Diary for samandlucytravels


Koh Tao

2017-07-22 to 2017-07-29

Before coming to Koh Tao we had already been told how it was one of the best and most affordable places to dive, or snorkel in Thailand. When we arrived this was evident by the amount of dive schools they had here. We had heard amazing things from people who had been recently snorkelling, and diving around the island, so decided it was definitely something we wanted to do. In fact we ended up doing our 'PADI Open Water Course'.

Staying in Chalok Baan Kao Bay has made Koh Tao for me, what a beautiful place it is. It was here that we wondered down the beach and found Sunshine Divers. Doing our Open Water Course was an amazing decision, that has been made unforgettable and so much fun with our instructor Mark. We felt so lucky to have him all to ourselves! Was just like going diving with a mate. Having a 1-1 instructor just meant that he had more time to make our dives that much better. In our Open Water Course we had 4 dives to complete in 2 days. For the first 10 minutes of each dive we would show we were capable of doing standard equipment manoeuvres, then the fun dive would begin, and we started to explore the underwater kingdom in Koh Tao.

On our first dive in Hin Wong Bay we had amazing visibility and the sea was so warm (30 degrees). I could see why people come from all over the world to dive in Koh Tao. Our second dive (my favourite) was at Lighthouse Bay. Lighthouse Bay has been adopted by Sunshine Divers, which allows them to look after the bay. The coral here was amazing, it was so healthy and colourful. This was a shallow dive, taking us no more than 12m. Both bays are on the sheltered side of the island, so the visibility was crystal clear. On the second day, on our third and fourth dive we headed across to Hin Pee Wee & White Rock. I immediately felt out of my depth (literally). The sea was rough, and jumping off the boat is the hardest bit in my opinion! Never the less we both passed our Open Water Course after completing our skills, and finishing the homework (much to Sams demise!).

By this point we really had got the bug, and wanted to progress with our ability underwater. It's so hard to explain to people how amazing it feels to be down there and exploring, and when you know how to control your own gear and learn how it all works, it's even better. So we decided to extend our stay here in Koh Tao, and complete our Advanced Course. This meant we needed to complete another 5 dives. Two of which were a compulsorily  deep dive at 30m, and a navigation dive. Our navigation dive was at Shark Island, and I managed to lose the map half way, which made finding our way back to the boat that little bit harder. Silly. Our deep dive was a wreck dive at the HTMS Sattakut. Our visibility dropped to below 2m once we hit a thermocline at 20m deep. Once we started to explore the wreck, and see the effects depth had on colour on pressure I was easily amused, but losing visibility was one of the most daunting parts of the dive for me.

We went on to complete a night dive, something I wasn't too keen on doing, but was very proud of myself afterwards. Exploring the coral reef with a torch in hand was exciting, pointing the light into every nook and cranny, seeing what we could find. Sam, Mark & I switched off our torches to see the bioluminescent plankton. It looked like we were casting magic spells. Completing Peak Performance Buoyancy was probably the most helpful of all the training, learning to control your breathing to send you upside down, through hoops and swim backwards in fins. It was on this dive that we saw gobies in the sand keeping lookout, while shrimps cleaned their homes. Very amusing. The buoyancy training also helped when it came to me doing Underwater Photography. Something that was a lot harder than I thought it would be! Hopefully I  will have the chance to practice in future.

Doing such a concentrated amount of diving in 4 days has exhausted us both, but it is so worth it. Ben another instructor on our boat said something most inspirational; '71% of earth is water, and only 29% land'. Being able to dive allows you to explore more of our amazing planet than we ever could on land.