Buddha View Dive Resort Ko Tao

We were happy to be leaving Ko Phangan on Monday. The awful accommodation was just too much to handle after 3 nights. We had to walk back along the beach to get to the main road to flag a taxi but the tide was in so we had to wade through knee deep water to do so. We jumped in to a Songthaew to the pier and boarded the ferry after an hour delay. Before the boat set off we were handed small plastic bags....yes incase we were sick. Lots of people refused them and said they'd be fine but soon af...

I've been a little stressed about finding a job when I return home, so I decided to beef up my resume with a new qualification: Open Water Diver. I just spent 5 days in an Open Water Diver course at the Buddha View Diver Resort on Ko Tao, learning about buoyancy, water currents, water pressure, and so much more. We even had homework. Included in the course were 5 dives to various reefs around the island. I instantly fell in love with scuba diving. With 18 meters of water between me and the su...

January 16-25, 2009: Koh Tao, Gulf of Thailand Getting Settled into Koh Tao and Island Life, Thai-style Mary and I took an overnight bus from Bangkok to the town of Chumporn, the gateway to the islands in the Gulf of Thailand. Our bus arrived at 4am and the two of us spent three slightly cold hours huddled on the docks as we awaited our 7:30am departure for the island of Koh Tao. Mary's partner-in-crime, Sarah, was unable to SCUBA dive, so she spent an extra day in Bangkok and would join us l...

Hey !! So after the full moon party, we left Koh Phagnan the next morning to make our way to another island called Koh Tao. It is only about 1h30 by boat away from Koh Phagnan. Koh Tao is known for its incredible scuba diving around the island so we decided to take our PADI course which takes 4 days and allows you to dive at a depth of 18 m anywhere in the world for life. So for the first time of our trip, we decided not to opt for the cheap place because it is important that the resort has g...

HEY HEY!! how is everybody? sorry about not having kept up with the blog but we were in the islands and as you can imagine, everything is so much pricier there including the internet so we avoided being online. Anyways, here are the news since our first dive in the ocean. The day after our first dive in teh ocean, we had the final exam. It was pretty easy, open book and collaboration was allowed so without any surprises everybody passed as what they teach you in class is pretty much word for ...

eunice and i must have shopped around EVERYWHERE in bangkok to get the best possible deal at the best possible resort... we had a few things that were a must in booking our week on Koh Tao for our SCUBA certification... 1. cheap 2. PADI course 3. free rooms for the duration of our course 4. free transportation to Koh Tao from Bangkok (overnight bus/ferry) 5. and finally, good reviews online from other travelers... we ended up choosing Buddha View Dive Resort. for 9500 baht, we got free 4 nigh...

I'll start with the bad news. On our first night at Buddha View Dive Resort, we lost our digital camera. Officially, it was stolen, but we take all the blame for leaving it unattended for 1 hour while we had dinner. When we went back to look for it, the camera had disappeared. We patiently waited a couple days for someone to return the almost 3-year old camera that is of no tremendous value or use to anyone without the necessary chargers and cables. But no one did and it was heartbreaking. Th...

What have we been doing all week? We've been on Koh Tao searching for the perfect school to become PADI dive instructors, that's what... and we think we've found the place on the south coast of the island in a beautiful little bay called Chalok Ban Kao.

In 5 days on the island we toured the 5 biggest dive shops (there are over 40 shops in total, we focused on the ones best known for teaching new instructors). We're keen to get the shop that's right for us as we'll be there for a minim...

You might be wondering why we haven't blogged for er... 4 months or something. Well, sorry about that. Basically it's because we have come to a permanent stop in Thailand. The rucksacks have been emptied and put into retirement. We have now been on the tiny island of Koh Tao for 3 months, and we reckon we'll be here a good while longer, working as freelance PADI dive instructors. It's nice not to have to think about the next hostel anymore. Instead, our minds are now troubled by such question...

Arrive in Koh Tao with the prime intention of starting scuba diving course, but what awaits young Ziggy is happy happy times. Okay - start off by meeting up with Nick's buddy- Mike a sound South African guy who's been living in England for the last few years and Alex (crazy Swede) It's really ard to describe Koh tao in words, but without doubt it's the most beautiful pace i've ever been to and I can tell that i'm going to end up staying on the island for very long time. The main intention was...