Underwater adventures

We basically gave up on finding a quiet place and headed towards the main piers, the village Mae Haad. Tanote Bay had been a bit more quiet for the last few nights with new years party and live music shows over. But we had another reason to change place. We were feeling good again, no signs of sickness anymore, so we needed a better located spot for doing the thing we came to Koh Tao for in the first place: diving.

Koh Tao is supposed to be the main spot for scuba diving in Thailand with its over 50 dive companies offering anything a dive shop can possibly offer: from open water (beginner) courses to instructor level as well as scuba reviews for people who haven't been diving in a while, or just fun dives for divers who are already certified and ready to go. The competition is tough and the prices are cheap. Most companies give free accommodation during a course. There is a dive shop in every corner. There are also 3 companies doing free diving courses, if you are not so much into all the bubbles and gear.

While being sick so long we had had time to look for a nice company. Our main reasons for choosing our dive company is to go with a smaller company that feels professional, no "look at me I'm a diver, so possibly the coolest person on the planet"- people, being safe and relaxed while having fun. We found a nice company on the first bay we stayed, Chalok Baan Kao bay. We chose to go with them based on the good attitude of the manager and nice people in the shop. He gave us a good price, because Anni decided to do her scuba review, "refresher", because it was a few years since her last dive. Every dive after that half a day course we both got our dives for 700 baht (18 euros) the normal price per dive being around 800-1000 baht on this island. They also agreed to pick us up from Mae Haad and drop us off after dives. Good deal!

Ben had been attracted to free diving for a while, so while Anni was getting used to the scuba gear and dive tables again with the refresher course, Ben went to shop around for a 2-day free diving course for himself. He chose the company Apnea Total, which was the first one on the island and was also recommended to us by an amazing instructor, Kwan, from Koh Tao Dive Resort, where we did our scuba dives. The course was due to start in a few days.

Anni did two dives with the course, in Jansom Bay and Buddha Rock. Shallow dives after practising basic underwater skills like taking the mask off and putting it back on and throwing the regulator off over the shoulder and finding it. Second dive was only for fun and Anni practised improving her buoyancy while enjoying the marine life around. After that we spent two days doing total 4 dives together, first in Green Rock, then a wreck dive and next day Chumphon pinnacle (which we never actually got to dive in, due to current, bad visibility, too many divers and other stuff that went wrong) and White Rock. A little disappointed of not seeing any whale sharks and of poor visibility after the rains, we still enjoyed diving because of the amount and variety of the fishes! We also witnessed an aggressively territorial trigger fish attacking two divers in our group, damn those things are scary and fast! We were luckily at the back of the group, so had the time to enjoy the show while swimming into safety. We both have done tens of dives before, but we have never been diving together, so we both enjoyed the experience of having a buddy that you know and trust more than anyone.

Next day Anni took a break from diving and early morning wake-ups, while Ben went off to start free diving. He learnt breathing techniques that allow him to calm down and relax before holding breath and swimming down. Every morning were first theory lessons and afterwards practicing in the ocean. The boat anchored in deep water with several ropes going down, disappearing in the abyss. On some were people trying to reach 30 meters but Bens goal was 12 meters, first with fins and then with pulling himself down the rope and up again. Second day's target was 20 meters, the end of the line wasn't visible from the surface and it sounded quite scary in the beginning, but with all the learnt stuff it was fairly easy to get down there and up alive.

Koh Tao ended up being good to us after all. We finally found peace and quiet. Unexpectedly our new place in Mae Haad almost next to the main piers was after all nice and quiet. Kallaphanga bungalows, run by a nice lady, who apparently "has small animals running around in her head" that make her a little bit crazy. And a little bit of music here and there is actually nice when it's not too loud. Sure, there were more people around the main street, but still we could wake up to the sound of waves in the morning. Anni got her confidence back with diving and is comfortable with the scuba gear again and is ready for new underwater adventures, and Ben absolutely loved free diving! Tonight when he finishes his course, we will celebrate his birthday with a couple of Magners ciders we managed to find in one of the restaurants. (Why is it so hard to find cider outside of Europe? That stuff is amazing.)

We will also book tickets out of Koh Tao and then out of the country, maybe with a short stop somewhere nice. A friend of Anni's is in Thailand at the moment, and we hope it's not too late to go meet him before he flies home and before we run out of our 2-month stamp.