(written 29/08/09, posted 13/10/09)
My first day of diving. Woke up, well that’s not the correct word. It was more like gave up trying to sleep. The beach parties finished at 5.30am and I spent the night trying to avoid getting mozzied to death.
I was lucky to get a really good instructor, C, who took me through the review step by step so understood exactly what I’d have to do underwater. By the time I actually descended, the review was easy as I had it all embedded in my brain. In less than ten minutes I’d done the skills review and was enjoying my first dive in over a year.
I completed my PADI in Egypt last year after a failed attempt at doing the open water dives in a chilly quarry near Heathrow the year before. I had still passed two of the four dives and therefore the Scuba Diver qualification but trying to navigate in water of 1m visibility in freezing temperatures was never going to get me the full Open Water. Put me in the Red Sea however and I’d finished the dives and managed the Advanced Open Water too in that week. In comparison I was a little disappointed to start with the sea around Phi Phi.
On reflection, I was spoiled in the Red Sea with visibility of 25-30 metres. Here it is 15-20 most of the time. The two dives I did on the first day still produced a Sea Horse hiding in a rock, Bat Fish, giant Sea Cucumbers and a sleeping Sea Turtle which for me, topped the lot.
With a recommendation of a better guesthouse from C and having booked three dives for the next dive including my first wreck I headed off all excited. Next job: move to Mozzie/Noise free guesthouse and the bank.
I grab my things of sneak out of the bungalow. I can hear the woman behind saying come back as it’s 1pm and I probably should be paying for another night but I can’t stay there! I dump my rucksack off at the new place and the owner is lovely. She says take my time and she’ll hold the room. I get refused cash at the ATM and think it’s to do with the type of bank as in Chiang Mai I could only go to the green banks. Here they are purple and yellow. I go to every bank on the island and am denied. I call my bank and the fraud department have blocked my card. They promise to sort it in ten minutes and an hour later I still can’t access cash. I end up wasting the afternoon trying to get money, then getting some after a few calls. By this time I have to nap so waste my evening sleeping and going to the internet cafe. I manage to have a lovely Papaya Salad and a few beers to finish the day off. It’s a bit odd having dinner on your own when this place is clearly a beach party paradise and everyone here is in groups but I actually love it.
My first day of diving. Woke up, well that’s not the correct word. It was more like gave up trying to sleep. The beach parties finished at 5.30am and I spent the night trying to avoid getting mozzied to death.
I was lucky to get a really good instructor, C, who took me through the review step by step so understood exactly what I’d have to do underwater. By the time I actually descended, the review was easy as I had it all embedded in my brain. In less than ten minutes I’d done the skills review and was enjoying my first dive in over a year.
I completed my PADI in Egypt last year after a failed attempt at doing the open water dives in a chilly quarry near Heathrow the year before. I had still passed two of the four dives and therefore the Scuba Diver qualification but trying to navigate in water of 1m visibility in freezing temperatures was never going to get me the full Open Water. Put me in the Red Sea however and I’d finished the dives and managed the Advanced Open Water too in that week. In comparison I was a little disappointed to start with the sea around Phi Phi.
On reflection, I was spoiled in the Red Sea with visibility of 25-30 metres. Here it is 15-20 most of the time. The two dives I did on the first day still produced a Sea Horse hiding in a rock, Bat Fish, giant Sea Cucumbers and a sleeping Sea Turtle which for me, topped the lot.
With a recommendation of a better guesthouse from C and having booked three dives for the next dive including my first wreck I headed off all excited. Next job: move to Mozzie/Noise free guesthouse and the bank.
I grab my things of sneak out of the bungalow. I can hear the woman behind saying come back as it’s 1pm and I probably should be paying for another night but I can’t stay there! I dump my rucksack off at the new place and the owner is lovely. She says take my time and she’ll hold the room. I get refused cash at the ATM and think it’s to do with the type of bank as in Chiang Mai I could only go to the green banks. Here they are purple and yellow. I go to every bank on the island and am denied. I call my bank and the fraud department have blocked my card. They promise to sort it in ten minutes and an hour later I still can’t access cash. I end up wasting the afternoon trying to get money, then getting some after a few calls. By this time I have to nap so waste my evening sleeping and going to the internet cafe. I manage to have a lovely Papaya Salad and a few beers to finish the day off. It’s a bit odd having dinner on your own when this place is clearly a beach party paradise and everyone here is in groups but I actually love it.
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