Tourists with plans to visit Phu Quoc City on Thursday were forced to return home or visit other tourist attractions after high-speed boat and ferry services to this Vietnamese island were halted on Thursday due to bad weather conditions.

The provincial Inland Waterway Port Authority announced the suspension on Thursday morning, citing a bad weather forecast which predicted that Kien Giang would receive scattered rains and thunderstorms coupled with rough seas and 1.76-meter high waves during the day.

Passenger waterway services subject to the suspension include those linking the cities of Rach Gia and Ha Tien in Kien Giang Province with Phu Quoc, as well as those connecting Rach Gia with Nam Du, another island destination off the coast of Kien Giang.

The high-speed boat service from Rach Gia to Hon Son, an island off the province’s Kien Hai District, remains operational due to larger high-speed boats used for the route that are rated to resist level-5 wind gusts.

Upon being notified of the suspension, visitors at a ferry terminal in Rach Gia had to return home or divert their trips to other destinations, such as Ha Tien, Can Tho, or An Giang.

Waterway service providers announced that they would reschedule affected trips or offer refunds to customers.

Nguyen Xuan Thuy, a native of Soc Trang Province in southern Vietnam, said her family agreed to change their destination to Ha Tien after their scheduled three-day-two-night trip to Phu Quoc was affected by the bad weather.

Nguyen Xuan Da, director of the Kien Giang Inland Waterway Port Authority, said authorities will continue to update weather forecasts and allow the resumption of waterway services once conditions improve.

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