Slept in fits last night. Stormed all night, strong winds, thunder, rain. Woke up about 8:00am. Raining and cloudy this morning. Hung out in the bungalow, then went for breakfast about 9:00am. Had muesli, yoghurt and fruit salad. Mrs. Lek is famous on the island for her home made yoghurt, apparently. As we had breakfast, she was also kneading dough for some home made bread as well.
We laid around in the restaurant, they had to pull the rain/wind tarps down over the restaurant, as the wind was blowing all the rain all over the restaurant at us. About 11:00, the rain stopped and the clouds moved off.
Most of the afternoon involved reading and swimming. The air was quite cool after the storms, and the water was very warm. Had lunch around noon. I had a chicken and cheese sandwich with her home made bread.
About 4:00, Katrin and I had a refreshing beer.
The shower water is soooo cold here!
Many customers at this bungalow are regulars, they come every year for weeks or months at a time. Mrs. Lek showed us a memory book one of her customers made for her and her husband, with pictures from 1998 to present, seeing how things have changed over the past 10 years. Mr. Moo (Mrs. Lek's husband) has a lot more grey hair. Then Mrs. Lek taught us how to play a board game; a square board with 4 holes, one in each corner. You have to knock your discs into the holds before your opponent.
After 7:00, we had supper, then read and talked until 9:00-ish, and went to bungalows.
Electricity here is from generators....the island is not on the countries power grid. So, the bungalows only has electricity from about 6:30pm-10:30pm.
There's also nothing to do on the island. I don't know how these people that come here for weeks or months stand it. I'd go crazy.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Koh Chang
Up at 7:30, showered, and met girls in the bungalow restaurant at 8:00am. We walked to the pier, 2 minutes from the bungalow, about 9:00, and bought a ticket to Koh Chang. The long tail boat leaves at 9:30, and takes about 1.5 hours. On the boat, one of the local women started talking to Alexa, telling her she had a bungalow on the island. We got off with her, at what we thought was the main beach, and checked out her bungalows, but they only had expensive ones left. We walked down the beach to Sunset Bungalows. I took a bungalow for 200 baht, Alexa and Katrin took one for 300 baht. There's is on the beach, mine is perhaps 20 metres back in the trees. The whole bungalow operation is set amongst cashewnut trees, and shaded really well. Very nice.
We had lunch and a beer,then walked along the beach and around the headland to another small beach. Along the way, we stopped for a shake at Air Bar. Then we walked back, a long walk, and got back about 5:00pm.
Alexa and I had a beer and talked, then showered and generally hung out.
The lady who runs the bungalow, Mrs. Lek, is awesome. She's sooo friendly and funny.
We had supper, and storm clouds started rolling in. After supper, we sat on the beach and watched the light show, but no thunder and no rain, just lightning all over the sky.
Went to bed with the low rumble of distant thunder.
We had lunch and a beer,then walked along the beach and around the headland to another small beach. Along the way, we stopped for a shake at Air Bar. Then we walked back, a long walk, and got back about 5:00pm.
Alexa and I had a beer and talked, then showered and generally hung out.
The lady who runs the bungalow, Mrs. Lek, is awesome. She's sooo friendly and funny.
We had supper, and storm clouds started rolling in. After supper, we sat on the beach and watched the light show, but no thunder and no rain, just lightning all over the sky.
Went to bed with the low rumble of distant thunder.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Similan Islands Diving Trip, Day 5
Woke up on my own about 6:10, at 6:30 Stefano and his bell came along. I had an amazing sleep!
Toast and tea, then the first dive at Koh Bon. Saw a big leopard shark, 5-6 feet long. Awesome.
After the dive, had breakfast, then boated to Boon Sung Wreck. This was a dredger "ship"...not a ship in the traditional sense, it had no engine, the dredger was towed around by other boats, dredging the ocean bottom for tin. In strong winds, it overturned and sank in the mid 1980's, and sat on the bottom floor upside down. In 2004, the tsunami tore it apart, so it's no longer in one piece.
It was cool, wreck dives are always more interesting because they're different. And the fish like it very much too, tons and tons of fish swimming around it.
This was our last dive. After the dive, we packed and motored back to the pier in Khao Lak. I bought Tom's DVD of the trip. Expensive, but what the hell, it's very good.
We got back to the SDS office about 3:00, Katrin and I exchanged photos, while Alexa found out about buses to Ranong. One will be coming through town about 3:50, 160 baht.
I used internet for a bit, then met the girls at the bus stop. The bus came. It's an A/C bus, but all the seats were taken, so we had to stand for a while. After about 20 minutes, people started getting off, and we got seats.
