Koh Tao - Open Water Course

Day 1

My Open Water fee included 4 nights accomodation in the guesthouse next door, so I happily checked out of my room and moved. Later that morning, we met to go through some of the course content, to take a few multiple choice tests and to learn a little about the equipment we would be using.

In the afternoon we went to do out 'confined' session. This is normally held in a swimming pool, but my dive school took us to a shallow bay, just off a beach. We put on all our gear for the first time, BCD (Buoyancy Control Device), tank of air, regulator (including the bit you breath from), weightbelt, mask, snorkel, and fins. All this stuff is great when in the water, but clumsy and awkward when on land. I shuffled along the boat and cautiously stepped up onto the side, before making a 'giant stride' entry. No problem. Next we swam over to the beach, where there was a bit of a current. Problem! I couldnt seem to stand up, and got plenty of sand and painful shells wedged in my fins as I tumbled over and kicked up all the sea floor. The others were doing fine, but when instructor Dave asked us to remove the masks, put our heads under, and breath through the regulator, the current picked me up and carried me away! The others seemed to find this funny!

We spent the next three hours learning all the skills we would need to handle any problems, major, or minor, when we did a full dive. We went as deep as 3m and performed tasks such as unflooding our masks, removing our BCD/weightbelt and putting it back on, and even how to use our 'buddy's' alternate air source, should ours happen to run out. Everything was new and strange and I found it all pretty hard work. I also had a bit of a pink face after being in the sun and water so much. However, the dive school had a BBQ that evening and I met plenty of people who reassured me it was normally to find the first day tough and mine wasnt the only pink face!

The next day we got up and did our final exam. In the afternoon we did our first 2 dives. Suddenly the difficulty of the previoud day was forgotten and replaced by the sheer wonder of exploring under the ocean. We still had skills to practice, but we also got to have fun swimming around the coral and marvelling at the multicoloured tropical fish. This was also the first time we got to experience the incredible way that breathing underwater affects your buoyancy. as you breath in you become more buoyant and you begin to rise, breath out and you fall. Good divers are able to control their breathing to allow them to rise and fall as desired, or even to hover.

The next day we were up at the crack o dawn to head out to the early morning dive spot. New Way are one of the earliest schools to leave the island meaning that we had the dive site nearly to ourselves. The first dive was the big one, 18metres deep (the limit of an entry level diver) and a possibility of seeing Bull Sharks!!! The second dive was more shallow, around 10 metres, but both were fantastic. We had a cameraman with us for the day, and with it being Christmas, he had us all wearing Santa hats! It was a lot of fun! As I was climbing out, I realised that it might be the last time I dived. The thought filled me with longing, as I felt as though I had only just got going. Later that evening, after signing the paperwork and becoming officially certified, after watching the brilliant video, and while supping a well deserved beer, I signed up to do the advanced diver course!