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Published: January 13th 2008
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We decided to head over to Krabi after hearing that it was monsoon season on the eastern side of Thailand. What a disappointment that turned out to be.
As some of you know already we're traveling with a not so strict budget. We can spend about $50 a day each and have easily averaged spending only half of that so far. Upon arriving to the Ao Nang area of Krabi we were disappointed to find out that 600 Baht would only get us a double room with fan and a shared bath with only cold water. On top of that the beach there is not very nice, in order to get to the nice beaches you would have to hire a water taxi for half a day or full day which would also cost another 600 baht. Oh forget that! We were out of there the following day. This place is sounding too expensive for us.
On top of that the place was very crowded. Not many backpackers in the area. Most of them transferred from Suratthani to go to Samui, Koh Tao, or Koh Phagnan. And To Koh Tao we would go!
As we were about to
dock onto the island, we were disheartened to see that the rains were coming down hard. We were relieved to see that this was just a normal occurance happening almost everyday for about 30 minutes in the early morning. Later on the sun would burn away the clouds to reveal a beautiful blue sky. So anyone planning to travel here around this time of year, fear not, you'll most likely be sleeping during the rains, and if you are awake, you are most likely diving, so the rains wont have a big effect on you, well except for a little loss of visability.
We decided to head over to Buddha View because we met one of the staff members on the night train when we left Bangkok.
Qing the worry-wart was unsure if she wanted to scuba. You see she has a phobia of almost everything known to man. Those included on the list of fears that she would have to face are confined spaces, drowning, sharks, and hieghts. For this I would like to thank Sarah for convincing her that Qing would have nothing to worry about. The first step was trying to do it. And since
Qing had nothing else planned while I would be diving decided to give it a go.
The following day we met James, the person who would be our guide and instructor for the next four days. Qing expressed her concerns to him and he assured her not to worry and we would only go as fast as her learning would allow. For some reason James kept reminding me of Jack Black and my friend Wilbur. It was the eyes and the smile.
The skills sessions were great. It was only the two of us with James. Qing was progressing nicely, better than me in fact. It probably was the extra studying that she was doing since she was afraid of everything in the water. We later met 3 other people that were doing a 3 day course instead of the usual 4 day. They later dove with us when we did our 4 open water dives.
Everything went smashing! Qing even dove with sharks. She didnt know it at the time, she thought they were just big grey fish.
If you do plan to get your open water at Buddha View know that everything is relaxed.
Seafood
selection from our nightly buffet The course is designed to let a 10 year old pass, so an adult should have no or minimal problems. Youre on vacation and the staff know it. If youre afraid, just give it a chance. If you dont like it after the first day, they will only charge you 2000 baht. And that first day is in the controlled confines of a pool.
Once you become an alum of Buddha View you are then allowed a 10% discount on most everything there and you also only pay 700 baht per dive. Buddha View also has 2 sister schools, one in Nicaragua and the other at Cairns. The 10% discount extends to these facilities as well.
I would like to thank the Buddha View Staff. Off the top of my head I can remember James, John, Sarah, Aye, Camilo, Isolde, Tim, and maybe future instructor, Thomas. Thanks all so very much for a most enjoyable time there and for helping Qing achieve her open water certification. Shes already planning on deep diving and under water navigation. Advanced here we come!!!
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Eric
non-member comment
Diving!
Sounds like you guys are having a great time. Diving, I never would have thought Qing would do it. Also glad to see you posting again - What happened to the Daily post idea?