Phu Quoc family guide covers everything else on the island, from VinWonders to the night markets.
