If Terry could have had his
way we never would have gone to Thailand because it always seemed
too hip to go there and far too cliché. However, Tracy
got her way and convinced Terry that this was where we should
start our first real travelling adventure together. Even though
we lived together in Kos the previous year, we had never actually
even been on an aeroplane together. So how would we cope with
just a one-way ticket to Bangkok and only a tenuous job offer
in a diving shop on Koh Samui? The simple answer is we did great
and had an amazing time even though the journey through Asia was
not always an easy one. So here's how it started off.
After touching down in Bangkok, following a 12 hour flight from
Heathrow, we decided to try our luck at getting a standby flight
straight out to Koh Samui. Eventually, after an 8 hour wait (taking
it in turns to sleep on the terminal floor) we boarded our plane.
A short flight to Koh Samui and then our first taste of Thai rip-off
taxi drivers who we eventually ditched in a flooded main street
in Chaweng, without paying him as he'd tried to take us to everywhere
except where we had wanted to go. We had also by then, missed
our meeting with the manager of Calypso Dive Shop. Now not knowing
what to do in a strange town in the dark and flooded streets,
we tried to hatch a plan. We eventually found a reasonably priced
place to stay and after some much needed showers, we treated ourselves
to a couple of drinks in a local bar before going to bed for some
well earned sleep. Just as we drifted off into luxurious sleep
we were woken with a start by the bar next door coming to life
with the deafening sounds of Bon Jovi... Oh! Deep Joy!
We changed accommodation first thing the next morning to a far
more reputable establishment and arranged a meeting with the manager
of Calypso, who offers to teach us both to become instructors
(at this stage, Tracy was Advanced and Terry was Divemaster),
and give us accommodation if we would run his shop on the beach
in Ban Lamai just down the road. We were willing to give it a
go and it was decided we should go for a dive the next day to
one on the sites we would be operating from, to check out the
set up before we committed ourselves. Top
Luckily, we didn't commit ourselves straight away, because the
dive site was terrible. The Divemaster got everyone lost and we
had to wait 2 hours for transport back to base! Needless to say
we walked out of the dive shop without bothering to say farewell!
The next few days were spent going around all the dive shops in
Chaweng looking for work, but as Tracy was only an Advanced diver
(even though she worked for seven months on a dive boat in Greece),
and Terry is a relatively new Divemaster, the job hunting wasn't
looking good. We decided to head to Koh Tao as we'd heard that
the diving was better there and there were far more dive shops
than in Chaweng.
A quick ferry ride and we got our first glimpse of the "Turtle
Island" (Koh Tao), where unbeknown to us, our luck would
change. First of all, we got a knock back from Buddha View Dive
shop who had offered us the world by e-mail and phone but not
a lot in reality. We spent one night in their accommodation, but
moved out the next day to a place further down Chalok Ban Ko Beach,
to a place called "Sunshine Bungalows", which also had
a small dive shop attached and after a good long chat with Kate,
the resident instructor, Tracy was signed up to train up to Divemaster
with unlimited diving for a period of 2 months until our visa's
ran out. Plus Terry, was allowed to dive for free all the time
Tracy was in training. Top
So, we settled into our little bungalow which was now costing
us about £1.50 a night as we were on long term rates. Tracy
spent her days as a Divemaster Trainee and Terry got into the
routine of going around Koh Tao's 20 or so dive shops looking
for work. Terry eventually got some work with Devrim, at New Heaven
Dive centre, fixing his boats in exchange for unlimited dives.
Soon, Terry, got a bit of paying work with Sunshine divers, courtesy
of P-Moo, the manager, but ended up on a saline drip due to dehydration
after only one day on the job! Not a good start! We spent two happy
months on Koh Tao. Diving nearly every day, looking after a gang
of puppies, and generally making lots of new friends including
Lizzy and Jonas, Nick and Esther, Steve (Devil), Dave Chivers,
and Warren and Emma. Tracy became a fully fledged Divemaster,
but we started to get itchy feet, especially now we had both gained
a fair bit of experience and felt we needed to explore more of
Asia's Dive sites - so, we decide to move on.
Next stop, Chumporn and the overnight train to Malaysia. We returned
to Thailand 4 months later after being through Malaysia and Indonesia.
This time we headed for the west coast, starting of in Krabi and
Ao Nang. We did a bit of work for Phra Nang divers in Ao Nang,
but not enough to keep us in a reasonable standard of living,
so we headed for the Phi Phi Islands and ended up working for
the German run Barakuda Divers. Once again settled into a working
routine and a good social life, more friends, Rod and Kitty. We
started frequenting a bar called Tin Tins and we met up with several
friends we had made on our travels though SE Asia, including Russell and Sonja from
Perhentian Islands and Steve and Binh, who Tracy had taught to
dive in Gili Meno, Indonesia. This time they did their Advanced
course with Tracy in Phi Phi. Binh's sister Phung joined us for
a while but spent most of her holiday in bed with food poisoning!
Unfortunately, a late monsoon
hit Phi Phi , which blew out the
diving completely and the rain turned the streets in Tonsai Bay
into running sewers. So with funds running low and after a quick
luxury blow-out trip back to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia for Rhona's
wedding, we head back to Ao Nang, but the weather was just as
bad. Now pot less we had no choice but to head back by coach to
Bangkok and book ourselves two tickets on Cathay Pacific, via
Hong Kong, and back to England for our second winter together
trying to earn enough money for our next adventure!
