Diving seems to be the only job a man on Ly Son Island can learn by himself and a means of subsistence on this island.

Part 1: Born to divePart 2: Sea diving voyage worth a fortunePart 3: Sea diving - trophy and invalidityPart 4: Chivalry on the open seaPart 5: Divers learn diving, go abroad to dive  

With little to do on the island - 30km from the mainland province of Quang Ngai in the central region - local men can only go to the sea for fishing while women do some farming.

As an island district with a total population of over 20,000 people, Ly Son now has 3,000 male laborers working on 407 fishing boats covering the East Sea as their traditional fishing ground.

Among them, over 1,000 men on 200 boats work as professional divers and gatherers of aquatic animals at the seabed where traditional net casting cannot help. Sea cucumber or sea leech, with scientific name of Stichopus Chloronotus, is one of the products with high financial value.

An army of divers

Sea diving is a sought-after job on Ly Son as it has helped locals build good villas and earn a stable income from generation to generation.

No coastal village or locality in Vietnam has so many divers as in Ly Son. They go through no training class but are not less qualified than a professional. Ly Son divers can go down to a depth of 50-70 meters for salvage and catching.

Duong Anh, a well-known diver in Ly Son, said he could not remember when he began diving, but he went offshore on a fishing boat at the age of 16 and became a diver at 18. Initially, he went down 10 meters underwater and gradually dived to 70-75 meters.

Their fishing ‘territory’ is across the East Sea from Hai Phong and Quang Ninh in the north to Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago in the center, and Con Dao, Phu Quoc, Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago in the south.

A fishing trip usually lasts about a month. Besides food and water, their equipment is simple including an air pipe to connect from the boat with the diver, a self-made gun to shoot arrows, specialized eyeglasses, and flashlights.

Nguyen Thi Lanh, 39, the wife of a diver in Ly Son, said that she seldom sees a man on the island as they all go offshore during this season when the sea is calm. On a road running along the coast of the island, many expensive villas stand, each costing billions of dong. VND1 billion equals US$48,100.

Well-built houses in the diving village Ganh Ca in Quang Ngai (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

It is the outcome of such offshore fishing trips by Ly Son locals.

Besides doing some farming at home, Ly Son women have a job of selling sea products to wholesalers.

Diver can catch fish anytime in a day, both daytime and at night.

Fishermen Nguyen Van Trung, 37, with 15 years of diving experience, said, “It’s the same to dive at night or during the daytime.”

We all need a flashlight when we are deep down in the sea, he explained.

“This job is dangerous but gives us a high income, so guys here love it. Averagely, a ship with 12-15 crewmen can go offshore six times a year,” said a local diver named Nguyen Loi.

Each diver gets VND15 million – 20 million on average from a fishing trip.

An air pipe to connect from the boat with the diver and specialized eyeglasses are part of their diving equipment (Photo: Tuoi Tre)