Welcome to part two of my journey through diving, when I left you last time I had covered how myself and Koz had become divers in Thailand laying down the foundations of how twenty plus years later we end up living in the Philippines. Today that journey continues, for those of you who didn't catch part one here is a link to that it will help to build the full picture: (https://hive.blog/hive-114105/@biggypauls/engage-on-hive-life-underwater-part-one)
So we had finished our holiday in Thailand and had become open water divers qualified to dive to 18 meters, before leaving we promised ourselves that we would return and get further qualified. For us having to finish a holiday was maybe easier than for some, we lived in a beautiful part of the UK and worked in tourism, myself being a surfboard manufacturer, exchanging diving to being back on the beach surfing ain't such a bad life. It was just entering spring time so the the sea and weather were both getting warmer and the tourists were arriving in droves. Newquay in Cornwall is a seasonal town and many of us locals take advantage of this busy time to make hay while the sun shines and then travel to warmer climes for the harsh part of the winter. So it's a mix of hard work and a little play for the next few months but it's a system that works well, in the summer months we get long days so even after a hard days graft there's plenty of time to get down the beach fire up the BBQ and catch some waves and best of all we have some secret spots away from the crowds.
Stunning Cornwall.
Before you know where you are time passes and you're looking at the season coming to a close, time to get those flights booked, Thailand here we come. We are heading back to the same dive shop on Koh Tao and this time no backpacking around the country, only one thing on our minds and that's diving. This time we plan to spend four months in the south, first stop Crystal dive centre and advanced diver course.
Arriving in Bangkok early December we have a couple of days chill time to get over the flight and load up on a few supplies to take south, a sleeper train and ferry crossing later we are back in the islands. The dive shop has it's own accommodation which was very nice and convenient to be close to all the action. After a day of rest we jump straight back into it, linking back up with our instructor Chris we complete the advanced course over three days, it was relatively easy as the hard part of learning to dive had been done earlier in the year, this course was more about improving our existing skills while taking on a few new tricks. From here on the world was our oyster, equipped with all we need to dive anywhere on the blue planet.
We stayed on Koh Tao for two months diving most days and going on special trips to far off dive sites like sail rock which had lots of good life and happy me got to see a few sharks but the highlight of all the diving was a trip to Mu Koh Angthong National Marine Park, this place was stunning back then nearly nobody dived there. It's actually the place that the book and movie "The Beach" was set in although that was filmed in Phi Phi island. Diving in Koh Tao had been good but after what we saw here there was no comparison, it was pristine brimming with perfect corals and shoals of fish the likes of which I couldn't imagine, truly out of this world.
Ang Thong national park.
We spent Christmas with the guys at Crystal dive, a proper English meal with turkey roasties and all the trimmings, our first tropical Christmas dinner, good times. We spent January touring the small island and diving as much as possible but after two months we needed to move on, so spent the next month hopping around the islands then back to the mainland and Phuket.
One day in Phuket was enough for me it was way too busy and touristy for my tastes, so after scanning my Lonely planet book (that's how we did it back then) we decided to head north to a small town called Kho Lak, if this name rings a bell it's because a few years later it was the hardest hit place in Thailand by the 2004 tsunami. A small town with not too many technicolor wannbe hippies this was more like it and it was a great place to launch(excuse the pun) our next adventure, a week long liveaboard trip around the Surin and Similan islands, our hosts Sea dragon adventures.
M/V Andaman.
https://www.seadragondivecenter.com/
This was a stunning trip with some amazing dives and a good mixed crowd on board, we had four dives each day with the option to do a night dive on four of the days. By far the best part of the trip was on day three we had been in the water for about ten minutes when Koz started pointing frantically behind me, turning around to see what all the excitement was about I was blown away following along behind me were five enormous Manta rays the largest having a wing span of five meters or possibly a little more. They stayed with us for most of the dive and towards the end during our safety stop the big one came really close circling us continuously checking us out. This is still one of my greatest diving moments in twenty plus years.
All too soon this trip came to a end and when we made it back to dry land we had to start thinking about making a move towards Bangkok and flying home, so over the space of a week or so we worked our way north staying in little towns off of the tourist trail for the odd night here and there. Finally back in the city we did the tourist thing visiting a few temples and shopping for gifts to take home to family, as with all things it had to end so a taxi to the airport and we were in the hands of Thai air for the journey home.
These trips to Thailand were pivotal in changing the way we traveled, any country that came on our radar from this point forward the question would be, "what's the diving like there"? Holidays would never be the same, some we managed to combine our love of surfing with scuba others a difficult decision had to be made. Over the years Sri Lanka, Egypt, Cuba and the Philippines have been among some of the places we have found ourselves. The later has become our home, after visiting the Philippines five years ago we found ourselves at a dive shop in Moalboal Cebu, it was a small but friendly dive shop and we got on well with the boss Cameron @scubahead. In conversation he said he would happily employ Koz as a instructor if she fancied a career change, as a experienced diver and Judo instructor he could see her potential, at this time nothing came of it as we considered this a holiday. A year later back at the same place and given the same offer, this time it was given a lot more consideration, we decided why not you only live once, so back in the UK while chatting via email with Cameron we made changes to our world and about three years ago made the jump. For Koz it's been a great move she's happy and comfortable teaching sports and didn't enjoy working in a office which had been her life for the past ten years in the UK.
Koz in her new office.
We are both loving life here and don't want it to change, we will have to see what the future brings in a post covid world, we are staying positive and staying here, although the UK will always be home and where we see ourselves growing old but you are a long time old so plenty of adventure left in us yet. Hope you enjoyed my tales if so check out my Cuba story via link below.
Engage on hive contest sponsored by @abh12345 - @tarazkp - @meesterboom and @galenkp
(https://hive.blog/hive-174578/@biggypauls/engage-on-hive-cuba-part-1)
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