Plan - choosing

Which forest day fits your legs?

We run five different days in Phu Quoc's forest, from a slow herbal walk of two to three kilometres to a full trek of about seven to ten. They are not interchangeable, and the wrong one spoils a holiday day. This page lays them side by side and asks you the questions our guides would ask.

Plan my trip See all ten tours

forest days: 5
walking range: 2 - 10 km
age for the two harder days: 12+
hardest day: 4 of 5

The five forest days in one table

Distances below are the ones we can stand behind today. Where a route is still being measured we say planned, and the exact distance and climb are written into your quote before you pay. Every day is private: only you and the people you travel with, with your own guide.

Day	Activity	Walking	Ground	Age	Length
D1 Healing Forest	2 of 5	2 - 3 km, slow, many stops	Forest floor and stream rocks	6+	07:30 - 17:30; 7.5 h version on request
D2 Trek & Heal	4 of 5	About 7 - 10 km planned; confirmed in quote	Stream rock steps, ridge climb, descent	12+	07:00 - 17:30, about 5.5 h of real effort
D3 Tien Son Peak	3.5 of 5	About 3 km up to the Bat Cave, about 2 km more to the peak	Forest trail, boulder scrambling, a dark cave	12+	About 08:00 - 16:00
D4 Suoi May stream	2 of 5	A short, easy forest walk	Forest path, rock pools	Children with adults	About 08:30 - 15:30; confirmed in quote
D5 Night forest walk	2 of 5	Slow walk; route named in your quote	Forest-edge path, in the dark	10+	About 3 h, roughly 18:30 - 21:30

Reference prices run from USD 74 per person for the stream day to USD 149 per person for Trek & Heal; the night walk is quoted on request. The actual price depends on how many of you there are, and the pricing page explains how a quote is built.

What the activity numbers mean

Every tour on this site carries one number from 1 to 5. It is the same scale on every page, so a 2 on a forest day means the same as a 2 on a sea day.

1 of 5Anyone can do it. Sitting in a vehicle or a boat, short walks on level ground.

2 of 5Light walking, under 3 km in the day, at an easy pace.

3 of 53 - 6 km with some climbing. Tien Son Peak sits between this and 4, so we call it 3.5.

4 of 57 - 10 km with climbs. Needs real fitness. Only Trek & Heal is here.

5 of 5Hard mountain or multi-day trekking. We do not sell anything at this level.

The number counts distance, climbing and footing together. A 2 km walk over wet stream rocks asks more of your balance than a 2 km walk on a path, which is why the ground column in the table above matters as much as the kilometres.

Questions to ask yourself before you choose

These are the questions a guide asks at the start of a trek, only earlier, when the answer can still change your booking. Answer them for the least fit person in your group, not the fittest.

In the last month, have you walked for three hours or more in one go, and felt normal the next morning? Trek & Heal asks for about five and a half hours of real effort.
Can you climb ten floors of stairs at a steady pace and talk in full sentences a minute after the top? The ridge on Trek & Heal and the way up Tien Son are sustained climbs.
How do your knees feel going downhill on uneven ground? Descents hurt more people than climbs, and every hill day has one.
Can you step from one wet rock to the next without holding someone's hand? Stream rocks are part of the Healing Forest, Trek & Heal and the stream day.
How do you cope with tropical heat and humidity while you are working hard? Forest shade helps, but the air is still heavy.
Are you comfortable in a dark, enclosed space with a headlamp? The Bat Cave on Tien Son is dark and rocky; the group can choose to skip it.
Is anyone in your group under 12, pregnant, or living with a heart condition or weak knees? If so, Trek & Heal and Tien Son are not for them.
Do you want to learn about what you are walking through, or cover ground? The Healing Forest stops every few minutes; Trek & Heal keeps moving.

If you answered no to two or more of the first four, choose a 2 of 5 day. If you answered yes to all of them and nobody in the group is under 12, the two harder days are open to you. Somewhere in between, Tien Son is the usual middle choice.

