World dive sites

Vietnam Diving

Land Temperature:
Tropical Climate. Average 28°C (82°F)

Water Temperature:
25-29°C (27-84°F)

When to go:
Year round but February to September is best.

Wetsuit required:
3mm

Visibility:
5-40m

Diving types:
Reefs.

Experience Level:
Beginner to Experienced.

Marine life:
Hard corals, sea fans, anemones, reef fish, lionfish, blue spotted stingrays, moray eels, nudibranchs.

After diving:
Hanoi pagodas, markets, parks and nightlife, Halong Bay, Cuchi Tunnels near Saigon, Roayl Tombs near Hue, Cham ruins at My Son, Mekong Delta.

Vietman Dive Sites

Diving in Vietnam is growing as tourism in general grows in Vietnam. More and more tourists are visiting the area each year and as they do more dive businesses are starting to appear. At the present time most diving is based around the tourist beach area Nha Trang although other spots such as Phu Quoc and Con Dao are also opening up. Given the length of coastline that Vietnam boasts it seems inevitable that more dive sites will be found. Nudibranch

It is often advised that travelers should visit Vietnam as soon as possible to see it before it is spoilt by mass tourism. The same could be applied to Vietnam underwater. Dive Vietnam now to see un crowded reefs around Virgin Islands. However, as there are currently only two marine parks in Vietnam divers may see signs of destructive fishing techniques such as dynamite fishing. The general lack of bigger fish indicates that reefs have been over exploited.

Although very good, Vietnam Diving is generally not regarded as being as good as in other South East Asian diving in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Bigger fish are less common. Vietnam is more renowned for the large variety of macro life, particularly nudibranchs plus great bio diversity of coral and reef fish species, for example in Nha Trang bay over 350 coral species can be found.

That said, there are some dive sites, such as Whale Island, where reef sharks, sting rays, Napoleon wrasse and even whales can be seen. Also Con Dao off the southeast coast of Vietnam is home to dolphins and dugongs as well as hawksbill turtles and over 1300 marine species.

The diving in the southwest of Vietnam, close to Cambodia, is similar to the diving in the gulf of Thailand but with much fewer divers.

Con Dao Dive Sites

Con Dao Marine National Park is located off the south east coast of Vietnam and is 16 island archipelago which used to be a penal colony in colonial French days but is now developing as a tourist destination.Coral Grouper

Diving is relatively new to Con Dao but is sure to become more popular with many more dive sites still to be discovered.

Coral reefs are healthy and the area is a well protected marine park so evidence of dynamite fishing is uncommon. Fish stocks are also very healthy with over 1300 marine species identified so far.

Hawksbill turtles nest on the islands and are a common site on the reefs.

The best time to dive this area is December to May. Visibility can be as good as 30 metres but can equally be just 5 metres.

Nha Trang Dive Sites

Nha Trang is Vietnam’s premier beach resort with a long stretch of white sand beach. It is also the first part of Vietnam to be opened up as a dive destination and is still where most dive centres are based. Giant Moray

Nha Trang is a great place to learn to dive with many easy sloping coral reefs and minimal currents on most dives. Experienced divers will also like the diversity of marine species and macro life. There are some deeper dive sites with steep walls and fast currents.

Most of the dive trips from Nha Trang visit the dive sites around Hon Mun, a UNESCO world heritage site. These are daytrip dives about 50 minutes away by slow dive boat or 15 minutes by speedboat.

There are also dive sites further afield that involve a longer daytrip or an overnight stay on outer islands.

Hon Mun Dive Sites

Hon Mun (Mun Island), is a UNESCO world heritage site with some of Vietnam’s best diving. The dive sites are a short boat ride away from Nha Trang.

Madonna Rock is a small rocky outcrop off the north west of Mun Island with a couple of nice swim throughs and nice hard coral formations. Giant morays, lionfiosh and scorpionfish are common. Barracuda can be seen here as can large grouper. Maximum depth is 35 metres.Seahorses can be found on several Hon Mun dive sites

Mahaman Beach on the west coast is a good training dive site with shallow coral reefs but is also home to seahorses and pipefish. Lobsters and crabs can be seen on night dives.

Fisherman’s Bay on the west coast is a pretty coral garden with resident frogfish.

Mushroom Reef is another sloping reef to 20 metres where all manner of critters can be found including flying gurnards.

Moray Beach off the south east coast is a shallow sloping reef to 25 metres with nice hard and soft corals and lots of moray eels including giant moray and black spotted moray. In a small cave at 3 metres leaffish can be found.

Goat Rock is a vertical wall dive off the northern tip of Mun Island. Marine life is prolific on the coral and sponge covered wall. This is a great critter dive. Maximum depth is 40 metres.

Small Wall is exactly that, a small vertical drop off down to 40 metres on the west coast of Hon Mun. It’s a nice drift dive with healthy corals and fish life.

The small island of Hon Mot to the south of Hon Mun has a few good dive sites around it, including Blue Beach which is good for spotting seahorses, frogfish and stonefish.

Whale Island Dive Sites

Whale Island is located 80 kilometres north of Nha Trang and is a paradise island getaway with some resort bungalows. Divers can stay on the island or travel by daytrip boat.

This is one of the few dive areas in Vietnam where bigger fish can be seen. Whale sharks are occasionally spotted, as are whales. More common are sting rays, whitetip reef sharks, nurse sharks and Napoleon wrasse.

Macro critters are also in abundance, including seahorses, ghostpipe pipefish and numerous nudibranchs. Spanish Dancers can be seen on night dives. There are caves, swim throughs and vertical walls covered with soft coral, seafans, sponges and crinoids plus gently sloping coral gardens.

Hon Tai dive site (Ear Island) is a good site to spot nurse sharks and white tip reef sharks. Napoleon Rock has a resident Napoleon wrasse.

Hon Trau Nam (Three Kings) has pretty swimthroughs and caves lined with corals and sponges. Raoul’s Reef is a nice wall dive where ghost pipefish can be found.

Bai Su and Hon Ong are good critter dives and popular for night dives.