I booked my train ticket with two nice German guys so it was fun riding down from Bangkok with them. The trains in Thailand carry many more foreigners than the trains in China so it’s fun to meet other people and hear what they’re up to. We arrived to the port in Chumpon just in time to watch a spectacular sunrise. Everything was coming together and I was so thrilled to finally be by the ocean. Tired from the sleepless night on the train, I conked out on the three hour ferry ride for a good majority of it. As we approached Hat Sai Ri and the bay, the water began to change from a deep ocean blue to a pristine turquoise and sky-blue color. I thought the water was even clearer and nicer than that of Bocas Del Toro, Panama (I had dived Bocas Del Toro, four years ago while studying abroad in Costa Rica). While on the ferry, you are bombarded by representatives from different dive resorts on the island and they all give you the same spiel. It’s funny too because the prices are pretty much all the same and you could literally pick a brochure out of a hat and not go wrong. I decided just to walk around and find a place on my own.
The German guys headed to the other side of the island for some rock climbing while I was more interested in diving. We parted ways and I walked down the pathway that parallels the beach in search of the right dive shop. The beach at Hat Sai Ri is no more than 2km long, the island being very small itself. As I made my way along the path I had passed a place called Ban’s Dive Resort which just felt right and seemed like the place to be. I booked a spot for the Advanced Open Water course and was in the pool that afternoon doing my refresher course (I couldn’t believe that it had been four years since I was living it up in Panama where I had earned my Open Water license). The rooms are included in the price for divers and were really nice. So for three nights I lived it up before moving to a cheaper bungalow.
My instructor that afternoon was a nice guy from Italy who was impressed with how much knowledge I had retained; I had to explain to him that I reviewed the whole Open Water book on my way there (I spent a lot of time on buses and trains). I was most nervous about my ear but it was fine in the pool. I went into the ocean afterwards to test it some more by doing some deeper free dives. But I was able to clear with no problem which helped calm my nerves. I had a delicious burger that night at the Fishbowl, Ban’s beachside bar and restaurant. It seriously rivals Duke’s Waikiki as my favorite restaurant in the world. I ended up joining an extremely sweet Australian girl for the sunset since I was sick of being alone and she was cruisin’ solo. She was also a Christian traveling alone which made her easy to talk to. The sunset that first night was absolutely incredible. The oranges and blues were spectacular (yes, God is a Broncos fan!) as the sun cast its beams on and around the clouds. The effect was breathtaking; truly divine. I couldn’t believe that I was on some island thousands of miles away from home enjoying the best art show in the world. I could have never predicted this was where I’d be if you had asked me one year ago (or even six months ago for that matter). I feel truly blessed.
My new friend and I sat there talking about our travels and the difficulties of traveling alone, missing family and friends and all. We continued talking despite our eyes being sucked into the orange fireball as it ducked beneath the sea. Once the sun retired, we both realized that we were in a conversation about nothing which was sort of funny. It was nice having company for the evening. Even the soft oranges of a paradisaical sunset can not always fill the void of being away from friends and family; but company did. I was set to dive the next morning so I thanked her for allowing me to join her and made my way to bed. Unfortunately I only saw her one time after our pleasant conversation but would meet others from diving.
