Aqualungs!

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I have to apologize about the lapse of entries, we’ve been keeping ourselves quite busy here in Patong.

Unfortunately the hotel we chose was completely full so we were forced to find alternate accommodation. It didn’t work out too badly though, we found a small family run hotel 15 minutes from the beach for a great deal. Rates can skyrocket during the Christmas peak season, sometimes doubling or tripling at the larger resorts. This was by far the lowest price we came across, and the increase from Dec 20 onwards was not too much. Plus, we received a 10% discount since we were booking for so many nights (3 weeks).

Like I mentioned, it’s not beachfront, to get to Patong Beach it’s a 15 minute walk down the street. All this means is that our hotel is quieter, and food stalls near us have lower prices. For a small fee we could hop aboard a “tuk-tuk” (Thailands mode of transport, which is a small motortruck with benches in the back for people to sit on) or flag a motorcycle taxi, but we look to save Baht at every corner so we choose to hike to the beach everyday instead. Besides, we can use the exercise.

The hotel is quite nice for the price we are paying. Considering we are used to 12 bed dorms and grotty hostels it feels like a luxury vacation to us. There is a mammoth king size bed in the room, a minifridge (not stocked, but we now have a place to keep our soda and water cold!), a television, a CLEAN bathroom with plush white towels, and even a balcony which faces the beach (or rather the direction of the beach). There is even daily maid service which means fresh sheets and towels everyday! Not something you ever get in a hostel, that’s for sure. Downstairs (we are on the 2nd floor) there is a small but relaxing swimming pool which we use everyday after the beach to cool down from the walk, the reception desk carries a selection of DVD movies which can then be broadcast on channel 8 on the television, and a small kitchen which makes breakfast type food and snacks. Really, it’s quite perfect. A Family Mart and 7-11 30 seconds away complete the package, along with the numerous food stalls serving everything Thai.

This is our first Christmas away from home, and our families and friends. Believe me, when it’s 35 degrees out and you’re sunbathing on a beautiful beach it’s easy to forget it’s the holiday season. But it just didn’t feel right without a tree. We walked past a shop selling various Christmas decorations and we just had to buy a little tree for our room. For a mere $7 we got a 3 foot tall tree, along with lights, tinsel, and little gold decorations. There is even a star! Also a banner which says Merry Christmas to string above the bed. Every night we turn on the tree lights while we’re in the room, and it definitely makes us think of home and the holidays.

So you must be wondering what we’ve been doing here! Honestly, the first week was spent doing a whole lot of nothing, lying on the beach and soaking up the rays. This was the first time in 3 months that we didn’t have tourist sights to visit, train schedules to work out, and countries to navigate. It was a much needed break. Sure sure, you’re all sitting at home thinking we’re on this extended vacation, why would we need a vacation from that?! But seriously, the pace of constantly moving, always thinking ahead to your next destination, planning a new hostel, working out daily itineraries, can be exhausting. A week of lazing around and floating in the crystal ocean was enough to give us a boost though, and we were ready to start doing some activities again.

Scuba Diving is one of the main attractions here in Southern Thailand, with the areas around Phuket having some of the best rated dive sites in the world. With all that waiting just under the surface how could we say no? Dive shops are on every street, so we had a task ahead of us to pick a reputable one and one we felt comfortable with. Luckily it didn’t take too long and we came across a great outfit called Sunrise Diving. Now, before you can see any of these amazing sites you need to have your certification. We signed up for our PADI Open Water Diving Certification and while in the shop we decided to go ahead and also do our PADI Advanced Open Water Diving Certification. The difference between the two, you ask? The Open Water course is a beginner course, giving you all the basics you need to start enjoying the world of diving. You can only dive to a maximum depth of 18m, and the course includes time in the pool (called confined dives) and 4 “Open Water” dives (in the ocean). With the Advanced Certification we have all the requirements to be fully comfortable in the water, and you can dive to a maximum depth of 30m. Pretty much all of the dive sites in the world go down to 30m, so that was the incentive, plus we are here and have the time, we might as well do it and get it all over with. The Advanced course teaches you more safety skills, navigation techniques in the water, and fine-tuning your buoyancy.

