Day 27 - Scuba Diving Koh Tao

I grabbed a coconut shake for breakfast from a street cart. I'm addicted to these lately. They crack open a young coconut and dump the coconut water in the blender, then dig out and add all the soft pulp, throw in some ice and blend. That's it, but it is SOOO good.

I mosied through town, sipping on my breakfast, did a bit more studying and then walked to the dive shop that would be taking me out.

Aced the written test (yay for nerdy perfectionists! Lol), and went to put together my crate of gear for the trip out to Japanese Gardens, our first dive spot.

Gorgeous, is all I can say. It truly was a garden of coral of every variety. I have dived and snorkeled in many countries around the globe, but this spot was very unique and is definitely one of my favorites. It had rained all night, so the water was very silty and the camera intensifies that, so the pictures just don't do it justice, unfortunately.

I started having a little bit of anxiety, feeling like I just wasn't getting enough oxygen through my regulator, so I opted out of the second dive at the "Twins" site. I'm pretty bummed that I didn't get to do it, but I ended up seeing some fantastic schools of fish, a coral graveyard, an aggressive trigger fish, and wove through some boulders snorkeling in a pristine area with no other snorkelers. This site had more sea life to watch, but less of the beautiful coral. Both great sites in their own right.

 

The divers started make their way back to the boat, so I did as well. It was a quick boat ride back to the dive shop, where we cleaned our BCD's and wetsuits before saying our goodbyes.

I went back to my room and changed before heading out to the Sairee Beach nightlife area. Really cool vibe in this town/on this island. I'm really digging it. I'm a bit disappointed that I'm only able to spend a couple days here. Actually, not even 2 full days. Had I done a bit more research, I would have realized that 8 days on Phuket was too many, and I could have used those days here. Now I'm nearing the expiration of my tourist visa and need to move on to Cambodia.

Dinner was fantastic tonight: Chicken with basil and chillis, in what I think was oyster sauce. So delish. Definitely going to attempt to recreate this one back at home. :)