Day 18 - 22: Koh Tao

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Today we set off for Koh Tao, I'm especially looking forward to this stop. The diving here is meant to be the best in Thailand and I am tempted to take my PADI Open Water!

We packed our bags and jumped into the taxi (not a taxi in the sense of taxis at home, basically a van with benches in the back). It was a bit cramped with around 12 people packed in. We were all just minding our buisness taking in the scenery when there was a bit of commotion from the couple at the front (who we were sitting next too). I had a good nosey about.....HORROR, there was this spider making its way towards us. Now this spider wasn't particuarly large, but it jumps, was white and furry and looked like it had a demon face with two massive pinchers. I know I don't mind this type of thing usually, but even I have my limits! The guy next to me jumped on his girlfriends lap, just as it started passing over my head - I had visions of it jumping on my head, but from somewhere someone had put a cloth on there hand, grabbed it and chucked it out the side - Phew and a little red faced at being such wimps we all calmed down before reaching the ferry port.

The journey across to Koh Tao took about two hours, it wasn't the best ferry ride in the world but certainly wasn't the worst. We pulled up to port and decided rather than being ripped of by more taxi drivers we would walk to Sai Ree beach which we had been told was do-able. However although the walk itself was only 10-15 mins with a huge backback and in the blaring sun it got a little uncomfortable, but we were quite pleased with ourselves when as we were walking up the street to our bungalows, a load of people we got the ferry with were hoping off a taxi!!

We checked into Sai Ree cottages for the night, quite cute little bungalows with ensuite and a cartoon bedspread and 30 seconds from the beach. We wandered to the beach bars and grabbed a refreshing drink as we looked out to sea. Sai Ree isn't the most attractive beach on the island but it's the place where everything is going on and once dusk hits, all the bars light up and many offer amazing fire shows as you eat and drink, which is how we spent our first evening.

We decided the next morning that we would go to Budda View Dive resort to enquire about some lessons, we had contacted them previously but we hadn't heard anything back. We turned up about half nine, looking a bit lost as everything seemed shut up - not opening untill 10.30, or so we thought. Next one of the guys asked if we needed help and within ten minutes we were up in the classroom doing the intense full Open Water certificate, with no accomodation and no breakfast, it was all a bit sureal!!

We joined a small group a Thai couple, an American and a Dutch guy and our teacher was German so there was a wide variety of people. The guys were all great and Simone the teacher was really good. After a couple of hours in the classroom learning a bit of theory, we headed to the pool in the afternoon to do our first dive and some skills. It's quite a bizzare thing going underwater for the first time, but I was hooked. We had a number of excercises to complete such as filling the mask with water and clearing it underwater, taking the breathing equipment out of your mouth and purging it, swimming with your eyes closed and no mask and a few others i wont bore you with. All this was in the shallows before we headed to the deep end!! Here we did another number of excercises such as controlling boyancy with just breathing and taking the weight belts off and putting them back on, which for some reason I completely struggled with. I think it was a combination of small hands and my tank sitting so low on my back I couldn't pass it round like you should. I seemed to float away each time I tried. Unfortunatley you're not allowed help and I had to figure it out myself, but I got there in the end. After a long day we went back to our apartment before heading out for a tasty BBQ.

We woke up in the morning and it was the first day of the Songkran Festival - this is Thailands New Year and basically they celebrate it by chucking water at everyone all day, its one huge water fight. We wrapped our books up and headed out the door for another morning of theory, but it wasnt going to be easy. I had a least two buckets of water thrown over me and a number of water pistols aimed at my face. Unfortunatley my free sea-horse water pistol I got with my ice cream would have been nothing against these beasts, even if I had remembered to fill it up before i left!

The afternoon was our first open water dive, we would be diving to 12 meters at a place called Twins on the northern coast of Koh Tao, although the journey there was going to eventful just in itself. We got our diving equipment and jumped into the van and headed out the gate for sheer pandamonium. Water was everywhere, not just normal water, no they had started getting mean and were now lobbing ice cold water over every vehchle that passed. I could have already been in the sea I was that wet, but its all really fun and something i would definetley recommend, Songkran is held all over Thailand so you cant miss it! Finally on the boat and all geared up we jumped into the sea for our first dive. Bon had some problems with his ears but apart from that all went well and it was amazing!!! Fish everywhere, big ones, small ones, some as big your head. Time flies and soon we surfaced and boarded the ship ready for dive number two just down the coast near the ports. Like before everything went well untill the end and Bon somehow managed to burst his eardrum - ouch! So no more diving for bon, but he was allowed to take the final exam and has a scuba License which he can upgrade to open water if he completes his last two dives within a year.

The next day we all completed our exam, which me and bon aced with 96% I'm sure we could have both got 100% if we didnt cave to peer pressure on a few answers haha. I completed my open water by taking two more dives one to 18m. Unfortunatley all Bon could do was sit and watch from the boat and get a few pictures before the battery decided to die. I have to say I'm completley hooked and have already looked into taking my Advanced open water, although that's gonna depend on time and money and may have to wait untill i get home, but its a completley different world down there, so peaceful and unsurprisingly blue!

Not so many pictures atm, due to spending most of my time underwater - but hopefully we should be recieving some by email, as Marcos girlfriend joined us with her underwater camera - watch this space!

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