Diving in Nha Trang: was it worth it?

You might not associate Vietnam with diving – I certainly didn’t! However, there are several places where you can go scuba diving in the country. One of these is Nha Trang, a coastal city in Central Vietnam.

After getting her PADI Open Water Course certification in Bali the month before, my sister, Lou, wanted to try diving in Vietnam as well. After all, she was heading home in less than a month, and Britain isn’t exactly known for its coral reefs.

So off to Nha Trang we headed to try out the diving conditions there!

Organising our dive in Nha Trang

Within Nha Trang, you’ll find several dive centres. This city is a beach destination attracting primarily Korean, Chinese and Russian tourists. For the number of visitors, it doesn’t seem like there’s crazy numbers of dive centres; still, several do exist!

When we were researching, two centres stuck out at us: Nha Trang Fun Divers and Vietnam Active. Both had great reviews and their day fun dive package was very similar, with food and two dives included.

Ultimately, we went with Vietnam Active. Mainly this was because when we communicated with them, they were more forthcoming with information and gave us a clear itinerary. Nomadosaurus’ blog recommending Nha Trang Fun Divers nearly swayed us, but not quite!

We filled in the online booking form and our dive was confirmed: we were booked in.

Pick-up

The night before, we got a message to say they would pick us up between 7:20 and 7:30 am, which worked for us (even if it seemed unbearably early).

At around 7:40 am, a lady walked to our hotel to pick us up. We got into a minibus and off we went to the port, arriving around 8 am.

The port at Nha Trang is located to the south of the city and is mostly a collection of fishing vessels. There only seemed to be a couple of tourist boats, with two being operated by Vietnam Active. We got on one and were given a life jacket – I think it must’ve been a rule from the port as once we were on the open ocean, no one wore them. It’s an odd rule anyway when you are on a dive trip and hence intentionally going in the water!

Dive 1

To get to the first dive site, we sailed for around 1 hour. There were fruit (bananas, Vietnamese apples and longan) and tea and coffee available in the meantime.

We thought we’d get a group briefing about the diving sites, but none of these happened throughout the trip. Instead, we met our dive guide, Giau, who checked our equipment with us and gave us some more intel on the sites.

We arrived at the first site around 9:30 am. We suited up and jumped into the water!

Almost immediately, we had a shock. Lou and I deflated our BCD but didn’t go anywhere… Giau had to go back to the boat to get us both a few extra kilos! (We think the problem was that we both were wearing a couple of kilos less than we’d learned with, as well as wearing a longer wetsuit.) After that, it was fine.

We were in the water for around 55 mins, reaching 18 m in depth. Visibility was low (7 to 8 m) but improved on some sections. There weren’t crazy amounts of coral but there were interesting boulders, some of which formed tunnels that you could swim through. This was entertaining as my buoyancy skills weren’t quite good enough for the final one. I got stuck and Giau had to pull me out…

At the site, there were a lot of sea urchins. They looked so healthy, with the longest spikes I’ve ever seen!

During the dive, we saw a mantis shrimp and lion fish. It was pretty enjoyable overall.

Dive 2

After our first dive, we had a break of around 1 hour as we made our way to the next dive spot. This was the perfect time for me to try longan, a fruit I had heard of but never eaten myself! (FYI, they taste like lychees.)

The second dive spot was close to an island; Giau told us there would be good corals. We suited up and jumped in.

Within five minutes we hit a snag: Lou’s pressure gauge was bubbling uncontrollably. Giau quickly switched BCDs with her so she wouldn’t worry. (Giau was the best!) Meanwhile I was entranced by a group of pipefish moving vertically through the water. I barely noticed what they were both up to!

During the second dive, we saw a lot more coral. It wasn’t as impressive as what we’d seen in Bali, where there’s some crazy formations, but I liked it all the same. The corals were relatively small and you could see them in their entirety, with time to focus on little details, like how a particular branch was moving or the specific organisms growing on them.

We also saw massive sea cucumbers, a sea slug, and many small lionfishes. The sea cucumbers were so long and at one point Lou scared one and it retracted by over a metre! There were a lot of sponges and much less sea urchins than before.

Lou and I both agree we enjoyed the second dive more than the first. The only thing is, most of it was at a shallow depth of 4 to 5 m, which you can relatively easily snorkel. Do you need to dive here to see the cool things? I’m not sure!

Lunch

Back on the boat, we took off our suits for the last time and waited for lunch.

However, just as they announced the buffet was ready and the other members of the boat (9 in total) went to it, Lou and I were asked to pay for the trip. For full clarification, the boat trip is advertised as and quoted at $65 or 1,500,000 dong. However, we were asked to pay 1,630,000 dong, which is calculated at $1 = 24,000 dong. I was a bit annoyed – you can’t advertise multiple prices and wield them to your advantage.

Anyway, by the time we had sorted out the payment, the buffet was not half as plentiful. All the fried spring rolls were gone and we only got fresh spring rolls as Lou grabbed them whilst I was talking about payment. Most of the nice honey pork has also gone. Annoyed Anna activated!

Otherwise, the lunch was nice. We had rice, pork, fried eggs, salad, banh mi bread and stir-fried veg, with watermelon afterwards.

Were the conditions worth it?

Before coming, I was apprehensive about diving in Nha Trang. Most accounts online indicate that visibility is low and there isn’t much to see, with not too many corals and no big marine life.

Also, Nha Trang has its best dive conditions in summer, so we thought the visibility might be even worse than the accounts we’d read!

However, the dives pleasantly surprised us. The visibility was better than I had anticipated, and there were lots of things to see. Also, at both spots there were minimal currents, which I love.

I’d definitely dive here again if the situation arose!

How to organise your own dive in Nha Trang

If you’re coming to Nha Trang, you can organise a dive online or in person, at the dive centre offices.

During my own research I liked Vietnam Active and Nha Trang Fun Divers best, but there are several other dive centres you can also check out.

Where else can you dive in Vietnam?

There are two alternative areas for diving in Vietnam which you can take a look at:

1. Cham Island. Near Hoi An and Da Nang, this makes a great option as most travellers to Vietnam will be visiting Hoi An anyway!
2. Phu Quoc. This island, in the far south-west of Vietnam, supposedly has a resort feel and good dive spots.

Conclusion

I enjoyed my day of diving in Nha Trang. It’s definitely not as impressive as the spots I visited whilst in Indonesia, but it’s still worth a try if you’re in the area. I’m happy with what I saw and did on my dives!

Do you have any questions about diving in Vietnam? Let me know in the comments!

Want to know more about visiting Vietnam? Check out my destination guides: Tam Coc (Ninh Binh), Da Nang & Phong Nha