Spring break 2018 - Vietnam- Part III - Our Snorkeling Adventure

Friday was our last full day in Nha Trang.  We had moved our snorkeling date once Alexandra had gotten sick.  Nika was the last of the four children to pick up the stomach bug and she had to stay home from our last big adventure.  Poor kid.  She had really been looking forward to snorkeling on a real tropical reef.

We were picked up at the hotel in a van by Andrey, a Russian who worked for the snorkeling company that we were using.  We stopped along the way at a few hotels and picked up some more people, a couple, a family with a teenage daughter, and a couple of single folks.  We got down to the dock where there were a number of boats - fishing boats and other tour boats.  We waited for a few minutes until our boat was ready and pulled up, and then we loaded up.

On the way out to the reef (about an hour ride) we passed a number of small islands and had a beautiful view of the aquamarine waters of Vietnam.  All the other people on our tour were there to scuba dive, and so they were having some lessons.  We were kind of left on our own.

A boat like ours pulling up to the dock.

Heading out of the marina past the different boats.

The beautiful water and islands.

Sophie and Lexa gearing up.

When we arrived at our first dive spot, we all got geared up and jumped into the ocean to start snorkeling.  We were near some islands and the reef came up to within four or five feet of the surface in many places.  There were also some deeper areas.  There were dozens of different types of coral, and we saw about 15 different species of fish. Lina and I also saw a squid in one of the deeper areas.  The snorkeling was amazing and we had a good time.  Yulia had a few misadventures with her equipment, but eventually got things figured out and joined us.

We snorkeled the first time for about 45 minutes or an hour.  Once the scuba divers surfaced (they had seen barracuda in the deeper waters) we picked up anchor and moved to another area about ten minutes away.  In the second area we snorkeled for about twenty or thirty minutes and then spent most of the time on the boat.  Lexa and I jumped off the front of the boat and did a bit of swimming while we waited.

Once we were done, we were fed an excellent lunch with different fixings for ban-mi sandwiches as well as rice and other delicacies.  Once lunch was over, we sailed back to the marina where we disembarked and were shuttled back to our hotel.

LIna adjusting her mask.

Lina and Spencer talking about what they saw.

Lina and Spencer snorkeling

Returning to the boat.

Yulia smiling after a successful snorkeling run!

Twins drying in the sun.

Another boat at our second stopping spot with the island in the background.

Lexa sunbathing.

Lexa getting ready to jump.  The sea in the background is so beautiful!

Lina catching some sun.

Lunch is served.

One more view of the water with some small white-caps for contrast.

Returning to the marina.

We found Nika at home doing okay, so we cleaned up and then went out to the small market near our hotel to do some souvenir shopping before we went to dinner.  We had a nice evening walk and a nice last night enjoying Nha Trang.

The little alleyway souvenir market near our apartment.