18th January 2018: (Beautiful date by the way 😊) Yesterday, I got up extra early to go diving. The weather was really nice. I think I've never seen the sea so calm and peaceful. We even saw a really big jellyfish from the boat, the water was so clear. Overall, we had two really nice dives. This time I saw a lot of snails and shells and fish that were getting 'cleaned' by other fish. It looks like a car wash, hehe, and one time I could have sworn the fish being cleaned had a blissful smile on its face. 😅 Can fish even smile, what do you think?
At noon, I had curry with Patrick, who is from Slovakia and went diving with Maxim and me, and then I laid by the pool, read, and rested. Around 5:00 PM, I went to the beach to play frisbee and watch volleyball.
This is the beach right in front of the bar/restaurant at my dive resort. Usually, the sunbeds are in the middle of the beach, but at 5:00 PM they are moved aside for the volleyball net. This photo is from my dive school's Facebook page. Can you spot me? 😊 (Hint: Look for the bright green frisbee!)
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19th January 2018: Today was a very special day, one that I won't forget anytime soon. I finally made it to Shark Bay. Shark Bay is a bay located on the southeastern coast of Koh Tao and about 10 minutes scooter ride from my resort. As the name suggests, it is known for the chance to see turtles and sharks just by snorkeling. You know: turtles were the last part of my diving wish list.
Shark Bay itself is a beautiful corner of Koh Tao. It was so peaceful everywhere and there were very exclusive-looking bungalows on the beach - really fancy!
This snorkeling trip was such a good idea. My dear ones, I saw two (!!!) turtles. They were so beautiful!!! ♥ They were right below me on the seafloor, and every few minutes they would swim to the surface to take a breath of air. Stunning creatures - and those black eyes!! On our way back to the beach, a blacktip reef shark also swam by us. Blacktip reef sharks are very small and harmless sharks. I had already seen one in Indonesia, but this one was much closer and it hasn't been that long. 😅
We also saw two large triggerfish, a perfectly beautiful sweetlips fish, and huge schools of fish nibbling on the coral at the seafloor. Did you know that fish can make a smacking sound? 😅 That's what it sounded like, at least. I couldn't (and still can't) stop smiling.
I have accomplished all of my diving goals (whale shark, turtle, yellow boxfish)!!! 😊😊😊
We got back a little after 5 PM, I picked up my laundry from the laundromat, which I finally got to wash after almost three and a half weeks (1 kg cost 50 THB, I had 3 kg), and then I went straight to the dive shop because I had signed up for a night dive in the morning. This time I dived with James from Canada. Why was I going night diving again, even though it's not my favorite type of diving? Exactly for that reason. I want to become more confident in the different aspects of diving, and night diving is definitely part of that. I'm so proud of myself for staying calm and relaxed. It was a really nice dive. I spotted a blue-spotted stingray twice and pointed it out to my dive guide, so cool!
By the way, this is the big boat where we assemble our equipment and enter the water from. We get to the big boat with small speedboats.
In the middle is the 'dry table' where only dry things, like clothes and bags, are allowed to be placed. Around it, on blue benches, are the tanks where we attach our BCD (vest) and regulator (breathing apparatus). I've become very quick at it by now. 😅
By the way, when I was at the dive shop this morning, they asked me when I'm finally going to sign up for my DMT because I've been here for so long and I go diving so often. 😅 Oh man, I would love to come back here after my internship, with a total of two months and do my divemaster! Who knows, who knows what will happen by then. But it's already penciled into my imaginary calendar for 2019/2020. 😊
By then, I would like to get my own dive computer. Dive computers are multitasking wristwatches for divers. They not only display the time and date, but also how long you've been underwater, how deep you are, the temperature of the water, and when and how long you need to do the safety stop when ascending. Very useful device! As a diving student, you get to borrow a dive computer here, but as a fun diver, not anymore. So I need to get my own soon!
Unfortunately, a bit blurry, but here you can see that on January 19th, 2018, I went diving for 46 minutes starting at 6:51 PM with a maximum depth of 14.9 meters. Cool device, right? 😊
Well, my eyes are already closing as I write, so I'm going to sleep right away. Good niiiiight! 😊
