Ciao for Now

We’ve spent the past three days on the beautiful island of Koh Chang getting scuba certified! We can owe the decision to get certified to my brother who bought us lessons last Christmas through Sport Chalet in anticipation of he and his girlfriend meeting up with us in Thailand this coming January. They love to dive and wanted to be able to take advantage of Thailand’s infamous diving with us. With work and a tight schedule leading up to our trip, we realized we weren’t going to be able to fit in the scuba classes at home (plus we weren’t very excited about taking our first dives in the freezing cold ocean at home in February!), so we opted to get certified once we arrived to Thailand through BB Divers. What a great decision that turned out to be!! Not only did we have the most awesome instructor of all time, Patrick, who exemplifies the lifestyle around here…(he came here 8 years ago from Holland on vacation and never left and told us that ‘he doesn’t make tons of money, but that he loves what he does and loves his life’ – a simply perfect outlook if you ask me); we also had the most fun dive crew, the most beautiful backdrop and crystal clear, warm water.

The PADI Open Water Certification course took three days. We spent our first day watching informational DVDs, taking written tests (we passed, phew!) and practicing skills in the pool. The next two days were spent on a boat diving around islands in Koh Rang National Marine Park and other amazing spots. With 20 meters of visibility on most of our dives we were able to see unbelievable underwater worlds in all their glory and were even lucky enough to spend some quality time with a giant green sea turtle who was most likely 70 years old! Johnny and I relished the whole experience and couldn’t believe how much we loved diving. Swimming among giant schools of glowing fish, being surrounded by other-worldly masses of coral and floating in peaceful silence at the bottom of the sea are truly special experiences.

Boarding the original Thai fishing boat adapted for diving

Garlands tied to the bow of the boat to honor water spirits for good luck and protection

Dive Master Wee checking out the water	Scuba gear ready to go

Islands dotting the turquoise waters

After our final dive with Patrick

Certified!!