In November 2002, three
and a half years after our first visit to Koh Tao, we returned;
mainly as a stop gap for somewhere to spend Christmas and
New Year cheaply and to visit friends who were still on the island
(Steve, Darius etc). We ended up staying and working for the
following four months, Terry as a freelance instructor, and Tracy
as a Staff instructor and freelancer. We then got an offer of work
in a place we had never been before - Kaoh Lak on the West Coast,
which is used as a base for heading out to the Similan and Surin
Islands and Burma. As we had never dived these before, the
temptation was too great to resist. Please look at our
Thailand West Coast page to see
what the diving was like and how we fared... Top
KOH TAO DIVE SITES
All the diving we did with Sunshine Divers
in Koh Tao was done from a fairly large dive boat which had the
capacity for around 30 divers or more. We probably never had more
than ten at a time so life was pretty easy. The only trouble was
there was quite often four dives a day. Two in the morning leaving
the pier at 8.00am and another two in the afternoon leaving at
1.00pm. Plus the occasional night dive, but they were generally
run by Bans, the parent shop.
On all trips out, there was always endless
supplies of free water (a must), tea, coffee, (should only be
drunk in small quantities or it can cause dehydration as Terry
learned to his displeasure), plus sliced pineapple between dives.
There are over twenty dive sites around Koh Tao, some good, some
not so good, plus others, which are only really used as training
dives. So we have listed our personal favourites. Top
CHUMPORN PINNACLE
Probably Koh Tao's premier dive site and
therefore can get over crowded in the mornings, especially when
the big boats from Bans and Buddha View turn up and deposit their
divers on the reef. Luckily, as we were in a small dive shop that
wasn't so busy, we could arrange it so we could be out there in
the afternoon and have the site to ourselves.
The site itself consists of four massive
rocks going to a depth of 34m and rising to around 16m. There
is a swim through at 28m but it's a bit of a squeeze. It's not
often that the dive will go as deep as the seabed but if it does,
keep an eye out for the Jenkins Whiptail Rays. One of the highlights
of the dive is the resident and friendly school of Batfish, which
always fascinated Tracy as she called them the souls of squashed
people (whatever that means). From the depths, travel across the
top of the pinnacles, some are covered in Anemones and their territorial
occupants. There are also coral trees, which are home to some
large Groupers. On your safety stop drift across the reef to your
boat, looking down as the visibility is so good, you can still
see all the life on the pinnacles from your 5m vantage point. Top
SHARK ISLAND
A small island, more of a rock, protruding
from the sea. Located at the south-east end of Koh Tao, and reaching
a depth of 24m. This has some of the best assortment of marine
life around Koh Tao. There are purple, crimson and gold soft corals,
gardens of anemones with their bright green and purple undersides
that sway in the currents. Plus various forms of hard corals and
a myriad of marine life in general. There is even a man made shrine
with a head stone for a deceased local diver named "Kong"
who loved Shark Island so much he wanted it to be his final resting
place. So if you do find his memorial, please be respectful to
it.
Currents can be strong around the island
and can also be very changeable, so it is good to keep an eye
on your air consumption. Another hazard in these waters are the
highly territorial, Titan Trigger Fish, which do attack divers
if you get to close to their nest especially in breeding time.
Tracy had the misfortune of being attacked by five at one time
which shook her up quite a bit. As anyone who has been attacked
by one will tell you, one is bad enough, but to upset 5 in one
go is enough to make you suck your tank dry in minutes while you
defend yourself! Top
GREEN ROCK
This site ranges from 28 to 10m and is
renowned for its maze of swim throughs and Trigger Pits! The Trigger
pits are an area of sand where literally hundreds of pairs of
Yellow Margin and Titan Trigger Fish have made their breeding
ground! So be careful not to get too close otherwise who knows
what hell you could unleash on yourself, so observe from a respectful
distance. On the main part of the site there is a multitude of
swim throughs to wind your way through so be sure to have your
buoyancy sorted out properly to get the full enjoyment from this
dive. Top
WHITE ROCK
Ranging in depth from 20 to 8m this is
probably Koh Tao's most dived site, and still very much alive.
It is home to Trevor and Tina, two of Koh Tao's most notorious
inhabitants. This pair of Trigger Fish are well known for tenaciously
defending their nest from divers who pass to close! Trevor has
even sent some divers packing with various cuts and bruises! These
attacks are not always the fish's fault, as over the years certain
dive guides and instructors have purposely entered Trigger Fish
nests to get a rise from the fish and to amuse their customers.
Admittedly, a frenzied attack by a Trigger Fish does look amusing,
but the constant provocation of these creatures is making them
hate all divers. Subsequently they go for any unsuspecting poor
sod who happens to get a bit close, so once again, try and be
a bit respectful of where you are and be aware of who's home you
are in! Top
SOUTH WEST PINNACLES
About an hours boat ride from Koh Tao,
this submerged pinnacle with a depth of 30m rising to about 6m
is virtually impossible to find, especially if someone (generally
a disgruntled fisherman) has stolen the marker buoy. This happened
to us one day and we had to abort the trip! Another amusing time
was when we got out there to find a sea full of Jellyfish! Terry
told his group of female divers not to worry as they would only
be in the first few metres, and that once in the depths everything
would be OK. So down they went! Getting to around 26m and still
surrounded by the Jellyfish, they then realised the error of their
ways! The only high point of that dive was watching Batfish swallow
the Jellyfish whole! Quite a strange sight. Under normal circumstances
this is a beautiful place where you can find Blue Spotted Rays
and Leopard Sharks in the sand. As you slowly ascend around the
main pinnacle you are greeted with a carpet of anemones, with
Scorpion fish and Tiger Cowries seeking cover amongst them. Top
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