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July 14, 2004
16-20 June - Diving
Woke up, packed up and left Thong Noi Pan – feeling like I couldn’t stay any longer, and it wasn’t comfortable anymore anyway (I’d lost my sandals, lost the key and just needed to leave). Staying near Thong Sala, at Porn Sawen Bungalows - 120 baht a night for my own fan bungalow right ON the beach. How good is that? (Ok, so its not the nicest of beaches, but still) I WAS going to go to Ko Tao (for diving), but ended up booking a dive course here instead, training in Thong Sala, and diving off the coast. I met some nice English birds here, a couple of Jackies, Emma, Chloe, Becky, Kristin and a couple of others…. One of the Jackies has just booked the diving course I’m taking, so it’ll be cool to have someone ‘known’ (albeit only a couple of hours) along. Black moon party is on tonight apparently, so that should be good.
Porn Sawen Bungalow and Aow Plaay Laem – the beach in front of my bungalow
Getting to Top Rock Bar, then once we got there…
(from left) Jackie, Dan, Jackie, Chloe, Beckie, Yoris, Kristin and Emma in front
Had dinner with the girls, then went to Top Rock Bar, at the top of 170 steps -amazing view! Had some more food there, provided by owner Pippy (including crabs caught by ‘us’ [not me] earlier on in the afternoon. Black Moon party after that, started out ok, techno, not that great, not a lot of people. I didn’t feel too good, but Becky and other Jackie took fairly good care of me, which I’m glad for… Anyway, went home early (care of English Jackie and Chloe. Couldn’t sleep, got up, had a few showers, etc, sat on porch, lay in hammock…
17th –First day of Scuba Diving Training (PADI Open Water Diving) – only a couple of hours sleep max didn’t help much with anything today, but we got through it. Cool people (Trainer Michel Le Blanc – Dutch) - Jackie and Myself, a pommie couple Nathan and Sarah and an Austrian Hemma. Longer day than expected – 9-5, all theory! So tired…. Went to buy a new DVD to watch, but they’re 200b, and low quality here…. Maybe I’ll go to Hat Rin and pick up a few. I had a relatively easy night in, watched TV and had dinner with Chloe and Emma. Chatted on the net for a few hours with Nick and dealt with some business with Jerrilee.
18th – Second day of Diving - Went to pool situated on mountainside overlooking ocean, beautiful!
Did the skills in the pool, and got a little sunburnt. Did final exam back at the shop. Finished at 6pm, quite tired, but still wanting to go to Hat Rin with the girls. At Hat Rin I had an awesome dinner – Sizzling Island Seafood, presented like Mongolian Lamb, SIZZLING! Had a few drinks, bought some DVDs (150b ea), had quite a few more drinks with the girls, and spent the night dancing with Jackie and Becky, and occasionally with Laura (Scot from Thong Noi Pan, freaky co-incidence!). Went home at about 2am, cause I was diving next day!! Otherwise would have been a huge night! David George, a DJ from The Ministry Of Sound was to be there!!
19th – 8:30 start, went on Diving Speedboat (normal Diving boat was in for service) to Koh Maa (beach near Ao Mae Haad, NW corner of island) for first Ocean Dives. Not a lot of visibility (1-2m for first, 2-4m for second), and relatively shallow (max 6-7m). Was good fun, but very tiring! Got home at about 2pm, checked email, here I am. This time I’m on my laptop tho, cool.
Ao Mae Haad (Koh Maa) - Where we dove
20th – Similar to yesterday, two ocean dives. The first one was at Sail Rock, a very funky pinnacle sticking out of the water, usually on of the best dives around. Unfortunately it was only about 3-5m of visibility, so after the dive, the instructor decided to go back to Koh Maa for the final dive. I felt a bit frustrated during both dives today. I was frustrated by diving formation during both dives. During the first one (at Sail Rock), I found myself spread between my diving buddy behind me (and a tail-end Charlie behind her) and the rest of the group. At the critical point of decision, there was about 2-4m of space between me and anyone, which was pretty much the limit of visibility. I had to choose between staying with my buddy and staying with my group. In hindsight, maybe it was a bad decision, but I stopped and waited for my buddy to catch up. We lost the rest of the group, and ended up floundering around the rest of the dive (Tail-end Charlie being a Dive Master Trainee, but not a very confident or communicative one.). From his perspective, he was ‘sticking around’ us, as we went ‘up and down’. From our perspective, we were awaiting instructions and following him once the rest of the group was gone. Very frustrating… missed half of the viewing of the dive.
The frustration from the second dive (back at Koh Maa) came from the opposite of the first… I was continually either running into the instructor, or being run into from a diver behind me (I’m pretty sure I know who was behind me, and it doesn’t surprise me). I was in the ocean, but didn’t have enough room!! In addition to that, the instructor would occasionally stop, checking on the group, often pointing out (or telling off) that I should keep my fins away from the coral. When I’m behind the instructor, next to my buddy, and the instructor stops, where am I supposed to go? So I ended up choosing to dive a little higher than the instructor, so that I had a little space, and was less likely to hit him or others. I then get told to come back down. Ugh. Where am I supposed to be? It definitely didn’t help that visibility was 2-4m, as the crampedness would not have been an issue if we could see each other further away. Anyway, its done, I’m a PADI Open Water Diver – Diver Dan!
The Divers – Dan, Hemma, Jackie, Sarah, Nathan, a DMT and Michel (Instructor)
Posted by Dan at July 14, 2004 02:12 AM
Comments
PADI - not all fun but your've done it!
Posted by: Lozza at July 20, 2004 07:07 PM