Lauriver's Travels: Ko Tao

After historical ruins, northern Thai cuisine, and elephant experiences, we were ready for some much anticipated beach time. We boarded one of Thailand's cheap domestic flights back to Bangkok to meet up with Rolo, Oliver's best friend of 24 years. From there, the three of us hopped on a night train to the southern port of Chumphon. A great way to save time and money, and a unique experience in itself, our seats on the train turned into sleeping berths by some tricks of engineering and quick bed-making by the attendants. After being rocked to sleep by the train, sometimes quite roughly, we pulled into Chumphon before sunrise and made a beeline for the ferry to Ko Tao. Unfortunately we were not quick enough and found the first ferry sold out. Bummed but not to be deterred, we checked into a nearby hostel at the half-day rate and killed some time in Chumphon taking naps, checking out the town, and grabbing supplies, if you can call donuts and scotch supplies. We boarded the early afternoon ferry just as it started to rain. Rain was quickly followed by wind and then waves which meant rough seas. Even before we left the pier, our ferry began rocking violently. Sensing the growing sea-sickness, the sailors began handing out barf-bags and we knew this was going to be a rough 2 hour ride. Since our ferry was a large catamaran, it rode the high swells rather than cutting through them, which meant roller-coaster, stomach-turning ascents and descents. The staff began pumping AC on high throughout the cabin in an attempt to combat a puke-fest, a la Stand by Me. Luckily, a large scale vomiting was averted despite some of those barf bags coming in handy. After a very long 2 hours, we spotted the tiny island of Ko Tao and thankfully scrambled for solid ground. While not a great start to our experience in the gulf, we were happy nonetheless to have arrived and excited to take advantage of the clear turquoise water of "Turtle Island."

Look who we found in Bangkok!

Settling in for our night journey on the train to Chumphon.

Rolo's bunk was the "red light district."

On the pier to board the catamaran as storm clouds start to loom in the distance.


After a rough ride, Laura looking very happy to be in Ko Tao.

World renowned for it's reefs and marine life, Ko Tao is a top destination for beginners to wet their fins and accomplish their PADI Open Water Certification, a four-day intensive course consisting of classroom work, confined water dives(a fancy term for sitting under water in a pool for hours on end), and open water dives (the real fun!). Since our course didn't officially start until the next day, we oriented ourselves on Ko Tao by snorkeling, sun-bathing, and seeking out yummy restaurants. The next day we met our company for the next four days (two Canadians and a German couple), our instructor Dirk (a silly overweight German who "loves diving because he is weightless under water") and his assistant instructor Caroline (another German who came to Ko Tao to do her Open Water cert, loved it, and then went on to become a Dive Master). The first day was in the classroom where we learned the basics, the dangers, and how to overcome those risks. Then came the pool dives, a rather boring affair of hours underwater learning to breathe through a tank and other skills such as clearing our mask of water, communication, and safety measures. While none of us enjoyed that day very much, in the end it gave us a good introduction to the SCUBA system and many skills that would be necessary when we actually hit the sea. On the third day, we boarded a boat with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. As soon as we submerged, however, we found ourselves surrounded by multicolored fish and unearthly coral and were too fascinated to be nervous. Since this was still a course, though, we reluctantly tore ourselves away from our new environment and engaged in more skills that we would need to know to be real certified divers. The next two dives would follow much in the same way except that we would go deeper and progressively have less skills to focus on. Finally, after our fourth dive, which was more fun and exploration than education, we could proudly declare ourselves Open Water certified. We put a lot of time and effort into attaining this status, and at times wondered if we were still on vacation, but in the end it was definitely worth it.