And finally it was time for us to go diving again! This time it would be several new sites and in the end I did 3 out of 5 exercises in total towards the advanced certificate. In general, I'm so happy about now fully mastering the equalizing problems I've had, which really makes diving a completely different experience. In addition, I found out just how much good visibility meant, since the only time I really get anxious is when I can't see what's in front of me. Therefore, swimming in caves or wrecks alternatively in northern European waters or doing night dives will probably not be my thing in the future. I also thought I'd be a bit scared of big animals in general, but I'm actually not, since the bigger things are under water the calmer they seem to move = if you just stay calm yourself and keep a distance it'll be fine. I further had a fantastic lesson in buoyancy and learned exactly how important it is with the breathing; I even started using noticeably less air during the last dives because of this. I was further very proud to hear that I developed a lot during these last dives regarding how I moved in the water, since I was really taking care to be as streamlined as possible and especially keeping my arms to myself, only using fins and breathing to move. All in all, this was a fantastic experience and I can't wait to be under water again!
I did not want Jonas to drive the entire time, but was still slightly weary about the steep hills; however, in the villages it was fine, since traffic was a bit slower than on Koh Samui
We did have to stop by a pharmacy to get some baby shampoo for our masks; the name of the actual place was just too good to ignore
After carrying our equipment across a beach, onto a pier, jumping over 3 boats until we reached ours and in that heat, I was quite exhausted. However, it gives you a good lesson on how much stuff you should bring on the boat and what foot wear to use (aqua shoes, aqua shoes, oh the lovely aqua shoes)
Never mind that though, it was just to climb straight up to the top deck and start getting briefed
Fortunately all the diving instructors showed up..
..and we could set off towards Chumphon Pinnacle and later Red Rock
The boat was much less fancy as pointed out before, but was still perfectly sufficient and nicely spaceos; I even thought putting the gear together was quite easy this time around..
..even though this was the first time I was wearing a dive computer, where I was responsible for reading the depth as we would close in on 30 meters for the deep dive. It was also a really good idea to have an extra sweater on, since even though the temperature difference is small, I'm still sensitive and actually think it got quite cold down there. Everything went really well and my prediction regarding doing all the mistakes in Malaysia actually came true! We went down on a line and there was absolutely no troubles at all equalizing my personal, slightly different way (by getting over pressure in the mask and then swallow). I also did it almost every meter this time, which really helped. Since we used quite a lot of air on 30 meters compared to on 15, it became a shorter dive than normal, but I got my stamp and was then one step closer to becoming an advanced diver! Then we went to Red Rock and did probably the most unpleasant dive of them all: a narrow cave passage at 18 meters. I was scared s***less even before going in. However, I"m no chicken so of course I ended up doing it, but it was really claustrophobic and very dark. And colder, so I was again happy about my sweater. Even though it was quite a short passage it felt like we were in there for 20 minutes and considering it was so narrow we could only go one person at the time and had to stay very close to the bottom to avoid scraping the tanks against the tunnel roof, it was neither possible to turn and go back nor panic if you'd accidentally got too close to for instance sea urchins or so. I couldn't wait for the people to get out of my way as we approached the end and swam out like a torpedo. I don't think I'll be doing wreck diving any time soon
The next day it was time for lesson number two and three on the advanced course: buoyancy and navigation. At first I had to practice on the beach with the compass..
..then I got the computer on, to log the depths I would be navigating from (and the map I had to draw myself in 2 minutes on the boat as it was running full speed to the reef; marvelous)..
..and finally our dive instructor Kiwi Mike gave me the details about the buoyancy test. I understand why he didn't tell me in advance, since he must have done so in the past and lost his students. According to him I only needed to 'lie flat as a board horizontally, hovering about a meter above the bottom, but you need to avoid the urchins sweat heart, because they really sting if you bump into one'. I could do that, no biggie. But then 'just flip completely upside down with your feet towards the surface and your head about a meter from the bottom. Now you need to take care on this one sweet heart, since your reg ain't built for being upside down really, so you might have to get your spare instead'. I must have looked like a deer caught in headlights because when I said: 'Let me get this straight: you think it's a good idea to hover head down in sea urchins with a regulator that may or may not work at 14 meters below the surface? Because to me that sounds just smashing or that you are simply stoned. AYFKM??' he laughed until he almost cried. It went really good though, even when I had to swim into what looked like a human cage, control the buoyancy one meter up or down only by breathing and do a maze which included swimming belly up through hoops. Just saying. Then I lead the group back to the boat as a starting exercise on the navigation and it went great. Btw, there were no sea urchins in sight where we did the buoyancy test, so I guess he was just mentally preparing me ;)
Then it was time to gear up with my compass again after a short feedback on the last dive. I was now to swim back and forth, navigate in squares and finally lead the way around the reef with three control spots; it was hard to control my position in the water so that it was horizontally straight enough for the compass to make sense. Hence we ended up taking a few detours, amongst others swimming off a cliff with a steep drop and a huge trigger fish hiding just by it; we had gone through the whole 'no worries sweet heart, just swim backwards with your fins towards the trigger fish and if it attacks it'll only bite them', so I felt completely safe. Because swinging belly up, backwards with a giant fish wanting to bite your feet and at the same time trying not bumping into anything with your head seems like a natural way to go. At 18 meters. If you ever spot a diver wearing an ice hockey helmet and slalom boots it might be me having had it with trigger fish. anyways, it was quite cool leading a group on my own and if just get a bit more experience navigating or dive a site a few times, I feel fully confident I could start planning a dive on my own. I mean seriously, as Kiwi Mike put it: 'If you do get lost sweat heart and start thinking 'where the f*** am I?', just go up calmly with your safety stop at 5 meters for 3 minutes, and don't bloody forget that darling, check for boats so you don't get slashed in any turbines and have a look-see on the surface. If you still don't know, just stay f***ing calm darling and signal that you need help. You'll never be royally f***ed here, like ever'. I just took his word for it
I passed both test though, so now I only have another two to go in total and I'll be an advanced diver!
We then went and gave back our dear ATV..
..and set sights on the main pier..
..along with a bunch of other tourists..
..to board a catamaran to avoid too much sea sickness..
..and it was a great ride back to Koh Samui! Really, if you have a slight tendency for motion sickness, don't take a speed boat. Even if the sea is calm, they drive like maniacs and it's just not worth getting there 45 minutes earlier, if you have been throwing up more or less the entire time. If you still have to, take a motion sickness pill before you set foot on the boat. The catamaran ferry was perfect, with a quiet lounge, comfy seats, AC and we almost slept the whole way
Bye, bye Koh Tao for now and hope to see you soon again ;)
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