The start of Sam and the PADI qualification

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After spending far too much time in Tonsala (Phanang) waiting for our boat we eventually made it to Koh Tao and went to our resort - Asia Divers Resort. Compared to the dive that we stayed in previously this was like a haven. It was unbelievable! Massive room, fan on the ceiling, soft bed, balcony, swimming pool. It was amazing and we could not have been happier with our bargain find.



We decided to have a drink in the outside bar where we met Robin who was doing his DMT (dive master training). We ended up chatting with him for ages and in exchange he was giving us enormous drink measures. After a little while we met another fellow English man, Sam from London. He looked a little like Carl Pilkington and the more we got to know him the more I realised that he also acted like him.



These drinks ended up in Robin showing us round Koh Tao's nightlife which I was surprised that there was alot. We went to a Lady Boy bar to begin with which was an experience if not completely confusing to get your head around. I think Jimbo enjoyed it a little too much and got ALOT of attention from one specific girl/boy.

We then moved onto Lotus bar which was a bar on the beach and was amazing. If you were to jump off the platform from the bar you would jump straight into the sea. Sam tried his luck with two lesbians which was fun to watch and the night involved much dancing and drinking before moving on to Star Bar which bored me after a short while so went back to the resort.



The next day we spent by the pool and got swarmed by trainee divers at one point. Awkward. Went out to dinner at a pizza place and I got something I didnt order which ended up in a small argument with the waitress but she then realised she was wrong and bought me what I did order. Then in true style watched the England France rugby game then back tthe resort.



The following day (12/03/12) we started our PADI training with our first lot of academics in the classroom. We were supposed to be leaving tomorrow but decided to do the PADI course here as it was so much cheaper than any other place such as Phi Phi.



After we went for dinner with Sam and his dive buddy Thomas at a mexican which was amazing. Then early night ready for the half 8 start in the pool.



The scuba training was actually quite intense in the pool. As I am able to swim reasonably well I thought it would be simple but thats not the case. There were lots of exercises that we had to do such as fin pivots, taking masks off and on again while under water, taking weight belts off while not letting yourself float etc etc. But at least we are prepared for our first open water dive tomorrow afternoon.



Yet more Pad Thai in the evening (prety good though and from some little old lady on the street cooking on a hot plate strapped to the side of her bike) getting a bit bored of noddles already.



The following day we all passed our test 100%! There were 4 Germans that were doing the course with us, Volkor, Niclas, Kim and Jana. They were all very nice if not a little square but lovely nevertheless.



Little bit awkward on our first dive as I didnt have enough weights on my belt so I just floated on the top for a while even though I thought I was going down. The dive assistant Greg had to load my pockets up with more weights and take me back down while everyone else had to wait for me to sort myself out. Slightly embarassing. Once I was down I was dfine, I had good buoncy and saw lots of fish and corals. The first two dives were in Mango Bay and Japanese Gardens. It was absolutely amazing experience.



In the evening we went for a few drinks with Robin and Thomas and for some good local food including the ebest spring rolls ever and a pretty good stir fry. They all then went out but I went back to the room as I was so tired from the dive in the morning.



The next day was our last day on Koh Tao and our last two dives which could not have gone much worse unless I had actually died. The boat was incredibly rocky on the way out to the dive spot which I did not like at all and ended up feeling incredibly sea sick. Bruno (our instructor) looked after me the entire way and said that as soon as I get in the water I will be fine but he wanted me to swim behind him so that if I was sick he could hold the regulator in my mouth ... to me that sounds like a choking hazard but I went with it. Luckily this was not required on the first dive so I was having a lovely time underwater looking at the puffer fish. The visability wasnt great but it was styill nice to see things. This was at Shark Bay or something like that.



Second dive of the day was at White Rock. Between dive sights I felt awful again but as soon as I was underwater I was fine again. However, at the end of the dive we had to do an exercise on the way back to the ssurface, where we take the masks off our heads and put it back on then clear it. Well this caused me severe issues. I took it off fine, put it back on fine, however, when I tried to clear it sea water went into my nose and with my already sicky feeling this was a major problem, I then start coughing loads which underwater is difficult so Bruno had to hold on to the regulator in my mouth while I sorted myself out. I then paniced a little as I couldnt get my breath back but Bruno calmed me down and everything was fine. Greg again had to come and keep an eye on me. Then on the surface we had to take the tank etc off our backs and put it back on, by this point I was exhausted from all th epanicing so this seemed like an impossible task I did do it in the end but then Greg pulled me some of the way back to the boat. HAHA I mustve looked like such an idiot. Our last task was to take our regulator out of our mouth while underwater and being led up my Bruno. This seemed so easy compared to everything else so that was done and dusted and we had completed the PADI course.



I threw up when we got back on the boat which was nice for the divers that were surfacing just a few feet away. Whoops! Then back at the pier we had to climb through 4 boats to get to land which was difficult when you have the pack with all the diving kit in. Climbing in and out of windows isnt exactly easy anyway.



When we got back to the resort we had to fill in our books and I still felt awful, but got over it. Then we left to get dropped off at the pier after saying a rather awkward goodbye to the Germans we hopped onto a boat back to Samui. The boat ride was awful then and incredibly rocky. It was quire funny to see some old leathered women get completely soaked while they were attemping to sunbathe at the front of the boat. Probably the highlight of the trip so far.



When we were coming closer to Samui and I saw Big Buddah it was incredibly odd as I felt like it was home. Had a lovely catch up with Darryl and Stacey, and they hadnt ran off with our stuff thankfully, and good old English pie and mash.

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