Phú Mỹ travel guide
Deep-water ports and power plants on the Thị Vải River
An industrial city of container ports and power plants southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, visited almost entirely for business. December to April is the dry season. Stay as long as work requires and spend free time at Vũng Tàu. Prices are low.
Phú Mỹ is an industrial city on the Thị Vải River in the former Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province, southeast of Ho Chi Minh City. It grew out of the rural Tân Thành district and now holds the Cái Mép–Thị Vải deep-water container ports, which took over much of the traffic of Saigon port, along with a power plant complex that supplies a large share of the country's electricity.
Visitors here are almost always on business with the ports, the industrial parks or the wind-tower factories. There are no sights to speak of. For a day off, the beaches at Vũng Tàu and Long Hải are a short drive south, and Ho Chi Minh City is the place to fly in and out.
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A working port city first and foremost; leisure time is best spent on the coast nearby.
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Best time to visit Phú Mỹ
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Sunny and hot, the easiest time for site visits.
Heavy afternoon showers that can slow road traffic.
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Getting there
Highway 51 from Tan Son Nhat past the Long Thành airport site
Almost everyone reaches Phú Mỹ by road from Ho Chi Minh City, about 70 km away, after flying into Tan Son Nhat (SGN). Highway 51 carries the whole trip, leaving the Biên Hòa side of Saigon, passing Long Thành and running down the east bank of the Thị Vải River before continuing to Bà Rịa and Vũng Tàu. Most business visitors are met by a company car or book a private car; Grab and metered taxis from the airport also make the run, and the time depends almost entirely on traffic leaving Saigon. Coaches between Ho Chi Minh City and Vũng Tàu use the same highway and can drop you in Phú Mỹ. The new Long Thành airport is being built along this corridor.
- Tan Son Nhat (SGN)
- Nearest working airport; car or taxi via Highway 51
- Saigon to Vũng Tàu coaches
- Pass through Phú Mỹ on Highway 51; ask to be let off
- Vũng Tàu
- About 40 km south by the same road
- Avoid leaving Saigon between about 16:00 and 19:00 on a weekday or on Friday evenings, when traffic to the coast is at its worst.
Getting around
Company cars and taxis between Cái Mép and the industrial parks
Getting around Phú Mỹ means a car. The town is a chain of industrial parks, port gates and worker housing strung for many kilometres along Highway 51, with the Cái Mép and Thị Vải terminals on the river to the west, and nothing is usefully walkable beside a road full of container trucks. Most visitors rely on a driver arranged by the company they are visiting, or on metered taxis and Grab, which work in the main ward around the old Phú Mỹ township. For a free day at the coast, book a car for the round trip; finding a ride back from Long Hải late in the evening can be slow.
- Company car or private driver
- The norm for port and factory visits
- Taxi and Grab
- Available around Phú Mỹ ward and the main hotels
- Motorbike
- Not advised for visitors; Highway 51 truck traffic is heavy
- Save your hotel's address in Vietnamese on your phone; drivers know the industrial parks by their Vietnamese names.
Know before you go
What makes Phú Mỹ worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- Watching container ships work the Thị Vải River at Cái Mép.
- An evening by the sea at Long Hải, a short drive south.
- Seafood in Vũng Tàu, the nearest real resort town.
Good to know
- Traffic is heavy with trucks on the main highway, especially at shift changes.
- Hotels cater to business guests, so weekday rates and availability follow the ports, not tourists.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Phú Mỹ, month by month
Month-by-month climate figures for Phú Mỹ are being researched.
A free day off the ships at Núi Dinh, Long Hải and the Dinh Cô temple
A free day from the Phú Mỹ ports is best spent between Núi Dinh, Long Hải and the Dinh Cô temple. Leave early: Núi Dinh, the forested mountain between Phú Mỹ and Bà Rịa, has paths and temples on its lower slopes and is the closest green space, cooler first thing before the heat builds.
From there, drive south through Bà Rịa to Long Hải, a fishing town with a long beach where families from Saigon spend weekends. On the rocky point stands the Dinh Cô temple, dedicated to a young woman whom local fishermen worship as their protector; its festival in the second lunar month draws huge crowds. Have lunch on the seafront. In the afternoon, inland from Long Hải, the Minh Đạm hills hold a former resistance base with caves and a memorial, and views back over the coast.
