I'm hooked!

March 17
I have just finished my first two open water dives and that's it - I'm in for life!

My first thought was, "Damn, I wish I had started this sooner". I am pretty sure I will be doing the next levels; Adventure Diver and Advanced Open Water. I've got the time, money and Koh Tao is an amazing place to do this stuff.

At first I thought I would be a bit freaked out about breathing underwater, but it came quite naturally. I kept thinking, "okay, you are about 10 meters underwater, you could freak out, choke and stop breathing"...but it never seemed an issue. Even when we ran through all the skills (lost regulator, flooded mask, out of air scenario, etc) it all seemed reasonable.

Wow - I guess I really am part fish! Maybe that is why I never eat seafood or fish.

Update: March 18
Just completed the Open Water course with flying colours, and now I have just signed up for the Advanced Open Water course and will be starting tomorrow! No time like the present!

Update: March 19
Next two dives under my belt. That makes six dives in three days. And tomorrow we do three dives; two in the morning, and a night dive! I am going to be so tired after all of that. Good thing I can just chill on the beach for a couple of days.

Today's skills were Buoyancy and Navigation. You can probably see why those two things are important! I still have a lot of work to do for Buoyancy. You have to be really careful about where you put your weights. At one point I kept tipping backwards. I guess the junk in my truck is heavier (less buoyant) than I thought! With a lot of experience, you should be able to hover pretty effortlessly by controlling how quickly and smoothly you inhale and exhale. For a beginner like me, I still look more like a yo-yo. I have stopped bumping off the bottom, but still plenty of room for improvement.

Navigation was pretty cool too. We did a lot of work with a compass. I think if I am going to really get into this sport, I am going to have to invest in a dive computer. More toys!!

At the end of the navigation lesson our instructor waved us goodbye and left us for the last 25 mins. We were still chaperoned by another (more experienced) diver. But his only responsibility was to ensure we didn't leave the dive site altogether and to give us the warning when it was time to ascend. We made it back to our boat having made several passes around the site. Although I now know more about navigating underwater, the most important thing I learnt was just how easy it is to get confused and lost. I have always had a health respect for the water, that has now been heightened!

Update: March 20
Well I am now a certified Advanced Open Water diver! Nine dives in four days and it was spectacular!

Today's divers were Deep Water, Fish Identification and a Night Dive. I was expecting the Deep water one to be pretty nerve racking. We went to 28m. Other than being a bit colder, and more murky, it was the same as all the other dives. No biggie.

The fish identification dive was very easy. Essentially we swam around with a couple of picture cards and looked at fish and coral. Because we had the whole 40 mins to just chill and watch fish we actually covered a lot of ground. It was a totally relaxing dive.

The night dive was what I was really looking forward to - and it delivered! It was the classic feeling of being down deep with only a beam of light coming out of your torch. As you slide the light over the reef, things popped into view and then quickly disappeared into the darkness. I had the theme tune to Jaws buzzing in the back of my head for a bit. You really have to get comfortable with the dark, because you can't see 80% of what is around you. That is of course until another group shows up and it turns into a flickering light show. Damn tourist!

All in all it was a great way to spend my first week in Thailand. I have an amazing set of qualifications that I hope to put to good use many times this year. If you are even thinking about it, I would say go for it, especially if you can get yourself to an amazing place like Koh Tao.

Thanks New Way Diving, Alex & Ben (my classmates for my Open Water), Laura (my buddy for my Advanced) and my instructor, Peter.


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