So far, attempting to book my dives in Nha Trang has so far been quite a memorable experience - and it's not been very positive so far. There have been glimmers of success and then it all comes crashing down. I'm sure in the end, it'll all work out. And if not, I'll just post about it, eh?
In any case, if anyone is interested, this is what I've been dealing with so far:
I've learned that where I'm staying is actually a decent journey from nha trang. My friend decided to splurge a bit and booked us at the six senses resort which is um... let me post a map. (I'm NE of Nha Trang where the red text is. This map is from some other resort but that's pretty much where i will be. Mun island is where the marine protected area is. Nha Trang is where, well, where it says "Nha Trang"
).
So initially when I contacted the resort about their dive excursions, they mentioned that they worked with a local dive operator and there's actually an office/shop for them at the resort. They sent me a price list that featured your main PADI courses (OW, AOW, EANx, Rescue, etc) and then listed off some refresher dive prices. I went directly to the one that was pertinent. 2-tank fun dive: 4,000,000 VND - approximately $200 (US). :shocked2:.
At the same time I did my own bit of online research by looking up operators via this board, tripadvisor, etc. I then prepared a basic e-mail mentioning my arrival date in town, my desire to dive for at least 2 days, and asking about the availability of 3-tank dive excursions. I also included my dive certs and that of my buddy, and asked some other general questions regarding gear rental (I'm leaving my cold water stuff at home!).
Most of the companies responded after a couple of days. One took 2 weeks to respond! Another company continuously responded by sending me a price list of their PADI courses and suggesting I consider taking their refresher course.
Of course, those price-lists also included basic 2-tank dives (usually around $60-75 US).
From what I understand, the majority of companies offer boat dives that leave from the main harbor in Nha Trang and the dives sites are located around the Mun Island Marine Protected Area. Rainbow divers was one company I contacted as well and they offered a 3-tank dive day at a price of $95.. Rainbow, as with other companies, include snacks and drinks as well as gear rental in their fees. Some companies charge extra for dive computer rentals.
There's another dive site called Electric Nose that I've read about - some short, single line reviews say it's not worth the journey while other divers say they really enjoyed their time there. Anyone here have an opinion?
While in contact with Rainbow Divers, I asked about Whale Island and they were very upfront in telling me that the dives up there were not what they once were and that aside from being a pretty and isolated location, I'm not going to get much more out of it. It's not that they weren't willing to take my money, if I wanted to go they totally would have! (BTW, private boat ride up there is around $600). I really appreciated the honest opinion. I was also told that if I really wanted to dive up there, they offered some afternoon and evening shoredives. (FYI, Whale Island is north. The resort told me it's about a 2.5 hour journey via coach/bus).
I then asked about the Electric Nose dive site. It's not a part of the marine area, and it's at a different location, thus requiring a separate boat hire. The price I got from Rainbow was $300 for the speedboat from my resort and $95 for the 3-tank dive. I mentioned to RD that it was a bit steep for me so they suggested I take the speedboat directly from the main harbor for $150 instead. That seemed MUCH better!
And since they also offer a 3-tank dive day at Mun Island, I booked that for me and my buddy for the following day.
They also told me that I should contact my resort about getting a boat transfer to the main harbor. RD would then get us to the shop and back for the actual dive journey.
Now here's the wrench in the works: when I asked the resort about getting a boat to the mainland they said sure it was possible:
$150 (US).
Each way.
Also, that boat doesn't go to the main harbor, but to another harbour (pearl farm) about 30 minute's ride north.
Now I did ask the resort about transfers into town in a previous message, however they neglected to respond. There are free slower boats that make the journey however those happen during normal workday hours. Not at 5am type hours when you're attempting to meet up with dive boats at 6-7 am!
So yeah. Right now, just the boat ride to the dock to go diving is costing more than or just as much as the diving!
And now I'm thinking that perhaps the $200 2-tank dive the resort offers isn't *that* crazy a price!
The resort works with Sailing Club Divers, another company I wrote. When I initially contacted them, I got their basic "in-town" price list. Another e-mail was sent off in which I mentioned that I was staying at the Six Senses and got another price list. It almost seemed like a scam but it's not. Basically their "annex shop" is run from the resort with a dedicated resort staff and instead of taking you into town, a speedboat takes you directly to meet up with their dive boat (with divers from town) at Mun Island. It's a later departure though, and perhaps that's why they don't offer 3-tank dives. (I've written them back and asked about this addition again though. I figure if my buddy and I are taking a private boat to meet them, perhaps we might be able to head out earlier and do one more dive).
So for me, unfortunately, I've gotten great communication from Rainbow Divers however with all the hassle of getting into town from the resort and the crazy "hidden" costs, I'm going to cancel the Mun Island dive day with my buddy and most most likely go with the resort/Sailing Club instead.
However, just
because of the great communication and dealings I've had with Rainbow Divers, I'm going to splurge on that private $300 speedboat to Electric Nose (and get picked up at my resort directly).
Honestly, a lot of these places have great reviews on tripadvisor from variety of guests. But it seems to me that most of these reviews are from people that are getting their initial open water certs. Others are taking refresher courses. And I'm not saying that they're reviews don't count, but I'm trying to recall if any of the reviews I read came from divers that have experienced booking with other operators in other areas on a regular basis.
Now aside from the slow communication, the thing that annoys me most so far is the type of response I get after the initial dive inquiry. Sometimes even after a couple of e-mails too! As I mentioned above, the PADI courses are heavily pushed (open water, AOW, EANx, rescue, etc. ) in addition to the refresher and discovery dives.
I could understand that if I wrote asking about trying out diving for the first time but I did not.
I usually include my certs in my e-mail and I often add the fact that I'm excited to dive in nice, warm water as opposed to my regular more chilly home base of Monterey, CA.
I've gotten the feeling that this whole process seems kind of like a PADI machine where there's an urgent need to get as many people into the system rather than treat them as divers with a variety of experiences. Perhaps it'll change but I much prefer operators that treat divers like individuals rather than new meat for the PADI grinder.
Sure, PADI is what it is (and my certs are via PADI too) but when I work with a dive company that I like, it's usually the company and their ideas, individual employees, and business practices that stand out. I'm sure after I get over to Vietnam this opinion will change. I hope it does!
Anyway, that's been my experience so far. I made a personal blog post but I took out most of the ranty, colourful language and tried to make this a little more straight forward. I'll post more as I learn things and hopefully this will help future visitors to the area!
