Cham Island~third trip and still a must do

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Yes, this is the third time we have done the day trip to Cham Island. Again, we booked with the same dive shop, Blue Coral Diving, and Captain Steve aka the Ginger Panda was as gracious and helpful as ever. Patrick, from Canada and Vanessa from Switzerland rounded out the crew. Our first snorkeling sight was a little different this time. The crew had volunteered with a local agency to help eradicate the coral reef of a sea star called "crown of thorns". These are red and purple sea stars with one inch spines that are poisonous. They have no predators and are breeding like crazy, Can't cut 'em, can't smash 'em-they have to be taken out whole. The divers were using curved rebar to pry them off of the coral-which they are eating. When we swam back to the boat a film crew from the local TV station was filming us. I asked them to make me a movie star and they agreed.

The second sight was calmer waters and great visibility. Just a few jellyfish here and there, but the best sight was a line of at least a hundred squid, in formation two across, who were checking us out far more intensely than we were checking them out.

Off to the island for a lunch of bbq fish, water spinach, rice, sea snails, noodles with vegetables, frittata, and sweet pineapple wrapped in banana leaf. But the real treat was getting to play with the little girl I had played with three years ago. She was tiny then and never spoke a word. She is a bit taller, and the shyness has disappeared. I had a special bat ring for her and spider rings for her friend. Wait until you see her picture-she is just precious.

On our way back to Hoi An I mentioned to Captain Steve we were planning to travel to Mui Ne next. He let us know that it is half Tet (half New Year) Holiday and that beach would be absolutely packed and miserable. It is that kind of information that is invaluable while traveling. We have changed our plans and are now heading to Saigon.

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Photos

Blue Coral Diving
This is our crew of Blue Coral Diving: Rock star Patrick from Canada, the lovely Vanessa from Switzerland, and of course, the Ginger Panda-Captain Steve from England.

Crown of Thorns
These are the nasty sea stars eating away the coral.

Suzie with the Princess of Cham Island
This is Linh-I have deemed her the Princess of the Island.

The princess with her friend
These two kept us entertained-singing, dancing, throwing sand at each other...