Conquering Koh Tao

Today I managed to ease some of the disappointment I suffered all those months ago on the great barrier reef. I managed to go scuba diving without any problems.

We booked to go scuba diving with a company called Scuba Shack and had to be there at half 11. We went for breakfast first. I had pancakes and bacon and the best chocolate milkshake ever. Lauren had a waffle and a vanilla milkshake. Then we headed to Scuba Shack. We had completed a medical form previously and signed a waiver that said our families couldn't sue them if we died. One of the Scuba Shack dudes told us our instructor was running late and that he would go through the necessary stuff with us until Arno  (sp?) arrived. We did a little quiz and he sized us up for flippers and wet suits and then we waited.

Arno eventually turned up and introduced himself. He a was really nice South African dude who has been diving for two years. It turned out it was just us two with him, instead of the max permitted 4. This was pretty awesome as it made it feel like a private lesson. We got into taxis  (which were benches in the back of a pickup truck) with others who were doing various courses and in other groups and went down to the pier. We hopped onto our boat, via another boat and a huge tire, and Arno showed us where the tea and coffee and facilities were then said we could just chill on the top deck until we got to the dive site.

The dive site, called Japanese Gardens, was at the island we went to yesterday,  just further round the side. We got our wetsuits and all the necessary equipment on. Then we stepped/jumped off the side of the boat into the water. We swam backwards to the shallow 'no boat' zone to learn the basic four skills. It was a long way! Once we were there, Arno explained how to do the skills above water, then we'd kneel down on the sand so our heads were underwater, he'd demostrate again and then we'd each have a go in turn.  I wasn't particularly confident and to make matters worse my mask was leaking meaning I was breathing on water through my nose. Eventually I managed to fix my mask and we both completed the skills and started diving. I was quite uneasy at first. My ears felt funny and I could only equalise by swallowing,  where as you're supposed to do it by blowing out gently against pinched nostrils. But as we went I got the hang of it and I actually enjoyed it.

For the first dive we were down under the sea for 38 minutes, reaching 11 metres. We saw so many fish, a few of which were bigger than my head. We saw some awesome coral and an entrance to a cave. We also saw these things called Christmas Tree worms, which are on the coral and withdraw into a hole when you wave your hand over the top before slowly growing back out again after a few seconds. It was pretty cool and I was so happy I managed to do it.

After 38 minutes we went back to the boat. A sort of inflatable tube was shot up by Arno to warn any boats we were coming up so we didn't get run over and we slowly ascended. As we got to the top I got real bad cramp in my toe and my foot which wasn't fun. We swam back to the boat and were helped up to take off our equipment.

We were supposed to then go to a second dive sight for an optional second dive but Arno told us the boat wasn't going as it was too choppy. We decided to do the second dive anyway and Arno took us to a different area. It wasn't as long (I think) but it was still pretty fun. The fish come a lot closer than when you're snorkeling which was pretty cool.

When we got back to the boat one of my legs wouldn't take my weight and I almost fell over trying to get out of the water. We took off our equipment and went and sat on the top deck. We didn't last long as it started raining and thundering. Everyone was huddled under the one dry spot on the boat as we sailed back to the pier. When we got back to the pier we got off the boat via five other boats and into the taxis which are uncovered.  We got very wet but we just had our bikinis on so it wasn't much of an issue. We arrived back at Scuba Shack and went back to the hostel to shower around 6ish. Then around half 7 we went for dinner. We went to a pub and sat there chatting and watching the football highlights until around ten and then we came back and packed.

Unfortunately I have no pictures for today. We weren't allowed to take our own cameras and there was no provisions for photos.