Swimming With The Fishies

March 05, 2015

Both Tuesday and today, Duane and I joined the big kid scuba divers, the this-is-not-a-drill-real-deal-stuff kind of scuba diving. We kinda sorta really loved it. We went with a freelance Master Diver from InDepth Diving to make sure that we were safe being that we are beginners and to show us the cool stuff. I must say, scuba diving is so much easier in warm 82 degree water in comparison to the frigid waters of Monterey; the density of the water, less weight, and a 3mm shorty wetsuit? I could dive like this all the time.

(To make it easier to tell who is who, I, Sarah, have the yellow fins on).

Off we go!

Tuesday

Dive 1 - Koh Racha Yai - Bay 3

72 ft

49 minutes

After about an hour into the ocean from Phuket, we arrived at our first dive spot. I was a little nervous because I wasn't a 100% of my skills, had never started off a boat before, I had problems clearing my ears last time and it had been 5 months since I last dove. Nevertheless, after jumping in it all came back and we descended fast with no problems.

Dive 2 - Koh Racha Noi - North Point

75 ft

51 minutes

This dive was a more challenging due to strong currents. We found some giant boulders that we swam around and then drifted along the bottom until it was time to come back up. The water was so clear and blue that we estimated visibility was about 120 feet, which was just mind blowing.

Dive 3 - Koh Racha Yai - Harby Wreck

72 ft

50 minutes

For our last dive, we went to explore a sunken dive ship in a cove. It was an open boat so we could swim through and around it very easily. Probably the highlight of the day and a great reminder for why we got this certification.

Thursday

Dive 1 - Koh Bida Nok

98 ft

46 minutes

Today we went out to the Phi Phi Islands about 3 hours out into the Andaman Sea. We started off the day with a mission, see some sharks. Our dive master decided the best place to do this is deep, really really deep, like a 100 feet down deep. We didn't find any, but we can officially say we've been that far down!

Dive 2 - Koh Bida Nai

72 ft

50 minutes
This dive was picture perfect just like you see in National Geographic. It had endless pinnacles shooting up to the surface with sea life everywhere. It was breathtaking. We even got really lucky and saw a big sea turtle!

Dive 3 - Anemone Reef

72 ft

37 minutes

This dive lives up to its name, it is COVERED in sea anemones, all colors, shapes and sizes, with endless little reef fish swimming around. We also saw a few sea horses :)