STAR OF THE SHOW, VINH HY BAY.

Vinh Hy Bay, http://vinhhybay.vn/ which is pronounced vin hi bay, is  in the Ninh Thuan Province of Vietnam,  on the east coast next to either the East Sea or South China Sea, depending on who you are, and is a picturesque location with white sand, rocky cliffs and, of most interest to me because I am a fish nut, an amazing coral reef. After a short trip in a glass bottomed boat, we stopped at a floating jetty. Shedding my clothes (I had my togs on underneath), I leapt into the water, grinning with delight as I saw the reef and it's inhabitants spread below me. A quick trip to the surface for breath, then right back under to peer into the seaweed forest growing on the bottom of the jetty. That is where I saw the undisputed star of the show, the king of fish, and the highlight of the trip. A Lionfish. If any of you have seen a picture of a Lionfish, you know they are impressive. Add to that that each of their stunning frills has venom waiting in the tips, that it's at the top of the food chain, and that they are rarely seen in water as shallow as I was in, and you can guess why I was so thrilled to spot it. Later on, another star joined the show. A lot darker in colouration than the first, a baby lionfish was hiding in the shadows when I detected it. Double whammy! I just couldn't get enough of them! Other interesting sights included a bicolour fox face, a pipe fish, a cleaner wrasse, batfish, cross hatch angelfish, black damsel fish, two spot damsel fish, and four striped damsel fish. Up on the jetty I learned how to extract and eat the meat of a crab (harder than you'd think), saw a sea snail as large as my head, and got squirted by a very grumpy couch snail. Apart from cutting my leg (I still don't know how I did it) it was a perfect trip, and beautiful Vinh Hy Bay is somewhere I would definitely like to visit again.