Scuba diving in Asia forum

Diving Vietnam/Cambodia in December

  • KazAussie

    Hi all,

    Can anyone suggest good dive spots in December, we will be in Vietnam and Cambodia from 11 Dec to 11 Jan. We would like to take a couple of days off at a spot that we can go diving from. We were going to do it off hoi an but I believe the weather there isn't great that time of the year.

    We have one experienced diver, one qualified but inexperienced diver, and one person happy to come along on a boat trip and jump in with a snorkle.

    #1 Posted: 21/8/2009 - 14:42


  • spikybrain

    Diving in either is quiet poor. NT has been largely fished out, though still some coral. PQ is OK.

    In Cambodia the reefs h/been decimated by explosion fishing etc.

    Of the three i'd say phu quoc is the best, but if you can save for Thailand where the diving is much better but more crowded too.

    #2 Posted: 21/8/2009 - 15:07

  • KazAussie

    Looks like Phu Quoc it is. Not intending to try and fit Thailand in this trip, maybe next time.

    Just for my info what is NT and PQ.

    #3 Posted: 21/8/2009 - 15:19

  • spikybrain

    NT=NhaTrang
    PQ=PhuQuoc

    sorry

    #4 Posted: 21/8/2009 - 15:20

  • somtam2000

    The advice by spikbrain in the above is actually correct -- amazing you could actually manage to get something out that was accurate SB

    #5 Posted: 21/8/2009 - 21:15

  • Rohan

    Why is Hoi An not an option? I will be heading there late December/early January and was considering trying the diving for a day.

    #6 Posted: 22/8/2009 - 09:15

  • KazAussie

    Hi,

    Hoi An would have been our first choice but it looks like the weather that time of the year is against us.

    At the moment, the rough plan is to allow 5 days for Hoi An and do a dive there, but if the weather is no good we will cut it back to about 2 days and do a dive off Phu Quoc.

    Cheers

    #7 Posted: 22/8/2009 - 12:13

  • Lodestar

    Actually have the same question, but for October. Mid-october, actually. Read that NT is not good at that time. What about PQ? Thinking of changing the travel plans and skipping NT and doing PQ instead. Am i on the right track? And how about the atmosphere in PQ and NT in general? Guess PQ would be a more relaxed, natural, less built-up and tourist-filled of the two? The accommodation seems pretty steep, looking at the lonely planet... Any tips?

    Thanks a bunch!
    L.

    #8 Posted: 9/9/2009 - 21:03

  • KazAussie

    We are going to try Beach Club http://www.beachclubvietnam.com/accommodation.html $25 for two people, not sure if that is okay for your budget. It gets a pretty good write up on trip advisor.

    #9 Posted: 10/9/2009 - 14:19

  • maria_s

    has anyone any experiences with diving around sihanoukville at this time of the year, meaning right now?
    would like to do some diving here, also recommendations for dive shops would be verz welcome. thanks!

    #10 Posted: 12/12/2009 - 16:48

  • maria_s

    to answer the question myself: I dived with ecosea divers, they have a shop or severa shops around sihanoukville. wouldn't go with them again, they are the cheapest compared to the others and I now kno why: our boat broke down halfway to the divesite (about one hour from the mainland), we waited for one hour for another boat to pick us up; the divesites were really nice (around kao rung saloem, visibility was good and I can really recommend the divsites. we had lunch on the island, some people also stayed at the island overnight and went diving on the next day again.

    for the second dive they had to refill the tanks on the island, but the generator broke down and the extra generator was somehow slower. two tanks were not fully filled so one guy had to go up quite early and our divemaster was out of air after about 45min, so we had to go up, too although we were searching for some special fish and everyone else had enough air left. very unprofessional. equipment was quite old too.

    so go diving in cambodia, its really beautiful, but go with another diveshop and expect to pay about 85 dollars for a daytrip with 2 dives.

    #11 Posted: 29/12/2009 - 16:38

  • noflyzone

    In Vietnam look out for Cham Island in Hoi An - good and reliable. It's run by a very charismatic Italian/French/Vietnamese team and is multilingual. It was a first time and they were very gentle. Absolutely loved it and a key thing was having proper experienced people running the show...no 20 yr old kids.

    #12 Posted: 2/7/2010 - 20:41

  • KazAussie

    I don't think you can get out to Cham Island in December

    #13 Posted: 2/7/2010 - 21:48

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