Sailing Club Phú Quốc — B7

It began with a bamboo roof in Nha Trang

In 1992, Peter Vidotto came to Vietnam for the first time. Two years later he built the first Sailing Club in Nha Trang, a small bamboo bar by the beach. In 2001, Sailing Club added a place in Mũi Né. In 2014, together with a partner named Louis, he founded Sailing Club Leisure Group, turning the name from a beach bar into a group of resorts and beach clubs.

In Phú Quốc, Sailing Club settled on Bãi Trường, inside the Phu Quoc Marina complex. The beach club sits at lot B7, right at the edge of the sand. Three minutes away is Sailing Club Signature Resort Phu Quoc, a resort of one hundred villas with private pools, which welcomed guests from 1 June 2022. In 2024, the group added the sixty-room Soul Boutique Hotel Phu Quoc in the same Marina area; guests at both properties share the beach club's facilities.

An infinity pool facing Bãi Trường

The first thing that catches your eye at Sailing Club is the infinity pool facing straight out to sea. Sun loungers line the pool, and a bar in the middle lets you swim over to order a drink. If you prefer quiet, read a book, lie in the sun, hold a coconut.

The space was designed by architect Garry Fell of Gfab Architects in a minimalist style with natural materials: grass, trailing vines, bamboo. Indoors there are corners of cushioned banquettes, rattan armchairs and daybeds. In the garden is the restaurant, with more seating outdoors.

Step past the pool and you are on Bãi Trường, a long beach with some of the finest sand on the island and calm water for swimming. On the sand are rope swings, and on a wall a pair of angel wings has been painted for anyone who likes to take photos.

From a late breakfast to dinner

The menu runs from brunch through lunch to dinner, with Asian dishes, Italian dishes, vegetarian plates, smoothie bowls and steamed buns. Try the black pepper gin and tonic and the Asian-style duck salad dressed with Phú Quốc fish sauce. As the afternoon fades there is Winking Seal craft beer, from a Saigon brewery that makes beers inspired by Vietnamese flavours.

When the sun sets into the sea

The golden hour at the end of the day is when Sailing Club looks its best, as the Phú Quốc sun sets in front of the pool and the sand. In 2023, the South China Morning Post put Sailing Club Phú Quốc on its list of the ten most luxurious beach clubs in Southeast Asia, calling it an all-day beach club with its own stretch of white sand.

When night falls, the pool party and happy hour begin and a DJ takes over the music. Every evening there is a fire show: the performers start on the sand and then carry the fire right onto the dance floor.