From August 13 to 15, 2026, the DIVEVOLK team set foot in Vietnam for the first time to exhibit at Vietnam Sport Show 2026, held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC) in Ho Chi Minh City. It was a new market, a new kind of show for us, and three days that turned out to be far more rewarding than we expected.
Why Vietnam, and Why a General Sports and Outdoor Show?
Vietnam is a brand-new market for DIVEVOLK. The country is home to more than 100 million people, a large share of them young, and enthusiasm for fitness, sports, and outdoor recreation is growing fast. There is one more reason we came: Vietnam does not yet have a dedicated professional dive show. If we wanted to reach the country's divers and outdoor lovers, we had to step outside our comfort zone and into a much broader sporting goods exhibition.
Vietnam Sport Show is the country's only national-level trade show for the sports industry. This year's edition brought together more than 350 exhibitors from 15 countries and regions across 16,000 square meters, drawing over 10,000 trade visitors and buyers. Products on the floor ranged from sportswear and fitness equipment to cycling accessories, outdoor leisure gear, and water sports equipment. For DIVEVOLK, it was the ideal setting: a chance to meet core divers while also showing a much larger crowd of non-diving outdoor enthusiasts what underwater image-making can look like.
On the Show Floor: More Excitement Than We Imagined
To be honest, we had a few doubts before we left. At a show built around running, fitness, and ball sports, would dive gear look too niche?
It did not. Our booth saw a steady stream of visitors across all three days. Most of them were not divers, but their faces lit up when they learned that the phone they carry every day can shoot photos and video underwater once it is sealed inside a DIVEVOLK housing. The SeaTouch 4 Max Plus on display is rated to 60 meters, and with SeaLink, that same phone can even stream live from below the surface. Many visitors told us they had always wanted to try scuba diving, snorkeling, or an island getaway, but had never imagined recording those underwater moments with their own smartphone.
The real surprise, though, came from the divers who sought us out.
Meeting You: The Power of the Dive Community
What moved us most at this show were the divers who came specifically to talk with us, some of them bringing their own underwater work to share. They came from very different backgrounds, but they had one thing in common: they are DIVEVOLK users.
Hung Lee, Recreational Diver
"I shot some amazing macro footage with my DIVEVOLK while diving in the Philippines, and when I posted it, my friends didn't believe it was shot on a phone!" This diver from Saigon was excited to show us his work. He told us DIVEVOLK saved him the heavy investment of a dedicated underwater camera. Using nothing but his OPPO Find X9 Ultra, he captured underwater footage that rivals what a professional camera can produce, and he still finds that hard to believe. (If you shoot on a recent OPPO flagship, our OPPO Find X9 series underwater photography guide covers the setup in detail.)
Tai Anh HS, Dive Instructor
Tai is a local PADI instructor in Vietnam, and he plans to use a DIVEVOLK housing to film his students' underwater performance in upcoming courses. The footage can then be shared with students and on social media, so learners can see their own body position in the water, which he expects will help them progress much faster. It is one of the most practical ideas we have seen for using a phone housing as a teaching tool.
Kim Thai, Underwater Photographer
A professional underwater photographer, Kim showed us macro images he shot in Nha Trang with the SeaTouch 4 Max Plus. He could not say enough about how smooth the full-touchscreen control feels: "Adjusting focus and switching modes underwater feels just as natural as using my phone on the surface. That's something traditional housings can't do."
Russell Boxletix, Environmental Advocate
Russell Boxletix is an ambassador for environmental causes. On TikTok, he has shared videos of river cleanups in Vietnam, showing how local volunteers organize projects to remove plastic pollution and restore waterways. He has also worked with CTNC, a leading Vietnamese environmental non-profit, on box turtle conservation in Vietnam. Russell spoke highly of our products and said he sees real potential for SeaLink, our underwater communication and connectivity device, in future environmental work. He also expressed his hope that we can work together more in the future to help make the environment a better place.
Ondris, RMIT Academic and Cultural Heritage Technologist
Another welcome surprise was a visit from Ondris, an academic at RMIT University and a cultural heritage technology specialist who supports galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAM) in adopting digital preservation practices. As part of his academic service, he works with GLAM institutions by running free workshops, giving talks, and offering hands-on training in scanning, preserving, and curating physical artifacts as 3D models. Bringing 3D models into the GLAM sector plays a vital role in improving accessibility, strengthening conservation, and creating immersive educational experiences. By digitizing artifacts, institutions can protect cultural heritage, enable remote access, and build interactive exhibitions that engage the public in new and meaningful ways.
Ondris plans to dive in the coral conservation area of Seahorse Diving Club in Vietnam, using a DIVEVOLK smartphone housing for underwater 3D photogrammetry and image documentation of the coral. This field research will be a great opportunity to capture compelling underwater footage, 3D scan results, and a behind-the-scenes look at the research process. It is the same kind of phone-based reef documentation that Love The Oceans uses to track more than 1,000 corals in Mozambique.
Stories like these remind us that DIVEVOLK is more than a waterproof housing. It is becoming a new language that connects people with the ocean.
Starting From Vietnam: A New Market, a New Beginning
The three days flew by, but what we took home went far beyond our expectations. The youthful energy of the Vietnamese market, the fast growth in outdoor sports spending, and the warm welcome from the local dive community have left us confident about this country. This was DIVEVOLK's first time entering a market through a general sports and outdoor show, and crossing over into that world showed us bigger possibilities. Diving should not belong only to divers. Everyone who loves the ocean and loves to explore should have the chance to record and share the underwater world.
Across Southeast Asia this year, from ADEX Singapore to MIDE Malaysia, the same message keeps coming back to us: people want to bring the phone they already love into the water. Going forward, we will keep investing in Vietnam and build closer partnerships with local dive centers, training organizations, conservation groups, and content creators. We also look forward to meeting you at more general sports and outdoor shows, so more people discover that all you need is your phone. DIVEVOLK will help you see a different ocean.
Explore our underwater phone housings, or contact us for dealer, dive center, and partnership inquiries in Vietnam.
