blog/review Adventures in dive organizing: Vietnam edition pt 3
OK!
So for day 2 and 3 I went out with the resort team and boat. (Sailing Club Divers)
Day 2 was with my travel buddy Richard. Day 3 I went solo.
Each day we were accompanied by DiveMaster Vu.
Day 2: octopus rock & tri minh treat's
Day 3: south bay & coral garden
(Some of this is kind of a re-hashing of my first post).
Now initially when I inquired about diving, I sent an e-mail directly to the resort. It was not mentioned that they worked with Sailing Club Divers. I found that out later. I'm not sure how I did though.
I sent an e-mail to the resort's general inquiry address and it was then forwarded to the "experience manager" - (both on April 24). I then sent off more questions on April 25th and since I did not get a response, I sent off another e-mail on May 7th. I did get a response to that one (which didn't even answer half of the questions I had on the April 25 e-mail). I wrote back immediately with a couple of more questions however I got no reply whatsoever after that.
Since it was getting close to my departure date, I decided to write another e-mail once again (on May 12). This time I had already done a bit more research (however evidently not enough) and decided to go with another company because I was getting the feeling that my business really wasn't wanted. So when I wrote to the activities manager, I asked about getting a transfer to the mainland because I had decided to go with another company. I got a response on May 12 telling me that in order to get a transfer to the mainland it would require a private boat at a cost of $150 (one way). I don't know why this information wasn't given to me in a previous e-mail when I mentioned going out with another operator. On May 13 I sent an e-mail to the resort thanking them for the information and mentioning trying to work something out with Sailing Club. I got no further response.
(I'm under the impression that the person I was talking to wasn't a Sailing Club employee but worked for the resort so this first part isn't about the dive operator!)
I should also add that it's at this point in time that Kerry from Rainbow Divers stepped in to figure out transport to the mainland for my dive with them. I was determined to dive Electric Nose, however my following dive day with Richard was going to be with Sailing Club.
I also sent an e-mail off to Sailing Club Divers directly on May 9 and included in my message that I was staying at the Six Senses. I much prefer to book my dives well in advance but Dom, the person I was in touch with told me that the resort maintained a dedicated staff just for resort guests so it wasn't necessary. I also asked about 3-tank dives and diving Electric Nose but their boats just don't go out that far and the timing of their dives really doesn't allow for 3-tank days. However he did say that it'd be worked out (the dives, not the site). Since I didn't pack a camera, I asked about that and I was given a price of 550,000 VND. (Oh and 2-tank dives were 4,000,000 VND and the 3-tank pricing I got was 5,000,000 VND).
As far as the communication regarding these dives, Dom seemed open, enthusiastic and actually interested in responding to my questions in regards to dive sites, numbers of dives, gear, and my not-so-experienced dive buddy.
We arrived at the resort on a Sunday. I did my first dive on Monday (with Rainbow). Upon my return back from the mainland I walked over to the activities area and met up with Vu. We spoke about diving and I verbalized what I had previously written in regards to getting into the water. He also explained to me how 3-tanks weren't really feasible but I was kind of insistent on trying so he said they would bring an extra tank. In the end, it didn't happen. (Richard, my travel buddy didn't care really).
I probably should add here that the prices that Vu gave me were not the ones that matched the prices I got from Dom. It's not Vu's fault and I do realize that the resort's prices for diving are going to cost more. The resort isn't exactly your bargain basement set up! It requires a speedboat to bring divers to their main dive boat and there's a slightly greater distance to travel however I did show him the e-mail from Dom. I think someone needs to get their numbers in order. ;-)
The thing that sucks is that higher price would've cut heavily into my tipping money too!
So Richard and I got fitted for our gear and then the next morning we set out to the dock and met up with Vu and the captain with our gear already on board. We met up with the main dive boat over at the Hon Mun Marine park and transferred ourselves over and then got suited up. When we got to the dive site, we tied up to two other dive boats (different operators) and although they also had divers, we didn't really run into them that often.
We both put on 3mm full suits. The water was pretty warm but there were some chilly spots. We didn't go much past 40 feet though. That might've been the max depth actually. It's a great site for new divers with no current or surge to speak of. If I remember correctly the first dive was pretty flat with coral spread out everywhere. On the second dive there was a slightly sloping bottom with outcroppings of coral and sand as you got deeper. Pretty clear vis and some nice fish to look at. Also a frog fish and sea cucumbers and cute little gobies. I spotted a couple of nudies but otherwise, not much else. Not to say there wasn't anything there, I was just on the hunt for nudies since I saw so many the day before.
Vu told me that the sites we hit on this day were called Octopus Rock and Tri Minh's Treat (both right near each other and north of the island at the west end).
I rented a camera for this day. I suck at taking photos. I need a better camera to make up for my suck status.
Anyway, lots n lots of coral and clams and black longspined urchin everywhere. I love seeing the feather stars too. Personally, I enjoyed being in the water but I was pretty bored at these two sites.
Richard enjoyed the second dive more.
Gorgeous area though.
Since we were from the resort, they had a packed lunch for us which was a very, hearty club sandwich as well as fruit - more than we could eat!
When we got back, we chilled out at the activities center and I ended up booking another dive for the next day. Since Richard was going to do his manly spa treatments, the dives would be costing me a lot more since I had to pay a single supplement fee of 2,000,000 VND (according to the e-mail I got). Not sure how much it really was. I guess I'll find out! I would've loved to have gone out with Rainbow to the Electric Nose site but I didn't think that there was enough time to deal with arranging that. So I decided to go out with Vu again. Oh, and we HAD to go to a different dive site as well. :-D
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And so we did! On the next day we hit South Bay and Coral Garden. I enjoyed these dives a lot more. And it's this day that I wished I had an awesome camera (and that if I did, that I was a decent shooter). But I didn't so most of this is from memory. It was a more leisurely dive since we didn't have to worry about my travel buddy floating away. And I got to maximize my air (The day before I'd barely go thru a 1/3 of my tank before having to come up).
Again the speedboat took us over and we tied up to a couple of other boats with new divers going for their open certs. The dives I did however were not hampered in any way by the classes or other divers on the boat which was really nice. Vu and I got to take our time.
So as we cruised along I kept looking for the tiny things as we swam along over the coral. I finally decided to stop and look around and that's when I realized we were surrounded by a mounds of hard and soft coral in a rainbow of colours. It was really gorgeous.
Saw a few nudies - not as much as day 1 - but also saw some giant clams - really nicely sized ones with scutes n all. Gorgeous variety of mantel colors as well.
The sea cucumber we spotted was pretty big as well and trucking along with its tentacles out in front. Never saw one moving/feeding like that before.
There were a few shrimp as well including a rainbow mantis that tucked itself away under some coral. Gorgeous, scary thing! Frog fish, lion fish. And again, more of that long spined black urchin everywhere.
All in all a much better day of diving for me. I'd love to check out that site once more if I ever got to come back. I hope Vu didn't think I was a pain in the butt!