If you would rather have a town than a beach, continue to Vũng Tàu, where the seafront promenade, the giant Christ statue on Small Mountain and the lighthouse above it fill an afternoon. Head back to Phú Mỹ before dark: the highway is easier without the evening truck traffic.
Bánh khọt and stingray hotpot on the Vũng Tàu side
Phú Mỹ's own food is functional: rice shops, noodle stalls and canteens around the industrial parks, plus hotel restaurants feeding visiting engineers and managers, many of them serving Korean and Japanese food. For the dishes this coast is proud of, bánh khọt and stingray hotpot, plan an evening in Long Hải or Vũng Tàu.
The essential one is bánh khọt, small crisp rice-flour cakes cooked in a dimpled pan, topped with a whole shrimp and eaten wrapped in mustard greens and herbs with sweet fish sauce. They are made to order, so sit where you can watch the pans. The other is lẩu cá đuối, a sour stingray hotpot flavoured with bamboo shoots and tamarind, which seafood places on the Vũng Tàu waterfront serve to tables of friends after work.
Long Hải's beachfront restaurants let you choose live crab, clams and squid from tanks and have them grilled or steamed. Go with a local colleague if you can; ordering by weight in Vietnamese is easier with help.
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How we research our Phú Mỹ travel guide
Phú Mỹ is written for people visiting the Cái Mép ports and industrial parks. We check Highway 51 travel and the coast day trips against the town's Wikipedia record and Vietnam Travel, and entry rules against Vietnam's e-Visa portal.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Phú Mỹ.
General
Not for sightseeing. It is a port and industrial city; most people come for work and spend free time in Long Hải or Vũng Tàu.
Deep-water container terminals on the Thị Vải River that took over much of the traffic of the old Saigon port and can handle very large ships.
Yes. Coaches between Ho Chi Minh City and Vũng Tàu run along Highway 51 through Phú Mỹ and will stop if you ask.
It carries container trucks between the Cái Mép and Thị Vải terminals, the industrial parks and Saigon, as well as weekend traffic to the coast.
A group of gas-fired power stations with a combined capacity of about 4,000 MW, supplying a large share of Vietnam's electricity.
Bánh khọt, crisp shrimp-topped rice cakes, and lẩu cá đuối, a sour stingray hotpot, are the Vũng Tàu specialities.
Getting around Phú Mỹ means a car. The town is a chain of industrial parks, port gates and worker housing strung for many kilometres along Highway 51, with the Cái Mép and Thị Vải terminals on the river to the west, and nothing is usefully walkable beside a road full of container trucks. Most visitors rely on a driver arranged by the company they are visiting, or on metered taxis and Grab, which work in the main ward around the old Phú Mỹ township.
Phú Mỹ is best known for:
- Watching container ships work the Thị Vải River at Cái Mép
- An evening by the sea at Long Hải, a short drive south
- Seafood in Vũng Tàu, the nearest real resort town
Getting there
Tan Son Nhat (SGN) in Ho Chi Minh City, roughly 70 km away, followed by a car along Highway 51.
About 40 km south along Highway 51 through Bà Rịa, an easy drive outside rush hours.
Long Hải, south of Bà Rịa, is the closest relaxed beach; Vũng Tàu's Back Beach is busier and further.
Almost everyone reaches Phú Mỹ by road from Ho Chi Minh City, about 70 km away, after flying into Tan Son Nhat (SGN). Highway 51 carries the whole trip, leaving the Biên Hòa side of Saigon, passing Long Thành and running down the east bank of the Thị Vải River before continuing to Bà Rịa and Vũng Tàu. Most business visitors are met by a company car or book a private car; Grab and metered taxis from the airport also make the run, and the time depends almost entirely on traffic leaving Saigon.
Timing & weather
Roughly December to April. From May to November heavy afternoon showers slow traffic on Highway 51.
Visa & documents
Citizens of a number of countries, including the UK and many EU states, can visit Vietnam visa-free for up to 45 days. All nationalities can apply for a single or multiple-entry e-Visa valid for up to 90 days on the official portal.
Health & safety
Vietnam is generally safe. Traffic is the main hazard, and bag snatching from motorbikes occurs in cities.
