Advanced diving certificate in Koh Tao
09.05.2012
So far, there have been few truly magical things left on the well trodden travel routes through Thailand. But last night we sat on the ocean floor and played with phosphorescence. Dressed like spacemen, in pitch darkness, with nothing but the sound of the bubbles from our regulators we waved our hands through the water and watched these tiny little organisms sparkle in ripples around us. Exquisite beauty with little purpose other than to be beautiful. Proof of a Creator with limitless imagination and an eye for minute detail in everything.
These weren't the only things to see. Four
blue spotted stingrays rippling along the floor getting squiff-eyed by
our torch beams, feather stars that curled up like tree ferns when
exposed to light, and sleeping immobile fish lying on the floor or in
rock crevices, their blank eyes staring at nothing. The underwater world
is as captivating at night as during the day.
After completing the night dive last night, Pete and I, together with 4 others from our group, officially became Advanced Adventurer Divers qualified to navigate and dive shipwrecks, at night and to a depth of 30m! Completed 1 of each of these dives during the course. The shipwreck and night dive being the top 2 by far.
We were incredibly lucky with the shipwreck as the water was clear enough to see the whole thing as we descended. Known as the HMS Sattakut (pron. 'Shatakut'), this ship was responsible for sinking 6 Japanese boats in retaliation of the attack on Pearl Harbour in WWII. It was then donated to the Thai Navy who decommissioned it 2 years ago and donated it to Koh Tao to sink as an artificial reef. After a couple of attempts they eventually sank it right and now it serves as a great wreck training dive as well as a breeding ground for 100's of fish. It even has its front and rear guns still on deck which we pretended to shoot or surf on. Would have given a limb to have an underwater camera with us!
Exhausted and with a Chang beer in hand, we bid farwell to Mama G and headed into town for dinner at an open air Thai restaurant run by a lady named Jam (Thai names are deserving of their own post for this blog. They have been quite unusual). Delicious dinner of No Name Vegetables - needless to say I cant tell you what these actually were - and Green Curry. Ate our fill all while watching a cat try to catch a snake in the middle of the road! Eventually crashed into bed after watching some delayed Full Moon party goers from Koh Pangnang party their last ounce of energy out on the beach. Its comical/horrifying to watch the tourists become the tourist attraction!!
Eventually crashed into bed for a sticky humid night under the mosquito net, our sleep interrupted only by the sound of the geckos ("ge-ko").
09.05.2012
So far, there have been few truly magical things left on the well trodden travel routes through Thailand. But last night we sat on the ocean floor and played with phosphorescence. Dressed like spacemen, in pitch darkness, with nothing but the sound of the bubbles from our regulators we waved our hands through the water and watched these tiny little organisms sparkle in ripples around us. Exquisite beauty with little purpose other than to be beautiful. Proof of a Creator with limitless imagination and an eye for minute detail in everything.
These weren't the only things to see. Four
blue spotted stingrays rippling along the floor getting squiff-eyed by
our torch beams, feather stars that curled up like tree ferns when
exposed to light, and sleeping immobile fish lying on the floor or in
rock crevices, their blank eyes staring at nothing. The underwater world
is as captivating at night as during the day.After completing the night dive last night, Pete and I, together with 4 others from our group, officially became Advanced Adventurer Divers qualified to navigate and dive shipwrecks, at night and to a depth of 30m! Completed 1 of each of these dives during the course. The shipwreck and night dive being the top 2 by far.
We were incredibly lucky with the shipwreck as the water was clear enough to see the whole thing as we descended. Known as the HMS Sattakut (pron. 'Shatakut'), this ship was responsible for sinking 6 Japanese boats in retaliation of the attack on Pearl Harbour in WWII. It was then donated to the Thai Navy who decommissioned it 2 years ago and donated it to Koh Tao to sink as an artificial reef. After a couple of attempts they eventually sank it right and now it serves as a great wreck training dive as well as a breeding ground for 100's of fish. It even has its front and rear guns still on deck which we pretended to shoot or surf on. Would have given a limb to have an underwater camera with us!
Exhausted and with a Chang beer in hand, we bid farwell to Mama G and headed into town for dinner at an open air Thai restaurant run by a lady named Jam (Thai names are deserving of their own post for this blog. They have been quite unusual). Delicious dinner of No Name Vegetables - needless to say I cant tell you what these actually were - and Green Curry. Ate our fill all while watching a cat try to catch a snake in the middle of the road! Eventually crashed into bed after watching some delayed Full Moon party goers from Koh Pangnang party their last ounce of energy out on the beach. Its comical/horrifying to watch the tourists become the tourist attraction!!
Eventually crashed into bed for a sticky humid night under the mosquito net, our sleep interrupted only by the sound of the geckos ("ge-ko").
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