I'm a certified Diver! - Similan Islands

I'm back on dry land!! The first 3 day liveabord is finished up and I am now a certified diver!! I have to complete one more test on my next dive and I'll have my advanced open water certificate too. I have a few more pics uploaded to the photo album if you want to check out the what the islands look like.

I made the 3hr bus trip up from Karon beach in Phuket to Khao Lak and managed to find the dive shop. Its a little scary knowing when and where to get off the bus when no one speaks english, but I made out just fine. The guys here at Wicked Diving have been great. They hooked me up with an amazing place to stay when I got here and made sure I felt at home.

The next day I was up at the crack of dawn and down at the dive shop by 7:30am and we collected all our gear and headed to the boat. The Similan Islands are about 75kms away from mainland so it took us a little over 3 hours to get there. My dive instructor Filip went over some test questions and reading that I had done the night before, and made me watch some video's about safety and skills. Before I knew it we were at the islands and getting ready for the first dive!

I have to say the water was crystal clear and a beautiful green. Filip had me practice a few skills - how to recover my regulator (air supply) in case it comes out of my mouth, how to clear my mask, and swim without a mask, do an emergency ascent, and take my BCD off (inflatable jacket that makes me float). I got them all completed with no issues at all, and Filip was very impressed. After that we went down a little deeper and checked out the reef a bit. It was absolutely amazing! The water was so clear it seemed like I could see for miles. The visibility was about 25 meters (90 feet or so).

We did another dive in the afternoon just after supper and again it was stunning. The cabins on the boat were super tiny! two beds and just enough room to stand or change haha. The crew on the boat was great. We had two dive engineers who filled all our bottles and helped us gear up and get in/out of the water. We also had two Thai cooks who kept us very well fed! They made some of the best meals I have had so far in Thailand.

Day two on the boat started with a dive at 7am! Again I had to learn and practice more skills before we went off and looked at the huge granite boulders. We did 4 dives that day, including one night dive. We stoped and explored a few beaches during breaks between dives, the views were amazing! I seem to be using this word a lot... The last dive of the day was one of my favorites. It was about 8pm and we went down to about 18meters and saw tons of lion fish, plus many other fish sleeping! I have never seen fish sleep before, but it was hilarious! some would wedge themselves in a hole or crack with just their tale sticking out. It was a totally different perspective from diving during the day. it was really great.

Day three had 3 dives in store for us. Again we were up a the crack of dawn and in the water. This first dive would be the start of my advanced course. We were doing the deep dive. I went down to 27 meters! (thats about 100 feet) There was a strong current at this site and was one of the hardest dives for the whole trip. We saw a leopord shark and a few sting rays on this one. The best thing about the morning dives was coming up to the surface and your first breath of fresh air is that of breakfast cooking. We did two more dives after this one and were much easier. We saw two more leopard sharks, a poisonous scorpion fish, a giant barracuda and a huge Napoleon Wrasse fish.

Once we got back to land most of us went out for supper at a local steak house. The steak there was one of the best I have ever eaten, and it was only $7. Man I love Thailand!

The three days on the boat seemed to fly by! I made some new friends and am going out again for another 3 days/9 dives tomorrow morning! I'm hooked!

So I'll talk to everyone again when I get back to land and even upload some more pictures from the underwater cameras.