Based in Vietnam

[AJen01]

Hi all,

I've been living in Vietnam for the past 18 months and have been spending most of my holidays diving around SE Asia. So far I've been fortunate enough to visit Komodo, Bali, Sipadan and Malapascua, as well as other trips to Thailand, Mergui Archipelago and, prior to relocating here, South Africa. Mostly fantastic experiences, although also some recent sketchy ones!

I haven't yet dived in Vietnam, so if anyone has any first hand experience here it would be great to hear from you. A lot of what I have read isn't great, however, not everywhere can be beautiful and pristine and it would be great to have something local to try out on a weekend. I'm due to visit the island of Phu Quoc this weekend; hopefully there will be something worth seeing!

I've also recently started to try my hand with photography. I have no prior experience but am enjoying the learning process. I have an Olympus TG5, PT058 housing, Kraken Wide Angle Lens and Sea&Sea YS03 strobe. Any tips would be great!

Also, big fan of muck diving. A weird nudibranch that I haven't seen before would occupy just as much of my time as any shark would...

Adam

 

[chillyinCanada]

Welcome. Good to see you here. Would love to hear about the sketchy places!
I can't think of any diving in Vietnam off top of my head that there's some in Cambodia. Are you interested in that?

 

[AJen01]

Welcome. Good to see you here. Would love to hear about the sketchy places!
I can't think of any diving in Vietnam off top of my head that there's some in Cambodia. Are you interested in that?

Thank you for the reply. I'm interested in any recommendations across SE Asia really. I live in Saigon, so the transport links are pretty good. If I can fly there / overnight bus on a weekend - which for Cambodia is a definite possibility - that would be ideal.

As for sketchy, based on the experience I had I wouldn't return to Myanmar to dive. I found the conditions to be a bit unpredictable - both in terms of visibility and currents - and the marine life to be very underwhelming compared to what is advertised by most online sources. Although this is purely subjective, I think that because it doesn't get the volume of visitors that a lot of other places do, the operators there are not as stringent in terms of safety, with poorly maintained gear, not being as sure of the sites etc. The trip has definitely encouraged me to invest in more of my own gear! That being said, the trip made me a much more experienced diver and I'm much more aware of things rather than just relying on the guides.

 

[Compressor]

Welcome to ScubaBoard Adam.
From Ho Chi Minh City to Thailand should get you some very nice diving.

I hope you tell us about the diving in Vietnam a county is on my list to visit.