Scuba Nha Trang

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Nha Trang was because I had read that it had the best diving in Vietnam. And it would be cheap! Jessica is also certified but hasn't dove since her certification, so I thought it would be good for her to get some diving in as well. After some extensive research, I signed us up with Rainbow Divers because they also allowed snorkelers to come on the boat and Alyssa did not want to try to beginners diving again. We had to be up at 5:45am so that we could get ready and walk down to the main office. On the way, we stopped to get some coffee. All of the main cafes and restaurants were closed but a local directed us to sit in front of a laundromat where the lady working there brought us three black coffees. Their coffee tastes much more chocolatey than our in the states so I don't even really need to add sugar.
We made it to the dive shop right on time which always makes me happy. We paid for our dives (3 dives each) and hung out for a bit, getting to know our fellow divers. Once everyone had arrived, we piled into the van and headed to the dock. Our boat was a slow moving, one deck boat but it looked like every dive company had the exact same boat- and there were TONS of othe companies all loading up to go to the same dive sites...not a great sign. As we made our way out towards the islands we could see the local amusement park "Vinpearl" out in the distance. I'd never seen a cable car go so far across water before and I almost wanted to visit just to try tht.

During the two hour boat ride out, we were assigned dive groups and gear. Jessica and I were in the same group along with one other guy we had already made friends with. Alyssa was with the other snorkelers so we would be in the water at different times. When they assigned us wetsuits, I had to laugh because they gave me an extra small. I don't know in what world that would fit me but I could barely get it past my legs. By the time they found one in my size, all of the good quality ones had been taken so I had a shitty, thin one with holes in it. I knew I would get cold so I asked for a different one. They didn't have any better ones so I ended up putting one on top of the other and making a thicker double wetsuit. I told Jessica she should do the same but she thought she'd be ok with one.

Our guide tried to do a pre-dive briefing but his English was impossible to understand. The guy who was diving with us hadn't dove in over a year and since it was Jessica's fourth dive ever, I made sure to review some of the basics with them in proper English. They use bar instead of psi for measuring oxygen which still confuses me sometimes because I'm so used to things being a certain way.

One we arrived at the island, we grabbed all of our gear (I travel with my own mask and snorkel because rental gear is usually crap) and hopped into the water. The water was pretty cold even with my double wetsuit so I knew Jessica had to be freezing (which was confirmed because I could see her shaking and holding her arms). The visibility was about 2ft which is horrendous. There wasn't even much to see, just a few fish and some coral. We did see a lot of trash and broken coral because they let the snorkelers get out of the boat and stand on the coral. It was clear that scuba diving here wasn't done very professionally. The instructor also noticed that Jessica was shaking and asked if she wanted to get out. She said she was ok and finished out the dive. Once we were back on the boat, she couldn't warm up so a very nice Norwegian guy lent her his fleece and we covered her in towels. She had also kicked a sea urchin while she was diving and some of the spines had broken off into her calf. We poured some hot water on them to try to bring them to the surface but they were so deep that she was just going to need to wait a few weeks until they surfaced on their own.
For the second dive Jessica and the other guy had both decided they weren't getting back into the water and since we were staying at the same shitty dive site, I declined to do the second one as well. We spent the hour chatting with all of the other divers, many of whom were getting their dive certification and were interested in information on other good dive locations. We were supposed to move to a different spot for the third dive but they decided to stay in the same damn spot! I was really displeased but there was nothing my guide could do. The guy we were diving with convinced me to do it with him while Jessica stayed on the boat because she was still too cold. Once under water, the visibility was even poorer. To make matters worse, there were tons of lion fish lurking everywhere. Lion fish have venomous fin rays which can cause systemic reactions in humans that may be fatal if not treated. Both the dive instructor and other diver kept bumping into me because you couldn't see anything until you were right on top of it and I was really worried they were going to push me into a lion fish. Then, all of the other boats in the area decided to leave the island. It was a very shallow dive and since you couldn't see anything, there wasn't any way to tell where the propellers were. I spent a harrowing 5 minutes trying to stay low enough to not get chopped to bits by propellers but high enough to avoid the lion fish on the reef and all the while the sound of the propellers in the water was deafening. I have never before been scared while scuba diving but there were so many bad variables going on that I was really uncomfortable and relieved that Jessica was on the boat. Thankfully the dive was soon over and once back on board, we made the three hour journey back to Nha Trang. I felt terrible for signing us up for the day at sea because it was such a bust but the reviews made it seem like it would be so different. I was very disappointed. The only silver lining was that the dive shop refunded Jessica and I for the dives we didn't do, which was really nice and unexpected.
We were so cold when we got back to shore that we wasted no time in getting a hot coffee to warm us up. Since it was too late for lunch and too early for dinner, we decided to try a Banh Mi, which is basically a sandwich with all sorts of different meats, vegetables and sauces for super cheap. We found a vegetarian one that I was more into trying (their meat is always so fatty) that had sesame tofu. It was pretty good!
After showering and relaxing for a while, we headed out to dinner. I had read great reviews about "Truc Linh" which had a couple of locations in town. Although it was a little more expensive, I got a shrimp risotto that was delicious and didn't regret it. Alyssa and Jessica also really like their dishes so it was a success.

We decided since it was still early we would head to a bar for a drink. There was a bar where the people practically begged us to come in every time we walked by which had music, so we decided to try it out and sit at a table along the street. As soon as we sat down we were barraged by men who seemed determine to talk to us. Most of them were nice but their one friend was a drunken mess. He clearly needed a lot of attention and would pour his beer over his head and continually try to take our drinks. We ignored him and eventually the really drunk people moved on to another bar, leaving their more normal friends to chat. We didn't want to have more than two drinks though so after we were done we packed up and headed home. It was a great place for people watching but definitely crazier than we had expected.

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