Sorry for the slow update, we've got terrible wifi in Koh Tao. We got up and packed ready to get the ferry to Koh Tao on the 25th it when we got there we were told that the waves were too big so it was going to be delayed for two hours. It was raining and miserable and there were so many people crammed under tiny piece of taurpalin with not enough chirs to go around (and some people were using the chairs for their bags) so we decided to take cover under some trees not far away. We all sat with our ponchos and coats on covering our stuff with some boys from the hostel which was miserable, but also quite funny. We had been waiting for about an hour and the rain was slowing when we saw that there was a sign on the ticket booth saying our ferry was cancelled and that the boys was delayed so we decided to go to a pub and have a drink. We were hoping that there might be a later one we could get but we were told that the next one leaving for koh Tao was the next day at 10.30 so we headed back to the hostel and booked another night.
We spent the day doing absolutely nothing because of the rain and rearranged the diving course for the next day. Luckily, the waves calmed enough for the boat to run the next day, although it was still so rough and horrible that so many people were being sick off the side (myself included) and everyone looked horrific. When we arrived everyone was just so glad to be on dry land. It took about two hours and all the later ferries for the day were cancelled because of the conditions. We checked in, had a group nap and started the theory for the course at 6pm on the 26th. The company we're learning with is called Mojos diving school. The theory was so boring. We had to watch 6 videos and work through a textbook filling in blank spaces and the video was so old fashioned and kept stopping and breaking.
The next morning we finished off the theory, had lunch (koh tao is by far the most expensive place we've been to yet, but still always less than £5 per person for food) and then went out on the boat. Before we had our first proper dive we had to learn some skills and do a swim test. We had to swim there times around the boat and float or tread water for 10 minutes. I thought the treading water would be horrible , but because we were in the sea you could just float. The swim was not so great. It was so wavy and I'm not a great swimmer at the best of times. Luckily a boat pulled up around half way so we got a small break. We then did the skills. These were things like learning to replace your respirator, clean your mask, replace your mask etc underwater. It was really weird trying to figure out all the breathing stuff and becki and amy had some real issues with the mask work. Because the conditions were still pretty crap post storm and the viibilty was making the skills more difficult our instructor (Virginia who used to teach scuba in Trincomalee and has weirdly briefly met Dan and Xena, and also lived in their first house after them) decided that we should do our first dive that afternoon and finish the skills work off the next day. We did a dive of about 9m for 25 minutes and none of us felt very confident about it. I spent a lot of the time trying to make sure my bouyancy was right so that my flippers didn't hurt the coral and that I didn't float up too high. Amy floated off at one point and said it felt like she had drunk the lemonade at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.
We got back at about 6 o clock, went in search of WiFi and went for dinner. The night before we'd seen a place called the Queens Cabaret which hosts a nightly ladyboy show so we decided to go. It was so good and so funny. Some of them were beautiful and the American lady next to me refused to accept that they were all men, but they definitely were. One of them sang Aerosmiths I don't want to miss a thing and I thought you would have loved it Mum. It was free entry but you had to buy a drink when you were in. I bought a beer and it was expensive in there but still the best £3.20 I've ever spent.
The next morning we had our final exam for the theory, we all passed the multiple choice test and they gave us a bit of help before hand. We then had some Panini's for lunch and headed out on the boat again. We finished off the skills work in deeper water (about 3m) and amy and becki finally nailed the mask work. I had a bit of an issue with my respirator at first because it wasn't giving enough oxygen and then I had a minor panic, but I took my time going back down and then we were all fine. Just generally I didn't have the best luck that day, on the way over to the boat I whacked my head on a tree and getting off the boat back onto the beach I fell into the sea. So elegant.
We then went for our second dive. This one was about 35 minutes at 12m deep and it was ace. We were all ao much more confident so we all enjoyed it so much more, even Becki liked it and she wasn't sure before hand. We did some skills stuff at the bottom again (mainly mask work, taking the mask all the way off and replacing it) and we are definitely all getting better at it. We were all knackered when we got back in and had an early morning so we had dinner and went to bed.
On the last day of the course we were up an on the boat at 6am. It was pretty cloudy so the sunrise wasn't that pretty. I think I've seen more sunrises and sunsets in the last three weeks than I have in the rest of my life put together. Our first dive was at a place called the twins near koh nuang yang. It was really nice down there and we went about 17m for 35 minutes. When you're down there time seems to absolutely fly, so it felt like 10 minutes at most. We got back on the boat and sailed over to a place called white rock for our second dive. Whilst we were waiting we all had to jump off the top deck of the boat into the sea for a video they were filming, my suit had a whole in the bottom - my bum flap - so on my jump it just flaps about. Very upsetting. I also do that stupid crabbing thing I do when I'm nervous, so embarrassing. It was good fun though. Our last dive was my favourite I think. It wasnt as deep as the third (about 15 metres) but I felt so calm and I just really enjoyed it. Again the visibility wasn't amazing but still saw lots of fish. Amy didn't have the best time. She got what's called mask squeeze, which basically means that the pressure in her mask was too tight so she looks like she has love bites on her eyes. Shes also had a bit of a bad time with her ears and gave herself a nosebleed down there. Pretty sick.
That night we went to watch the video of ourselves in the dives. Sadly there wasn't much footage of us because the camera man couldn't find us down there so it was a bit disappointing. We then went out for the evening to celebrate the fact that we are now fully qualified open water divers!
The next day was a quiet one. We were all pretty tired so we slept most of the morning and then walked up to a nearby viewpoint after lunch (burgers all round). The view wasn't amazing because we didn't have time to go to a good one but it was still nice to go for a wander. Koh Tao was pretty cool, very chilled and the actual town is nicer than Koh Phangan. Because we were diving all the time we didn't get to see much of the island, but all I've read about it is that you have to go diving there so I don't think we've missed out too much.
Its now the 31st and I am sat in the bus terminal in Surat Thani. We woke up at 4 this morning to get the bus at 6 from Koh Tao to Surat Thani. Then we got a bus and now we're waiting for our connection to Koh Phi Phi. We're staying at the Centrepoint Hostel for two nights and then moving to Koh Lanta. We keep saying that we're not going to do anymore early mornings but sadly they always seem to happen.
That's it for now, lots of love.
