Every serious operator on Phu Quoc sells the same day twice: once as a seat and once as a boat. The seat costs a fraction of the boat, so the private version reads as an extravagance — until you count. On some operators the two lines cross at nine guests; on others they never cross at all, and the private boat stays a flat premium no matter how many people you bring.
Below is the arithmetic, operator by operator, with the published grids.
Private does not pay off everywhere. At Kimie's the gap over the group trip is 90,000 VND (about $3) a head from seven guests; at Flipper and Les Rives the charter never catches up with shared seats, whatever the size of the party.
What a private boat actually buys
Three things the shared trip cannot give.
- The clock: Kimie's private trip states the start time as «any», against a fixed 09:30 or 13:30 on the group departure.
- The route: Flipper says the guest picks it.
- The headcount: nobody else on board, which on a family day matters more than the money.
What it does not buy is a different set of islands. The archipelago is the same; only the pace changes.
OnBird: a seat or a charter?
The small-group southern trip is 1,380,000 VND (about $53) per person and multiplies straight. The private speedboat runs on a grid that starts at 5,900,000 VND (about $227) for one guest and flattens fast.
| Guests | Small group, total | Private speedboat, total |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2,760,000 VND (about $106) | 6,500,000 VND (about $250) |
| 4 | 5,520,000 VND (about $212) | 8,000,000 VND (about $308) |
| 12 | — | 14,450,000 VND (about $556) |
At two guests the charter costs 3,740,000 VND (about $144) more than two seats; at four, 2,480,000 VND (about $95) more — the gap narrows fast as the party grows. OnBird does not publish the intermediate rates for six, eight or nine guests, so we do not name the headcount at which the charter becomes the cheaper option: what is published is that the shared trip is capped at eight to ten guests and that the charter for twelve is 14,450,000 VND (about $556).
Add the operator's fuel surcharge of 300,000 VND (about $12) per tour, payable in cash to the guide on private pick-ups. Below six guests the private boat is a comfort purchase, not a saving.
Flipper: the private boat never catches up
Here the arithmetic goes the other way. A shared boat day is 900,000 VND (about $35) per person for guests staying centrally, while the private boat is 10,000,000 VND (about $385) to the north and 13,000,000 VND (about $500) to the south with four guests included — and each additional adult costs 900,000 VND (about $35), exactly the shared price.
Because the increment is identical, the gap never closes: the private boat is a fixed 6,400,000 VND (about $246) above the shared trip at four guests and stays that far above at ten. What you are buying is the hull and the route, not a discount.
Kimie's: private for 90,000 VND (about $3) more a head
The southern group trip is 950,000 VND (about $37) per person, minimum five guests, maximum twelve. The private trip is priced per person on a falling table: 4,940,000 VND (about $190) alone, 2,470,000 each for two, 1,950,000 for three, 1,560,000 for four, 1,430,000 for five, 1,170,000 for six, and 1,040,000 each from seven to twelve.
At seven guests and above the private day costs 90,000 VND (about $3) a head more than the group one, — under a tenth of the fare — and the start time becomes yours.
Les Rives: the charter does not pay off at six
The catamaran fishing and snorkelling day is 3,799,000 VND (about $146) an adult, and the private charter on the same page is 24,999,000 VND (about $962) for one to three guests and 26,999,000 VND (about $1,038) for four to six.
Six adults booked as seats come to 22,794,000 VND (about $877) — still under the charter. The sunset cruise is 2,799,000 VND (about $108) an adult against 19,999,000 and 21,999,000 VND (about $846) for the same two charter brackets, and six seats there are 16,794,000 VND (about $646).
With a maximum of six guests on the grid, the charter never becomes the cheaper option. It is bought for privacy, or for a group that does not want strangers at the table.
Kayaking follows the same rule
Group sea kayaking on the north-west coast is 950,000 VND (about $37) per person for six hours from afternoon to evening, with kayak, English-speaking guide and a beach dinner.
The private sunset version is 4,500,000 VND (about $173) for two, 6,000,000 for three and 7,000,000 for four, with a seafood dinner on Half-Moon Beach and a coconut at Casuarina Beach. Four guests pay 3,800,000 VND (about $146) in the group and 7,000,000 privately — roughly a doubling, for a table of your own at sunset.
Fishing is private by construction
The private big-fish trip is printed as a per-person table and behaves like a charter: 646 USD alone, 337 each for two, 234 for three, 182 for four, 170 for five.
It leaves at 05:30 or 13:30, needs booking a day ahead, and includes breakfast and lunch on board, tackle, life jackets and ten live squid for bait per guest, with extra bait at 25,000 VND (about $1) each. Going as a pair costs 674 USD between you; going as five costs 850 USD.
What else moves the total
Pick-up. OnBird's surcharges are charged per group, so they hurt a couple far more than a party of eight — and for groups of one or two the operator lists higher figures, 600,000 VND (about $23) for Cua Can or Ham Ninh and 800,000 for Vung Bau, Vinpearl, Bai Dai and Cay Sao.
The fuel line. 300,000 VND (about $12) per tour on private OnBird departures. Holidays. 100,000 VND (about $4) per person on Vietnamese public holidays and around the Lunar New Year. Tax. OnBird lists VAT outside the price; Les Rives states that government tax and service charge are already inside it.
Common questions
At what group size does private start to make sense?
On OnBird, around nine or ten guests on the numbers alone. On Kimie's, from seven, where the difference is 90,000 VND (about $3) a head. On Flipper and Les Rives, never on price — only on comfort.
Is a private boat better for children?
It removes the schedule pressure, which is the usual reason families take it. OnBird also builds a dedicated family boat: 6,600,000 VND (about $254) for two guests up to 8,900,000 for five, with gear sized for children from four years old and an instructor in the water.
Can a shared trip be topped up to a private one?
Flipper's structure comes closest: a private boat with four guests inside the price and named add-on rates of 900,000 VND (about $35) per extra adult and 500,000 for a ten-year-old.
Updated 4 September 2026. All prices, inclusions and timings are quoted from the operators' own published pages.
