Scuba Duba

Koh Tao

I first experienced this little island when I was 19 years old and on my first proper backpacking trip through Thailand. I remember how secluded it felt and how uncommon it was to see tourists and busy beaches. Five years later I returned to see what was barely recognizable to me. There were moments of nostalgia, but more often bouts of confusion and disorientation. There were massive luxury resorts everywhere and the beach was packed with tourists. I was also amazed to experience how busy the nighlife has become. When Lucy and I were there before...we were the nightlife and that was that. This experience was not any less exciting and wonderful, just different. And I feel I liked the whole, “oh well things have changed, back when I was first in Thailand...” so obnoxious I know!

One of the sole purposes my dad wanted to go to Koh Tao was so he and my brother could go scuba diving and I could get my scuba license. The license that never came…

In order to get to this little turtle island we had to take the overnight bus and then catch a ferry in the early morning. It’s quite a journey and one that I haven’t done since my first time to Thailand five years ago. I was quite impressed with how well my mom and dad coped with the whole experience. We arrived on the island and showed up at the dive shop to see the accommodation we had booked online (the pictures almost always look better than the real thing) and it was quite the disaster! My mom and I took off on foot long the beach running into every hotel and bungalow resort until we found “the one” it was absolutely beautiful and right on the beach.

I went diving the second day we were on Koh Tao. I dove for a two full days and kept dreaming about all of the mango shakes and sunny and rest I was missing out on my being on the boat. The diving was beautiful but also a touch scary. It really freaks me out to think about how you’ve got a tank that’s supplying life to you that deep under the ocean. I saw some really pretty fish and coral and even did a rolly polly in the water.

Before the dive my Danish instructor showed us pictures of all of the fish we might see. He also pointed out the “trigger fish” which was very aggressive and when it bit, it was similar to being bitten by a dog and that we would have to go to the hospital and get stitches. When we were in the ocean and he started provoking the “trigger fish” . I wanted to swim away like mad. Since I was the only girl I didn’t want to fall into any stereotypes, so I stayed calm and breathed in and out of my little life tank. There was one last dive of the day to complete. This last dive would get my certified in scuba duba and honestly I’m a touch embarrassed to say I didn't bother.

I did the first dive of the morning and it went well but I was incredibly bored! (oh gosh I’m probably the only person in the world who thinks like that during a dive in Thailand) but there’s just so much pressure with the mask and in your ears that it's not so enjoyable for me. I had a leaky mask and had to keep clearing it under the water (a fairly difficult task to perform every few seconds) we saw some incredible under water life and actually got caught up inside a swirling mass of colourful fish. All of this is quite cool, however, the whole thing looks way more impressive when you safely snorkel or watch the discovery channel.

When we came back up from the water I felt really nauseous and really wasn't up for the final dive. Saying that I felt a little silly that I didn't just do it is an understatement. Then I thought "ummm i don't think I’ll ever go scuba diving again...so what's the point of forcing this?"

So I went down to the bottom of the boat while everyone was in the water getting certified and took off my wet suit. I took down the top part first and didn't realize until a minute later that my bathing suit top had also come down and my white boobs were staring at the Thai captain of the boat. We both kind of looked really embarrassed at each other and then I started laughing and he joined in and it made me feel slightly better ^.^

My dad is a touch disappointed about my lack of certification, but that's to be expected. I did remind him that I have never quit a course before (snowboarding doesn't count because although I hated every second of it and even faked throwing up every Saturday before lessons...I did finish it!)

We spent the evening watching a six year old boy dance with chains that were lit with fire on either end while sipping buckets of whiskey.