Hey guys!
This past week consisted mainly of getting scuba certified and group travel. It was extremely rewarding and a ton of fun!
We have finished our time one the beautiful Phu Quoc island with tan complexions and peeling skin. You might wonder how we might have gotten ourselves in such a predicament, well it all started when our group got open water scuba certified. After a six hour safety class that consisted of very cheesey videos on choosing the correct color scheme for our scuba accessories we were ready to hit the pool. The following day we geared up and proceeded to hop into the pool of a local resort, where we practiced the skills that we had learned the previous day. We perfected our regulator to snorkel exchange, alternate accent and clearing our masks with a crowd of vietnamese and russian tourists intently watching us. After we were all deemed good enough to avoid death, it was time to move into open water. We boarded the designated dive ship and made our way to turtle island. To some of our groups disappointment the island was not inhabited by turtles but was in some way supposed to look like turtle from a bird’s eye view. We completed a successful dive and then proceeded to our second dive site. Fingernail island once again, to Mauras relief, had nothing to do with its name. We descended to about 6 meters and got to view some intricate coral structures. A plethora of various exotic fish were also present in the dive site which is rare for the area since it is extremely overfished. After another day of successful diving at the same site most of the group was open water certified and very sunburned.
A special shout out to Parker, Taryn, and Grant for completing their advanced certifications. They got to participate in a nighttime dive and went to depths the rest of us could only dream of.
After our certifications we began our student directed travel on the island! After a solid day of recuperation from the scuba diving, the excursions began. The first day, we visited a pearl farm, bamboo jail, a wine farm, a fish sauce factory, and a beach. None of the stops were anything like we expected, but we enjoyed them nonetheless. They did a good job of showing how tourism has developed the island in positive and also negative ways. That night, we went squid fishing on a fishing boat out in the ocean. Going out at night was quite a different experience. After seeing a beautiful sunset on our way out, we arrived out in the ocean, with nothing but lights around us to mark out the island. Each of us got a spool of wire with a hook on the end, and we were set to work fishing. From above, we could see the schools of squid as they swam around. It was incredible and quite surreal. The occasional crab or cuttlefish was also seen swimming by. While not everyone was able to catch a squid, those who did had the exhilarating experience of a wiggling, slimy creature, spraying black ink in unknown directions. The dinner afterwards was quite exotic and delicious! The next day, we headed off for some snorkeling. Surprisingly, the snorkeling area provided better sights than our scuba dives! The waters were filled with all sorts of nifty fishes and anemones. We then ended the experience with a nice hangout on the beach. On our last day of travel in Phu Quoc, we had a spa day. After splitting into boys and girls, we went our separate ways and treated ourselves for the afternoon. The boys all got manicures, pedicures, and facials. It was quite the relaxing and indulgent experience! The girls split up to get their preferred massages. Emma and Taryn even indulged in a five hour massage package on the beach! Alas, our days on Phu Quoc had come to an end, and so we made our way to the final destination, the beautiful city of Ho Chi Minh….But alas, that is a story for another blog.
Thanks for listening!