Koh Tao, Thailand

Shark at Chumpon dive site... she came real close!
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This is my third time in Koh Tao.  I came here in 2001 with Cara and again a few years ago with Vicky.  I love this place!  So much in fact that I was planning on spending 11 days and 12 nights here.

However, as soon as I got here my back gave way.  So I basically had to lay in bed for 2 straight days.  If I were in Bangkok at a posh hotel this wouldn't have been so bad, but here I was staying at Ban's diving resort in rooms that cost $25 US per night.  The bed was uncomfortable, the room had a bad smell and dont even get me started on the pillows!  I did at least have hot water and a/c.  Normally this stuff doesnt matter because you are diving all the time and beat at night.  But when you are stuck in a bad room for 48 straight hours with pain in your back, well... you start to get upset and very bored!  I got so bored I modified my stay and took off 4 days from it.  So I only stayed in Koh Tao for 8 nights and 7 days.

as soon as we entered and dropped to 20m, we were inundated with sharks...

Sea turtle
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On top of my back, I had a very weird cold that started in Koh Phangan and stayed with me through the first 4 days of Koh Tao.  My tummy hurt lots and I had shortness of breath.  It was not fun.  Added with the back and you can see why I wanted to leave early... if this is how I was going to be, then I wanted to be in a posh hotel in Bangkok!

It turned out 8 days was a good amount of time, although I definitely could've stayed longer.  At Ban's you can only do 2 afternoon dives.  They really dont do AM dives.  So you have to dive with another place like Blue Divers if you want to get in more dives per day (thats where I dove in 2001).  Since I already had my room pre-negotiated, I stayed at Ban's - but the lack of dives initially bothered me.  Then, the diving started out poor (although I credit some of this to my back and cold).  But once I started feeling better (and I'm all better now, thanks), the diving picked up.

Blue spotted ray at White Rock dive site
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In fact, one dive with the sharks (see pics) was one of the best of my life!  It was at a dive site called Chumpon and as soon as we entered and dropped to 20m, we were inundated with sharks all around us. And they didnt keep their distance.  They came crazily close!  In hindsight I cannot believe how close they were.  The divemasters said it was nuts and they had never seen anything like it.  This one dive made the trip - and I had numerous good dives since.  I dove 3 dives with schools of squid.  Absolutely wild!  And I swam with a turtle for my last dive (although Sipadan definitely spoiled me in regards to turtles!).

Sunset over Sairee beach after diving
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I even had a funny dive happen, although some background is needed.  First you need to know what a Titan Triggerfish is.  Here is the definiton from Wikipedia: "A few of the triggerfish species can be quite aggressive during reproduction season. In particular picasson triggerfish and titan triggerfish viciously defend their circular nests against any intruders, including scuba divers and snorkelers. Their territory extends in a cone shape from the nest to the surface, so swimming upwards puts one further into the fishes' territory. A horizontal swim away from the nest site is the most sensible course of action when confronted by an angry triggerfish. In contrast to the relatively small Picasso triggerfish, the titan triggerfish poses a serious threat to inattentative divers due to its large size and powerful teeth."

Just like the movie
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So I ran into a Titan trigger on the dive after the sharks and it started attack me. You should see its teeth!  I knew what to do beforehand, just swim away, low, in a straight line.  However - I must have inadvertently been swimming in a circle because the trigger wouldnt go away!  I kept swimming with my fins between me and its teeth and just going round and n round.  As I got tired I couldnt stay low and floated upwards which of course puts you even more into its territory and it gets even more aggressive!  This went one for at least 1 minute until the divemaster tapped me on the shoulder and showed me how to swim in a straight line.  I've never heard people laugh so loud when we got back to the diveboat!  Ah well - you shoulda seen it, I was def scared and didnt want to get bit, but I have to admit the sight of me swimming endlessly in a circle had to be pretty funny!  All in all, the diving was good, if not great.

Squid!
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As for Koh Tao it is filled with young backpackers.  And tons of divemasters too - who are def a bit older.  I met so many people scuba diving!  I met Swedes, Canadians, Israelis, Brits, Aussies, and more.  Suffice it to say I drank many nights with many cool people and chatted away the boat rides as well.  It's definitely a great place for a solo traveler as well as groups.  And of course you cannot beat the price or the food.  Both are excellent!

As I thought many years ago this is a place where I could live for 3 months and get my divemaster certification.  The only difference between then and now is that if I end up doing this in the future, I will definitely have to find a nicer place to stay for 3 months.  I am past the point where I caan stay in such a run down place even at bargain prices such as these for longer than a week.  The posh places run $75 US and up per night.  Although maybe if I come back I can negotiate a long term rate that is better.  I'll worry about that if I come back for my divemaster cert.  But if NYC winters are anything like I remember, I may be back soon!