Turtle Island

Turtle Island in Phu Quoc is a dedicated marine conservation area and dive site — an island in the southern cluster of Phu Quoc's An Thoi archipelago within Phu Quoc National Park, where decades of conservation attention have produced one of the highest concentrations of nesting and resident sea turtles in southern Vietnam, giving the island its straightforwardly descriptive name. Phu Quoc Island and its surrounding national park represent one of Vietnam's most important marine protected areas, encompassing coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mangrove forests that together form the complex ecosystem supporting the sea turtle populations that have made this corner of the Gulf of Thailand one of the most significant remaining turtle habitats in Southeast Asia. The dive site around Turtle Island descends to approximately 12 meters (about 40 feet) over a mixed reef and sandy bottom that provides the foraging habitat green and hawksbill sea turtles require. Green sea turtles graze on seagrass and algae in the shallower sections, their relaxed, methodical feeding behavior inviting close observation from respectful divers. Hawksbill turtles forage on the reef for sponges and invertebrates, their distinctive narrow beaks and beautifully patterned shells making them one of the ocean's most photogenic subjects. The coral reef surrounding the island features the diverse growth forms typical of Phu Quoc's better-preserved reef zones: branching and table corals create complex architecture in the shallows, while massive coral formations dominate the deeper zones. The fish community includes the standard Gulf of Thailand reef species: fusiliers, parrotfish, various grouper, and the ubiquitous damselfish and chromis that fill the water column above the coral canopy.