In the morning we have the multiple-choice test which is really easy (it includes questions such as 'what should divers wear with fins? A. Tennis shoes, B. Slippers, C. Bare feet or D. Flipflops'). I annoyingly get 49/50, but I'm not allowed to take the test again.
After lunch we get on the dive boat. We first have to carry our equipment - masks, snorkles, fins and 'BC' (bouyancy compensator) - across the beach to a traditional Thai 'long tailed' boat which is filled with oxygen cylinders.
The boat takes us the short distance to the dive boat, which is open sided with two floors, a kitchen, bathroom, dry room, tables and set up area. We set up our equiptment whilst the boat is still heading to the dive site, so that we can jump in the moment we get there, but the mkvement of the boat and the 20 other people make it very difficult, particularly when standing up, tanks on our backs, fins on our feet and trying to carry out our 'buddy checks'. Nick keeps shouting at us to hurry up, which doesn't help.
When we get to 'Mango Bay' we jump in (nothing fancy, no rolling off the side or falling off backwards, just a big step off the back of the boat) and spend a while bobbing around on the surface, BCs fully inflated, waiting for all six of us to get together. This is very uncomfortable as the BC rides up around my neck and ears and waves keep smacking me in the face.
Eventually we deflate and follow a bouy line 12 meters down to the sea bed, equalizing our ears as we go. Every now and then I feel like I can't breath, and I get the urge to take my respirator out. The oxygen is very dry and breathing it feels laboured. I soon relax, which is good because my pressure gague has dropped quickly, meaning I am breathing 'too much'.
We are supposed to be practicing the skills we learnt in the pool but there are two problems with this:
First, no one has learnt to properly control their bouyancy yet, so everyone is bobbing around all over the place, bumping into each other, fins in faces. This is made even more difficult by the fact that we have been told not to use our arms - they should remain folded. To go up and down we are supposed to use our lungs, but there is a lot of flapping from everyone when we get too close to some coral.
Second, no one is paying much attention to Nick. We are all looking around and swimming off after fish. Because we are so shallow the visibility is excellent. We see banner fish, serjeant majors, snapper, parrot fish, gobis, prawns, peacock sole, anemone fish and a lot more. (When we get back to land and fill in our log books, we are told to write down what we have seen, and do this after every dive, but there is far too much to remember).
Back on the boat I am starving and I fill up on pineapple and watermelon slices. We get a fifteen minute break, going over our mistakes and what we did well, before jumping in again. This time we get into the water by standing on the edge and falling backwards, holding our respirators with one hand and our mask strap with the other. We descend again and this time we have more freedom to look around. I begin to get better at controlling my depth by breathing in or out more or less, although it is still tempting to flap a bit when I swim too low over some spiky sea urchins, instead of taking a deep breath in.
After lunch we get on the dive boat. We first have to carry our equipment - masks, snorkles, fins and 'BC' (bouyancy compensator) - across the beach to a traditional Thai 'long tailed' boat which is filled with oxygen cylinders.
Alex and Charlotte doing their 'final ok'
When we get to 'Mango Bay' we jump in (nothing fancy, no rolling off the side or falling off backwards, just a big step off the back of the boat) and spend a while bobbing around on the surface, BCs fully inflated, waiting for all six of us to get together. This is very uncomfortable as the BC rides up around my neck and ears and waves keep smacking me in the face.
Eventually we deflate and follow a bouy line 12 meters down to the sea bed, equalizing our ears as we go. Every now and then I feel like I can't breath, and I get the urge to take my respirator out. The oxygen is very dry and breathing it feels laboured. I soon relax, which is good because my pressure gague has dropped quickly, meaning I am breathing 'too much'.
We are supposed to be practicing the skills we learnt in the pool but there are two problems with this:
First, no one has learnt to properly control their bouyancy yet, so everyone is bobbing around all over the place, bumping into each other, fins in faces. This is made even more difficult by the fact that we have been told not to use our arms - they should remain folded. To go up and down we are supposed to use our lungs, but there is a lot of flapping from everyone when we get too close to some coral.
Second, no one is paying much attention to Nick. We are all looking around and swimming off after fish. Because we are so shallow the visibility is excellent. We see banner fish, serjeant majors, snapper, parrot fish, gobis, prawns, peacock sole, anemone fish and a lot more. (When we get back to land and fill in our log books, we are told to write down what we have seen, and do this after every dive, but there is far too much to remember).
Back on the boat I am starving and I fill up on pineapple and watermelon slices. We get a fifteen minute break, going over our mistakes and what we did well, before jumping in again. This time we get into the water by standing on the edge and falling backwards, holding our respirators with one hand and our mask strap with the other. We descend again and this time we have more freedom to look around. I begin to get better at controlling my depth by breathing in or out more or less, although it is still tempting to flap a bit when I swim too low over some spiky sea urchins, instead of taking a deep breath in.
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