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Published: December 30th 2007
...white sand that is!
We spent Christmas in Thailand on the small island of Ko Tao, famous for being the second most common area in the world to get scuba certification after Cairns, Australia. I got certified here five years ago, and returning was quite nice. many of the people have changed, but the place was so very familiar that it felt like home instantly. The owner of the bungalows we stayed in even remembered us from five years ago. We didn't believe him at first until he said that we used to eat breakfast at his restaurant every day before heading off to Buddha View dive centre. He was dead on!
We did some dives on the most famous dive site of the area: Chumphon Pinnacle. In the last few years, a group of juvenile bull sharks have moved into the area and now call it home, adding an element of excitement. On both dives, five sharks glided silently by us before disappearing into the distance.
On Christmas eve, the dive shop organized a Christmas buffet and the whole thing was completely free for clients (apart from drinks, of course, they are not THAT generous!) All of
the dive masters were serving behind the sunken bar dressed in Santa outfits and the whole thing was quite festive. At about 10pm, they set off fireworks on the beach. The people in charge were obviously not exactly experienced in these things and they tended to go off in all sorts of directions, some exploding just above motor boats parked in the ocean. That could have produced the biggest fire show this century! Luckily, they managed to keep them from heading in the direction of the bar and restaurant!
Christmas day itself was just a normal day at the beach apart from the fact that every other person was wearing a Santa hat! We had Thai noodles for Christmas lunch, and then a curry that evening at a restaurant on stilts over the ocean. Very chilled out, just as Christmas should be.
On another day we went on a snorkel trip and visited Ko Nang Yuan, a tiny island with a sliver of very popular beach. When storm clouds rolled in at 1pm, everyone cleared out, fearing rain. We stayed and were rewarded with no rain and a much quieter beach. I guess patience really is a virtue!
Merry Christmas to you all, and please send
us photos, too! 😊
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Jason
non-member comment
Keep up the great writing.
It looks like you two are having the time of your lives. I stumbled upon your journal writings while surfing around on this website. I must say I spent many hours reading and following your travels around the world today while at work. Keep it up, you are doing a great job.