Today we completed our Open Water course and went out on a boat to do the two final open water dives. It was magnificent. The underwater world is vast, and I have to say I’m definitely hooked. We visited a site called Racha Yai, which is a small island to the south of Phuket. The corals here are huge and teeming with aquatic life. The highlight was when I spotted a large octopus under a coral, as I was floating over I thought I saw a flash of a tentacle. I stopped and watched and sure enough a large octopus came crawling out from under and perched on the top of the coral. I motioned to Devlin to come over, and he finned over and I pointed it out to him. We both floated there in awe, watching this hulking octopus change color. Did you know octopi change color? It’s incredible to watch, he was a purpley red color when he slithered out from under the coral, and when he sat on it he instantly pulsed and changed color to match the spotted coral perfectly. Right before our eyes! I’ve never seen anything so cool before. Our guide noticed us stopped and intently watching so he finned back over to us and then the octopus slithered back off and under the coral again. Fantastic, really fantastic. This one was spotted on our second dive of the day, and I was so proud that I was the one who saw him first. The first one was pointed out to us by our guide, and though still cool we didn’t get to watch him change color the way this one did.

Another amazing fish we saw was a scorpionfish, which is very deadly if you touch it. They are rather ugly things, compared to most tropical fish, but there is a reason for this. They don’t swim around a lot, mainly perching themselves on the tops of coral. And they perfectly camouflage with the coral, they look just like rocks! Our guide pointed one out to us, and both me and Devlin stared at the rock wondering what he was pointing to when we saw the outline of the fish. Aside from it’s small white eyes and mouth you could hardly tell where the fish ended and the coral started. This is how it kills it’s food, by sitting perfectly still and when something touches it, it gets stung so bad it dies and he eats it.

On the first day we saw numerous clownfish (a clownfish is what Nemo is from the Pixar movie Finding Nemo) which live among the anemones, I think these are my favorite kind of fish. They are so cute and small, and don’t seem scared at all when you swim up close to them for a better look. Unfortunately we didn’t see any clownfish today but the octopi and scorpionfish made up for that.

You don’t realize just how much activity goes on beneath the water’s surface, it really is like entering a whole other world. Floating around weightless is like being an astronaut, and every way you turn there is a giant school of fish swimming by, a huge neon fish poking through the plants, or just pretty coral to look at. We are both very excited for the 3 open water dives on our final Advanced course day. We head to a site called Shark Point which is supposed to be even better than where we were today, along with Koh Dok Mai and a shipwreck! The ship is called the King Cruiser, and it’s a boat that sunk in 1997. Apparently it’s now a new home to hundreds of fish and creatures.

Hopefully our budget will allow us to do some more dive trips in the area. There are so many to choose from, and I can see why it’s such an addicting hobby. Each time taking that first breath beneath the surface is such a thrill.

Enjoy the pictures, we didn’t take all of them but we received a CD with numerous photos on it that one of the divemasters at the shop has taken. I could definitely see underwater photography being a rewarding pastime, in Singapore we plan to search the electronics stores for an underwater housing for our camera. Apparently they are cheap there.

Hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season, we are thinking of you constantly!

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Photos

Can you spot the fish?
This is a scorpionfish, the ones that blend into the corals and rocks. Can you see him?!

Up Close Scorpionfish
They are kinda ugly huh?

Nemo!
These are my favorite kinds of fish, clownfish. So cute!

Octopus
Highlight of the dive trip, seeing 2 octopi. Such incredible creatures.

Racha Yai
Sailing away from the dive site, off the back of the boat.

Merry Christmas!
Our happy little tree!

Comments

[Linds in Halifax]

wow
guys, those pics are so VIBRANT they don't even look real! and I thought the tree and the banner was a wonderful idea! <3