So here comes the next installment guys: All the way from Koh Tao!

Day 17:

We got up early for check out & decided to book our accommodation, transport & of course our PADI Open Water dive course. The boat picked us up at the dock & the weather was fine. By the time the 2 hour boat ride was over the waves were huge & it was pissing it down! Funny weather over here, not like home lol.

We got to Ban's Dive Resort, our accommodation & as it turns out classroom for the next 5 days. We barely had time to put our bags in our room before our first theory lesson & video. It's like being back at school! Our instructor is a German guy called Mario, speaks near perfect English & has been diving professionally for 12 years. He is such a character, we worked out he has spent over 3 months of his life underwater!! Thats impressive!

Tired from our first classroom session in donkeys, we went to the resort restaurant & had a giant burger as it was the first thing we had eaten all day and Matt got to enjoy some more football!

Day 18:

We had an early start today in the swimming pool - the weather was shocking but we later found out that it was because of the typhoon in Burma. We learnt about all of the equipment you use and safety measures. Once we were all kitted out we practiced some skills in the pool. I found out that i couldn't breathe out through my nose - which was funny i kept thinking i was doing it but Mario was like 'no - you're definitely not' Was funny though and after a minute i realised i wasn't! Didn't effect my under water abilities as we both mastered all the skills pretty well - Matt slightly better than me i must add!

After lunch we had a classroom lesson and had to complete some quizzes. We soon came to realise that Mario's time management was not the best so 2 hours becomes 4 and when he says meet at a time he means an hour later. The day was long but very fun.

In the evening we took a walk along the promenade and had some food in a nice little place right on the beach. When we got back we had homework to do and then had an early night as our first dive was at 7:30am the next morning.

Day 19:

Woke up super early so we could get some brekkie before the dive. We boarded the boat and got kitted up on the way to the dive site which was Aow Leuk bay. The weather was still pretty stormy so lots of wind and rain! It's like England - but warmer!lol The first dive we practiced clearing our masks underwater, recovering the regulator and the fin pivot on the seabed. We saw loads of fish including a stingray and lots of colourful ones like angelfish, nemo and friends.

After 45 minutes we came up for a breather and changed our tanks before going back down for a second dive. On this dive we saw Barracuda's and a moray eel - we also had to practice loads more skills on this dive like buddy breathing and different ascents.

After lunch we had another classroom session and our final test.

Day 20:

We had dives at 7:30 am again so yet another early morning. The weather was really sunny today which made a nice change - even though my back got brutally sunburnt - i swear my wetsuit was see through! The first dive was pretty tiring because the waves were absolutely massive and we had to wait on the surface as Mario took us down 1 by 1 to do the Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent - which is if your oxygen runs out underwater. So you have to just swim up while you exhale from 6m deep. Was easy but i swallowed about a gallon of sea water whilst waiting for everyone to do it!Not nice!

On the first dive we had to take of our masks fully under the water and put them back on - this was fine but stings your eyes after and makes you want to rub them. We were also being filmed during this as you can buy a dvd of the dive. It was too expensive so we didn't bother buying it - but we might be able to get a copy off some of the lads on the course.

On the second dive we went down to 18m which was awesome - we took off our fins and did somersaults and stuff which was funny - one girl did one and smashed her head and tank on the sea bed was hilarious especially watching it back on the DVD. On this dive we saw a Giant Grouper which was about 1m looks pretty large underwater. We were so gutted though as from our boat we could see loads of other dive boats quite far away and apparently there were 2 whale sharks where they were diving.

When we got back we had our final exam marked and we both passed with flying colours. We also had some beautiful pics taken for our cards which say we are certified Open Water Divers. By beautiful - i mean hideous so look out Parents those cards should be in the post to you guys within the next 2 months.

We finally were finished so spent the rest of the day chilling by the pool and catching up with some sunbathing as we have only done about 4 hours in total since we have been in Thailand.

In the evening everyone on our group went out for some food and drinks was really nice.

Day 21:

Today we had a lie in and decided that we would explore the rest of Koh Tao. So we hired a moped for the day and explored the island. We soon came to realise that Koh Tao only really has one road and the rest are dirt tracks which aren't the easiest to get up or down with 2 people on a moped.

We had a greasy spoon breakfast - it was awesome!So good!

We then found a nice beach and tried to do a bit of snorkelling this didn't got to well as it was so shallow and just loads of coral along with many sea urchins (ahhh).

In the afternoon i wasn't feeling the best so we headed back and picked up some fresh fruit and watched a film.Good old Harrison Ford knows how to make you feel better!

So tomorrow (Matt's Bday) we are going to head to Koh Samui for about 6 nights before heading down to Malaysia. We did want to go to Krabi but we think its a bit ambitious to head down there when we have less than a week left.

We had the best Thai curry's tonight i had Panang curry and Matt had Massuman both were stunning. Loving the Thai grub.

Hope England is nice and sunny (Fi has informed me that it is).

We will upload photos in Samui as i forgot the camera lead and this computer is super slow. Hope you enjoyed the last lot though. We still haven't managed to upload any videos but we will try and do this before we leave Thailand.

Take Care

Love Carly and Matt (Birthday Boy tomorrow!!!) x x x