Nha Trang Vietnam dive trip report - Page 2 - scubish.com

#11 09-08-2007, 06:40 PM

On Sep 8, 5:31 pm, tj...@taosnet.com wrote:
> Nha Trang, Vietnam dive trip report, August 16, 2007
>
> I am just back from diving one day at Nha Trang, Vietnam as part of a
> Southeast Asia journey. After reading the sparse information
> regarding Vietnam diving on this board, I followed recommendations to
> Nha Trang for reputedly the best quality diving in Vietnam. What a
> bonus it was to find, what to me was great diving, with one big
> surprise. First the biodiversity of corals and fish blew me away, 3
> Pipefish, Frog fish, hard and soft corals galore. Also I saw a lot of
> fish behavior with aggressive anemonefish and polarized schools of
> bait fish.
>
> The big surprise was the 75 degree thermocline!? As someone who has
> seen plenty of 100+ foot visibility and warm water, Nha Trang was a
> nice change of pace. Many new species of fish here for me and I have
> done some diving in the Indo-pacific. Interesting underwater
> topography with low granite boulder ridges covered in soft coral and
> gorgonians as well as nice hard coral formations. The two dives I did
> were off of Hon Mun Island, with a maximum depth of 56 feet. The trip
> through green mountain islands on an old wooden boat to reach the
> island was outstanding.
>
> At US $ 43 for two tank boat dive with full rentals, diving Nha Trang
> is a bargain. Rainbow divers is the big outfit in Vietnam, but their
> tendency to treat their divers like school kids was off-putting. As
> well we found their office manager to be unhelpful regarding local
> practicalities such as lodgings. Once on the boat Rainbow managed
> things quite well and our dive master Viet was excellent. Coco dive
> center had a beautiful boat and might be a good option in Nha Trang.
>
> Nha Trang town is not what I would call a beach resort. It is quite
> urban with a beach front but no beach side bungalows. It was nice to
> rent a small sailboat and sail on the South China Sea. We stayed at
> Sun Hotel about 1 block from the beach with a small balcony, AC,
> private bath with a tub for Approximately $18 a night. Good hotel
> with helpful staff.
>
> If you are looking for warm tropical waters with awesome visibility,
> Vietnam aint it. But for something different with lots of unusual
> species and a different approach to diving Vietnam is great.
>
> If you are in Vietnam and are a diver definitely check it out, as far
> as doing a dedicated dive trip, bring neoprene. I could see doing a
> trip and diving several locations up and down the coast, you might
> find a new species of Nudibranch? Hope this report provides some
> helpful info. T
Thanks T, that's really helpful and interesting. I've been looking for
first-hand account of diving in Vietnam for a long time. I would love
to go back there, maybe in two years, 40 years after leaving there
would be a good time. It's nice to know there would be some good
diving there, too.

gc

#12 09-11-2007, 10:19 AM