I love scuba!!

One of the many sites for diving/snorkelling. This one is called Japanese Gardens and it's breath taking
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Ah Koh Tao.

Now that I'm here I understand why so many people come here and don't leave.  With fantastic diving and so many operations to choose from its a scuba diver's paradise.  I can't believe how many westerners that I've seen who are getting their divemaster's certificate, just for an opportunity to stay here and work.  I've gone through my openwater scuba course so now I'm a card carrying diver, and I've signed up to take my advanced openwater as well as a Nitrox course.  The Nitrox course allows me to use mixed gas, which in turn will gain me more time at depth with less chance of getting Nitrogen narcosis ( which really isn't as bad as its sounds).  The advanced course is done in two days over five dives.  Which involves one Deep water dive to 40m, a night dive, a search and recovery dive, advanced buoyancy control, and a navigation dive.  Two of the dives are standard for the course and three are options that I've chosen.  I start tomorrow at 10am, and the courses will run most of the day over the next three days.  An added bonus is that my accommodations are included in the price.  Today was the last day for my Openwater scuba course and we had a videographer tape the dive, tonight we (the other student and myself) will watch it and decide if we would like to buy it.  I would love to have the memory on DVD but the price is pretty outrageous.  2500 baht for a one hour movie, is a little steep for me ($84 approx.)

its a scuba diver's paradise.

Nice litte ocean sunset.
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The water here is so warm (30C) and very clear that even snorkelling is blast.  Today I saw a turtle on one of our dives, and yesterday we saw a stingray which is supposed to be pretty common.  The real experience on Koh Tao is diving and finding a whale shark. which is totally harmless and very big.  But its pretty rare and stories outnumber sitings.  I had to return my scooter today, and so I'm grounded again in Mae Had.  I might rent one again after the scuba course so I can go snorkelling in the more remote parts of the island for a few days before I move on.

Mike and Liz, that night we all went out for seafood barbecue, Mike and I had the Barracuda steaks. Back on Koh Pahgnan Mike and also had reef shark, both are very tasy and tender, and go well with the fiery hot chili sauce.
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All my travelling buddies have moved on by now, the girls have gone back to Bangkok for a night before flying to Cambodia.  Andy has gone back to Bangkok is on a plane home by now.  I'll be moving on mysef once the scuba courses are done,  probably heading back to the mainland.  Then its a matter of either moving up the eastern coast on my way to Laos, or head over the west coast by Phuket and maybe get some more snorkelling in before I have leave the country and get that all important exit stamp on my passport  before June 24.  Once I get the stamp I can return to Thailand for another thirty days, or I might just keep moving East into Laos, then on to Cambodia and Vietnam.  This all sounds really exotic I know, but its actually very simple and backpacker friendly, with a multitude of travel companies who do all work for you and the prices are pretty standardized in each location due to intense competition in the off season.  The whole route I'm taking: Thailand-Laos-Cambodia-Vietnam is  affectionatly called "the circuit" among travellers and is pretty popular these days due to the favorable exchange rate, even for Canadians ;)  By the way, other travellers love to joke that we come from Canadia and not Canada, and we're pretty well liked everywhere.  The other travellers I've met have all been super cool people with great stories and advice about where they've been.  I firmly believe that each country should encourage their citizens to travel abroad and learn more about other cultures and peoples.

The night we went minigolfing! The course was so incredibly sadistic, many of us maxed out on several holes. I shot a 3 under for a 69, which won me the competition and a turtle shaped bottle opener, sweet!
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Lately I've been thinking about what I'll do when its time to go home, and the idea of learning to sail is stuck firmly in my mind.  There is a square-rigged tallship that sails out of New Zealand and sails for 51 days over to Easter Island, then back by way of Pitcairn Island, Marshall Islands, Fiji, Cook Islands, and Vanuatu.  Naturally I can't afford to to stay onboard for the entire loop, but I figure that I could get a job as a marine mechanic(or helper) or if I'm lucky as a deckhand.  I know that people come and go on the ship and that it is possible to stay and work. If no position is availible I'll still have a great experience and credited hours for getting a deckhand's certificate.  It's not set in stone yet but the idea has planted itself front and centre in my brain and the more time I'm on the ocean the more I want to to it.  Time will tell.