Our Guestbook

My wife and I spent three days out on Cham Island in April 2011 and it was by far the highlight of our trip to Vietnam.
Paul took us out to the island in his sturdy Norwegian lifeboat and stayed with us for the whole homestay. Our host on the island, an old fisherman met us on the pier and took us to his simple but lovely beachfront house where we stayed with him and his wife and their chickens and cats.
We enjoyed all our meals with our family and even if I'm not a vegan, I must admit that the food prepared by our hosts was delicious. The accommodation was simple and clean, we got the only mattress in the house and there was a cold shower.
Relaxing under the palms in the garden, snorkelling in the clear waters just in front of the house or enjoying a cup of coffee with the villagers in the little 'café'. Or hiking in the surroundings with Paul and some of his friends from the village. Paul also took us out on a boat trip along the shores of the island to see the bird’s nest caves. What I enjoyed most was the contact with the all locals we met and were introduced to by Paul, they were very open and friendly and we felt like guests rather than tourists.

Thanks to Paul and Karma Waters for those very memorable moments out on Cham Island !

In summer 2009 we, a German family, went with Karma Waters to Cham Island. We stayed 3 nights and 4 days. We did the homestay program and stayed in a poor fisherman’s widow’s beachfront house. We could choose every day between different activities. We did several times snorkeling and were fascinated by the living corals and the colorful tropic fish. We went by boat to a nice beach and ate fish there; we went out fishing, got a cooking lesson…
The activities were wonderful but what we liked as much was participating in the village life. Cham island has no hotels and in the “small village”, where we stayed, isn’t any tourism. We felt very welcome, everyone greeted us, our son played football with the children, and people often came and tried to speak to us. We got a real impression what life these people live. Our host cooked the whole day to invite us to 3 delicious, healthy meals with a lot of different dishes every time.
If you’re thinking about booking this highly recommendable homestay program you just have to know that this is a “real homestay”. That means you share the house (and bathroom) of people who might be considered poor by Western standards. So you can’t expect four star thrills. – The bed is really hard, the windows have no glass and there is just electricity between 6 up to 10 p.m... Out host kept the house very clean and we had warm water in the (basic) bathroom. For us the homestay was one of the most impressive activities we did during our vacation and when we‘ re coming back to Vietnam we’ll definitely go back to Cham Island with Karma Waters

We spent a month in Vietnam this year, and the highlight of our stay was our Cham Island homestay, thank you so much for arranging it Paul. And a huge thankyou to Duyen who accompanied us and Kuhn (spelling) for driving the boat and being all round good fun guy.
The family we stayed with made us feel part of the family, and will stay in our hearts.
It was such a unique, authentic and special experience, undoubtedly enhanced by our 4 year old Sunny who made such special friendships with the children on Cham.
We genuinely hope to return there one day, will add some pics onto the facebook group page.
Trees, Jane and Sunny

Karma Waters has the right idea. Paul, his wife, and the staff are more than just a part of a tourism service but one that has put thought into undisturbing or minimizing the impact of tourism to the environment and the people. After spending a weekend at the Homestay on Cham Island, I was able to witness how Karma Water's philosophy and mission are integrated into their personal beliefs and how it carries over into their own personal lives. The openness of the locals we interacted with and the generosity of my homestay host gave me a sense of community and understanding of the daily lives of the people that I would otherwise not experience staying at a hotel/hostel. You live simply so to allow others to simply live while being involved in helping to develop sustainable practices and skills to improve the quality of life for the community. All in one weekend! This "off-the-beaten" track travel
experience is something I wish many other people in the tourism industry may learn from. The entire experience just feels right and has no room for close-minded or selfish intentions. And when you think you are the one giving... you find yourself being given more! Bravo Karma Waters!

p.s. check out my post about Karma Waters!! www.jenny360.com Jenny W. Lee "Live Simply so that Others May Simply Live"

I have been vego for 27 years and this is the best vego food I've eaten in a restaurant. The owners are genuine people and the setting peaceful and tranquil. My wife who was part vego has now been converted to 100% vego thanks to the Karma Waters experience and the way it makes her feel. My 2 vego daughters also loved it. A must visit place.

