I can’t stop smiling. I am almost a certified Open Water SCUBA Diver!
For some time now, I’ve wanted to get my SCUBA certification but haven’t dedicated the time to do the course, take the written test, and complete the mandatory open water dives to become PADI certified. What better time to finally do this than on a trip around the world? I suppose I could have gotten certified somewhere in Europe, but I chose Thailand as the spot. After some research, I chose to take a 4 day course on the island of Koh Lanta. “Lanta” as it’s called by the people who live here, is quieter than some of the other Thai islands like Phi Phi and Phuket, but still a great place from which to go diving. Yesterday was spent in the classroom/pool but today I did two open water dives! Me, ocean, regulator, tank. Exhilarating! There is only one other student in my class, Kristyn. She’s from Seattle, is on holiday in Thailand for three weeks and is a great dive buddy. Jake has been certified since he was 12 so no need for him to take this course but on Friday we are finally going to dive together! The dive shop (Palm Beach Divers) said that he should join us during the final two open water dives when I become officially certified. I can't wait to share this experience with him.
Today's dive site...Koh Ha Lagoon
The first dive today was to 10 meters for 45 minutes and the second dive to 12 meters for 50 minutes. Having been snorkeling before, I’ve seen some pretty amazing fish. Today, not only did I see amazing fish, but I saw amazing coral. It is an entirely different world down there. I can’t wait to go back. I think everyone should get SCUBA certified. I’m not sure if I’d have to really talk him into it, but I hope my brother gets certified someday because it would be a super cool experience for us to share together.
We had an underwater photographer with us that took these awesome photos. I saw an incredible amount of spectacularly colored fish and coral. In addition to what’s shown below, I saw many sea stars, trumpet fish, puffer fish, parrot fish and clark's anemonefish (clownfish with black instead of white).
One of the first things I saw....a moray eel....I saw many!
One of those two divers is me, but look at that coral = amazing.
These are Moorish Idols....I followed many of them around today and thought that they were beautiful...
That's me in the blue fins!
~ Jesslyn