We liked Chang Mai, but it was another city and we don’t really like cities too much. So we decided to head south for Koh Samui by plane and then by ferry to Koh Tao for a PADI Open Water diving course. We were a bit worried about the weather as the monsoon was very active in this area and while we were in Bangkok all flights were stopped to Koh Samui due to heavy rain and there was a state of emergency due to flooding. When we checked the weather with the Big Blue diving school in Koh Tao they told us their comms had been out for a few days but the weather had improved and things were getting back to normal.
So, we jumped on a plane and flew down on Carols birthday (13th November). The airport at Koh Samui is a private airport operated by Bangkok Airways and is a real delight. Very tropical, completely open plan, with thatched roofs. The temperature and humidity was quite something – it was much hotter than Chang Mai. We were taken down the ferry jetty in a little jeep thing. At the ferry dock we could see swaying palm trees, white beaches and an enormous golden Buddha which I guess must have been 50 metres or more in height.
At the other end we were met by transport from Big Blue. For any of you thinking of taking up diving I’d thoroughly recommend going to Koh Tao to do it. There are absolutely loads of diving schools / resorts and the cost of the open water course is about £140 with Big Blue. The accommodation with them is about £7.50 a night while you’re diving for a luxury hut with aircon, hot shower and flushing toilet about 30 yards from the beach. The more basic huts were about half this price. We decided to start the course the following day (14th November).
In the evening we chilled in the bar/restaurant, had a drink while watching a beautiful tropical sunset. After eating, we lounged on a little platform with the wavelets lapping a few feet away, sitting on scatter cushions with adjacent low tables with candles. The platform was screened from above by trees with overhanging branches festooned with lanterns, All this while listening to great music. Idyllic.
The first day of the course was form filling including our medical history. Carol has a damaged back and I have high blood pressure so they contacted a diving medical expert who said we should be checked out by the local clinic. We trotted down the road to them and were welcomed by the traditional Thai welcome of “200 Baht plis.” Anyway we passed and were allowed on the course with two Dutch couples and a Swedish couple. Big Blue have a policy of a maximum of 4 students per instructor so the assigned two to us. We were paired up with the Swedish couple and had a lovely, enthusiastic young Welsh instructor called Dean – known as Deano.
The next morning was theory and in the afternoon we got into the water off the beach. We had to do a swimming test to a boat about 200 meters away and back. This was my next problem. I’m a lousy swimmer and I’m scared of being in the water without a mask, from a childhood trauma I’ve never got over. 400 Metres is probably the sum total of all my previous swimming experience. I have no idea how, but I managed it, albeit far slower than the rest. Carol managed it with ease as she’s a good swimmer. So we were allowed to put the kit on, which is very heavy. The sea was flat calm and very blue at 30C. Fab. We practiced dealing with water in masks, losing, finding and replacing the regulator you breathe through etc, all in chest high water. A bit scary but we dealt with that OK.
The next day was similar, with theory in the morning and diving skills practice in the afternoon. This time in about 3 metres of water which is a lot scarier and being deeper, you have to equalise the pressure in your ears which a couple of people found difficult. Carol couldn’t cope with this as she got very anxious and was worried about holding the rest up. Deano, the instructor was absolutely great with her, but she decided to give up the course. The time was getting on so Deano decided to re-do that lesson the next day.
Carol was still adamant she didn’t want to go on the next day so we completed the skills, including a short swim underwater with mask removed, towing an unconscious diver on the surface, taking all the diving kit off and putting it on again etc. At the end of this we had a 30 minute dive to one of the resorts boats. Loads of lovely coral, and great fishes.
The rest of the course involved four more dives at increasing depths, practising our skills at dealing with flooded masks etc at deeper levels. There wasn’t a single dive where I didn’t come close to panicking at least once – for example when I had to take my mask off at 10m depth and stupidly breathed in through my nose. It cleared my sinuses beautifully though. On the final dive we swam through a solid wall of thousands and thousand of barracuda and were investigated by 5 circling sharks. At one stage my diving buddy, Sarah, pushed me away from her. I wasn’t sure why, so I turned to look at her for a few moments. After the dive I found out there was a shark about 2 metres away at that point and she had sensibly trying to push me between her and the shark. I suppose it made up for me kicking her in the head, while trying to show off to the videographer who was making a video of the whole thing.
Anyway it was a great course in a fabulous location. I can’t begin to describe how beautiful the diving was but the video is stunning and I’ll bore you all with it at every chance when I get back. Sarah and I (the other two students were off due to ear problems) were cheered by all the experienced divers in the dive boat and we got a great round of applause when the video was shown that night. There are a number of videographers but ours was shot by the boss, a lovely lady from Florida. She was so proud of the video (especially the close up of a gaping maw of a shark) that she’s sending a copy to her mum and the dive instructor, Deano also ordered a copy.
