I'm cold. And I'm counting down the minutes till I start sweating again. it's noon, I've got my long sleeve on and I'm sitting at the front of the dive boat en route back to the pier after 2 dives in Nha Trang, Vietnam. The water is colder here (and the weather cooler) than other the other countries I've been to. By no means is it actually COLD... but I did have to wear a wet suit today. I know Asia is all about service, but Vietnam brings it to a whole new level. There are 4 guys assisting me on the dive boat: one puts on my BCD (ie scuba jacket), another is on the floor putting on my fins, another is holding my arm so I don't fall (the boat is rocking).. and the 4th guy is my private dive instructor who's prepping me on what we're doing in this dive. After getting on my gear one guy is handing me my air, the other is guiding me to the edge of the boat, the other is putting my mask on my head and my dive instructor is in the water waiting for me. OMG! I don't know what else I could ask for.
The catch: Diving in vietnam is just 'ok'. there is a lot of brown, a lot of sand, there is trash in the water (wtf?), visibility is low- but there are occasionally some amazing things to see. a moray eel hides in the coral, a long serpent like thing glides past me into a rock, puffer fish of every size and color with pursed lips swim past. getting my 'advanced' scuba certification is 100x easier than the 'open water' certification I did in Koh Tao, Thailand. This one is 'going diving and then at the end you do a skill that takes 1 minute' (ie hover upside down in the water). Six dives, breakfast and lunch everyday, transportation to/from
hotel, an English speaking instructor, and the amazing service I described - $230. it costs 4x that amount for the same thing at the great barrier reef.
I thought the dive shop had everything I needed. But apparently there is icing on the cake - the Russian dive instructor teaches yoga classes on the roof of the dive shop. Found my om and called it a day.
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