Be honest with us

A guide can slow a walk down; nobody can shorten a mountain halfway up it. If you are unsure, tell us in your first message and we will suggest the easier day rather than the harder one.

Choosing by fitness

Easy: walking, not trekking

The Healing Forest covers 2 - 3 km at a slow pace with long stops to look at medicinal plants, then spends the afternoon on farms. The Suoi May stream day is a short forest walk followed by swimming and a forest BBQ lunch. Both suit people who walk for pleasure but do not exercise for it.

Moderate: a proper climb, a short distance

Tien Son Peak is about 3 km of forest trail to the Bat Cave and about 2 km more climbing to a viewpoint at about 280 m above sea level. The distance is modest; the boulders are not. You use your hands in places. The afternoon swim at Suoi Tranh stream is the reward.

Hard: the full trek

Trek & Heal is the heaviest day on the site: about 3 - 4 km up the Suoi Tien stream over rock steps, about 3 km climbing the ridge, then a descent of 1 - 3 km. The route is being GPS-logged, so the figure in your quote replaces the planned one here. If the group wants less, a 4 - 5 km version is possible at a lower price.

Choosing by age

Ages in your group	Days that work	Why
Under 6	Suoi May stream day	Short walk; tell us ages so the guide plans the swimming spot
6 - 9	Healing Forest, Suoi May	Slow pace, many stops, water to play in
10 - 11	As above, plus the night walk	The night walk starts at 10
12 and over	All five	Trek & Heal and Tien Son start at 12
Older travellers	Healing Forest first	2 - 3 km, slow, a seated foot soak to finish; unsteady on slippery rocks is the limit

Age is a floor, not a recommendation. A fit 12-year-old will enjoy Tien Son more than an unfit adult; a child who hates the dark will not enjoy the night walk at any age.

Choosing by time

Four of the five are full days with hotel pick-up in the morning. Trek & Heal is the longest, from 07:00 to about 17:30. The Healing Forest runs 07:30 - 17:30, or about 7.5 hours if you skip the pepper or bee farm and are back around 15:00. Tien Son and the stream day finish mid-afternoon.

The night forest walk is the only one that fits around another plan: about three hours in the evening. On a short stay, the combining day trips page shows how forest days sit next to sea days without two hard days in a row.

Health notes we need before booking

Trek & Heal is not for heart conditions, weak knees, pregnancy, or people who do not walk regularly.
Tien Son is not for knee problems or a fear of dark, confined spaces, although the group can skip the cave.
The herbal foot soak on the Healing Forest and Trek & Heal: tell us if anyone is pregnant, diabetic with foot complications, has open wounds on the feet or severe varicose veins. The practitioner advises first.
Season changes difficulty. In the rainy months rocks are slippery, leeches are possible and the guide may shorten a route. The when to go page sets this out month by month.

When none of the five is right

If walking is not what you came for, the island has days that ask almost nothing of your legs: the sea and islands trips by canoe and cable car, and the island days by road, kayak and beach. They sit at 1 or 1.5 of 5.

Plan your trip

Not sure which day fits?

Tell us ages, fitness and dates; we suggest one day and say why.

Ask us

Common questions

Questions travellers ask most

Which forest day is easiest?

The Healing Forest and the Suoi May stream day, both 2 of 5. The Healing Forest walks 2 - 3 km slowly; the stream day is a short walk and then swimming.

Both still involve uneven ground and some rocks.

How long is Trek & Heal exactly?

The planned route is about 7 - 10 km. It is being GPS-logged, and the exact distance and climb are written into your quote before you pay.

A shorter 4 - 5 km version is possible at a lower price.

Can children do Tien Son Peak?

From 12. Below that age, the Healing Forest from 6 and the stream day are the forest options, and the night walk from 10.

Can we switch to an easier day after booking?

Usually, if the guide for the other day is free. Ask as early as you can, and we requote the new day before anything changes.