Vietnam’s Undiscovered Country
By Jaime Burns

Heathrow hustled and bustled as usual and security was tight, at least check-in at Singapore Air was easy although a little slow as the staff had to verify that I possessed a visa for Vietnam before I was able to complete check-in. Vietnam is a communist country and very tight on immigration so everything has to be correct. The first pleasant surprise was that Singapore Air are very diver friendly and when contacted and asked, will allow extra weight (for diving 'safety' equipment) as long as they are notified within a reasonable time before departure. Rule of thumb is about two-weeks. One thing about travelling on Singapore Air is the good food and great service that the staff provided making the first leg of my trip a very pleasant and relaxing one. Once at Singapore Airport it was a 4-hour wait before the next leg of my journey on Silk Air, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. This was a short one and a half hour flight to the city of Saigon, now known as Ho Chie Min City.

Saigon Airport was very, very slow to get through; everyone's details were thoroughly checked and it was incredibly hot and humid. I now had another four-hour wait before boarding the internal flight in the next building. It was here that I encountered my first problem. The internal airport is quite small and does not have any left luggage facilities add to this the fact that security guards will not let you into the building until one hour before your flight and my only choice was to sit at a large local cafe on the other side of a very wide airport service road (ten lanes wide). There was no air conditioning and as I sat bathed in sweat I realized that of the two hundred or so people in the café, I was the only westerner. I was the center of some good-humored amusement, sitting with my small mountain of baggage including dive and photographic equipment. Finally I was able to enter the internal flights building to encounter my second problem. Vietnam internal flights have a strict weight allowance of only 20kg. This was something that neither Singapore Air nor Symbiosis, the far eastern diving specialist who I was using in Vietnam, had bothered to tell me. Extra weight on Vietnam Airways can cost upwards of $7.00 a kg. After about ten minutes of spirited conversation with the chap at check-in who only spoke a little English, I was allowed to go through without being charged and thinking my self very lucky I breathed a sigh of relief.

After a short flight of just fifty minutes Nha Trang was in sight. My first view from the old Russian Aero Statiale Turbo Prop aircraft was of half submerged paddy fields that surrounding the outskirts glistening in the afternoon sun and a ribbon of gold edging the coast line. There were half a dozen Islands in Nha Trang’s enormous bay and the water was a beautiful crystal blue and emerald green with the surrounding shallow reefs clearly visible. I was met by Shoe; his father owned the Dong Phong hotel where I would spend the next two weeks. Having dropped off my gear at the hotel I was given directions to Jeremy Stein's Rainbow Divers. Based at “The Rainbow Bar” about five minutes walk down to the beach.

The first members of Rainbow Divers staff that I met (there were only two left, as it was 9pm) was Selwin an Instructor from South Africa and the second in command Master Instructor Jean-Philip who looks like Jean Reno but has a sense of humor not unlike Mr. Bean and never lets anyone forget that he comes from the “south of France”, whatever that is supposed to mean! After a couple of beers I had organized my next days diving and I excused myself needing sleep badly. I had had very little sleep in the last 48 hours of traveling.

The following morning I was woken around 5.30am by a cacophony of sound! Thousands of motorbike horns going off, all at the same time!

Climbing out of bed to investigate and stepping onto my balcony I was greeted by an incredible sight, thousands of bicycle riding Vietnamese going to work while street vendors sold pate and rolls for breakfast, a small reminder of Vietnams French colonial days. All this took place while young children played by the roadside watched carefully by their working parents. It seemed that life started early in this part of the world and it was a family event.

Rainbow Divers Jeremy Stein picked me up in a mini bus just after 7.00am. It was only a short ride to the docks. The dive centre had three boats; one a large dive boat with a capacity for up to thirty divers, the other two are speedboats that can take up to three divers and a guide each. A twenty-five minute speedboat ride brought us up beside the cliffs on the far side of goat rock where I marvelled at the two wooden huts that had been built onto the side of a nearly sheer rock face with interconnecting ladders between them. Captain Chien told me that these people were swallow hunters and the nets they use are very expensive in Vietnam so someone guards them 24 hours a day. Chien also went on to inform me that swallow or bird’s nest soup was big business in china being a Chinese aphrodisiac. While we were talking one of the Vietnamese guards climbed out from one-hut and proceeded to climb the very rickety ladder to the second hut above. So seizing the opportunity I asked Chien to manoeuvre the boat closer and I took a couple of shots.



It was also quite an experience kiting up while surrounded on 3 sides by sheer towering cliffs that were only a few feet from the speedboat but Captain Chien did an absolutely expert job of keeping position until we were ready to enter the water. I dived with Loc a very experienced Vietnamese dive guide. Before working for Rainbow Divers Loc had been a military diver and also a commercial diver working as far a field from Vietnam as The Red Sea and the Caribbean. He has over 15,000 dives, more than ten lifetimes worth!

