Day 1: Started with me waking from my first decent night sleep at the rock, and on arrival to the diving shop i was introduced to my instructor 'Angus'... i also found out that for next 3 days our group would solely consist of just me, so that was pretty cool to be having one on one tuition.
Next up were the videos, these things weren't as bad as everyone implied and by the time you know it we where off getting kited up.
The actual assembly of the kit and gadgety things had the little geek inside me pretty excited. I liked learning something new and it was a relief to find out i hadn't killed everyone of the brain cells.
With the theory done and the kit sorted we went down to the enclosed shallow water and started with all the basic skills. Respirator recovery, having your air shut off, emergency ascents and weight belt release. Everything was easy and no problem until we started with the mask removal and clearing. This went opposite to perfect, this went horrible. The second the water went up my nose i suddenly lost all train of thought and starting flapping like a dog. Seems the fear of drowning suddenly moved to the top of my list of "least pleasant ways to die"
So yeah, not the best way of ending the day, after a few go's i was bored of swallowing water and feeling like i was going to drown so we called it a day and went back to the shop. Angus was cool with it, he just said we'd go through it the next day until i was completely comfortable with it.
Cheers, can't wait :(
Day 2: I was pretty apprehensive about the start of the second day, the mask removal thing had freaked me out a bit and i wasn't exactly thrilled to be getting back in.
After checking through all the kit again and jumping on the boat. We arrived at the first dive spot 'Bina Nok'.
It wasn't until you properly go under water and see what there is to see that the awesomeness of diving becomes totally apparent... i know it's an obvious statement to make but the previous day had almost made me forget why i wanted to do it in the first place. The second a bunch of fish swim past you is utterly unforgettable, every time i saw a clown fish or pipefish, a grubber or crab came in eyesight i'd just forget i was meant to be following Angus and i'd become fixated on them before having to quickly catch up.
We came across 2 leopard sharks (who are usually quite sleepy, or so i'm told) and they swam directly round us, so close it'd sound like i'm lying.... it might of just been the magnified lenses but it was stunning all the same.
After my swimming test around the boat 6 times, which gotta say was harder than it looked having not swam for quite a while, we jumped back on the boat and headed to the second spot 'Pilaya' and got back in the water.
This time apart from seeing another big leopard shark having a snooze, we also came across a family of turtles, 6 of them chilling out together. Again we where able to get so close and again just stunning.
Every second underwater was just amazing, i absolutely fell in love.
Day 3: Was very similar to the second day, we did another 2 dives to take me to the 4 required to pass the open water license and again got to see more turtles more sharks, we also got to see a little sea horse which was quite special and had an amazing day feeling really comfortable under the water by this point.
After the multiple choice question test and the signing off on my license i said my thanks and left... absolutely gutted about not going diving the following day.
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