Spending 12 days on Koh Tao has been amazing, but it really is time for me to move on to somewhere else. Last night saw me party yet again in style with Kimberly, this time with much less alcohol involved but still a get in time of 3 am. D'Oh. Going to be so tired after breaking the golden rule of NOT going out the night before travelling on somewhere else! I am going to miss Koh Tao and the electricity shortages, dodgy phone lines and Internet connections...wai...

After completing the Advanced Open Water course I will admit I have been at a little bit of a loss as of what to do with myself over the past couple of days. Perhaps I shouldn't have done all my diving in the first week...ho hum. Sunday saw Sam, James, Danielle and I attempt to go bouldering on the Koh Tao hillside. It was good, apart from the fact that we went rather late in the day and it got really dark really quickly. After one failed attempt I have deduced....

After completing the Open Water course, we had intended on taking some time off before starting the Advanced Open Water course...however...a couple of drinks in the bar and somehow we got persuaded to do the course the following day. NOT good since we'd already had a few to drink including some shot called Lao Cao. It's free from the DJL bar (probably because it's horrible) and smells what I think is probably a cross between Tequila and Sambuca in one glass! The...

After another bad nights sleep in which I had changed rooms into the Backpackers Dorm, it was too hot and someone came in very late and started crashing round in the dark, it was a very early start to the day. Meeting at the Dive shop for 6.30 am was not my idea of fun! After getting on the boat, we headed over to Red Rock and sunk underwater to our first Dive site. Once again I was reminded just why I got up so early. The magic of being underwater and seeing th...

The dive course started officially a couple of days ago with some theory assessments on learning how to use your equipment and what Decompression sickness and Nitrogen Narcosis was and how to spot if you have it - very important (and this is not sarcasm!). Yesterday saw us mastering our Open Water Skills in the Pool next to the Davy Jones Locker bar. I will admit that diving has not come naturally to me and I have found it difficult with mastering the mask skill...