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This is me... on my first dive evar! It was just a closed water dive, so not much actual diving was involved. We spend our time underwater doing various drills, such as switching between regulators (our main and alternate mouthpieces), practicing buoyancy exercises, and things of that sort. I have to admit, my first moments underwater were a little freaky, maybe felt a little claustrophobic, just because you realize you're covered in water and breathing through the regulator is clearly not the same as breathing on the surface. But it was over pretty quick and the dive was altogether fantastic. Tomorrow we have our final exam and first two open water dives. We're going down to about 10 meters below on two dives. In two more days I'll be certified. Dare I say it? Diving is the best sport ever!
The island of Koh Tao is amazing, it's the perfect beach bum paradise. Though it's not unknown to travelers, it's also not a Koh Samui or Phuket which are far more touristy. Instead this place lives off it's dive culture and therefore attracts different kinds of visitors, and that gives this place a much more relaxed and down to earth feel. There's a lot of respect between the visitors and the local Thais here as well. Overall things work well here!
Just to get this out of the way right now: although our room has cable channels such as HBO and CNN, our toilet doesn't have a handle to flush it. Random! Instead we're given a bucket that we have to fill up and pour into the bowl to activate the mechanism. I did think this was strange for a moment, but then decided that given where I was it wasn't that surprising... well, beyond the fact that it's actually kind of fun to do! Just have to make sure we don't cause too much splash when pouring!
Yesterday we arrived here via overnight bus & boat, spent a few hours on the beach and then parted ways as I went off to class for the afternoon. I wish Leila was able to do this with me, but I think she's doing well by keeping this in her plans for after her time in Chiang Rai anyway. We ran into the same Danish guy (and his friend) who we met on our first night in Bangkok and he's staying here and doing the course as well. On trips like this you always have one or two people you run into a few times. Here at Crystal (the dive resort) we also met a couple others in my class who are following the same plans as we are and will be Koh Phangan for the full moon party on the 9th. But for now we're waking up early for the lessons while Leila joins in the afternoon to snorkel while I'm underwater. Better stuff to come, I can't wait for the next two days!
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Wave to the camera!
Alison
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hahahaha oh i recall the bucket toilets.. are you also taking bucket showers? better get used to it! :-)