Days 14 to 22, Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, I've been bitten and bitten badly! By the diving bug...... I've come to Kho Tao for one reason and that reason is to dive and achieve my Open Water PADI certificate. On the ferry over, Colin and I spoke to several different dive companies and decided to go with Buddha View diving. The reason we decided this was because they looked the most professional and they weren't located on the main beach where every one else goes. They were located in the south of the island in Chalok Baan Kao Bay. We had a free taxi to the bay and were taken a back as the bay, it was stunning and the best bit about it was, it was deserted! It was the middle of the afternoon and we looked the length on the beach and counted seven people... nice. Now we are talking. We had a small issue with what we had been promised and what they were saying at Buddha View! But with the complains training I've delivered I've learnt had to deal with situations like this. We stuck to your guns and for 9800 baht (One hundred and twenty five pounds and 15p exactly - just been on my internet banking) for four night accommodation, the manual and the four day PADI Open Water diving course. Cheap as chips. We are staying in J.P Resort which is nice but before we could settle in we were in the classroom watching the first two modules on DVD. After, we all had 120 pages of theory to read and two exams to take. I'm sure I'm met to be relaxing or something! Joking a side it was nice to use my brain again to be honest. That night we had the most amazing thunder storm and rain. At 05:00 I was woken by the loudest thunder I have ever heard. I'd thought a bomb had gone off and the rain was bouncing off the ground to knee height and I'm not exaggerating. So I just opened the window and relaxed watching it. Up early for breakfast before reporting to the classroom at 09:00. We had a cracking group of people with Ryan, Amy, Terry, Antony, Adam, Lisa to name a few. All good people. With the basic theory of diving, pressure, buoyancy, bar etc covered it was time for our first underwater lesson in the afternoon. We were slit into two groups and in my group we had Antony, Terry, Ryan, Amy, Jeffery, Colin and I. The lesson went well with every one performing well in the water. The evening entertainment was homework again - chapter four. Up early doors again for our second classroom lesson, again it was interesting and went well. In the afternoon we completed our first open water dive at a dive site called Japanese Gardens. So called because the coral looks like bonsai trees. The dive was excellent and we completed lots of exercises that you have to demonstrate to complete the qualification. Alex our instruction is a quality laugh. In the evening with no homework (yippee) we went out and met Antony, Ryan, Amy, Caz, Ash and Penny for my first beer in four day. I know - I even was impressed myself! On the third day we had to complete our final written exam, which consisted of a 50 question multiple choose test. It was all every relaxed and I got 50 out of 50 which was good. In the afternoon we completed two dives at Mango Bay and Japanese gardens again. We dived to 12m and the coral and marine life were amazing! It's just a awesome feeling to be underwater, all calm and quiet, weightless investigating the most beautiful sites. A truly amazing experience - I wish I could express myself better with words!! My diving skills impressed as well which was cool. In the evening we met the gang again to see if we could watch the Champions League final on replay. Oh and the weather was so rough at sea - the journey to the dive sites was like a scene out of 'The Perfect Storm' starring George me thinks. Our final days of the course was really good, however it did start at 07:00. We visited a dive site called Laem Thaim and Mango bay and reach a depth of 18m which was good. This is the maximum depth you can dive with the open water PADI qualification. The marine life was stunning and aluminous in colour. The camera man was attacked by a trigger fish which was really funny. We all completed all the skills underwater on all of our dives and we all now can dive anywhere in the world to a depth of 12m! Congratulations to all the group and it's time to celebrate tonight..... I've loved diving so much and Kho Tao its self, I've decided to stay a bit long and complete I next diving qualification - Advanced. This consists of five more dives - two compulsory which are a deep dive (30m) and a navigation dive. Then three dives of my choice. I'm thinking of a night dive, a wreck dive and not sure of the last. Anyway before that I'm having a day off - I'm shattered Kho Tao to be continued ............... The night out with the guys was quality! Drunk far to much and ended up on the buckets again in a bar called Whitening. Really cool place which played proper funky music. It was like a club on the beach with the sea 10 foot away. Ryan was looking a little worth for were and retired early, well it was probably about 03:00 in the morning! The rest of us partied on. The night did end a little sour as Colin got hit and then head butted (No real damage - no stitches). Colin - a little tip for yeah fella - don't tell someone that there girlfriend has gone of with another man when they have lost them. Joking or not, not the brightest of move at 05:00 in the morning after 9 hrs of drinking! Especially when he is your next day neighbour.... My day off from diving consisted of sleep, more sleep, thai massage, organising the Advanced Open Water Diving Course and then to bed as we had to report to Buddha View at 07:00 to dive again. The two dives were the Multi Level and Peak Performance Buoyancy we were going to complete and both dives went really well. My diving skills were improving and especially using my breathing to maneuver round the coral etc. I wasn't so good on the boat today however. It wasn't nowhere near as rough as it had been on provious day but today I was feeling very very sea sick! and it isn't a nice feeling at all. To cut a long story short this triggered off a day from hell! It was with a flick of a coin if it was going to come out one end or the other! A course of Imodium (thanks mumma simmons) and 16 hours sleep and I felt ok the next day which was a bonus as I had three dives to complete. It was navigation, deep (30m) and night divings today. Again all the dives went really well, didn't get lost on the navigation dive, was subjected to nitrogen narcosis on the deep dive with was a little confusing and loved the night dive! It was so bizarre being in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand in the pitch black. Its kind of scary but really really relaxing and peaceful too! We saw some excellent marine life also to many to mention. Between the two morning dives and the night dive I completed all the PADI AOW modules with was a right chore but had to be done! The Advanced diving course was now completed and I've passed - I'm physically drained after 10 dive in 7 days and all the homework, its a hard life. My week in Kho Tao has be quality, learning to dive with Alex has been brilliant, met some lovely people (u know who you are) and most of them are going to be in Sydney when I am. Ryan wants me to take him out for a pub golf session. Oh dear oh dear. Amy, Antony, Colin and Alex all want to participate too! To the jungle - Kho Sok National Park Bye for now Miffy x x