Instead of seats, the night boat is filled with mattresses. Each mattress is about 2 feet across. We felt a bit like sardines lined up side to side. There were plenty of other tourists, but the majority of the passengers were locals transporting goods to and from the island. We wondered how easy it would be to sleep with all of us crammed into such a tight space, but the sound of the waves and the subtle rocking of the boat felt like a lullaby.
Even with the lullaby, however, it was still a tired morning. :)
Koh Tao is truly a beautiful island. Filled with beaches, proud, tall rock formations, and stunning views, we were quickly able to understand why is it such a destination.
Our hostel was connected to the diving school that we had signed up with .We were located on a great beach far from the main tourist section of the island. There were still plenty of bars and restaurants, but without the craziness that often accompanies them.
While the beaches and views are a definite draw to Koh Tao, we were there for the reason that many of its tourists visit: the open water diving certification.
Koh Tao has the perfect combination of reasons to learn to scuba dive there: it is one of the most inexpensive places to learn, there are dozens of companies to train with, and the coral and dive sites are gorgeous and filled with life.
We feel that we lucked out with our experience. Thanks to a friend we made in Phuket, we were recommended Ihasia Diving. This is a Spanish diving school. 90% of the clientele are from Spain or Latin America, but they have instructed that are quite competent in English and French, so they take on students from many countries. We were the only native English speakers at that time, so we were lucky enough to be in a class just by ourselves!
It was also great being surrounded by the Spanish language again. Practicing our Spanish was one of the extra bonuses we got through Ihasia. Although our Spanish is terrible, everyone was very encouraging. :)
This is our instructor. Ra. Ra is originally from Spain and has traveled, lived, and dived all over the world. We were super lucky to have him as our teacher and guide and our experience was made better because of him. He was a patient and very clear teacher.
The course was 3 1/2 days. We spent the mornings doing theory and the afternoons in the water.
Each afternoon we would board a big boat that would then take us to that day's dive site. Ra would give us information about the site and let us know what skills we would have to perform in order to get the open water dive certification. These skills included removing and replacing out masks under water, assisting a buddy who has run out of air, emergency swimming ascents, and other things that every diver needs to be able to do with competence.
During our last diving day, Ra took a GoPro and was kind enough to take some pictures of us.
Scuba diving has opened up a new world to us. We have already looked into what is would take to get to the instructing level! :) Our experience on Koh Tao and with Ihasia is bound to be one the biggest highlight of our southeast Asia travel.
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