Once I had rolled off the side of the speed boat following Loc into the water Chien handed me my camera and we started to descend. As I looked down I could see the entrance to Hard Rock One as this site is known. The Vis was about 25 meters even in the shadow of the cliffs above. This site was more of a giant swim-through than a cave. Some time in the last half million years part of the rock face had collapsed into the sea below but one absolutely gigantic rock weighing millions of tons had not broken up with the collapse and was now wedge between the submerged rock face and the debris from its downward plunge into the sea.

I followed Loc into the entrance at a depth of about 25m. The opening was large, at least 6m wide. Although gloomy there was some light from the other end about 40m away and although we both had torches I concentrated on my camera and let Loc illuminate the Crescent-tail big eye's, Yellow sweepers and Greenback bulls eye's that we came across as we moved father along this corridor of rock. There were no corals here but some very colourful nudibranchs that I had not see before shared the cave walls with large prawns that peered out from cracks in the rock formations and some small lobsters that bolted for a small crevasse behind the ledge that they had been sitting on when Loc's torch light disturbed them.
The middle of this tunnel closed in a little due to some rocks lying on the floor but still about 4m wide. Here a large Emperor Angle fish swam around us in circles having been disturbed from its nap. There was a reasonable sized ledge here about two thirds of the way up on the right hand side. There were more big eyes but the common variety this time, and some solitary Black-margin bulls eye's, sleeping after they’re nocturnal feeding on Zooplankton. This was there safe refuge from lager daylight predators and the tunnel is pretty much the same depth all the way through.

Finally coming out on the far side of the this cavernous tunnel we were greeted by a huge school of juvenile yellow sweepers that were surrounding a large rock standing about 20 feet high off the sea bed. There was no rock above us now but we were still in a small canyon, here with sun light penetrating to the sea floor where Giant Anemones sat attached to the rock bed and being host to small colony's of clown fish who swam up to attack and intimidate us as we glided by. More nudibranches could be seen on the rock walls and small crabs scurried for cover after being alerted to our presents by our shadows passing over them. This rocky topography looked a little sparse of life until I looked more closely. On a small flat stone I found a white leaf fish sitting motionless and a porcelain crab peered out from behind a small hard coral.

Loc and I had been in the water for over an hour, air was getting low and I had finished my film so we decided to ascend and try and locate the speedboat. Loc pointed to an anchor on the rocky bottom and made the boat sign. As we surfaced there was Captain Chien with a big grin waiting to pick us up. These guys really new what they were doing so now I was not so apprehensive about doing Hard Rock 2, a 50m cave penetration deep into the cliff face.

After changing tanks and reloading my camera with new film, we lay sunning ourselves in the early morning sunshine; it was a little after 9am. After an hour interval we were ready for our second dive and I was glad to climb back into my wetsuit as the day was heating up. By midday the temperature would be as much as 42c in direct sunlight! Captain Chien moved the speed boat all of 100m and dropped the anchor. Once again I followed Loc into the water and as we made for the cave entrance he started gesturing frantically at a large bolder. Camera in hand I swam round the bolder coming face to face with the largest blue spotted puffer fish I have ever seen. It must have been 1.5 metres long. I took a couple of minutes to photograph this splendid specimen as it let me get very close although watching me with curiosity and suspicion.

After a few minutes we moved on towards the entrance of Hard Rock 2. As I followed Loc in I became aware that this was not really a cave but a large crevasse in the cliff face for the first 20m. Sunlight poured in illuminating the gloom ahead of us. The first obstacle was a very large round rock probably weighing several thousand tons that was wedged between the walls and surrounded by Yellow Sweepers and Greenback Bulls Eye's. There must have been thousands of them; I used nearly half of my film here. This was not surprising as Sigma Lenses UK had lent me one of their brand new 14mm F2.8 wide-angle lens, it was superb and this was a great opportunity to test it. Once I was satisfied that I had taken enough images we moved on having two choices, under or over.