Got to Ranong about 7:30 and took a songthaew taxi to the Blue Crab Guest House. Alexa knew about this guest house, it's right beside the pier where the boat to Koh Chang will leave from. Alexa and Katrin got a room and I got a room, we showered, then went to the internet (15 baht/hour at an internet place close!), then went back to a restaurant for supper, but they were done with food. We didn't eat supper that night, and went to bed.
Toast and tea, then the first dive at Koh Bon. Saw a big leopard shark, 5-6 feet long. Awesome.
After the dive, had breakfast, then boated to Boon Sung Wreck. This was a dredger "ship"...not a ship in the traditional sense, it had no engine, the dredger was towed around by other boats, dredging the ocean bottom for tin. In strong winds, it overturned and sank in the mid 1980's, and sat on the bottom floor upside down. In 2004, the tsunami tore it apart, so it's no longer in one piece.
It was cool, wreck dives are always more interesting because they're different. And the fish like it very much too, tons and tons of fish swimming around it.
This was our last dive. After the dive, we packed and motored back to the pier in Khao Lak. I bought Tom's DVD of the trip. Expensive, but what the hell, it's very good.
We got back to the SDS office about 3:00, Katrin and I exchanged photos, while Alexa found out about buses to Ranong. One will be coming through town about 3:50, 160 baht.
I used internet for a bit, then met the girls at the bus stop. The bus came. It's an A/C bus, but all the seats were taken, so we had to stand for a while. After about 20 minutes, people started getting off, and we got seats.
Got to Ranong about 7:30 and took a songthaew taxi to the Blue Crab Guest House. Alexa knew about this guest house, it's right beside the pier where the boat to Koh Chang will leave from. Alexa and Katrin got a room and I got a room, we showered, then went to the internet (15 baht/hour at an internet place close!), then went back to a restaurant for supper, but they were done with food. We didn't eat supper that night, and went to bed.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Similan Islands Diving Trip, Day 4
Got woken up at 6:30 by Stefano and his bell, "Good Morning, Good Morning", in an annoyingly friendly Italian accent. I was soooooo tired. Had toast and tea, then the morning briefing. We're diving Richelieu Rock, one of the top 10 dive sites in the world. IMHO, it wasn't amazing, but probably because tons of other boats and divers. 11 boats, including our own, were here. Visibility wasn't all that awesome. I did have 57 minutes bottom time, however. 60 minutes is the max.
After the dive, had breakfast. Because of my 57 minutes dive time, I was one of the last ones there and got the shit sausages.
The second dive was at the same location. Saw a huge school of barracuda. Awesome.
Had lunch, then I crashed, laying on the bench in the lunch area for 2-3 hours. When I woke up, Amy (?), another dive master, and Seth's wife, laughed and said "Good morning" to me. She was just writing up the dive briefing for dive three, at Ta Chai Plateau.
Cool diving here, lots of huge boulders, very strong current, it was hard to swim against it. Everyone was holding on to the mooring rope, and being horizontal from the strong current. Afterwards, an Aussie guy on the our boat remarked that there were a bunch of Japanese divers from another boat hanging on to our mooring rope for dear life, their eyes super wide.
After the dive, had a snack, then took the dinghy to a beautiful white coral sand beach on Koh Ta Chai. There was a small black-tipped reef shark swimming around near shore.
I backed out of the night dive tonight, I'm completely exhausted. Andrea, Don and Katrin are not doing it either, so I feel better with my decision. Alexa (German/Austrian/Italian girl) and Katrin invited me to go up to Ranong and Koh Chang with them after the dive trip.
Lounged around while the others did their night dive, and had an awesome supper. After supper, we watched the first part of Tom's video he's doing of the trip. Tom is the official videographer for the company, and he does a hi-def DVD of all the trips, which you can buy afterwards for 3000 baht.
To bed about 9:45.
After the dive, had breakfast. Because of my 57 minutes dive time, I was one of the last ones there and got the shit sausages.
The second dive was at the same location. Saw a huge school of barracuda. Awesome.
Had lunch, then I crashed, laying on the bench in the lunch area for 2-3 hours. When I woke up, Amy (?), another dive master, and Seth's wife, laughed and said "Good morning" to me. She was just writing up the dive briefing for dive three, at Ta Chai Plateau.
Cool diving here, lots of huge boulders, very strong current, it was hard to swim against it. Everyone was holding on to the mooring rope, and being horizontal from the strong current. Afterwards, an Aussie guy on the our boat remarked that there were a bunch of Japanese divers from another boat hanging on to our mooring rope for dear life, their eyes super wide.