Just a few steps down from the bustling streets you will find an oasis of fine vegetarian food,in a fgenuine friendly atmosphere in a serene setting
Thankyou all at Karma Waters

It`s great to have Paul, Duyen and Sara in Hoi An. As regular visitors we really appreciate the company of other like minded people, whose values reflect our own. Karmawaters not only provides great vegetarian food and a range of safe and reliable services, it also allows you to watch the world go by, whilst enjoying the warmth of Paul and Duyen`s extended family.
Paul is always open to new ideas, and is very generous in sharing his life experiences.
Life is never dull at Karmawaters. My abiding memory from our last visit was being summoned from an afternoon snooze by the head waiter at our riverside hotel "Come quick - Mister Nick (my husband), he die!" As I was hurried to the river front, the light dawned. Nick and Paul were testing the practicality of small dinghy sailing down the river. A sudden squall had caught Nick and he had capsized - and this had caused the panic - although many locals spend a lot of time on the water - not so many swim. Athough his recovery from the capsize was swift, the pair provided considerable more amusement for the hotel staff and guests as they fought against the current and the low and erratic winds.
We look forward to our next visit, and if you stop over in Hoi An - karmawaters is a `must do` experience.

How often is it that you arrive at a new place and immediately feel at home. Karmawaters was that place for Sara and I some months ago. We found it quite by accident, but then again, there are no accidents in life.

If you are anyway near, make sure you stop by. You will not regret it.

Enjoy your time there, and whereever else you may go.

It is rare to find such a special place as Karma Waters. Imagine sumptious, amazing food served in a serene setting. This is a place you can find peace and quiet, a rare jewel of a restaurant. It seems impossible not to become contemplative perched just above a clear river`s divide. But Karma Waters is much more than just a `good spot.` The owner, Paul welcomed us in like we were friends from the first moment we met. He and his lovely wife and daughter were so gracious and friendly and it soon became clear to us that they were sincere people who are passionate about health, spirituality, good food, family, and most certainly karma. We were in Hoy An for a week and came across Karma Waters by accident on our first days walk to the beach. I won`t try to sell you on the place because you must decide for yourself if it will affect you like it did us. All I can say for sure is we went back there every day to visit with Paul, have a beer or two near the water, and partake of some great food (we`re not vegetarians.) If you`d like a special vacation, visit Paul and his family. The experience remains with me to this day and when I think back to what happened there, I think that place gave me the time and silence I needed to understand myself better and through conversations with others, have a bit more faith in the goodness in people. I am forever grateful to Paul (now a friend of mine) and I will return to Vietnam and walk straight back to Karma Waters.

Hello to everbody reading this,

Its a honor for me to be the first to write in the virtual guestbook of Karma-Waters.
Good that you found this website, this is one of my favorite places in vietnam, hope you will find it too.
The Location is great, just a short walk from the beach at the colorfull bridge to Hoi-An, the food is absolutely delicious as my girlfriend assured me as she was the one finishing my pate too, after someone invisible guided us there as the best place around to collapse on the terasse after some houres at the beach with probably to much sun and not enough nutrition during the day. So my first Karma Waters-Experiment was more from an horizontal perspective and i thank my Karma for the guidance as Paul and his wife where so helpfull and warmhearted. Beside all the other help, they got the old man, an impressive 85years old man who is the doctor from the village who came and gave me a rescue-treatement wich made me want to stay concious and alive. After 1 houres i was able to stand up and at my next visit at karma waters i had the chance to enjoy the delicious vegetarian food too and the wise hints paul gave me when we talked about the things that happened and the world in general.
Thank you very much for everything again!

So to all of you: Vietnam is a great country with amazing people, you should better visit it before starbucks gets there, and visit Hoi-An and go to Karma Waters for delicious food and all the other things they offer, including a warm welcome and on open heart as i experienced it there.
Have fun and see you there.
All the best
Justin Winz / Hamburg-Germany