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Ocean Calling

Ocean Atlas · Asia

Asia

Vietnam

Reef and macro diving, park-led turtle conservation on Con Dao, and rich food, history and culture on land.

Aerial view of Kem Beach with white sand and palm trees, Phu Quoc, Vietnam
Kem Beach, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam · Photo: Vivu Vietnam, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Exploring

Ethics pass, with care. We found a way to visit this country that meets our animal-welfare standard, as long as we work with the right local operator. Checked by Ocean Calling on 26 Sep 2026. Sources: Marine resources, Con Dao National Park; Vietnam country page, Green Fins (Reef-World Foundation and UNEP); Con Dao sanctuary, sea, solitude and slow travel, Vietnam National Authority of Tourism.

🧭 Travel advice, checked 30 Sep 2026. The UK FCDO travel advice for Vietnam notes that the tropical storm season runs from May to November and can cause serious disruption. No warning against travel appeared in the snippet. Sources: UK FCDO travel advice, Vietnam Advice differs by passport: check your own government before you plan.

ScubaSnorkellingWhalesTurtlesSharks

Why Vietnam

Vietnam pairs gentle reef diving with food, history and culture. Con Dao is a quiet national park island group where green turtles nest from April to October, and turtle visits run only through the park, with nightly visitor limits. Nha Trang offers macro diving with seahorses, nudibranchs and frogfish, while protected parts of the bay let the coral recover. The Cham Islands near Hoi An have seasonal reefs, and Phu Quoc suits beginners from October to April. Wildlife sightings are never certain.

Conservation-led. Ocean Calling guests never chase, touch or bait animals.

Papua New GuineaIndonesiaCambodiaThailandLaosMyanmarVietnamIndiaBangladeshBhutanNepalPakistanAfghanistanSri LankaChinaTaiwanPhilippinesMalaysiaBruneiJapanCham Islands and Hoi An, VietnamCon Dao, VietnamNha Trang, VietnamPhu Quoc, VietnamDe Gi coast, Vietnam

When to go

Mar-Sep. Timing changes by place and by animal, so check each place below.

We have researched this place and keep learning about it. There is no trip here yet.

Our ethics check

Can we travel here ethically?

Ethics pass, with care

Good with the right operator. Here is how we choose.

Con Dao National Park protects rich reefs and seagrass, most of Vietnam's sea turtle nests and one of the last small groups of dugongs. We visit nesting turtles only on quiet, park led night trips, and never look for dugongs. In Nha Trang the Green Fins reef programme has no active dive members now, so we choose teams with care and never touch, feed or stand on coral.

Checked 26 Sep 2026. Places change, so we look again every year.

Sources for this check
Places we are exploring

Where in Vietnam

Short notes from our research. Wildlife is never guaranteed.

Cham Islands and Hoi An

Exploring

Seasonal coral reefs and small reef life in a protected marine park near Hoi An, with food and culture on land.

🤿 In the water: Coral reefs, Tropical reef fish, Anemones, Nudibranchs

When: Mar-Sep. The dive season runs March to September. June to August often has the clearest water.

Con Dao

Exploring

A quiet national park island group for reef diving, snorkelling and park-led turtle conservation, rich in history.

🤿 In the water: Green turtles (regular), Hawksbill turtles (occasional, reef dives), Bamboo sharks (occasional), Rays (occasional), Barracuda and large groupers, Coral reefs and seagrass

⛵ From the boat or shore, never in the water: Nesting green turtles (park-led, seasonal), Spinner dolphins (occasional, from the boat), Dugongs (rare, never sought)

When: Mar-Sep. March to September suits diving. Green turtles nest April to October, with hatchlings May to December. Nests and hatchlings are watched only, and there is no hatchling release product.

Rules and fees: The national park says Con Dao holds most of Vietnam's yearly turtle nesting. Turtles are watched, never handled.

Nha Trang

Exploring

Macro diving with seahorses, nudibranchs and frogfish at permitted sites, while protected parts of the bay let coral recover.

🤿 In the water: Seahorses and pipefish, Nudibranchs and frogfish, Giant morays and ribbon eels, Stingrays and eagle rays (occasional), Schooling reef fish, Corals and caverns

⛵ From the boat or shore, never in the water: Dolphins and whales (very rare)

When: Feb-Aug. February to August usually has calmer seas. September to December is wetter and rougher.

Phu Quoc

Exploring

Warm, easy reef diving for beginners, with corals, nudibranchs, cuttlefish, octopus and seahorses.

🤿 In the water: Hard and soft corals, Nudibranchs and cuttlefish, Octopus, morays and seahorses, Bamboo sharks (occasional), Blue-spotted rays (occasional), Reef fish

When: Oct-Apr. Dry-season diving runs October to May, with the best conditions October to April.

De Gi coast

Exploring

A fishing coast in Gia Lai where Bryde's whales have been seen feeding offshore in several recent years.

⛵ From the boat or shore, never in the water: Bryde's whales (occasional, feeding offshore)

When: Jun-Sep. Sightings have mostly been between June and September, but there is no set season.

Animals

Animals recorded in Vietnam

Tap an animal to learn how it lives, where it travels and how to meet it respectfully.

Land animals
Green turtle resting on the reef, shell and head pattern in sharp detailGreen turtleChelonia mydasSeen in 103 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernHawksbill turtle swimming, pointed beak in profileHawksbill turtleEretmochelys imbricataSeen in 88 countries in the AtlasCritically EndangeredTwo spinner dolphins swimming over sand in clear waterSpinner dolphinStenella longirostrisSeen in 66 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernDugong grazing on seagrass over a sandy seabedDugongDugong dugonSeen in 32 countries in the AtlasVulnerableBryde’s whale surfacing and exhaling in deep blue open oceanBryde's whaleBalaenoptera edeniSeen in 36 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernIrrawaddy dolphin rising from the water, showing its round headIrrawaddy dolphinOrcaella brevirostrisSeen in 10 countries in the AtlasEndangeredLeatherback hatchling crossing the sand toward the seaLeatherback turtleDermochelys coriaceaSeen in 76 countries in the AtlasVulnerableOlive ridley turtles nesting on Playa Ostional, Costa RicaOlive ridley turtleLepidochelys olivaceaSeen in 40 countries in the AtlasVulnerableAdult pink Chinese white dolphin swimming beside a grey calf in Pearl River estuary waterChinese white dolphinSousa chinensisSeen in 17 countries in the AtlasVulnerablePantropical spotted dolphin gliding at the calm ocean surfacePantropical spotted dolphinStenella attenuataSeen in 56 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernFalse killer whale surging through blue water off Rota, Mariana IslandsFalse killer whalePseudorca crassidensSeen in 41 countries in the AtlasNear ThreatenedHuge spotted whale shark gliding through open blue waterWhale sharkRhincodon typusSeen in 54 countries in the AtlasEndangeredBlue-spotted maskray resting on a sandy seabed beside a shellBlue-spotted stingrayNeotrygon kuhlii complexSeen in 15 countries in the AtlasVaries by speciesWell camouflaged scorpionfish on dark sand in Lembeh StraitScorpionfishScorpaenopsis speciesSeen in 22 countries in the AtlasVaries by speciesFinless porpoiseNeophocaena phocaenoidesSeen in 11 countries in the AtlasVulnerableOmura's whale off northwestern MadagascarOmura's whaleBalaenoptera omuraiSeen in 6 countries in the AtlasData DeficientCommon bottlenose dolphin swimming over a seagrass bedCommon bottlenose dolphinTursiops truncatusSeen in 89 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernSperm whale mother raising her fluke beside her calf off DominicaSperm whalePhyseter macrocephalusSeen in 114 countries in the AtlasVulnerableLoggerhead turtle at the surface feeding on Portuguese man o' warLoggerhead turtleCaretta carettaSeen in 89 countries in the AtlasVulnerableShort-finned pilot whale surfacing off Tenerife with the island behindShort-finned pilot whaleGlobicephala macrorhynchusSeen in 43 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernPod of common dolphins surfacing in calm blue seaCommon dolphinDelphinus delphisSeen in 53 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernEstuary seahorse with textured orange skin on dark sandCommon (estuary) seahorseHippocampus kudaSeen in 25 countries in the AtlasVulnerableBluestreak cleaner wrasse with black stripe and blue tailBluestreak cleaner wrasseLabroides dimidiatusSeen in 51 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernFraser's dolphin porpoising out of the waterFraser's dolphinLagenodelphis hoseiSeen in 18 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernPod of bottlenose dolphins swimming over a Red Sea coral reefIndo-Pacific bottlenose dolphinTursiops aduncusSeen in 29 countries in the AtlasNear ThreatenedRed lionfish with spread fins over sand in Dauin, PhilippinesLionfish (red and common lionfish)Pterois volitans and Pterois milesSeen in 80 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernTwo pygmy sperm whales at the sea surface off the Azores, low backs and small hooked dorsal fins showingPygmy sperm whaleKogia brevicepsSeen in 23 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernBlack-faced spoonbill in Taiwan, TW, iNaturalist research-grade observationBlack-faced spoonbillPlatalea minorSeen in 11 countries in the AtlasLives on landVulnerablePale seahorse with a long snout holding a blade of green weed against a dark backgroundThree-spot seahorseHippocampus trimaculatusSeen in 11 countries in the AtlasEndangeredClose view of a red-footed booby head with blue, pink and red bill and throat skin among green leavesRed-footed boobySula sulaSeen in 91 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernSilver-cheeked toadfish resting just above sandy seabed, with its pale belly and dark-spotted backSilver-cheeked toadfishLagocephalus sceleratusSeen in 19 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernGreat cormorant perched on a branch, with white head plumes and a glossy blue-black backGreat cormorantPhalacrocorax carboSeen in 90 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernOriental darter lifting its head and bill out of the water with a catchOriental darterAnhinga melanogasterSeen in 14 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernLittle cormorant perched among mangrove branches with its wings spreadLittle cormorantMicrocarbo nigerSeen in 11 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernIndian cormorant perched beside water, showing its blue eye and scalloped feathersIndian cormorantPhalacrocorax fuscicollisSeen in 8 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
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