After the dive, had a snack, then took the dinghy to a beautiful white coral sand beach on Koh Ta Chai. There was a small black-tipped reef shark swimming around near shore.
I backed out of the night dive tonight, I'm completely exhausted. Andrea, Don and Katrin are not doing it either, so I feel better with my decision. Alexa (German/Austrian/Italian girl) and Katrin invited me to go up to Ranong and Koh Chang with them after the dive trip.
Lounged around while the others did their night dive, and had an awesome supper. After supper, we watched the first part of Tom's video he's doing of the trip. Tom is the official videographer for the company, and he does a hi-def DVD of all the trips, which you can buy afterwards for 3000 baht.
To bed about 9:45.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Similan Islands Diving Trip, Day 3
Stefano woke us up at 6:00am with a big bell. I got up, had a morning snack, toast and tea, and got ready for the first dive at Elephant Head Rock.
After first dive, had breakfast, then went to a beautiful coral sand beach for an hour, hiked up to a viewpoint. Elena remarked that I looked like a dive flag. I was well tanned, but had a white stripe running diagonally across my chest...in Khao Lak, I was walking on the beach with a bag slung over my shoulder. Elena, Gennardo (Italian guy, friend of Elena's) and me swam back to the boat instead of waiting for the dinghy.
Second dive site was called North Point.
We then boated over to Koh Bon for our third dive, not part of the Similan Islands, but still part of the national park. On the way there, someone spotted a large manta ray swimming off to one side of the boat. Cool. Koh Bon is supposed to be one of the top dive sites in Thailand, and our best chance at seeing manta rays while diving. The manta rays come in to "cleaning stations" on the reef to let other fish clean them. Think of it as an underwater carwash.
Third dive was very impressive and didn't disappoint! We saw lots and lots of fish, and near the end, Seth started dinging his metal rod over and over and over, continually. Either there was an emergency or something awesome was near. Seth made the manta ray sign, and started swimming away from the reef, then stopped and pointed. And there it was, maybe 20 metres away, as it swam past, back out to the ocean. It was so smooth and elegant as it "flew" along. I guessed it's size at 2.5-3 metres, which other corroborated later. It was the highlight of the trip, because it's not that common to see them.
There was another site to see at this dive site as well. At Koh Bon, the current is very strong. Typically, you would start the dive at one end of the dive site and let the current take you...easier than swimming against the current! At the end of the site is a large ridge. You can take cover behind the ridge to protect yourself from the current, but many divers hang on to the top of the ridge right in the current. While humourous to look at, it's not very good for the corals.
After the dive, we had an afternoon snack of banana fritters, pomello (fruit) and wontons.
After that, went to the top deck and laid on a mat as the sun set. Earlier, I had told Seth that I was going to do the night dive, but as I lay there, I didn't really feel like doing it. I was sooo pooped, and didn't really feel like getting wet again. Before the briefing, I told Seth I wasn't going. Katrin and Andrea were doing it, but Don wasn't. Seth gave me a hard time about backing out. As I sat downstairs, though, and was no longer in a horizontal position, I kinda felt like doing it again, so told Seth so. He was happy.
Night dive was good. I saw a huge snail (the shell perhaps 10 inches in diameter) ever so slowly moving across the ocean floor. Katrin saw me looking at it, and she later argued that it wasn't moving. I asked Seth, he said they do have very large snails here. We also saw a bat fish and lots of big crabs, their red eyes reflecing back the torch light.
Before the night dive, the Thai crew went fishing before supper and caught a trevally. They made sushi out of it as an appetizer before supper. Supper was good, and had a frozen beer after supper.
After supper, we watched a video Gerald (another dive master) made of weird and wonderful creatures of the sea.
About 10:30, decided to try and sleep on the upper deck. Bruce and Stefano were up there too, but it started to rain, just spit a bit. Stefano was the first to grab his blanket and pillow and go below. Shortly after, the rain stopped, but about 10 minutes later, another sprinkling, at which time I went back to my bunk.
After first dive, had breakfast, then went to a beautiful coral sand beach for an hour, hiked up to a viewpoint. Elena remarked that I looked like a dive flag. I was well tanned, but had a white stripe running diagonally across my chest...in Khao Lak, I was walking on the beach with a bag slung over my shoulder. Elena, Gennardo (Italian guy, friend of Elena's) and me swam back to the boat instead of waiting for the dinghy.
Second dive site was called North Point.
