The only two things I did yesterday after arriving in Nha Trang was arranging for two dives in the morning, and one bus ticket to Hoi An in the evening. With Nha Trang being the high-rise party town that it is, I didn't really feel the desire to stay longer than absolutely necessary ;-)
The first dive site was quite busy - busy to an extent that I've never seen before. I counted no less than fifteen dive boats anchored at our position! Luckily, we were the first to arrive, so I only noticed the masses of other boats after I got out of the water after the dive.
The dives themselves were beautiful, with lots and lots of coral and reef fish. For much of the first dive, a big trumpetfish swam alongside me - it was amazing to watch how it propelled itself forward with the tiniest of movements. Another thing that was fascinating for me was how much closer I felt to the environment and its inhabitants after the underwater naturalist dive I did for my AOWD certification. What the naturalist dive did was teach me the basic classification of underwater life, some of its characteristics, and the names for some of it. I think it was this ability to identify and name underwater creatures that moved me a big step closer to them, and I really enjoyed classifying them during the dive. For example, I now know that these creatures are called sea squirts - they were very common both in the Philippines and in the dives today.
One thing I've noticed in many countries I've traveled is that many of the locals can't swim. This was particularly absurd in the Philippines where the nearest ocean is never far. But today absurdity got a whole new meaning when I saw these guys:
Apparently people who can't swim nevertheless DO want to dive, and so they get their own personal guide to tow them around. I have to say, I don't really understand. If you're already floating in the water and breathing through a regulator, what is the big difficulty in waving your finned feet around for a bit?
This is the view on the way back to Nha Trang. The blue colors are quite stunning, aren't they? If you look closely, you can see the skyline of Nha Trang in the distance, too:
