The Flipper Diving Club on Phu Quoc is located 2 minutes from the Pier in Duong Dong.
They offer daily dive trips either to the northern or southern islands – though according to their website they only cover the southern island between may and October. They take into consideration the weather and general condition before heading out. If they feel diving is not safe or the conditions are not good enough, they will either cancel or head to a different area. This happen during my attempted second dive day. Personally I think it is a good thing to do.
- The boat used by Flipper Dive centre
They use the standard boats of the islands for diving. Sun deck on the top, tables, toilet and diving platform on the lower deck. However you jump into the water from the side and not the platform itself. Overall the boat was in a good condition.
They offer free water on board. The crew is selling beer and soft drinks – payable directly to the crew. Lunch is also included. They served a nice variety of fish, seafood, chicken rice and vegetables. I thought it was a rather good lunch – exactly what is needed after a dive.
Of course the most important thing for diving is the quality of the equipment and the guides. I thought the equipment was good. I had no issue whatsoever. Everything is included in the price, but they do not provide any dive computers. Not sure if they rent them if requested – I had my own one so didn’t ask. Otherwise there is no complain from my side. The crew prepares the jackets and 12l tanks (15l are not available), so no need to spend additional time of preparation.
- Strange looking anemone – home of the famous clownfish
- Great contrast of the different corals – and fish
- Some of the local inhabitants
They have a number of international dive guides. I met a Russian, German, Spanish and Brit, and there were more. So there should not be any language barrier. My guide was Xabi (sorry, I am terrible with names and cannot decipher the name in my dive log) and he was excellent. The briefing was spot on and he looked after everyone in our 4 man dive group. So again, top grade here.
- Colourful anemone with Nemo & family
- Our guide preparing the journey to the surface
- Creature of a horror movie??? No, just am sea urchin
Finally, booking is dead easy. I arranged most of it before arriving on Phu Quoc – thanks to Messenger. I got clear instruction where they will pick me up (as I was near Mango Beach I was picked up by boat – no need to head down to Duong Dong.
Unfortunately my second dive trip to the southern islands was cancelled on the day – instead they headed back to the exact dive spot as on the previous day. You cannot control the weather, but getting the notification 30 minutes earlier would have been great. But again, the weather can dive conditions are not controlled by the dive centre.
Overall I can happily recommend Flipper Diving Club, and I am sure I will use them again shortly – to finally explore the remaining dive spots of Phu Quoc.
http://www.flipperdiving.com/Vietnam/
Rating: 9/10
(Visited) November 2018)