We then boated over to Koh Bon for our third dive, not part of the Similan Islands, but still part of the national park. On the way there, someone spotted a large manta ray swimming off to one side of the boat. Cool. Koh Bon is supposed to be one of the top dive sites in Thailand, and our best chance at seeing manta rays while diving. The manta rays come in to "cleaning stations" on the reef to let other fish clean them. Think of it as an underwater carwash.
Third dive was very impressive and didn't disappoint! We saw lots and lots of fish, and near the end, Seth started dinging his metal rod over and over and over, continually. Either there was an emergency or something awesome was near. Seth made the manta ray sign, and started swimming away from the reef, then stopped and pointed. And there it was, maybe 20 metres away, as it swam past, back out to the ocean. It was so smooth and elegant as it "flew" along. I guessed it's size at 2.5-3 metres, which other corroborated later. It was the highlight of the trip, because it's not that common to see them.
There was another site to see at this dive site as well. At Koh Bon, the current is very strong. Typically, you would start the dive at one end of the dive site and let the current take you...easier than swimming against the current! At the end of the site is a large ridge. You can take cover behind the ridge to protect yourself from the current, but many divers hang on to the top of the ridge right in the current. While humourous to look at, it's not very good for the corals.
After the dive, we had an afternoon snack of banana fritters, pomello (fruit) and wontons.
After that, went to the top deck and laid on a mat as the sun set. Earlier, I had told Seth that I was going to do the night dive, but as I lay there, I didn't really feel like doing it. I was sooo pooped, and didn't really feel like getting wet again. Before the briefing, I told Seth I wasn't going. Katrin and Andrea were doing it, but Don wasn't. Seth gave me a hard time about backing out. As I sat downstairs, though, and was no longer in a horizontal position, I kinda felt like doing it again, so told Seth so. He was happy.
Night dive was good. I saw a huge snail (the shell perhaps 10 inches in diameter) ever so slowly moving across the ocean floor. Katrin saw me looking at it, and she later argued that it wasn't moving. I asked Seth, he said they do have very large snails here. We also saw a bat fish and lots of big crabs, their red eyes reflecing back the torch light.
Before the night dive, the Thai crew went fishing before supper and caught a trevally. They made sushi out of it as an appetizer before supper. Supper was good, and had a frozen beer after supper.
After supper, we watched a video Gerald (another dive master) made of weird and wonderful creatures of the sea.
About 10:30, decided to try and sleep on the upper deck. Bruce and Stefano were up there too, but it started to rain, just spit a bit. Stefano was the first to grab his blanket and pillow and go below. Shortly after, the rain stopped, but about 10 minutes later, another sprinkling, at which time I went back to my bunk.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Similan Islands Diving Trip, Day 2
Up about 6:15, before wakeup call, had toast and tea, then we had our first dive briefing, and first dive about 8:00. This dive site is called Barracuda Point. Katrin bailed almost immediately. I was super anxious and stressed, this was my first deep dive (30 metres) in 5 years. As we went down, the current was very strong, I felt pressure on my lungs, and I felt like I wasn't getting enough oxygen, and my buddy wasn't there. As we got deeper, I was on the verge of calling it quits and going back up. Mind over matter, mind over matter. It seemed to take forever to get down, and I don't really remember any of it, I was too self absorbed, wondering if I should ascend. When we finally reached the bottom, 30 metres, we found a sandy spot, and Seth did a couple of exercises with Don and Andrea. They were doing their Advanced Open Water course, so Seth would be quizzing them off and on for the first few dives. As they did their exercises, I was able to relax a bit, and start breathing more normally and get my heart beat down. Mind over matter. Now I felt better. Problem #2: I was so stressed and breathing so heavily, my oxygen went down much quicker than expected. As the dive went on, I got down to 50 bar (the limit, when you should ascend) way before everyone else. So that we wouldn't have to cut the dive short because of me, I breathed on Seth's secondary regulator for awhile, saving my oxygen for our safety stop.
After the first dive, Seth moved me to a bigger tank. We had breakfast, then had the opportunity to go ashore to a beautiful sandy white beach with a resort. You can rent tents too, but I couldn't find out how much.
We did our second dive around 11:30. Katrin made it down this time, after a bit of a struggle. I fared much better. The second dive site was called East of Eden.
After second dive, we had lunch. There are two cooks on board, cooking fresh meals for us three times daily.
Third dive happened mid afternoon, called West of Eden. Very nice dive.
After third dive, had snacks. I was a pig, so hungry, and gobbled everything up. Diving uses so much energy, you burn so many calories, it's important to eat and drink lots.
