A first dive is sold on Phu Quoc under three names — Discover Scuba Diving, Try Dive, Try Scuba — and they are not interchangeable. Some are one dive, some are two; some put you in a pool first; and the price gap between the cheapest and the most complete version is more than double. Here is what each centre actually publishes.
Count the dives before you compare the prices. $100 buys two dives at three centres; 1,900,000 VND (about $73) at Flipper buys one. A single number without the number of dives beside it tells you nothing.
What does a first dive cost?
Vietnam Active's Discover Scuba Diving is $100 per person for two dives at two different sites, with a maximum ratio of two guests per instructor. Included: high-quality equipment with a dive computer, all fees, a fully certified PADI divemaster, coffee, tea, water and food aboard the boat, and hotel pick-up and drop-off. You fill in a medical questionnaire before signing up, and you cannot fly for 12 to 18 hours afterwards.
Try Scuba Diving at Phu Quoc Diving Club is $100 per person, also two dives plus basic skill practice, with one instructor for one or two guests. The centre describes it as designed for guests with no prior experience and suitable for non-swimmers; it does not publish an age threshold. The day starts with a 7:30–8:00 pick-up and ends back at the harbour at 15:30.
Ecodive publishes 100 USD per pax and describes its Discover Scuba as a one-on-one dive experience for non-certified divers. Kimie's Tours asks $100 per person for two try dives in the south, on the same seven-hour day as its certified trips, with one-to-one instruction for beginners.
Where is the price counted in dong?
Flipper Diving Club splits the beginner programme into steps and prices each one: Try Diving north or south, one dive, 1,900,000 VND (about $73); two dives, 2,500,000 VND (about $96); the full Discover Scuba Diving with two dives, 3,000,000 VND (about $115).
A half-day pool session before the sea is 800,000 VND (about $31), and Discover Scuba with the pool comes to 3,800,000 VND (about $146). As with their fun dives, guests staying in the south pay more — Try Diving 2,400,000 VND (about $92) for one dive and 3,100,000 VND (about $119) for two, Discover Scuba 2,900,000 VND (about $112) and 3,900,000 VND (about $150).
OnBird runs a small-group Discovery Scuba for non-licensed divers at 2,150,000 VND (about $83) per person, capped at ten guests, over seven to eight hours between 8:00 and 16:30 with the departure time set by the day's water conditions. Hotel pick-up and drop-off, an underwater instructor, scuba gear, cold water and lunch are included; the sites are on the south of the island.
How deep do you go, and how long?
Depth is the number the centres publish least. What is on the record:
- Kimie's states nine metres of water depth on its northern trips;
- Ecodive describes its southern fun diving as mostly 18 metres, 30 for advanced divers.
For beginner dives the centres describe the format rather than the profile — Vietnam Explorer, for example, says a non-certified diver's two dives run 25 to 30 minutes each, against 45 to 50 minutes for a certified one; those figures come from a post the operator published on 11 November 2024, so treat them as the operator's own statement rather than a fixed rule for the season.
Five centres side by side
| Centre | Programme | Price | Ratio / group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam Active | Discover Scuba, 2 dives, 2 sites | $100 per person | max 2 guests per instructor |
| Phu Quoc Diving Club | Try Scuba, 2 dives + skills | $100 per person | 1 instructor per 1–2 guests |
| Ecodive | Discover Scuba | 100 USD /pax | one-on-one |
| Kimie's Tours, south | Try dive, 2 dives | $100 per person | one-to-one for beginners |
| Flipper Diving Club | Try Diving, 1 dive | 1,900,000 VND (about $73) per person | from 10 years old |
| OnBird | Discovery Scuba, small group | 2,150,000 VND (about $83) per person | max 10 guests, from 10 years |
Two prices to ask about, and one alternative
Poseidon Diving School sells a "2 in 1" for beginners at $80 — one dive plus snorkelling, with pick-up and drop-off at your resort, full equipment, tea, coffee and a Vietnamese lunch on the boat, vegetarian on request. The page does not state in words whether the figure is per person or per boat, so it is a number to confirm before you count on it.
If the idea of a regulator is the sticking point, Red River Tours sells a seawalk instead: 15 to 20 minutes on the bottom with a helmet and one instructor per guest, inside a four-hour trip that starts at 10:30 or 13:30, at 1,350,000 VND (about $52) for an adult ticket.
Hotel transfer and a 500 ml bottle of water per guest are included; hotels outside the Dương Đông — Ong Lang / Cay Sao / Ham Ninh area pay a 100,000 VND (about $4) surcharge per guest. The operator states that in bad weather it cancels the trip and refunds the fare. A child fare is not published — the page asks you to contact them.
Frequently asked
Do I need to know how to swim?
Phu Quoc Diving Club describes its Try Scuba as ideal for non-swimmers and first-timers. Other centres do not make that claim, and snorkelling trips are stricter — Kimie's requires every member of the group to be able to swim.
From what age?
Where an age is published it is ten: Flipper Diving Club quotes the PADI rule that you must be at least 10 years old for a Discover Scuba Diving experience and in reasonable physical health, and OnBird does not permit children under 10 on its Discovery Scuba.
Is a first dive worth doing on a travel day?
No. The PADI centres on the island repeat the same warning: after scuba diving you should wait 12 to 18 hours before flying. With a beginner day running from a 7:30 pick-up to a 15:30 return, that rules out an evening departure too.
Updated 4 September 2026. Prices, ratios and age limits are quoted from the operators' own published pages.