Once past this huge bolder the light dimmed and it was time for the torches. Now we were truly in the cave. Moving forward we came to a bend, the cave veered off to the right putting us into total darkness except for our torches and my strobe. Loc shone his torch on the wall to my right 5 meters ahead of me and pointed, the wall was covered in cave shrimps. These shrimps stay well hidden deep in caves during the day and only leave their sanctuary after dark to offer their services as cleaners at cleaner stations near the cave entrance and to feed. Wedging myself between 2 small rocks on the cave floor I began to take pictures. The shrimps were scurrying away from Loc's torch beam and my flashgun so we turned our attention to the opposite wall, which was also a moving mass of these orange/pink shrimps. After a couple of minutes I gestured to Loc to continue down the passage. Another 15 meters or so and we entered into a large central chamber about 10 meters in diameter with an undulating floor that had rocks and boulders of various sizes scattered across it. There were no stalactites or stalagmites so this cavern had been formed under water. The ceiling was 5 meters above us and pitted as parts of it had fallen to the chamber floor. I was getting a little anxious now, as the pressure was continually changing due to the funnel affect this cave created and there were lots of groans and banging noises being produce by the water movement. I took a couple of quick photographs just as some local fishermen some where within a couple of miles vicinity of the cave decided to do some dynamite fishing. In the cave the sound of the explosions was magnified and decided that it was time to leave. If I’m honest, I swam out a little quicker than when I had entered until I could see daylight in the distance. Then I relaxed and slowed down again to finish my film around the giant bolder surrounded by the sweepers and bulls eyes. Once this was done Loc and I made our way back to the speedboat and Captain Chien. Back on board I sat in the sun reflecting on this experience. I am not a cave diver but then this is not a difficult cave to dive although I had found it a little intimidating, I had enjoyed the experience. Having Loc as my dive guide had played a major part in my decision to make the dive in the first place. Now it was time to return to Rainbow divers HQ next to the Rainbow bar so I could buy Loc and Captain Chien a cold one.

These caves were not hard to dive and anyone with a reasonable standard of diving should not have any problem investigating them with Rainbow Divers. You do not have to be a cave diver and you will not need special equipment just good quality standard scuba gear although a large torch is essential.

For the rest of my diving, I had been told that I would not see that much in the way of marine life, I was pleasantly surprised when I dived at Moray Beach and Rainbow Reef. These are shallow dives at between 10 and 18 meters. Moray Beach is so named because there are 2 very large Green Moray Eels over 2 meters long that live in a small cave right in the middle. They are very tame and are often visited by divers.

I dived these reefs from the main boat and had Loc a very experienced Vietnamese dive guide with me. Before working for Rainbow Divers Loc had been a military diver and also a commercial diver working as far a field from Vietnam as The Red Sea and the Caribbean. He has over 15,000 dives, more than ten lifetimes worth!

Moray Beach was to yield stinging sea anemones nestled on to the sandy bottom while juvenile lionfish drifted between soft and hard corals. A giant anemone was playing host not only to a family of clown fish but a couple of harlequin shrimps who were vying for position with an anemone crab. The table corals were huge giving shelter to a pair of Moorish Idols and I found a White Leaf Fish, and a Raggy Scorpion fish under one table coral. There were also some absolutely huge Brain Corals that because of their size (over 2m in diameter) must be over 300 years old. Black sea urchins were commonplace whatever the topography, and Isabella and Egg Cowries could be seen feeding off the soft coral. Fire coral was also abundant in a few different forms including the blade variety. Coral hawk fish were sunning themselves as usual, sitting on hard corals or rocky out crops. Scribbled Filefish drifted over stag horn coral and purple-edged Ceratosoma. On the sand Cushion Stars and Snake Sea Stars sat quietly waiting for dark. A small school of Razor Fish hung motionless in mid-water. As I followed Loc he pointed to the sandy floor. I could not see what he was pointing at until he descended to within a meter then there was movement. It was a cockatoo flounder. Now this was a rare find!

Rainbow Reef was similar except it has some of the biggest table corals that I have ever seen! Its inhabitants included some mating Angle Fish, a large Lizardfish and a generous helping of Christmas Tree Worms. Banded boxer shrimps hid in a hard coral and on closer inspection the head of a Mantis Shrimp could be see sticking out of the sand. Rainbow Reef was also home to some tube dwelling Anemone and Sea pearls, the biggest single cell organism known to man.

Visiting Vietnam and Nha Trang Bay was a fantastic cultural experience, even though the most dangerous thing I did was crossing the road! They have some very strange ideas on road safety that defy explanation! And these people are the most sociable capitalist, communists I have ever met. They are also, probably the hardest working I have ever seen!

Please note if you are bringing your own diving equipment that Vietnam Air only allow 20kg on internal flights and excess baggage can be upwards of $7.00 a kg. The only way round this is to take the over night bus from Saigon which takes about 8 hours. The internal flight takes only 50 minutes.

Watching the Mig trainer fighter aircraft taking off every morning and then circling Nha Trang bay was an experience in itself. So is meeting and socializing with Jeremy Stein. He looks like Chuck Norris; party's like Oliver Reed and dives like Cousteau. For the a more technical minded diver, there are other caves in Nha Trang bay that have not yet been fully explored and is something you can talk to Jeremy about.

If you are going to Vietnam just for the diving, then try the Red Sea instead! Otherwise you may be disappointed. If you are going for the adventure and an experience of a lifetime on the other side of the planet that not many have had, you will enjoy yourself!