A little piece of paradise- Koh Tao

 

We flew into the fairly small and very rainy airport at Koh Samui and made our way to the hotel we would stay at for the night. The main street of the island was full of typical beach town shops, restaurants and resorts. So many resorts, in fact, that you couldn’t actually see the beach as they all fought to be the closest to the water. We were glad that we only planned to stay there for the night as it reminded me of a Panama City spring break type of place (lots of scantily clad teens on a mission to get wasted). We were looking for something a little more laid back and quiet (perhaps, we’re finally getting old…).

We got our wish with Koh Tao. After a two hour ferry ride we were rewarded with views of emerald green water and white sandy beaches. It looked exactly like a post card and our moods instantly improved with the promise of just over a week in this beautiful place. We were picked up from the pier and taken to Sairee Cottage, our resort/dive school. There were a handful of resorts on a mostly pedestrianized dirt road that sat meters from Sairee Beach and the ocean. We were shown to our room and went for some food at the Sairee Cottage restaurant and were welcomed with smiling faces and immediately felt at home.

With the full moon approaching the main attraction of the islands for the crazy teens and singles is the Full Moon Party at Koh Phanang Island, so there weren’t many people crowding our little paradise. The next few days leading up to Christmas was spent sitting on a small patch of beach outside our rooms soaking up the sun, eating Thai food and sipping fruity cocktails.The Sairee Cottage Beagle puppy kept us entertained when it wasn’t attacking somebody's beach towels.  Christmas day found our little cottage covered in green and red balloons and Christmas songs blaring from the stereo. We sat outside and watched the sunset as we feasted on delicious meals of fresh seafood and prime rib (we decided to splurge for the holiday). Bliss. We skyped our families and checked on Marks sister Anna- on the verge of labor at any minute..

 

Irish the Beagle puppy

A Christmas sunset

A couple days later we finally got our first Thai massage. We booked in at a small cottage parlor that backed up on the beach. With waves washing up only a few feet away from us we relaxed into our massage. Around $7 (5 GBP) bought us a full hour. It was unbelievably relaxing…for the first 45 minutes. This being my very first massage, Thai or otherwise, I was expecting to walk out feeling relaxed and calm. The last 15 minutes of our time was spent in what I can only describe as torture as she twisted my body in ways I didn’t think possible and punched me, really..repeatedly. Mark assured me, over the sound of my grunts and cries, that this was normal and that I would feel great afterwards. We walked away a little shell shocked and smelling of Tiger Balm but I have to say I was feeling better than I had an hour earlier.

Massages on the beach (no happy ending included)

That night we began our dive lessons for our SSI Open water course(similar to PADI, just cheaper). We watched videos for a couple hours and met our instructor, Bear (yea, that’s his name..even on facebook). We had a great group, Hannah and Moa from Sweden, Richard from London and Pat who was helping the instructor out while earning his Dive Masters. The videos were a bit silly but we were excited and couldn’t wait for the following day when we would actually put on our gear for the first time and jump in the ocean. That night we ate dinner next to Richard and his friend Julia, also from London, and called it an early night.

The next morning we had a lesson with Bear and after lunch we were finally ready to get into the water. We walked the short distance to the beach and waded in to do our first set of skills (learning to use our regulators, clearing our masks, signalling our buddies, etc.). Unfortunately, the visibility was very low but we still completed our tasks huddled closely together in the persistent waves.

6:45 the next morning we were boarding a boat to go on our first open water dive. Everyone was a little nervous and excited (and in Richards case, hung over). The ride was short and before we knew it we were in the water and Bear gave the signal to descend. My whole life my parents have told me stories of their dive experiences, the closest I had ever gotten was snorkelling in the Florida Keys.  This was something I had been looking forward to for a very long time and it didn’t disappoint. As cliche as it may sound, it’s like a whole new world, almost like another planet. Things you’ve only ever seen in pictures and on nature documentaries are now right in front of your face. Bear took us around the reef a bit before we had to settle on the bottom to complete a skill set and then we were off again as he pointed out amazing little creatures that were part of his every day life. When we finally had to come up we had all fallen in love (even Rich who had to throw up in his regulator once). The reef was full of life and color and none of us could wait to get back in. After a quick snack and debrief we were back in and officially hooked.

Our dive group

The next day was the last day of our course and even though Bear assured us our exam would be a piece of cake none of us wanted to be the only person in the history of Sairee Cottage to flunk. Luckily, we all passed with flying colors and were officially ready for our final dives later in the afternoon.

That night our group had dinner and decided to go to the local Ladyboy Cabaret. We got there just in time for a Lady Gaga performance and danced along with the performers. Richard, all to willingly, volunteered to go on stage in costume and we all had a great time. Mark was feeling a little under the weather but was cheered up when  the grand finale of an Abba medley was performed (note:Mark hates Abba with a weirdly fierce passion). Mark went home to bed and I carried on only coming home after Rich had hurt his knee while jumping into the ocean. Fantastic way to end our course-unless of course, you were Richard.

fabulous!

The next day was New Years Eve and after Rich and Julia  went to the hospital for some crutches we prepared for the evening. Julia bought glow paint and we went for dinner where Mark got a very special text from England letting us know we were a new Uncle and Aunt!!!!! High on the news we celebrated the evening with Chinese lanterns, glow paint and champagne. A lovely way to bring in the new year.

The next day saw a trail of glow paint around the island indicating where we had been. We danced until early hours but even as we were waking up the local Thai’s were still drinking and dancing, we couldn’t help but be impressed.  We spent the day recovering as we had decided to stay a bit longer to complete the Advanced Course starting the next day. This course would allow us to dive at 30m/100ft (Open water only allows depths up to 18m) and it included a night dive.

The course went really well and we almost saw a whale shark. Technically, we dove with one, we just never saw it. Details. We also completed our very first solo dive without an instructor and without a major fight. A success. The night dive wasn’t my favorite as I’m scared of the dark and I spent the entire time glued to Bears fins but it was an entirely new experience and I’m glad we had the opportunity to do it.

Another qualification called for more celebration and we finally partook in the infamous Thailand whiskey buckets with our new friends Richard and Julia. More recovering was done and we spent the days eating and relaxing on the beach.

Buckets!

I can easily see why people come to the islands of Thailand and never leave. This blog is mostly about diving and ‘celebrating’ and that’s mostly what we did but we did it with some pretty fantastic people in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. Shoes aren’t required anywhere, in fact they are discouraged most places and a motorbike or a boat is all you need to get anywhere on the island, the food is delicious, and the diving is amazing. I fell in love with Koh Tao and sincerely hope to return one day.

 

-H

Little Miss Megan Hope Fortune, the newest member of the family!