Nha Trang Scuba Diving

We spent about two days in Nha Trang and that was almost one day too much. If you love the relaxing, coastal, all-inclusive kind of resorts, than Nha Trang is definitely the spot but for the more adventurous types, there wasn't too much to do. Most of the town was "asleep" during the day and the night life seemed to be more popular which just isn't our kind of place. However the scuba diving in Nha Trang was ahhh-mazing! The water was clear with incredible sealife and coral and even large boulders that you can swim through along with schools of fish...if only the diving in Nha Trang was located in the city of Hoi An, than Hoi An would be the perfect place! :)

We did a two dive boat trip on Rainbow Divers again and I attempted to take all the pictures on the first dive. As much as I love taking pictures on solid land, it's so different underwater. I still feel like an underwater tourist and I think that it will be about another twenty or so dives until I really want to start taking pictures underwater since I just really enjoy watching the view rather than fixating on getting the shots. So until I get that comfortable, I'll probably just continue to find different silly underwater poses for my dad to take of me instead :-)

• i'm superdiver! •

• underwater yoga •

• oh no, i ripped the benjamin! •

• playing with feeder fish •

• tangled up •

• moorish idol's are stunning •

• can you spot the spotted eel? •

• coral and nemo's siblings •

Scuba Diving in Hoi An

My first scuba dive experience was in '07 in Hoi An, Vietnam with Rainbow Divers and I fell in love with diving...three years later, I got to go back to where it all started, this time as a certified diver rather than a newbie. Clear and warm waters, a spontaneous wreck dive, an island lunch time adventure and even a sliced up finger from coral (I need to bring my gloves with me when diving!) makes this dive a favorite of mine! Most of these photos below were taken by my father however for our dive in Nha Trang, I will need to take more photos so I can practice photographing underwater which isn't as easy as it looks...

• heading off to sea •

• our first dive site •

• oh crap, look at the size of that thing! •

• holding a pooping sea cucumber! •

• coral for scale •

• dad checking out the urchin •

• shipwreck from 2009 typhoon •

• note: do not slice fingers on rusty boat •

• lunch and boat ride to cham island was included •

• after our two dives, relaxing on the beach •

• father and daughter scuba dive bonding •

• scuba dive vietnam! •

Scuba Diving Birthday

I started off the first day of my thirties with an incredible boat dive off Anacapa Island (which is part of the Channel Islands off Ventura). This was my first boat dive with the Spectre Boat and they were so great. The team was friendly, their lunch was delicious (BBQ chicken for most, veggie burger for me) and their fresh water hot tub was perfect after three tank dives.

Of course, I always learn a lesson with each dive trip and this time, I lost my mask by not having a secure grip on it and watched it fall in off the side of the boat, oops. The boat did have an extra mask for me to use but it was such an old mask that it didn't allow for easy decompression. I actually had to dive with only one glove so I can stick my hand up the mask to decompress which was a tad annoying but it was my fault for losing my mask.

Since October is my favorite month, it's only fitting that October is the best time to dive in Southern California. The water was a nice 68 degrees with visibility from 50-80 feet. The sea life was out in full force with lots of lobsters, sting rays, starfish, a baby octopus, sea lions and even a giant sea cucumber pooping. It was the perfect way to bring in my thirties.

• wearing my underwater birthday hat •

• channeling my under water michael jackson •

• first enc0unter with a baby starfish, too cute •

• bang bang •

Semi-Scuba Diving Adventure

My parents came up to visit a few weekends ago and the main reason for it was to dive at Point Reyes, Carmel. Upon entry at the Point Reyes Park, they advised us that the visibility was only 3 feet with a high swell. We were determined to go scuba diving since my parents (mainly dad but mom joined as company) drove up from L.A. for diving. We decided that we should check other portions of the Monterey Peninsula so the next stop was Lover's Point, Carmel.

We were the only scuba divers in the area (including the parking lot/beach area which is uncommom) but figured that maybe we should give it a try.

• hi •

• time to swim out •

• dad doing a final check to make sure all is OK •

So we swam a few hundred yards to see if the conditions would get better. My dad decided to first go under to check visibility to only come up after thirty seconds to declare that there was no visibility even at twenty feet down. With that realization, we both concluded that it was not worth attempting to make the dive so we swam back to shore.

And herein lays why I don't like beach diving. As we got closer to the shore, I crawled on all fours to slowly move out of the water but took out the regulator, placed my mask on top of my head and breathed in huge gasps of air. For about those three seconds, it was the calmest moment that I could ask for... until the set of waves decided to come behind me and wipe me off all fours and I had to struggle with all the gear, trying to get the regulator back in and not lose my mask.

Valuable lesson learned! Do not take off the regulator and mask until I am fully out of the water. I have never been pounded so much before by the waves. It took about an additional ten minutes for me to grab my mask, regulator and get out of the water because every time I was able to gain some sense of balance, came another wave. Don't think that I'll be doing another beach dive anytime soon, it's just not fun with the waves!

I am itching to go diving so I will be heading down to L.A. at the end of July to dive Catalina Island. I am really looking forward to that! In the meantime, here is a picture of my mom doing what she does while waiting for us to get out of the water.... making warm Ramen for us! YAY!

Scuba Diving Bonding

One of my new favorite things to do is scuba diving. If I had the time and the luxury to do it more often, I most certainly would. However what makes the scuba diving more enjoyable and special is that it has become a father/daughter bonding adventure.

Mai and Dad have their motorcycles so they get to go riding every weekend. My mom even joins them, they are the cutest motorcycling riding family. There is a little twinge of jealousy since I am unable to join them in these adventures. But now that I have scuba diving (and Mai doesn't enjoy it), it's become the perfect father/daughter adventure.

This past weekend, as a birthday gift from dad, he took me on a dive trip to Catalina. We woke up at 4:30 in the morning and trekked our way to the harbor. I am the worst morning person but watching the sun rise over the harbor is magnificent and makes the early wake up call worth it.

• long beach harbor, 6 am•

Although I have about thirty dives since becoming certified last year in Thailand, I still get nervous on the boat ride over. Maybe it's because I try to stay focused on not getting seasick or the worry that I will forget some crucial step with all the gear, like turning the air on.

• i always have that look of uncertainty at the boat's edge•

But once I descend into the clear blue water, I become a happy diver (one who will sing either the Jaws theme song or the Little Mermaid's "Under the Sea" happily in my head since I can't really sing underwater).

• so blue and perfect while i swim with the fishies•

On this trip, Dad didn't bring his spear gun so he didn't do any fishing (which I'm happy about, it's something I don't like to watch). Instead, he was the underwater photographer who kept trying to get me to do things for that cool shot. Do you know how hard it is to communicate when you're underwater?! It's very difficult and charades come in handy.

• dad kept flailing his arms, still not sure what he wanted
me to do but the photo came out nicely •

• garibaldi fishes are my favorite because they aren't shy•

Every once in awhile, Dad let's me snag the camera away from him so I can play. It a huge challenge trying to take photos under water, it takes a lot of practice and patience.

• i love that little fish to the side, checking my dad out•

Our underwater adventures are a lot of fun and I need to do them more often! But the water will soon becoming a tad cold for it.


• dad capturing me swimming with the sardines•