Day 17

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So today was the day we were going to go 12m down into the ocean! After yet more theory we had lunch then headed to the boat which precariously crossed the shallow water to the Coral Grand Boat! Just as Jules was getting us set up we spotted a massive pod of dolphins which are apparently really rare in Thailand and it was fantastic to see so many of them jumping out of the water and swimming underneath the boat! And that was before we even got into the water!! Having calmed down Jules got us all set up but was a little scared that we had completely forgotton what the buddy checks were, but having been recapped we geared up and Dead Mexicaned into the water! Swimming to the line was eventful and when the time finally came to go under only Camilla and Elin managed to make it down the first 5m, with Becky getting ever so slightly alarmed by the enormity of the water and the murkiness beneath! With 1 man down Camilla and Elin continued and had the most amazing dive spotting a stingray and lots of other pretty creatures! Dive 1 survived we headed back to the boat and continued on to the next dive site! This dive was slightly more scary as we had to perform underwater tasks including filling our masks up but amazingly we did it and resurfaced again! Becky was unfortunately not able to continue with the course but she was instead able to snorkel around the reefs which luckily didn't require having to sink 12m!! With our first open water dives completed we headed back to the island to shower off some of the sand we had accumulated and head out to dinner! Camilla and Elin had to be ready for diving at 6am the next morning but Becky made the most of her freedom and sampled some of Ko Tao's bars with one of the Danish girls who had also dropped out!

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