After 30 days in Southern Thailand, my visa is up & while I’m a bit bummed to be leaving, I’m super excited at what lies ahead. I’m very pleased w the time I spent there… less than a week on the Andaman Sea side & 3.5 weeks exploring the Gulf of Thailand islands Koh Pha Ngan & Koh Tao (I skipped the largest, Koh Samui, but to catch flights as it’s a bit touristy). Met great people on both islands & promised Bottle Beach & my Roctopus dive shop I’d be back at some point. I’m hopping a flight to Kuala Lumpur & going to do a relatively quick sprint through that city hitting the highlights before I head to a Malaysian island for some much needed luxury & pampering bc believe it or not, I was super busy, relatively speaking, on Koh Tao with all the diving so I’m in need of some R&R. I know, poor me.
On my only non-Songkran day off from diving, I explored Koh Tao & found this adorable shaded beach called Freedom Beach, accessible only by this tiny concrete path from a nearby but still isolated cove, that had the best snorkeling on the island if you swim out a bit.
So I’m a lucky girl in that I get to celebrate 2 New Years this year. I must say, I do prefer it Thai style. The Thai celebrate their new year with water festivals, I’m guessing driven by the hot April temperatures, originated by people honoring their elders by spraying water on them and now (d)evolved into massive water gun/bucket fights. I had an inkling of what I was in for when my daily stop at 7-11 to buy a big water the day before Songkran revealed employees preparing by plastic-wrapping cash registers & electronic screens. It wasn’t even safe inside. That & the fact that everyone in town was selling massive water guns. Since I’d taken the plunge & signed up for my advanced diving course w the best (& coolest) dive shop on the island, I was graciously included in their Songkran festivities which involved “meeting at 10am at the beach wearing little more than a bikini with money for beers in a plastic bag & nothing more”. I was told “don’t even think about bringing your phone” so unfortunately, there’s no pictures documenting the mayhem so you’re going to have to take my word for it. Not long after it started, I was tossed into the pool by my advanced dive instructor, whom I just met (a dreamy tall Aussie). Every single person seemed armed & ready to take down innocent bystanders w a few pumps of their water gun or bucket tosses. I waited an hour & adopted an abandoned water gun for the day. It definitely brings out the kid in you. This is my kinda New Years celebration.
Sairee Beach in Sairee Village, home to my dive shop & Songkran shenanigans
I have wanted to learn how to dive for what seems like fucking ever. There have been several past vacations where the opportunity presented itself but my travel companions were uninterested so we opted for snorkeling. Which I love. No disparagement to the snorkeling population. But there’s just something about the idea of diving down to explore this different world & being totally reliant on a silly little aluminum air canister & related life sustaining accessories. I do love a rush. So traveling by myself to such insanely great dive locales including the island of Koh Tao that, despite its minuscule size, registers more divers worldwide than any other place given the numerous highly rated dive shops, it was a no-brainer to sign up to do my open water certification down to 20m. Given all the dive shops, Koh Tao is a highly competitive market, especially in the low season, so I got a great deal.
Clearly not a lot of pics taken as the dive boats are very wet little operations. The 2 Dutch girls in my course wanted to pay for a video of our final dives so while this isn’t something I’d typically do (reminded me of a boring wedding video no one ever rewatches), I joined the pool as it made it pretty cheap. I’ve already watched it twice as it highlights the fantastic marine life we saw that my niece & nephews will love.
Dive boats
All kitted up & headed to dive site so ready to dive upon arrival. A little different from our relaxing boating in Chicago.
Here’s the video link. Password is “scuba”. Warning… It’s a lot of cheese. Tell the kiddos I’m swimming right after Anna, my instructor, who is this badass gorgeous blonde-hair blue-eyed chick w an octopus tattoo arm sleeve from Sweden. We bonded. I loved it so much, I signed up to do the advanced open water course down to 30m. I am now, happily, a diver.
amusemusings 