Phew, no rest for the wicked! After completing our Day Skipper course on Friday 1 July, we caught the ferry straight back to the backpacker isle of Phi Phi, where we planned to do an open water scuba course. We'd barely settled into our bay-view bungalow - I was walllowing in the warm, shallow water - when Rich insisted on going to the dive shop IMMEDIATELY with the view to starting our course the very next day (I was planning a day off!).
So we promptly kicked off with the theory bit on Saturday. Martin, our young, laid-back British instructor, popped on the tutorial DVD and nipped out for a snack. All that pressure and boyancy physics was tough to digest on a hot Saturday afternoon (esp for Rich, who had 2 beers in him after watching rugby!). But we stayed awake and took home our little textbooks to read in our free time. The prime rule, as all our buddies who've done scuba will know, is not to hold your breath while diving.... at least this sunk in, even for Rich, who has a tendency to randomly hold his breath for no apparent reason.
It all started making sense on Sunday morning, when we headed down to the beach for our first confined water dive. Both of us immediately took to the sensation of breathing underwater and had no problem equalising. There were plenty of little techniques and exercises to practice, and Martin diligently guided us through controlling bouyancy, safe ascent, removing/replacing regulator and mask, removing/donning BCD and weightbelt, tired diver tow etc for 3 hours straight.
When we stumbled back onto dry land at 1pm, our legs nearly buckled under the weight of our tanks after so many hours of weightlessness in water. In the afternoon, there was more theory to get through, and by the time we left the dive shop at about 6pm we were KNACKERED!
Monday 8.15am we boarded the dive boat for our first two open water dives. The boat took us around the smaller island of Phi Phi Ley, to a reef on the lee side. The sea was quite choppy, but ... ahhh, once we were down it was bliss. Though still battling a little to fine-tune our bouyancy, we just loved the sensation of floating effortlessly along with ample time to observe the stunning marine life - corals of every colour and shape, exotic lion fish, bright blue starfish, small moray eels lying in wait, and hundreds of colourful reef fish all around. We were completely engrossed in this new world for just under an hour.
The second dive, later that day, as well as the third and fourth dives, on Tuesday, were equally mesmerising, and each time we saw some new and surprising things: Tuesday's observations included a Kuhl's sting-ray (with bright blue spots) some massive trigger fish and a big moray eel. Absolutely fantastic feeling! I think we're both hooked (yikes, I can feel some big spending coming on!).
We completed the theory bit on the Monday and wrote the little exam (multiple choice). I scored 95% while Rich achieved somewhere around 85%. One of his wrong answers had Martin and I in absolute stitches...asked what the fist on chest underwater signal meant, he answered that it means 'I am me'. Ha ha! In fact it means 'I am low on air'. I really hope I don't ever run low on air diving with him for a buddy!
After a wonderful few days of diving, we left the island on Wednesday 6 July and headed for Khao Sok National Park. Though our time on the island was pretty intensively focused on doing the open water course, we did have a bit of free time to explore the small island, hang out with some islanders and take a closer look at the devastation caused by the Boxing Day tsunami.
The island was very badly hit - its commercial and tourist hub is effectively located on a strip of sand connecting two mountainous islands, with a wide bay on either side. The wave washed right over this central part of town, flattening hotels, guesthouses and hundreds of businesses. The clean-up and removal of debris is still very much in progress, and hundreds of young volunteers from around the world have flocked to Phi Phi to help. Where bustling alley-ways and large resort hotels once were, there are now open tracts of sand. However, not all of this is the work of the wave alone - the manager of the dive shop told without warning started demolishing buildings that were completely untouched (including the dive centre's main store). Apparently the government saw the gap to get rid of what it saw as undesirable development, and were planning to take back all the land and re-develop the island as a government-managed resort. The locals, especially foreigners who own businesses, kicked up such a fuss that the plans were dropped. So far, virtually no rebuilding has begun, as new plans for the redevelopment of the island are still to be agreed.
We did hear it said that, in a peculiar way, the wave has given the island a second chance. The development that was there before was really random, insensitive and ramshackle... the hope is that re-development would be more sensitive and attractive. However, seeing the pain and sadness in the eyes of locals who lost their livelihoods, friends and family, one realises that the emotional wounds will take many more years to heal.
11 votes 
This is a top pick!
