CLEAN UP DIVING in NHA TRANG - AUGUST 2026

Saigon Divers Club is not a dive center. But we organize our own trips! How? They’re created by the community itself. Members come together to find buddies, explore Vietnam’s coastline, and discover new ways of diving familiar sites. 

On the first day of August 2026, members of the Saigon Divers Club community, Quang (divemaster) together with Thuan (Adv OW), and Van (underwater photographer), chose to spend their third and final dive of the day a little differently. Instead of simply enjoying another fun dive, they descended with two empty mesh bags and a simple goal: leave the reef a little cleaner than they found it.

By the time they surfaced almost an hour later, those bags were full. Discarded fishing line. Plastic ropes and construction ties from boats and floating platforms. Beer cans. Broken glass. Pieces of clothing. Plastic pipes and utensils. Wet wipes. Packaging. Broken ceramics. Around 10 kilograms of rubbish had been removed from the seabed.

Unfortunately , underwater clean-ups are rarely "finished." Every dive reveals a little more, and every bag filled means there's still another waiting to be filled.

One of the things we appreciate most about initiatives like this is that they don't require special events or large campaigns. They can simply become part of a normal dive day. After two recreational dives, why not dedicate the third to giving something back to the sites we enjoy visiting?

Van hopes more divers will consider doing just that by asking local dive operators about joining or organizing clean-up dives. Small efforts, repeated often by many people, can make a real difference over time.

The dive also contributed to ongoing reef monitoring. Surface water temperature was recorded at 27°C, with temperatures of 24–25°C at 10 metres depth, and the observations were submitted to #CoralWatchVietnam to support long-term environmental monitoring.

A big thank you goes to Thuan, Quang & Van for volunteering their time and effort, Rumblefish Vietnam for co-sponsoring these conservation dives, Sailing Club Divers for the logistical support and Bubbles & Lenses for telling the story in pictures.

To everyone who chooses to spend part of their dive looking after the ocean instead of just exploring it: thank you! We hope your example inspires more members of our community to bring an extra mesh bag on their next dive.

Other sightings that day:

Want to make a difference ?

• Stay informed about upcoming conservation and citizen science programs by joining the Saigon Divers Club on Reclub and attending our offline monthly meet-ups in Ho Chi Minh City. 

• Living in the North? Consider joining our sister club, the Hanoi Diving Club.

• Learn the PADI Dive Against Debris Course with Rumblefish Vietnam or other dive centres offering the course.

• Learn underwater photography to be at the heart of the adventure and document our impact.

• Educate yourself about marine ecosystems and consider taking the free Greenfins Eco-diver training. 

• Start by understanding better our coral reefs.

• Submit your temperature log per location at #CoralWatchVietnam