Diving Trip with Tigerfish Diving: Why you should absolutely add SCUBA to your Hoi An itinerary

Hoi An is often a busy whirlwind of tailors, lantern-lit streets, and days spent learning about Vietnamese culture. We love the energy of the city, but, especially in the summer, the heat of the day can be a bit much.

Luckily, Tigerfish diving makes it incredibly easy to take a trip to the nearby Cham Islands and beat the heat by diving the local reefs!

What are the Cham Islands?

While countries like Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Timor L’este are (rightly so) touted as offering some of the most amazing dive opportunities in South East Asia, Vietnam is not particularly known for having great diving. And, well, there’s a reason for that.

Vietnam doesn’t have a ton of different dive spots for visitors to choose from, and I wouldn’t recommend it as a destination if your main goal on your trip is to get in some diving. That said, it absolutely does have sites worth diving if you already happen to be in country and are looking for some underwater fun!

One such location is the Cham Islands (Cù Lao Chàm). These are eight small islands located about 15km off Vietnam’s coast just east of Hoi An. They’re a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve and makes great diving easily accessible to visitors to the region.

Diving in the Cham Islands vs. The Rest of the World

I’ll be the first to admit that I have limited experience with diving locations, however, the places I have been are considered to be some of the best out there. I’ve seen the sardine run in Panglao, Philippines, and coastal dives off Timor L’este in the Coral Sea. I’ve snorkeled extensively in Egypt’s Red Sea, and off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea in the Great Barrier Reef, among other spots.

And honestly? The Cham Islands aren’t that.

But they do still have an impressive amount of biodiversity, warm waters, and beautiful soft and hard coral varieties. After hearing for years that I shouldn’t bother diving in Vietnam because it’s not one of the “best” spots, I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was!

Our Experience with Tigerfish Diving Hoi An

Hoi An has relatively few dive shops to choose from compared to larger dive sites, but I was really impressed with how well Tigerfish Diving handled our experience from start to finish.

We decided to spend our whole weekend on the island, rather than making a day trip of it, so our boat picked us up from the main port in Bai Lang when they stopped in to register that their boat was in the islands. Minutes later we were on our way to the first dive site!

While there were other groups of divers and snorkelers on the boat, each group had their own divemaster to take them, and it ended up feeling like an almost entirely private experience for my wife and I, which we loved. All the dive equipment we needed was provided for us, and there were GoPro cameras available for rental for divers who didn’t have their own.

All in all, the process was incredibly smooth and organized, and I couldn’t have asked for a better trip!

What did the kids do during the dive?

Our kids aren’t quite old enough to have their PADI certifications yet. (It’s coming!) So, while we were on our dive, the kids went with the snorkelers on their own adventure!

Before we got in the water, we met with the kids’ divemaster as well, and introduced them. While there were more snorkelers on the boat than there were divers, they were still divided into smaller groups with individual dive masters to keep an eye on them. Both spots we stopped had shallower areas perfect for snorkeling, and the kids both had a great time!

We’ve had issues in the past where our kids had a less than stellar time snorkeling while we were underwater, and they would end up choosing to go back to the boat early, but this time around, the guides did a great job of showing them enough that they stayed engaged the whole time and really enjoyed their trip. My son tends to get cold, even in tropical waters, and the boat even had child-sized wet suits available on board so he could stay comfortable the whole time.

How much does diving with Tigerfish Diving cost?

While we love diving when we can, we definitely lean more towards being “budget” travelers more than “luxury” travelers. That said, we were pleasantly surprised by how affordable a dive trip out of Hoi An actually is!

We ended up paying about $80 for each diver, which two dive sites, all the gear needed, and a lovely 2 hour lunch on a local beach after we finished. The kids cost half that, around $40 each, for snorkeling at both sites and their lunch.

While we got picked up on the island, that price also includes hotel pick up for those staying in Hoi An proper, which is some great value, since you don’t have to pay for getting to the island itself.

Honestly, it’s a great value, and worth every cent for a great day of diving.

Are there alternatives to Tigerfish Diving in Hoi An?

The short answer is yes. There are two other active dive shops in Hoi An if you’re looking to shop around, but I found the other two shops to have basically the same prices listed on their websites, and since I didn’t go with them, I can’t speak to the quality of their experiences.

They are the Cham Islands Diving Center and Blue Coral Diving. You can find links to both of their sites on the official PADI website.

Or, if you’re just looking for a snorkeling trip, there are some less expensive day trip options on Klook and Get Your Guide, but those experiences often end up quite a bit more crowded than what we had with Tigerfish Diving. If you can afford the $40/person price tag, I’d still recommend going with Tigerfish Diving, even if you’re just snorkeling.

Truly, I was very happy with our whole dive trip with Tigerfish Diving and I can whole-heartedly recommend them for anyone looking for a great dive trip experience while in Hoi An!

Our Actual Diving Experience

We had great visibility on the day we went out, but it is important to remember that nature can be unpredictable. Our dive master mentioned that just the day before, the visibility was significantly lower. Unfortunately, there’s no real way to predict what the conditions will be like until the actual day of the dive.

That said, you’ll have the best chance of clear, calm waters by visiting in the early summer months. Aim for June through August for the best dive conditions! (Our trip was in mid-June.)

We also really appreciated that the guides took us to spots that were quiet and uncrowded. We didn’t have the sites all to ourselves, but it definitely felt that way for most of the trip, though we did hear boats passing overhead a couple times.

What we saw while diving the Cham Islands

During the course of our 2 fun dives, we managed to spot 5(!!) nudibranchs, a beautiful harlequin shrimp, 3 lion fish, a stonefish, and an eel hiding in a hole with cleaner shrimp standing by for a possible snack. I really wish the shrimp were actually cleaning his mouth while we were watching, but I guess they were a bit shy.

Both sites had a variety of hard and soft corals, in various beautiful colors. There were also a wide assortment of other fish to see, including barracuda, flute fish, puffers, a trigger fish, and a wide assortment of clown fish.

Basically, there was more of interest to see than I could feasibly list out in this article, and I am sure that we missed things. The reef was alive and I was here for it!

Diving in the Cham Islands is an excellent addition to any Hoi An itinerary

Diving the Cham Islands was one of those day trips where everything just worked. We got a good chunk of time underwater, the kids got a day of snorkeling in the sun, and we all got to see a beautiful part of Vietnam that the majority of visitors to Hoi An simply skip over.

While Hoi An has plenty to keep visitors busy already, town can get ridiculously hot in the morning and early afternoons there. If you’re in need of a day trip that will get you out of your air-conditioning and experiencing the real Vietnam, I highly recommend a dive trip in the Cham Islands!