Koh Tao, Thailand

I have known Jason Cohen for 8 years. Jason was the first out of my friends to go backpacking. He backpacked through Asia in the winter of 2002. Jason was also the first out of my friends to go to Thailand. When Jason returned from his trip, he raved about his time in Asia. FAST FORWARD to 6 years later.... I'm now in Thailand. It's only natural to ask Jason for good tips on Thailand and thanks to him, he got me off to a great start!

My first stop in Thailand: Koh Tao. Prior to coming to Thailand, I knew of a few destinations that I definitely wanted to hit: Phuket, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Chiang Mai, Ko Chang, Ko Samet, and Bangkok. I wanted to make sure I covered everything so I asked Jason if there was anything I missed. He replied back with: "Koh Tao --- You have to get your diving license." I was already familiar with Koh Tao because Caroline and Ryan went diving in Koh Tao and they suggested that I go too. I totally disregarded their suggestions because I had no interest in diving. It terrified me. I don't even like to open my eyes in the 10 ft area of the swimming pool because I hate to see how deep the pool is. Therefore, I wrote off the idea of diving and Caroline and Ryan understood. Jason, on the other hand, did not give up. He was adamant that I go diving during our IM conversation last Monday. These were his reasons:

*Thailand is known as one of the best places to go diving
*If you like to swim, you'll love diving
*If you don't go diving, I'll never let you live it down

These reasons were not enough for me to say, "YES". Jason was still persistent and he kept his best cards in his back pocket. He rolled out these two last reasons to close the deal:

*You're probably going to have an Australian instructor
*The place that you will be staying in has the best bbq on the island

DONE DEAL! As soon as he stated these reasons, I started to google Buddha View Diving and signed up to leave for Koh Tao the next night. Once I decided to go diving, four other travelers from Bangkok decided to join me....

Laura (from L.A.), Audrey (from Seattle), Vinnay (from Australia), and I all stayed in the same place in Bangkok so I told them about my trip to Koh Tao and they all decided to go at the last minute. We also picked up one more person for the trip: Stephane (frome Canada). Stephane was actually in the cab heading to the airport when he realized his flight was cancelled and he wasn't sure when his flight would be taking off again. We just found him sitting in the cab as we were trying to get in the cab to go the travel agency where we were getting picked up to go to Koh Tao. We told him about our plans and 20 mins later, all five of us were on our way to Koh Tao! As I mentioned in my previous blogs....I just love the people that I meet along the way!

Koh Tao is an island on the eastern shore of Thailand. Koh Tao is known as the "Diving Island" of Thailand so all their accomodations are catered towards divers. Out of the five of us, only Audrey, Stephane, and I decided to get certified for diving. Vinnay and Laura decided to relax at the beach during the day while we were in class. I had no idea that you had to be certified to go diving. I always thought diving was a simple task once you got past the fear. I figured all you would need was a wetsuit plus an air tank that you put on your back. I also assumed some professional would teach you how to breath using the tank a few mins before you dive into the ocean. I was completely wrong. I learned quickly that you have to be certified to go diving and there is a lot more to it than I thought. My certification curriculum consisted of:

Swimming 200 meters
Floating for 10 mins
6 hours of classroom material
8 hours of underwater skills in the swimming pool
4 dives in the ocean
final exam

Learning the process was definitely eye opening. The first time I sat in the deep end of the pool for over 35 mins was a very cool feeling. I have never done anything like this before and clearly I never intended to until 24 hours before I left for Koh Tao. Our certification required us to:

Use the regulator properly so that you can breathe underwater
Take your mask on and off underwater (this is really interesting bec you learn how to put the mask back on without any water in it!)
Take your breathing piece out of your mouth underwater and put it back in (in the event that your mouth piece falls off)
Share air from another diver underwater (in the event that you run out of air)
Learn how to hover over fish and corral (so you don't just crash into fish and corral underwater)

WELL, after my 4 day course....I PASSED! It was incredible to be underwater and see the bright colored fish that I've only seen in fish tanks before. It was also neat to see a whole other life existing underwater. These past few months have taught me so much about different countries and cultures. The ocean is definitely a separate culture that I'd like to study about (noted in my Hello Kitty pad). One quick little factoid....Did you know that angel fish always travel in pairs? Yes, a male and female are always together. How sweet :)

In case you're wondering about Jason's selling points and how they matched up with the real deal.....

The BBQ was AWESOME! They had a whole medley of food: Thai, Italian, Vegetarian, and the best part was the selection of fish and meat. The fish and meat were so fresh and they would just cook it up for you once you ordered it. Delicious! This was our dinner every night, including Thanksgiving.

As for the instructor.....His name is Jesper. When we first met Jesper I noticed that he had an accent (sounded Australian but I have a hard time distingushing the difference between Australian, English, and Irish). It turns out he is from Denmark and he has been living in Thailand for 8 years. Jesper was a WONDERFUL diving instructor! He was an engaging teacher that made the course so enjoyable. Jesper shared so much knowledge and valuable information to make our diving experience fun and safe. He is passionate about diving and it shows through his teaching. I love people that are passionate so I obviously developed a crush on Jesper! The only problem is that he probably thinks I'm an idiot! Our class was just the three of us: Me, Audrey, and Stephane. Audrey and Stephane were picking up on everything really fast. I was the slowest one. It wasn't clicking for me at first but Jesper was really patient and he would work with me until I got it. However, I still couldn't escape my goofiness....

*When we were underwater doing our skills, he would give us a high five after we performed each skill correctly. For some reason, every time he tried to give me a high five, I would miss his hand and my hand would just swing past his. The underwater factor may have affected my aim but Audrey and Stephane didn't seem to have a problem. This happened AT LEAST 5x.

*We each had to jump in the water the correct way with our gear on. He showed us the proper way of basically gliding into the water so that it's a smooth jump. Audrey and Stephane had no problems with this. Then it was my turn: Belly Flop

*After you put on your wetsuit, you have to put on your vest with the air tubes, plus the air tank on your back. This is very heavy when you're on the boat. Obviously it is light as a feather once you're in the water but until then, it's pretty awkward. Anyways, I'm standing there, getting ready to jump in the water and then suddenly I lose my balance I fall backwards on to my back in the boat. It's a loud thud on the ground!

Anyways, I asked Jesper the day before we went out for our first dive in the ocean, "Do you think I can really do this tomorrow?". He answered, "Of course. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you." I LOVE HIM.