The next morning we all gathered for a quick school session before heading out for our morning dive. Our instructor was a cute girl from the UK who had been living on Koh Tao as a dive instructor for five years. I was jealous. Our first dive spot was called Chumpon Pinnacle. I had great hopes of seeing the world famous wale shark but unfortunately struck out. During the first dive we did see an amazing 10ft. bull shark that swam within about 10ft. of us. After about five minutes of swimming around we all heard the banging of our instructors tank as she tried to get our attention. She made the shark signal and pointed somewhere off in the deep blue. Then all of a sudden the beautiful creature appeared. Everybody says that they’d be terrified to dive with a shark, but when you’re down there it’s the most harmonious and peaceful thing to experience. As I took in deep breaths from my SCUBA tank (helps conserve oxygen), I floated neutrally buoyant and watched the beast as it swam. It slowly got closer and I began to wonder where everyone was. Everyone was behind me! Great; I kept thinking, if this shark gets aggressive, I’m the first to go. That’d be a fun post card home. But my instructor actually came into view a little in front of me so I felt better. The shark swam from right to left opening its jaws for whatever reason. It was quite impressive to see its jaws completely open. That was until it came towards us. The large creature slipped right on by us at about 10ft. I think it was just curious but made all of our days. After seeing the shark we continued down to our target depth of 30m (roughly 100ft). You’re supposed to experience Nitrogen Narcosis which has similar symptoms to that of being drunk. I didn’t feel anything but people are known to do crazy things. Our instructor told us that she’d seen people try to give their regulator to fishes thinking that the fish couldn’t breathe. My ears were fine at 30m which meant I could continue the dive course with no problem. Relieved that my ringing ear was fine, I was as high as a kite when we finished the dive.
I love the ocean and everything about it. SCUBA diving unlocks a world in which most humans fail to realize exist or dare to explore. It’s fun to go to the beach, swim, and surf. But its life changing to penetrate the surface and enter into another element. Of course anyone can see sharks at SeaWorld. But to see a shark in the open, on his turf, was absolutely phenomenal. As we left Chumpon Pinnacle for our next dive spot, we all high-fived each other stoked on life. The shark was cool, but for me the best part about diving was the cookies on the boat. There was about a five gallon cookie jar that was stored full of some delicious cream filled cookies. I ate at least 30 of them that day (what can I say, I like cookies). On our second dive we worked on navigational exercises and got comfortable diving on our own without the instructor. The dive spot was cool but what made the day was our final dive.
In order to receive your Advanced Open Water certificate, one must complete a Deep Dive, Navigational Dive, and three optional adventure dives. One of those optional dives is a Night Dive. It is one that almost everybody at Ban’s does. After returning to the resort and having dinner, we loaded up again and headed back out as the sun was setting. We dove the same spot as our second dive since we were now familiar with it. With flashlights in hand, we headed down. During the day, light from the sun penetrates the water. When it hits the surface, white light refracts and splits into its basic colors (those of the rainbow). There are different angles of refraction among the different frequencies (colors) of light; therefore, you loose particular colors the deeper you dive. At 30m depth, you loose the reds and oranges that you may see at 5m depth. The deeper you go, the more everything becomes violet and blue. During a night dive, however, you take a flashlight down with you. This allows you to bring out more colors among the reef and see more brilliant fish than you normally would during the day. Thus the night dive is very fun and unique to see the different colors. What also made the dive special was the bioluminescence.
There are particular plankton that absorb energy from the sun at the surface of the water during the day. At night they sink back down to deeper depths, and if disturbed, give off that energy in the form of a glow. I had seen this phenomenon in its purest form in Puerto Rico this past summer. However, we were not allowed to swim in the water in order to preserve the plankton. Our night dive was different. We all gathered in a circle at one point and our instructor signaled us to cut our flashlights. Then, all of a sudden, he just started going bananas. We quickly realized what was up as the plankton lit up all around him from the disturbance. We followed suit and soon enough our whole group looked like we were cracked out. Everyone was going crazy, flipping all around, and making as much commotion as possible. It was truly a special sight. It was a perfect end to a perfect day. Although diving is a very relaxing activity, I was exhausted from doing three dives that day. We had two more dives to do the next day so I took it easy that night. Every night Ban’s sets up an awesome beach seen with live music, fire throwers, and bean bags to lay back and gaze at the stars. Two Thai guys twirl fire to the beat of the music (performed by two other foreign guys: one with an awesome voice and the other who played the guitar and harmonica simultaneously). So I enjoyed a beer with my new dive friends as the melodies of Jack Johnson and Bob Marley along with the memorizing twirl of fire lulled us all into the perfect trance. Life is good!
to be continued…
PICTURES of Bangkok and Koh Tao:
http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/2688277/1/Bangkok-Koh%20Tao?h=bc409a
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