Diving in Koh Tao (Briefly)

Hello Again,

Just thought we'd stop in to say hello and to keep you up to speed with our goings on. Today (Saturday) is our fifth day in Koh Tao at the Black Tip Diving resort http://www.blacktipdiving.com. Koh Tao is a small island to the east of the Thai mainland and is quite remote but very picturesque (look for it on Wiki or something).

We're doing an Open Water course which should see us qualified by the end of the weekend (all going well). So far we've watched videos, done reading, completed tests (and a multiple choice exam) and done some in their pool and over the past couple of days in the sea, going to depths of 13 metres.

To say its a new experience would be a big understatement, but once we got the hang of the basics (don't stop breathing pretty much!) - its about perfecting the skills and trying to get more advanced e.g. so we can swim as close to the bottom as possible without hitting anything.

Tomorrow (Sunday) we have our final dive which if we do successfully (we have a few skill tasks to do during the dive like taking our mask off whilst still breathing and then replace it and clear it of water) will see us PADI qualified Open Water divers, meaning we can dive without instructors anywhere in the world (but must be with a buddy).

Our instructor Kung (thats his nickname, his full name in Thai is very long). is extremely patient and very nice so we're confident we can pass before we head off on our travels again.

Once we've completed our course and got somewhere with a bit more infrastructure - we'll post a full blog about our diving and maybe some embarrassing wetsuit photos.

Speak soon!

From Woodie