Last day in Phi Phi

After completing our dive course we decided to stay in Phi Phi for one more day to explore the island a little and enjoy it. We had been up early every day for the dives and were so tired each evening that we had no chance to go out and see the fire shows and whatever else happens here.

With luck the day was sunny! We decided to take a long tail boat over to a few beaches down the way called Long Beach. There we found a quiet paradise with just a few tourists scattered along the long beach area.

The water was blue, and deep enough to swim. There was one restaurant that we spotted to later each lunch at.. everything was perfect!

I thought I noticed the couple next to us speaking Italian and mentioned it to Nicola. Being as shy as he is, he just waved it off since he had no curiosity to investigate.

I saw that the guy had hurt his foot and took the opportunity to ask if he had cut himself on the coral that lined the shore. He said no, that he had stepped on a sea urchin (ouch) and he asked if I had tweezers. Obviously, I didn’t, but as it turned out, they were from Italy and he spoke excellent English and his wife spoke none at all.

We ended up spending the rest of the day with them exploring the island further to a very very secluded beach with crystal clear water and then met them again later for dinner.

We climbed to the viewpoint on the top of the island for a bird’s eye view. Man that was hard work. It said in the book that it would take 10-25 mins to climb up the stairs depending on your fitness level. I mean, I’m not out of shape but holy smokes that was a tough climb. The view was breathtaking and spectacular. All worth it!!

Nicola had a blast speaking in his own language with people from home. Funny that he had mentioned that when I had met a Canadian couple a few days earlier in Railey Beach that the girl and I were chatting away like mad.. he made fun of us! Then, when he met people from his home, he was exactly the same.. Just like two birds chirping for hours.

We went to the other side of the island for dinner, you guessed it, Italian! It was a really good meal actually. I have to admit that it was nice to eat an authentic pasta al mare.. (seafood pasta) – since being in China we’ve laid off the seafood.

It was Saturday night so they had a huge fire show planned to the music of a DJ – it was fantastic. I had wanted to see a fire show the whole time while on Phi Phi but had been to tired every single night to look for a good one.

The tide was out so we walked along the sea floor for a good 100 meters. It was very cool.

We have planned our trip out of Phi Phi tomorrow. The day begins with a 9am ferry to Krabi town for 1.5 hours, bus to Surat Thani for 3 hours, ferry to Ko Samui for 1.5 hours and then minibus ride to Chaweng Beach for 1 hour. It’s a long day but I have a feeling it will be worth it. No plans for accommodations yet but as usual we will sort it out once we arrive.

I LOVE THAILAND!!

Dive day 2

I am exhausted!

We went to bed last night really early since today we had to be awake at 6 20am to get dressed and ready for our 7am dive.

This would make it our first open-water dive in the big sea. There were quite a few people taking the boat out with us, all diving at some sort of level. I could see skilled divers, new divers out on discovery dives (which means there is no pre-lessons, just a brief on how all the equipment works) and others were brushing up on their skills after a year off from diving.

My skills tests all went really well. I performed several of the skills that we had learned the day before at the beach as part of the training that included hovering (buoyancy test) mask skills, buddy breathing skills, regulator retrieval (actually removing your air hose at 18 feet underwater and throwing it behind you, then showing the 2 different ways of how to retrieve it). Kind of scary but all went well for me.

Nicola on the other hand panicked. I watched from the bottom as he did the mask skill and when the water filled his mask he accidentally inhaled some sea water. Even though you can cough into the regulator, (thing in your mouth where you breathe from) the sea water is quite stinging in the throat. It happened to me on the first day at the beach, so I knew how he felt. But, the last thing you do is panic. He ripped off his mask and threw his regulator out of his mouth (as most panicked people do) and swam for the top.
It’s a bit dangerous to do that, since you have to ascend slowly to allow the nitrogen from the oxygen to escape your body. So the instructor tried to help him at about 3 meters but he wasn’t going to let it happen.
He ended up going back to the boat for the rest of the dive while the instructor (Angus) and I went for my 2nd dive. Poor guy, I felt so bad for him. I came back and he looked so defeated. But, it’s the cardinal rule in diving, keep calm and learn how to deal with the challenges.
He will do the 2nd dive tomorrow to catch up.

The world underwater is fascinating. Something I have never imagined that I would do, and now having seen it, I just want to see more!!

