Thursday, December 20, 2012

Under The Sea (Part II)

As per my last post, I completed my open water diver certification on the island of Koh Tao. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to stay an extra couple of days and complete the "advanced adventurer" course, which allows me to dive down to 30m and do night dives as well. I stuck with Big Blue Diving, the same company I did my open water course with, which meant another two nights free accommodation and a 10% discount on the advanced course which ended up costing me about $255.

Andreas (the guy who took all these pictures) and I

The course consisted of 5 dives where we practiced skills such as buoyancy (trying to float at the proper level is much harder than it looks!) and navigation (which, unsurprisingly, I am lousy at). We also got to do a night dive which was unlike anything I had done before; our only source of light was from flashlights!

The diving equivalent of a thumbs up!

 My favourite dive was the deep dive, where we went down to 30m. At that depth some of us felt the effects of nitrogen narcosis (also known as "getting narc'd" in diver speak) which happens when you breathe air that has become super compressed. Effects can include disorientation, feelings of anxiety or giddiness. I didn't experience any of these but one guy in my group kept trying to offer his spare regulator (the device you breathe out of - every diver has two) to our instructor even though she didn't need it! It was pretty funny.

The group!

Suffice to say I've become a fan of diving. I'm now on the island of Koh Phagnan where I plan on doing a couple more dives on Christmas Eve. In addition to spending some more time under water and relaxing on the beach I also plan on attending a
Full Moon Party on Christmas Day, an event that has made Koh Phagnan famous around the world. It's shaping up to be a pretty memorable holiday!


*All of these pictures were taken by a guy in my diving course, not by me!*

2 comments:

mom said...

Oh my...glad you're making the most of Thailand though sounds like you've spent most of your time there underwater. I always said you were part mermaid once you got over your fear of Grandma's pool.

Will you be howling at the full moon party?
Stay safe!

Wondering and Wandering said...

Haha oh Mom! Yep trying to make the most of my time, only got about 10 days left! I didn't "howl" per se but I was at the Half Moon Party last night... I'm safe and sound don't worry :) xo