A bunch of us rested on the upper deck as the sun set. All of a sudden Elana, hot Italian girl, started yelling dolphins, dolphins. Every jumped, and about 200 metres from the boat, a large pod of dolphins were swimming along, some even jumping out of the water.
We did our night dive about 7:30, and I was quite anxious. My only other night dive was 5 years ago, and I remember it being quite scary, because you can't anything, except where your torch is pointing. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We saw quite a few lobsters and a big red crab. The night dive at the same dive site as dive 3, West of Eden.
Had supper after the night dive, and then hung out. I went to the upper deck about 9:30 to find all the dive masters sharing a joint. LOL.
Went to bed about 10:00, after almost everyone else had gone to bed.
Incidentally, during the dives, we see lots and lots of fishes and corals and stuff. Much of it is fairly typically, so I'm only going to remark about exciting things I see on the dives.
After the first dive, Seth moved me to a bigger tank. We had breakfast, then had the opportunity to go ashore to a beautiful sandy white beach with a resort. You can rent tents too, but I couldn't find out how much.
We did our second dive around 11:30. Katrin made it down this time, after a bit of a struggle. I fared much better. The second dive site was called East of Eden.
After second dive, we had lunch. There are two cooks on board, cooking fresh meals for us three times daily.
Third dive happened mid afternoon, called West of Eden. Very nice dive.
After third dive, had snacks. I was a pig, so hungry, and gobbled everything up. Diving uses so much energy, you burn so many calories, it's important to eat and drink lots.
A bunch of us rested on the upper deck as the sun set. All of a sudden Elana, hot Italian girl, started yelling dolphins, dolphins. Every jumped, and about 200 metres from the boat, a large pod of dolphins were swimming along, some even jumping out of the water.
We did our night dive about 7:30, and I was quite anxious. My only other night dive was 5 years ago, and I remember it being quite scary, because you can't anything, except where your torch is pointing. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We saw quite a few lobsters and a big red crab. The night dive at the same dive site as dive 3, West of Eden.
Had supper after the night dive, and then hung out. I went to the upper deck about 9:30 to find all the dive masters sharing a joint. LOL.
Went to bed about 10:00, after almost everyone else had gone to bed.
Incidentally, during the dives, we see lots and lots of fishes and corals and stuff. Much of it is fairly typically, so I'm only going to remark about exciting things I see on the dives.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Similan Islands Diving Trip, Day 1
Up about 8:00, motorbiked to Police Boat 813. This police boat was swept more than 1.5km inland during the tsunami, and it's in the same spot where the tsunami wave left it, as a memorial. Wow.
Took my big backpack to the dive centre and got fitted for my dive attire. Then checked out of Happy Lagoon. Walked around town, and stopped for a shake at a cafe, and a huge storm rolled in around 2:30. Lots of thunder and lightning and wind. Stayed at cafe and had two grilled cheese sandwiches. Storm lasted over an hour. After the storm, headed back to the dive centre and waited.
Got taken to the boat about 6:30 and met everyone. We had an introduction from Stefano, a funny Italian dive master. He introduced all the other dive masters and the Thai staff. My dive master is Seth, from the US. Katrin, from Germany, is my dive buddy. An older couple from the US, Andrea and Don, are also diving with us. There's another guy on the boat, Bruce, he's done this trip on this boat 18 times now, and this is his 10th time in a row.
After the introductions and rules, we had supper, the the boat left, about 9:00, I think. We would wake up at our first dive site. I stayed upstairs and talked and went to bed about 10:30, one of the last ones.
Took my big backpack to the dive centre and got fitted for my dive attire. Then checked out of Happy Lagoon. Walked around town, and stopped for a shake at a cafe, and a huge storm rolled in around 2:30. Lots of thunder and lightning and wind. Stayed at cafe and had two grilled cheese sandwiches. Storm lasted over an hour. After the storm, headed back to the dive centre and waited.
Got taken to the boat about 6:30 and met everyone. We had an introduction from Stefano, a funny Italian dive master. He introduced all the other dive masters and the Thai staff. My dive master is Seth, from the US. Katrin, from Germany, is my dive buddy. An older couple from the US, Andrea and Don, are also diving with us. There's another guy on the boat, Bruce, he's done this trip on this boat 18 times now, and this is his 10th time in a row.
After the introductions and rules, we had supper, the the boat left, about 9:00, I think. We would wake up at our first dive site. I stayed upstairs and talked and went to bed about 10:30, one of the last ones.
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