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1. Introduction of the Singaporean Guests
Lisa Ong and Natalie – two Singaporean girls took a flight to Phu Quoc in mid-April 2022 when the visa policies for foreign visitors to Vietnam have been more open since March 15, 2022.
This trip to Phu Quoc was the very first trip abroad with them after more than 2 years of lockdown and Vietnam was on their wishlist. After visiting Ho Chi Minh City for about a week, the two girls decided to explore the largest island in Vietnam for 3 days with the accommodation at La Veranda Resort in the center of Duong Dong, Phu Quoc City.
La Veranda is one of the first built 4-star hotels in Phu Quoc Island, charming you of the Indochinese architectural style.. La Veranda is also the ideal accommodation for those who like a classic luxury, want to know more about the history of Phu Quoc island and the deep connection between the owner of the resort and Phu Quoc Island.
The weather in Phu Quoc at this time is erratic rainy due to the upcoming rainy season, so Lisa and her friend contacted OnBird right after arriving in Phu Quoc to ask for advice on the snorkeling journey to see the coral as well as express concerns about the rainy weather.
2. OnBird advises Lisa and Natalie to choose the proper itinerary in accordance with the water conditions
As soon as Lisa contacted OnBird and asked for information about the Crowds-avoiding tour with a real Snorkeling through OnBird’s Facebook page with specific needs such as:
- The want to see those Coral Reef with full of color and vitality
- They are not good at swimming and they need to be coached how to swim first and have an experienced guide with them
- Is sea currents calm when swimming to see the corals?
- A tour with less tourists and unpopulated destinations will convince them absolutely
- But they don’t want to go on a private tour because it’s over budget?
OnBird’s Customer Care team quickly responded based on pre-prepared schedules by monitoring weather and hydrological conditions (waves, currents, underwater visibility, suitable snorkeling spot).
Lisa and Natalie chose to join OnBird’s small group tour with a total of 5 guests (small group tour, OnBird only received a maximum of 8 guests/tour) on the afternoon of April 16, 2022. The schedule was customized based on the hydrological elements of that day: Pier Beach, Coral Mountain, Coral Steep Reef and watching the sunset with fruit and juice on an island after snorkeling time.
3. Amazing snorkeling experience with beautiful frames
After the car picked up, groups of 5 guests on the route down to An Thoi port, embarked a speedboat towards Pier Beach, a place to that OnBird will delivery snorkeling skills and safety guides re-training and familiarize themselves with equipment.
All five guests were instructed by our snorkeling guide on how to use snorkeling masks, snorkels, fins and floatation devices. Moreover, the members were taught how to breathe, exhale the water, make their whole body floating and keep balance with snorkels and fins. A Vietnamese guest in the group and Natalie didn’t even know how to swim but she learned very quickly. After 10 minutes they were able to take the first step to control their floating and swam lightly with snorkels without any life jacket.
After 40 minutes of practicing skills and relaxing in the water, all 5 members were ready and eager to get on the speedboat to move to the first snorkeling point: Coral Mountain at Crystal Reef.
- Snorkeling to discover Phu Quoc Coral Mountain
Lisa and her friends were led to swim around the Coral Mountain to see fish and the Button Polyps Coral (or Zoas) here, they were extremely excited to see the corals change color.
Lisa’s friend was not confident at first, so a guide let her use a life jacket while Lisa was quite confident with the floatation devices. Coral Mountain is a very shallow coral reef snorkeling spot, so to see the coral safely, OnBird’s guides always accompany guests with an underwater route to prevent visitors from running aground and injuring themselves and coral damage.
Nathalie was encouraged by the guide to try snorkeling without a life jacket but instead of using a floatation device, accompanied by a swimming instructor, she let go of her anxiety and tried the experience of snorkeling without a life jacket.
After snorkeling to see Coral Mountain, the members swam slowly back to the speedboat, rested, took pictures, talked, and the tour guide shared more about the characteristics of Phu Quoc coral reefs.
- Explore the coral field at Phu Quoc Coral Steep:
Due to the water conditions of Half-moon Reef was influenced by big waves on that day, the schedule has been changed with an alternative snorkeling spot is Coral Steep, which is also an interesting coral spot with coral fields and clumps. Cauliflower coral and cactus coral grow at a depth of only 1-1.5m.
Here the group had more fun moments and pretty pictures taken by the tour guide. The view of both reefs during the snorkeling time was ideal as predicted before the trip. Lisa and Nathalie said they were like hanging out in a coral field.
- Relaxing moments, watching the sunset after snorkeling:
Lisa and her friends took pictures together underwater with a Vietnamese female guest on this snorkeling trip
The snorkeling went well with maximum privacy for the group while avoiding the crowds and other regular tours in Phu Quoc. The group was taken to an island for sunset watching and re-charge energy with fruit and fruit juice. The journey after that ended with a speedboat ride in golden scenery at the end of the dry season of Phu Quoc, the 3 girls in the group sang and watched the sea.
The journey ends with a speedboat ride in a golden scenery at the end of the dry season of Phu Quoc, the 3 girls in the group sing and watch the sea together.
4. Lisa and Natalie’s review after the trip
Here is Lisa’s post-trip review of OnBird’s small group snorkeling trip (read more) on the international travel review site Tripadvisor:
Best snorkeling experience I’ve had!
“Onbird is the epitome of service, took the 6h group snorkeling tour and not only had a great time snorkeling, was taught how to freedive so that I could get up close with the corals and saw several crabs eating from the rocks. Tuna spoke good English, was a dedicated guide and helped us take pictures. Couldn’t recommend enough!”
5. Some pictures of coral taken during the trip:
