Day 2: Into the Sea November 12, 2005
Posted by Martin in : Education, Thailand , trackback
I began my day at Caf� Del Sol. One of the many places to eat on Koh Tao. I like Koh Tao right now. It is very similar to Khao San Road in that there are bars, cafes, souvenir shops, internet cafes a plenty but at this time of year it was also relaxed and quiet.
On the 16th November Koh Phangnan will host its world-famous full-moon party and it seems that many people have left, or are soon leaving to go there. Koh Tao is supposedly one of the most beautiful diving areas in Thailand. ‘Tao’ means turtle so presumably there’s a lot of them around (or used to be).
Koh Tao does not seem to have any great beaches, there are thin strips of sand lining the sea but none large or beautiful enough to warrent a beach holiday here. The island is really for divers, of all levels so if you want white sands and an active nightlife you’re better off elsewhere. Water is 30 degrees C most of the year although the clearest water is around April. The island is pretty large, requiring a motorcycle to go all over, yet the main area stretches only a kilometere along one coast.
Caf� Del Sol is in the heart of the main area. Their English breakfasts exceed breakfasts I’ve had in England and their prices were very reasonable.
Class began at 9am. We studied for three hours covering matters such as the diving equipment we’ll be using, safety procedures and terminology. After the study we had to complete a simple multiple-choice test just to demonstrate we understood everything. We marked this ourselves and the idea was just to consolidate what we’ve learnt and if we made any errors, to understand where we went wrong.
We took a 90 minute break before reconvening for our first practical class. Some schools teach this in a swimming pool but we were to go immediately to the sea.
This was a fun class as nobody had any idea what to expect. We were in water shallow enough for us to stand up in and spent the time getting used to breathing in and out, clearing our mask of water, taking our mouthpiece in and out and practicing handsignals to communicate underwater with. We knelt down to make sure we were submerged at all times.
After about 40 minutes we got to undergo a few minutes of underwater exploration which meant that our first ‘proper’ dive would be much less intimidating.
Unfortunately Priya, the girl I’d been partnered up with had some problems today in the water and, although she did succesfully complete all the exercises she panicked and needed to surface a lot. This meant that instead of being my partner tomorrow, she’ll be redoing her class oncemore, and I’d be buddy-less.
It was an eventful day again and I got another early night. It is dangerous to drink alcohol before diving so Koh Tao sleeps at night anyway so I didn’t miss out.
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