Finally I get the time to post my trip report from my latest diving trip to Thailand.
It was the first time to dive in Thailand for me, but I know the country for years already. I'm asking myself now why I didnt look under the water surface for so long!
I stayed for one week in Koh Samui from March 2-9, 2009. My plan was to do my PADI Advanced Open Water Diver / Nitrox and do a few additional fun dives as well. So I contacted with Camille Lemmens from IDC / Planet Scuba in Samui, he made it really easy for me to choose all the options I wanted and to arrange everything the way it should be. I had a very short time frame to do everything and they did just about anything to fit me in and to organize a smooth course.
My decision to stay in Samui was the variety of things to do - I could not only go diving, but explore the island, do some sightseeing and enjoy the freaky nightlife as well. I travelled alone so I wanted to meet as many people as possible (which is no difficult in Samui, anyway).
After my arrival at night on March 2, my AOW and Nitrox manuals have already been delivered to the hotel and I was timed to be picked up at 7am the next day, which worked fine (despite a veeery short sleep). We went to the SeaTran ferry pier and had a 2.5 hour ferry transfer ahead, which initally felt a bit long to do every day twice.
My instructors Jeff and Steve from Planet Scuba went through the program with me and I had lots of stuff to read from the manuals, so that the 2.5 hours passed very quickly. Also on the way back we needed the time to do reviews and plan our next dives.
Now to the diving. We dived mostly around Koh Tao at the dive sites Twins, White Rock, Mango and Japanese Garden. They are all beautiful, but the two most impressive to me were Japanese Garden with its incredibly huge coral formations and caves, as well as Mango with its clear waters, and colorful marine life.
I did a couple of videos you can check out at my blog Koh Tao Diving, Thailand | Adventure Blog
After completing the course - 5 dives including 2 with Nitrox - I decided to actually extend my stay in Samui for 3 more days and I booked two tours with the speed boat. On the first day we went to Sail Rock and Koh Ma (near Koh Phangan), and on the second one to Twins and Japanese Garden. Our divemaster Adam was excellent company and a good guide to these dive site - thanks Adam for showing us all the nice spots the others didn't see (like the caves)!!
I hoped for a Whale Shark or any other shark but wasn't that lucky though. Probably it was due to the bad visibility, especially when we went to Sail Rock we couldnt see more than 3-4 feet ahead sometimes.
Nightlife in Samui of course was as excellent as always, I found a second home in the Ark Bar by the beach where it was easy to meet fun people and have a bunch of strong drinks before everybody moves to Soi Green Mango to the clubs.
Thanks to Steve & Jeff - you did an excellent job and it was a lot of fun to dive with you!!
It was the first time to dive in Thailand for me, but I know the country for years already. I'm asking myself now why I didnt look under the water surface for so long!
I stayed for one week in Koh Samui from March 2-9, 2009. My plan was to do my PADI Advanced Open Water Diver / Nitrox and do a few additional fun dives as well. So I contacted with Camille Lemmens from IDC / Planet Scuba in Samui, he made it really easy for me to choose all the options I wanted and to arrange everything the way it should be. I had a very short time frame to do everything and they did just about anything to fit me in and to organize a smooth course.
My decision to stay in Samui was the variety of things to do - I could not only go diving, but explore the island, do some sightseeing and enjoy the freaky nightlife as well. I travelled alone so I wanted to meet as many people as possible (which is no difficult in Samui, anyway).
After my arrival at night on March 2, my AOW and Nitrox manuals have already been delivered to the hotel and I was timed to be picked up at 7am the next day, which worked fine (despite a veeery short sleep). We went to the SeaTran ferry pier and had a 2.5 hour ferry transfer ahead, which initally felt a bit long to do every day twice.
My instructors Jeff and Steve from Planet Scuba went through the program with me and I had lots of stuff to read from the manuals, so that the 2.5 hours passed very quickly. Also on the way back we needed the time to do reviews and plan our next dives.
Now to the diving. We dived mostly around Koh Tao at the dive sites Twins, White Rock, Mango and Japanese Garden. They are all beautiful, but the two most impressive to me were Japanese Garden with its incredibly huge coral formations and caves, as well as Mango with its clear waters, and colorful marine life.
I did a couple of videos you can check out at my blog Koh Tao Diving, Thailand | Adventure Blog
After completing the course - 5 dives including 2 with Nitrox - I decided to actually extend my stay in Samui for 3 more days and I booked two tours with the speed boat. On the first day we went to Sail Rock and Koh Ma (near Koh Phangan), and on the second one to Twins and Japanese Garden. Our divemaster Adam was excellent company and a good guide to these dive site - thanks Adam for showing us all the nice spots the others didn't see (like the caves)!!
I hoped for a Whale Shark or any other shark but wasn't that lucky though. Probably it was due to the bad visibility, especially when we went to Sail Rock we couldnt see more than 3-4 feet ahead sometimes.
Nightlife in Samui of course was as excellent as always, I found a second home in the Ark Bar by the beach where it was easy to meet fun people and have a bunch of strong drinks before everybody moves to Soi Green Mango to the clubs.
Thanks to Steve & Jeff - you did an excellent job and it was a lot of fun to dive with you!!
