Scuba Diving in Koh Tao

After scuba diving last year for the first time, I knew it was something I was eager and excited to try again. The first dive I completed in Rhodes, Greece in 2012 was the most terrifying and daunting experience of my life. I came up to the surface a blubbering and panicking mess and vowed I would never ever do it again. After a lot of tears and reassurances, I was eventually persuaded to try a second dive. At first I was adamant.. I hated it! Why would I go down again? The instructors and my friends assured me that once I was down again and got past the strangeness of breathing underwater I would grow to love it. Better to just give it one more go and then if you really do hate it, draw a line under it and move on. But try just one more time. "You can do this!" I told myself. Reluctantly heading into the depths of the deep blue sea for a second time was the one of the best things I ever did. It made me realise how much I actually love scuba diving. I got past the weirdness and grew to appreciate the world of the ocean depths. And if I had never gone on that second dive, I would never have completed my PADI Open Water course here in Koh Tao. Diving is literally an out of this world experience. Going down for the first time is just utterly bizarre. Your first reaction when you're underwater is to hold your breath/panic because you know you shouldn't be able to breathe down there. Every instinct and lesson you've ever learned has told you that humans cannot breathe underwater. So the first reaction is to freak out (or maybe that's just me?!) Once you've established you have a tank on your back and a regulator in your mouth for a reason, you start to calm down.. Just a little. You can breathe and see normally and everything is fine.. Until you realise there are other obstacles to overcome.. Having the correct weights, equalising your ears, getting water in your mask etc etc. The list of my problems went on and on in Rhodes. I couldn't go lower because I didn't have enough weights on my belt, my ears hurt and my mask kept filling with water. The instructors just told you to come to the top, to sort out the problem and go back down. You never really learnt how to deal with these problems yourself, whilst still underwater. Completing a four day diving course has not only given me more confidence but the correct knowledge and skills for diving correctly and safely. I think the reason I was so terrified in Rhodes was that it was more just a fun dive and no real form of training was provided. Learning how to dive properly in Koh Tao has been amazing. With the correct skills and knowledge of safe diving I appreciated the world of diving for what it's supposed to be. It's meant to be fun and enjoyable and that's exactly what it was. Going into the water first of all was a bit difficult. I couldn't get my ears to equalise and I was in a tremendous amount of pain. My ears felt like they were going to burst from the pressure. Obviously in our training we had been shown what to do to make sure our ear drums don't rupture because of the pressure. When diving in great depths you need to take great care of your ears and so I knew what to do.. I just couldn't seem to get my ears to equalise. After a long slog I managed to dive 12 metres to the ocean floor to practise a few vital underwater skills. We learnt how to take our masks off, clear our masks of water, take out our regulators etc.. All the while still breathing normally 12 metres down in the depths.. Scarily amazing that it's possible to breathe when you've taken your breathing device off for a few seconds! The underwater world never fails to amaze me! Swimming around, only hearing your own breathing and your own bubbles escaping you is the most peaceful, calm, amazing feeling in the world. It's strangely eery too, as if you're invading a world that is not yours to intrude upon. I was an intruder in this strange blue space with only fish and coral for company. I felt like I'd escaped the every day hustle and bustle for a while. For a while it was just me, my bubbles and my little fish friends. It's just too much of an amazing experience to describe to anyone who hasn't tried it. To look around and see beautiful colourful fish and coral you've never seen before, to explore the ocean which covers the greater part of out planet and to know you've only seen a tiny amount of what's on offer. I felt an inner calm rush over me and felt all was right with the world. I felt at peace. Strange how something can make you feel like that! After four dives and going down to a depth of 18 metres, I am now a qualified open water diver. I already want to move on to my advanced and get back in that water! I also had a little bit of a joke to myself under the water about being part of Finding Nemo. I looked up and saw our boat towering above us and had visions of myself swimming up saying, "I touched the butt!" Things like this bring out the inner child in you. I clearly was just loving life at that moment! I've been Nemo for a few days, swam with gorgeous fish and explored a world that is different and indescribable. If I could urge anyone to try just one thing, it would be diving. It may be hard/scary/daunting at first but get past that and it's one of the most exhilarating and exciting things you'll do. That's just me anyway. Yours Sincerely, A newly qualified open water scuba diver.

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