There and Back Again...: Popping the dive cherry on Koh Tao!

It has been an exciting five days on Koh Tao to say the least. On the ferry from Chumpon to Koh Tao we coincidentally reunited with our friend Darren who we had met in Koh Chang as few weeks back. He was traveling back to Koh Tao with Sophie, his girlfriend, who had just arrived in Bangkok from the UK. Darren had just finished his Padi Open Water Cert. at Phoniex divers on the island so we took it on his advice and arranged to do the same as soon as we arrived. The dive shop was really laid back and not crowded at all, unlike Ban's the biggest diver operation in the world located less than 50 meters down the beach. Just what we were looking for. Plus the free 4-day accommodations landed us in the best rooms we have stayed in since our 5 star treatment in Bangkok.

Daren and Jack moved on to Phi Phi while Jason Lauren Sophie and I remained in Koh Tao. With Lauren and Sophie doing all the academic and pool work that I had already done in the states, Jason and I were able to explore Koh Tao which was uncharacteristically calm thanks to the Full Moon Party drawing most travelers to Koh Phangan just an 1hr boat ride away. We stumbled upon an amazing and beautiful chill bar called the High Bar perched a ways off the beach, high up on a cliff. Here is a picture of the view we enjoyed as we played some pool and sipped on a couple of large Changs.

Sunday, I joined Lauren and Sophie for our first two underwater dives. Jason even joined us for our third and fourth dives at 6:45 the following morning. All in all the dives were amazing! We saw so many different types of fish and marine life: Angel Fish, Great Barracuda, Puffer fish, Clown fish, moray eels, Trigger Fish, the girls even saw a Bull Shark! It was an awesome experience that I'll never forget and I'm glad I was able to share it with Jason and Lauren as well. Here are some pictures we have taken over the course of the process.