It took a while, but we made it to Koh Tao, or "turtle island", far off the eastern coast of southern Thailand. From the moment we stumbled off the night ferry, bleary-eyed at first daylight, ragged from travel and days of rain.. It's been paradise.
Like, literally paradise: white sandy beaches, clear blue waters lapping at the shore, palm trees and coconuts and barbecues on a deck overlooking the sunset, cold Thai beers and fire dancers on the beach, frogs croaking peacefully at night... Whereas the rest of Thailand is currently flooded under several meters of rain water in a record monsoon season, Koh Tao has been the opposite: blissfully rainless, sunny and hot and slightly breezy since we arrived one week ago. Yay!
We haven't been sipping coconuts and lounging on the beach all day, however. We hit the books, went back to class, studied and practiced and became PADI Certified Advanced Open Water Divers! We can tell you all about it now: setting up your equipment, doing your checks, monitoring your gauges, using an underwater compass, understanding your dive computer, navigating the depths... We did a total of nine dives-- to different reefs around the island, to depths of 30 meters, to a real a shipwreck off the coast... We even did a night dive, which was far-out. Being down in complete darkness and seeing all the plankton shimmer and glow, watching the stingrays ripple across the sand, swimming right next to a great big barracuda on the hunt, oh man! We did it all and it was all amazing.
I had previously dived once, with my mom in St. John. It's such an amazing feeling-- being completely weightless and free, twirling through a school of fish, looking down and seeing the most beautiful and complex creature, looking up at the distant glimmering surface, silent and miles away...I've always, always wanted to get certified, so this has been a major life accomplishment for both me and J. Now we can go diving anywhere in the whole world, all on our own. We can search for treasure, explore unbelievable ecosystems, tour shipwrecks, swim with sharks, study rare species, dive down to every beautiful corner of the whole world. To top it off, Koh Tao is one of the very best places to learn (calm and warm waters, abundant wildlife, super cheap, etc) and we had a great time with our dive school, which put us up free of charge in their beautiful resort all week. Not a bad deal!
Besides diving twice a day and learning all about the aquatic life in the gulf of Thailand, we've done a little exploring around the island, some snorkeling, enjoying delicious Thai food and beach barbecues and movies on English TV channels, which have all been supreme luxuries. We rented scooters and scooted all over the island on dirt roads that were more like obstacle courses-- very dangerous but also thrilling (as long as you've got a helmet on). We found secluded little corners, booze-fueled parties on the beach, bays and nooks that were quiet and peaceful, gigantic limestone boulders, perfect for high jumping into the clearest waters 40 feet below...
It doesn't get a whole lot better than this. I keep saying how lucky we are, and so blessed to be on this wonderful island. I'm almost afraid to leave-- everywhere else in Thailand is being ravaged by rain (Bangkok is even preparing for an evacuation) so our plans are kind of up in the air. Do we take our chances going up to Chiangmai, even if the roads are washed out? Do we cut our losses and skip over to Indonesia for a few weeks? Today is our day to sit down at an Internet cafe (on the beach) and figure out our next move, buy some plane tickets, doodle down some definitive plans, etc. We could easily stay here for a month and every day would be the same, happy routine of sunshine and fruit smoothies.
Sounds nice, but we're in it for the adventure! Gotta keep on moving on, as always.
8:26AM
Koh Tao, Thailand
Like, literally paradise: white sandy beaches, clear blue waters lapping at the shore, palm trees and coconuts and barbecues on a deck overlooking the sunset, cold Thai beers and fire dancers on the beach, frogs croaking peacefully at night... Whereas the rest of Thailand is currently flooded under several meters of rain water in a record monsoon season, Koh Tao has been the opposite: blissfully rainless, sunny and hot and slightly breezy since we arrived one week ago. Yay!
We haven't been sipping coconuts and lounging on the beach all day, however. We hit the books, went back to class, studied and practiced and became PADI Certified Advanced Open Water Divers! We can tell you all about it now: setting up your equipment, doing your checks, monitoring your gauges, using an underwater compass, understanding your dive computer, navigating the depths... We did a total of nine dives-- to different reefs around the island, to depths of 30 meters, to a real a shipwreck off the coast... We even did a night dive, which was far-out. Being down in complete darkness and seeing all the plankton shimmer and glow, watching the stingrays ripple across the sand, swimming right next to a great big barracuda on the hunt, oh man! We did it all and it was all amazing.
I had previously dived once, with my mom in St. John. It's such an amazing feeling-- being completely weightless and free, twirling through a school of fish, looking down and seeing the most beautiful and complex creature, looking up at the distant glimmering surface, silent and miles away...I've always, always wanted to get certified, so this has been a major life accomplishment for both me and J. Now we can go diving anywhere in the whole world, all on our own. We can search for treasure, explore unbelievable ecosystems, tour shipwrecks, swim with sharks, study rare species, dive down to every beautiful corner of the whole world. To top it off, Koh Tao is one of the very best places to learn (calm and warm waters, abundant wildlife, super cheap, etc) and we had a great time with our dive school, which put us up free of charge in their beautiful resort all week. Not a bad deal!
Besides diving twice a day and learning all about the aquatic life in the gulf of Thailand, we've done a little exploring around the island, some snorkeling, enjoying delicious Thai food and beach barbecues and movies on English TV channels, which have all been supreme luxuries. We rented scooters and scooted all over the island on dirt roads that were more like obstacle courses-- very dangerous but also thrilling (as long as you've got a helmet on). We found secluded little corners, booze-fueled parties on the beach, bays and nooks that were quiet and peaceful, gigantic limestone boulders, perfect for high jumping into the clearest waters 40 feet below...
It doesn't get a whole lot better than this. I keep saying how lucky we are, and so blessed to be on this wonderful island. I'm almost afraid to leave-- everywhere else in Thailand is being ravaged by rain (Bangkok is even preparing for an evacuation) so our plans are kind of up in the air. Do we take our chances going up to Chiangmai, even if the roads are washed out? Do we cut our losses and skip over to Indonesia for a few weeks? Today is our day to sit down at an Internet cafe (on the beach) and figure out our next move, buy some plane tickets, doodle down some definitive plans, etc. We could easily stay here for a month and every day would be the same, happy routine of sunshine and fruit smoothies.
Sounds nice, but we're in it for the adventure! Gotta keep on moving on, as always.
8:26AM
Koh Tao, Thailand
Advanced Open Water Divers!
amazing Korean barbeque
our secret cove
No comments:
Post a Comment