We’ve now moved to another resort further up the beach which is a little more luxurious at the huge price of £32 a night. We went snorkelling yesterday at another gorgeous location. I absolutely adore Thailand.
The next mail will be from Singapore or Australia where we go next week.
Hope you’re all well
Chris and Carol
So, we jumped on a plane and flew down on Carols birthday (13th November). The airport at Koh Samui is a private airport operated by Bangkok Airways and is a real delight. Very tropical, completely open plan, with thatched roofs. The temperature and humidity was quite something – it was much hotter than Chang Mai. We were taken down the ferry jetty in a little jeep thing. At the ferry dock we could see swaying palm trees, white beaches and an enormous golden Buddha which I guess must have been 50 metres or more in height.
At the other end we were met by transport from Big Blue. For any of you thinking of taking up diving I’d thoroughly recommend going to Koh Tao to do it. There are absolutely loads of diving schools / resorts and the cost of the open water course is about £140 with Big Blue. The accommodation with them is about £7.50 a night while you’re diving for a luxury hut with aircon, hot shower and flushing toilet about 30 yards from the beach. The more basic huts were about half this price. We decided to start the course the following day (14th November).
In the evening we chilled in the bar/restaurant, had a drink while watching a beautiful tropical sunset. After eating, we lounged on a little platform with the wavelets lapping a few feet away, sitting on scatter cushions with adjacent low tables with candles. The platform was screened from above by trees with overhanging branches festooned with lanterns, All this while listening to great music. Idyllic.
The first day of the course was form filling including our medical history. Carol has a damaged back and I have high blood pressure so they contacted a diving medical expert who said we should be checked out by the local clinic. We trotted down the road to them and were welcomed by the traditional Thai welcome of “200 Baht plis.” Anyway we passed and were allowed on the course with two Dutch couples and a Swedish couple. Big Blue have a policy of a maximum of 4 students per instructor so the assigned two to us. We were paired up with the Swedish couple and had a lovely, enthusiastic young Welsh instructor called Dean – known as Deano.
The next morning was theory and in the afternoon we got into the water off the beach. We had to do a swimming test to a boat about 200 meters away and back. This was my next problem. I’m a lousy swimmer and I’m scared of being in the water without a mask, from a childhood trauma I’ve never got over. 400 Metres is probably the sum total of all my previous swimming experience. I have no idea how, but I managed it, albeit far slower than the rest. Carol managed it with ease as she’s a good swimmer. So we were allowed to put the kit on, which is very heavy. The sea was flat calm and very blue at 30C. Fab. We practiced dealing with water in masks, losing, finding and replacing the regulator you breathe through etc, all in chest high water. A bit scary but we dealt with that OK.The next day was similar, with theory in the morning and diving skills practice in the afternoon. This time in about 3 metres of water which is a lot scarier and being deeper, you have to equalise the pressure in your ears which a couple of people found difficult. Carol couldn’t cope with this as she got very anxious and was worried about holding the rest up. Deano, the instructor was absolutely great with her, but she decided to give up the course. The time was getting on so Deano decided to re-do that lesson the next day.
Carol was still adamant she didn’t want to go on the next day so we completed the skills, including a short swim underwater with mask removed, towing an unconscious diver on the surface, taking all the diving kit off and putting it on again etc. At the end of this we had a 30 minute dive to one of the resorts boats. Loads of lovely coral, and great fishes.
The rest of the course involved four more dives at increasing depths, practising our skills at dealing with flooded masks etc at deeper levels. There wasn’t a single dive where I didn’t come close to panicking at least once – for example when I had to take my mask off at 10m depth and stupidly breathed in through my nose. It cleared my sinuses beautifully though. On the final dive we swam through a solid wall of thousands and thousand of barracuda and were investigated by 5 circling sharks. At one stage my diving buddy, Sarah, pushed me away from her. I wasn’t sure why, so I turned to look at her for a few moments. After the dive I found out there was a shark about 2 metres away at that point and she had sensibly trying to push me between her and the shark. I suppose it made up for me kicking her in the head, while trying to show off to the videographer who was making a video of the whole thing.
Anyway it was a great course in a fabulous location. I can’t begin to describe how beautiful the diving was but the video is stunning and I’ll bore you all with it at every chance when I get back. Sarah and I (the other two students were off due to ear problems) were cheered by all the experienced divers in the dive boat and we got a great round of applause when the video was shown that night. There are a number of videographers but ours was shot by the boss, a lovely lady from Florida. She was so proud of the video (especially the close up of a gaping maw of a shark) that she’s sending a copy to her mum and the dive instructor, Deano also ordered a copy.We’ve now moved to another resort further up the beach which is a little more luxurious at the huge price of £32 a night. We went snorkelling yesterday at another gorgeous location. I absolutely adore Thailand.
The next mail will be from Singapore or Australia where we go next week.
Hope you’re all well
Chris and Carol
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