21st to 22nd December One of the most beautiful hobbies in the world - Diving

Friday was the last day of our diving course, so we didn't have any theory, but we already left for the morning tour of the diving boat at 6:30 a.m. The sunrise over Koh Tao from the boat was spectacular to see, and it accompanied us as we got into the water with our diving equipment.

We gradually got used to setting up the equipment and the general procedures such as jumping into the water, submerging, staying at a certain depth underwater, and resurfacing. However, the underwater world will never be "normal". Diving is mainly a temporary sport for me. You enjoy the time you spend underwater to the fullest and you are constantly amazed. It's temporary because you can't fully recall the many coral reefs and the whole marine life when you're back on the boat. Only a few impressions compared to what you saw and the unique feeling of having seen something beautiful remain.
The first dive of the day took us to the wreck of HTMS Sattakut. It was incredible to see the upper parts of the command bridge slowly appear in the mist. They were completely overgrown with algae and mud, but still recognizable. We swam over the hull of the ship to the bow and saw the guns of the former warship, also covered in algae. As I said before - it was incredible. It felt like being in the opening scene of the movie "Titanic", where underwater drones swim over the famous sunken cruise ship and explore it. Now swimming over a sunken object created by human hands, which we found at a depth of about 20 meters underwater, was also a very humbling experience.

After a break, we went to the next dive spot, White Rock. This rock is located just below the water surface and boats have to navigate around it carefully. But at its base, there was a beautiful coral reef stretching out at a depth of about 18 meters, where we could swim through huge schools of fish and be surrounded by many colorful creatures. We also saw moray eels and lionfish, as well as the large and colorful fish found in European aquariums. We were also lucky to spot a black and white striped sea snake, which is highly venomous but not aggressive towards humans. I won't even start talking about the plant life because I can't name all the different anemones, corals, and algae, and my description can't do them justice anyway. You have to explore and see it for yourself...

After our sixth dive in three days, our group of four was understandably exhausted, so we spent the rest of the day on the beach after getting back at 11 a.m. And we successfully completed our diving certificate. As a final lesson with our diving instructor Max, we learned how to log our dives in a logbook, which will document our diving career. Here are a few words about our diving instructor. He was relatively young for a diving instructor, only in his early 30s, and he didn't start diving until about five years ago. Leaving Germany behind and escaping to a dream island like Koh Tao is something everyone thinks about, but very few actually go through with it. With his friendly and calm demeanor and his expertise, we always felt completely comfortable underwater with him and happily followed him - we couldn't have asked for a better instructor.

After a few nice hours on the beach and a coconut that Andra kindly shared, I watched the probably last sunset from a beach on this trip, which we admired so many times.

Since we had already met our fellow divers again at the beach, we had dinner together. With many funny stories from our lives, it was a very enjoyable evening. However, we were all excited about the next day, Saturday, which included another diving tour. We had to be back on the boat at 6:30 a.m. As we were still tired from the previous six dives, we went back to our accommodations at "early" 9 a.m.

Saturday was dedicated to dives seven and eight, as well as the journey to Bangkok in the afternoon. Just like the day before, we forced ourselves out of our cozy beds early in the morning, but the sea breeze on the way to the dive site woke us up for sure. The dive site was called Chumphon Pinnacle and it was the furthest spot from Koh Tao, about a half-hour boat ride away.

Once we arrived at the dive site, we immediately started two dives, with a proper break in between. In terms of the underwater world, these dives were another level compared to the previous ones. There were schools of 500 fish, although it's difficult to estimate such a large gathering correctly. We could also admire fish that were only slightly smaller than ourselves, actively hunting at the bottom. Since our certification is valid only up to a maximum depth of 18 meters, we couldn't dive all the way to the bottom, but it was still completely satisfying because there were fantastic marine creatures and plants in abundance, with the most extraordinary shapes and colors, even at shallower depths. Everything was a bit more intense, and Andra and I were so happy that we decided to do these additional dives - it was definitely worth it. Especially since we were now diving as freshly certified divers.

When we returned to the shore, we said goodbye to our diving instructor, who had once again been our dive master today, and the couple who also dived with us. It was a great time in a great group. After that, Andra went to a viewpoint while I said a quiet farewell to the sea and the island with a little swimming - at the end of a trip, you eventually do everything for the last time.

At 3 p.m., we boarded the dreaded ferry back to the mainland, which we were worried about on the way there. However, this return journey was actually very nice, and we spent the entire time outside, enjoying the last views of Koh Tao and the setting sun.

Now we are sitting at a night bazaar, waiting for our night bus to Bangkok at 10 p.m., where we are supposed to arrive at 5 a.m. These will be the first hours of my last day of the trip, it's incredible how quickly the past few days and weeks have flown by. They were always beautiful, but now I'm also looking forward to being home and spending Christmas with my family - the end point of the journey is perfect for me. Of course, there is also a bit of sentimentality creeping in, but in my opinion, you should be a little sad when a good trip is coming to an end. Otherwise, you've done something wrong.