Inselhopping - Koh Tao

Koh Samui - Koh Phangan - KOH TAO - Krabi - Koh Phi Phi

🎥 Video zum Beitrag: 

https://youtu.be/2-Xt53X4eT0

To get to Koh Tao, we just had to hop on the right ferry again and in a short time we were already on island number three.

We didn't do this alone, but with Wiebke and Sophie from Münster. We met the two of them on Koh Phangan and also spent some funny evenings with them in Koh Tao.

In Koh Tao, as already mentioned, we had something special planned. 😃

Namely a diving certificate (Open Water Dive) to a depth of 18 meters.

Our original plan was to do this diving certificate in Bali, but now we have advanced it. On the one hand, because it is cheaper in Koh Tao than in Bali, and on the other hand, we can now go diving on our trip wherever we feel like it.

You have to imagine that we started the diving course with excitement and a little fear. The thought of diving into the depths of the sea and being inferior to everything that swims there made me (Emely) a little scared. After all, something can come from all sides and you can't see too far either. But our desire and curiosity to explore this other world prevailed.

Now first a glimpse of how something like this can happen: You choose one of many diving schools - we chose a German-speaking one (Dive Point). Then you have theory lessons. We watched a video at the beginning and Max, our diving instructor, taught us a lot. After that, the first diving attempts followed in shallow water. That means if you stood up, your head would be above the water surface. But before we were allowed to go into the water with all the equipment, we had to swim two laps around the boat with the wetsuit. That was very good, because it gave us the first feeling for the water. That already took away some of the fear and excitement of the sea with the equipment. But what took away even more fear were the exercises in shallow water. We learned how to communicate, how to operate our equipment underwater, and how to behave in an emergency or help ourselves. Max did this very conscientiously and calmly, which was very important and gave us a good feeling. Although we didn't talk much about communication underwater above water, surprisingly we understood Max perfectly. He did a great job and gave us a very good feeling for diving and the procedures and communication. After the first learned routines, we already dived to a depth of 6 meters and could admire the first fish and corals.

Order is important, so after each dive, washing the clothes and equipment in fresh water is part of it. After the first two dives, our excitement was taken away and all the fear (especially from me/Emely) vanished, only the necessary respect remained. But a diving certificate is not given as a gift, so a theory test is also part of it, because knowledge protects against fear and mistakes in the water. So active learning was also part of our journey. 😄

On the second day, we went out to sea again with the boat and excitement and repeated the learned routines from the previous day. We also dived to a depth of 13.5 m already. This worked surprisingly well and we relaxed very quickly. On that day, we were able to discover some special fish. The most famous one you probably know is the puffer fish. Later we had some theory and also our test.

We passed it with flying colors. 👌😊

So on the third and last day, we were able to dive to a depth of 18 m without any problems with a dive computer. We both did not expect that, but once you go below 10 meters, it doesn't matter whether it's two meters or eight meters more. This has something to do with the pressure. 😉 In order to dive that deep, we went further away from the island than usual. It was worth it, because on the descent we swam through one fish school after another. The fish all become a little bigger and so do the reefs. During the dive, we even saw a blue-spotted stingray and an emperor fish. It was quite big.

In total, we had six dives, always in the sea at a water temperature of about 30 degrees Celsius. Our longest dive was 46 minutes long and our best visibility was about 20 meters. Our group consisted of the two of us, Tamara, and our diving instructor Max.

Now there are two new enthusiastic divers who are allowed to dive up to 18 meters deep all over the world. Finn sometimes already felt like a fish himself and we both would have liked to stay underwater much longer, if only the air wouldn't run out so quickly. It's just a completely different world and an amazing feeling to float and breathe underwater!

We are already curious where we will be able to dive into the other world next time.