Scuba Diving in Koh Tao

17.12.2017 to 25.12.2017

"Sorry, ... please say it again. I can't hear you."

That was the most common sentence of the last days and thus welcome to the review of the last week on Koh Tao. While I look back on my time on Koh Tao, I have already been to the doctor today. Today is the 28th of December and I am sitting in a restaurant in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and have ordered pizza. I will explain why I have to take a hearing test tomorrow. Have fun :-)

My trip in Bangkok ended with boarding the night bus to Chumphon. A city located pretty centrally on the Gulf of Thailand. From there you can reach the island of Koh Tao by ferry. The night bus was quite annoying. The air conditioning forced me to wear a sweater and long pants and I couldn't really sleep. One hour before arrival after about 5 hours of travel, there was another stop at the rest area around 1:30 am for some food. We arrived at the pier at 3:00 am and had to wait until 7:00 am !!! for the ferry to depart. But calm down, because one thing you learn here quickly is that there is nothing that does not exist. 15 minutes delay of the metro is a dream compared to that :-D. Oh, here comes the 🍕...

I like ferry rides, I love sitting outside and feeling the wind and enjoying the view. I did that for a whole 30 minutes. After that, the waves were so high that standing outside was no longer possible and I even got sick inside. With the vomit bag in my hand, I managed to make it to the mainland after 3 hours without using it. Many other passengers did not.

Arriving on Koh Tao, a taxi picked me up and took me to the "Buddha View Resort". When I arrived there, I checked in and went to sleep.

Until Monday, I rested and started the theory class at 4 pm. Our German diving instructor Verena taught us theory and the next day, Sandra taught us the practical diving. My course consisted of Michi from Switzerland, and the friends Tim, Alea, and Johannes from Bremen. All in their twenties. We watched movies and learned everything about scuba diving. Pressure underwater, nitrogen formation in the blood, the structure of the equipment and much more. We even had homework that we did together during dinner after our first lesson.

Tuesday started again with theory at 8:30 am and a lot of sleepiness. In the afternoon, we went to the pool. Sandra, a diving instructor from Austria, showed us the installation of the air tank, the buoyancy compensator vest, how to attach the hoses and weights, and how to put on the wet suits. Then we went into the pool. Put on the mask and breathe.

It was around 2:30 pm and we descended together for the first time.

PANIC !!! Shit!!! I'm dying, I can't breathe!!! And immediately surfaced again. Immediately took off the mask and took a breath.

What happened? I love diving. Diving two laps in a swimming pool, no problem. Everything else in the water, so far no problem. And now?

We descended and I tried to breathe through my nose. Can't do it. Put on the mask. Sandra signaled and asked us if everything was okay. I didn't know all the signs, was tired, and panicked. I was overwhelmed. Crazy! I had never experienced anything like this before.

Sandra calmly talked to me and I tried again. Whoosh, not even 5 seconds later, I went up again. My head couldn't handle it. I thought: "What a shit, I can do so many sports and don't need to do this shit. Just lay on the beach and chill this week!" Sandra reassured me. She did really well. I was torn.

I agreed with her not to do any exercises and to learn how to breathe first. After that, I bubbled for almost 20 minutes at a depth of 1.8 meters and watched the others.

Afterwards, I was good to go. I was in my element. :-)

I did various exercises and agreed with Sandra to make up for the missed exercises an hour before the theory class the next day.

The next morning, I easily completed my exercises and enjoyed a rich breakfast. The theory class went until noon. After that, I took a nap and went on the boat to the bay.

We drove out, took off our suits, and jumped into the sea from the boat. It's so much fun !!! 😄🤙 We gathered at the anchor chain and slowly descended to 10 meters. The moment when you dive down and look under the water surface is magical.

Once we reached the bottom, we did exercises and admired the fish. I love it! Suddenly, I saw the fish that I had previously admired with Catharina at the Leipzig Zoo, in real time and 3D.

We returned to the deck, warmed up in the cold wind. There were cookies, pineapple, and watermelon. By the way, that was the moment that led to my doctor's visits.

Then we went down for the second dive. By now, we had returned to our home bay, the Buddha Bay. We jumped into the sea and went down to 12 meters. During the descent, we followed the anchor chain, with much better visibility this time. At 8 meters, I had problems equalizing the pressure. The cold blocked my nose and the way to my ear. Then a wave came, causing the boat to move a lot and holding onto the anchor chain, I was lifted up one meter higher. I dived down again. Suddenly, my field of vision spun. I started feeling dizzy and thought I would pass out. Since I was at 8 meters, I panicked and swam to Gerarde, our Dutch substitute teacher. I shook him and tried to show him how I was feeling. He didn't understand. Since he hadn't really excelled before, I decided to let go of him and calm down by holding onto the chain. After 2 minutes, the spell was over. Then I was rewarded with amazing fish, including a stingray and Nemo. We did backward rolls and had a lot of fun.

During the last dive, we learned how to navigate and enjoyed the underwater world. Then we returned and had lunch at a fantastic beach bar with beautiful weather.

In the evening, we met up with Sandra for beer and the closing ceremony. She treated us to a round because we had worked so well despite the poor visibility. After 6 beers and 4 glasses of wine, we played billiards for another two hours and then went to bed drunk at 2 am. It was a great ending, with many great diving stories and new friends.

The next day started too early with check-out at ten o'clock and a hangover. The Bremen crew and I went 400 meters further to the Big Fish Resort, as we wanted to chill there until the 25th and spend Christmas Eve together. The bungalows and the resort were awesome. White sandy beach, blue water, palm trees, and a relaxed atmosphere. All that for 6 euros a day 😃. I slept off my hangover there and didn't do much else during the day.

On Saturday, we rented a scooter and explored the island. Driving on the left side is not difficult and we found great spots. Among them was a private bay with hammocks right on the beach. It was a great place to hang out. The high bars have their name for a reason and offer a relaxed 😉 view of the bay. We spent the evening there. On Christmas Eve, we met Sandra again and spent Christmas with her and the others from the diving resort at the local bar. Later that night, we went to an electro club and came back with 6 dogs in tow.

On Monday, I left for the pier at 9 am and took the catamaran to Chumphon and from there, the bus to Bangkok. The boat ride was scary because the waves were strong and I kept thinking we would capsize. In any case, it was an experience. When I arrived in Bangkok, I accidentally stumbled upon a cool blues bar. The people were relaxed and mostly German. They were grilling sausages and drinking beer.

At two o'clock, I went to the airport where my flight to Phnom Penh started at 7 am.

The week on Koh Tao was pretty awesome. The best weather in the end, great people from all corners of the world, and an amazing underwater world. If I can fix my ears, I have found a new hobby.

Let's go to Cambodia!