Joe Diver

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Hello again!
I’ve been busy this week learning to SCUBA dive, and I was successful! I am now a PADI certified Open Water Diver. That means I can dive anywhere in the world without an instructor at a depth of up to 18 meters.

But let’s go back.

I left Koh Pha Ngan on a high speed boat and the ride took about an hour. Island hopping is great fun, though a bit tiring if you have to walk a lot with a backpack. I decided to go to Ban’s Diving Resort for my Open Water course. Koh Tao is all about diving and there are many, many dive schools. I got a room (with air-con), and enrolled in my class that started about an hour later. All we did was watch a couple of films.

The next day we got in the pool and started breathing underwater. I didn’t care for the pool much because there was so much chlorine that it was like swimming in pure bleach. My eyes got so red that I couldn’t see clearly.
I got better the next day when we went out on our first dive. We went to Mango Bay on the northern part of the island. Its name comes from all the mango trees that surround the bay. -I’ve gotten hooked on mango juice and mango shakes. They are so gooood!

Anyhoo, I thought I was going to be nervous, but once I jumped off the boat and got in the water, which is super warm, everything was fine. We went under, to about 9 meters and worked on the skills that our instructor, Matt was teaching us.

I was in a good class. There were eight of us: one from England, three from Germany, three from Ireland and Me -Vegas Joe. It’s really funny when you tell someone you are from Las Vegas. Their eyes get big, they say ooooooh Las Vegas! And they start waving their hands over their heads. We all followed instructions and learned quickly. Matt was impressed.

It is hard to describe breathing underwater and being weightless. It’s like you are forgetting everything you’ve known your whole life. It is like being inside a dream. Fish swim right in front of your face. The colors are vibrant. The biggest fish we saw was a trigger fish which is very territorial and will attack your fins if you get to close to its space. There is so much life down there, strange, weird life. What does it all mean???

We did two dives that day and two the next. On the last dive we were very lucky and got to see a Hawk billed Turtle! I thought he was big, but Matt said they get much bigger. We went all the way to 18 meters. We had Jake the video guy with us on our last dive. I bought the DVD and it shows our adventures. I figured that I might not have that opportunity again.

We ended the class with a party, of course. I listened to the girls from Ireland all week tell their partying stories, and now I believe every one of them. They could really drink.

So, I’ve been recovering all day.

The final cost for this part of the adventue is going to be about six hundred dollars. That includes the Open Water course, accomodations for six days, about half of my meals, the two dives I have tomorrow, my DVD, and a motorbike.
That was a great deal, and worth every penny.

Tomorrow, I’m going out for two dives. I check out on Saturday, and start heading towards Bangkok.

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Photos

My Buddy
My underwater partner was Christian, from Germany. He is an exchange student and has been in Thailand for 11 months.

Boat to Koh Tao
Now listen close and you'll here a tale, a tale of a fateful trip...

Bye Bye Pha Ngan
The view from the boat.

Koh Tao
On the boat ride in.

Diving Class
New classes start each day.

Team Japan
This is a class of Japanese divers. They have an instructor for every language.

Diving Boats
Each school has a couple of boats.

Spicy Tuna Sandwich
My pre-dive meal

More Buckets
The party professionals.

Comments

[Paul]

Spicey Tuna?
I'm sorry...couldn't help the title. I was out of town for a week or so and thought for sure that your adventure had ended. Guess not! So I guess I won't be seeing you back at work come fall...I've see it before...it's happened to me...run off, find a life style that blows your previous reality away and never come back. Joe...RUN! Everyone you know and love will understand...become a scuba instructor, part time, just enough to keep you going and RUN! FLY! BE FREE!!!! Rock on buddy. Your posts have been spectacular.

[Lana D.]

Awesome!!
You're just traveling the world, living the life!! Thanks for sharing. :} Journey on!!