My ears give me a problem though. You have to equalize every meter while descending which means you have to squeeze your nose and blow slightly to allow air from your breathing to go into your ear canals where there is a little bubble of air on each side that needs to be filled to avoid the pressured feeling. My right ear is fine; my left is a bit slow. So the first 10 mins of the dive are spent equalizing instead of enjoying the view. No big deal though, once it’s done I can swim all I want and take a look at the scenery.

Today we saw lionfish, which are dangerous if you touch them, leopard sharks which are harmless, barracudas, tons of different colored fish, angel fish, sea cucumbers, 2 eels, a cuttlefish which looks a little like a squid, trumpet fish, schools of grouper.. what else.. a lot. Too much to list but I mentioned most of the cool things.

We couldn’t do much after the dive day was over, sooo tired from carrying the equipment and swimming.. just dinner and some walking around this very small island. I am looking forward to the dive lessons to be over since this place is a huge party and I am too tired to participate!

Tomorrow, another 6am morning and dive 3 and 4 to complete the training and then the final test on theory.
Sorry no pics. There is no chance to take pics while in training but when we do a recreational dive I will have a chance.

Dive day 1

Dive Day 1

Today was an extremely long day.
We started at 8am in the classroom. Until about 1pm we watched the review dvds from the book that we were supposed to read the day before. I crammed until 12 30am trying to get through all the chapter questions.
Honestly, it was a lot of information to cram for in 1 day.

After lunch we learned about all the equipment, suited up, and walked with the massively heavy tank on our back about 8 minutes to the contained beach area to learn how to use it all in the water.
My legs are so sore from carrying it all. I felt my knees weak and almost at the point of giving in while I was walking to the beach.

What a terrifying experience. At one point where we had to fill the mask with water underwater and learn how to clear it using our nose, I started to cry. We took a short breather on the surface and went back at it.
It didn’t help that Nicola was nervous and almost panicked the whole time. But in the end the instructor said my buoyancy is fantastic and that I got through all the skills very well. We were in the water until after 6pm. It was a very long day.
I felt a little boost of confidence considering I haven’t been in school in quite some time. I am proud and happy to have picked it all up quite easily. The same goes for the Mandarin lessons.. I’m a bit ahead of the other guy who is taking the class with me. It pleases me that I am still sharp in the classroom. Yay!

Tomorrow morning we have to be at the dive shop at 7 10am to go out for our first reef dive off the boat. I’m scared to death but I feel a little bit confident since I got through all the skills easily and my ears weren’t giving me any trouble.
I learned how to equalize them, and once done that, there was no more pain or pressure while being under 20 feet of water.. a bit deeper than a swimming pool eh.

Better get some rest. It will be another long day tomorrow in the water. Looks like rain but who cares when all you have planned is being wet anyway.

Xo

Phi Phi island hopping

The ferry was at 9:30 am for about 2 hours. We, again, hadn’t booked any accommodation and once arrived in Phi Phi were bombarded with people promoting their hotel, guesthouse, hostel and whatever else that they had to offer. I can look at all the pics in the world of how a room looks but nothing will convince me until I actually see the place with my eyes. I want to see how it’s cleaned, how the sheets and walls look, check for bedbugs (it happens!) and all the other little things that really make me feel comfortable to stay there.

We walked about 10 mins along the path (there are NO cars here, such clean air!) and checked a couple of places before settling in one guestroom above a shop. For 20 euros a night we considered it a pretty good deal. Seaside, balcony, mini fridge, satellite television and nicely made up bed.

We had the day to choose anything we wanted to do.. and there seemed to be many options. First thing, we signed up to become certified PADI open water divers! It’s a 3 day intensive course that includes a half day in class, a contained dive in shallow water, and four open dives in the ocean. We bought the study book and vowed to read it over once we were back from the afternoon plan.

Next, we hired a private long tail boat and traveled to Phi Phi Ley, which is the scenic island just south of Phi Phi Don.

The day included a stop at monkey beach were tons of monkeys live and are visited daily by tourists. It was a scary experience since they are a wee bit aggressive!! If you get too close, they will run at you. Your only defensive is to run fast towards the water, since apparently they don’t like it much.

Mmm coca cola!

We then continued to a giant blue lagoon area where we swam in beautiful blue waters for a short while.

Next we moved to an area where we could snorkel and then we headed over to Ma Ya Beach where the movie called “The Beach” was filmed. It was beautifully scenic.

The day ended up being hugely exhausting and we made the mistake leaving the reading part of the dive course until 7pm… yea.. I was up until 12:30 am reading the text and answering the questions.

Tomorrow: Day 1 of dive school. Exciting!!