Today, we went scuba diving.  It has been a while since the last time, so I was a little nervous.  Actually, I’m always nervous before I dive, which is not good for air conservation!

There were 8 people on our boat and almost an equal number of staff/instructors. They split us up in small groups.  Justin and I were in a group by ourselves with a guide. We left the resort around 9 am.  It was about a 45 minute boat ride to the dive site. We dove one of the small island of Thailand called Koh Bida.  It is near Koh Phi Phi.  Apparently, this is near the islands that they filmed the James Bond movie and the Leonardo DiCaprio movie, The Beach (neither of which I have seen).

The water was uncharacteristically rough and there was a little bit of a current, but not too bad. Also, the visibility wasn’t as good as it normally is. Our maximum depth was about 18 meters (60 feet) on both dives.

On the first dive, we saw a good bit of fish (I can never remember their names).  I think we saw some clown fish, lion fish, angel fish and some others. We also saw a few eels and sting rays.  Bottom time was about an hour.

On our break between dives, the boats had lots of water and soft drinks.  They also provide a snack. They gave us bowls of rice with vegetables, chicken, and fish. It had an Asian flavor. As usual, we cleaned our plates!

Our second dive had alot of the same fish, but I felt like the visibility was much better.  We saw huge schools of yellow snapper, a sea turtle, and more eels.  Justin just informed me that we also saw some nudibranches. Obviously, I didn’t see that because I have no idea what it is, and I’ve never heard that word before.  I just did a quick google search: a nudi branch is a type of mollusk/worm thing. I think it’s a sea slug.
     

I guess I need to be more observant. Sometimes I get preoccupied looking out for sea creatures that may eat me. I’m not too concerned with the sea slug!

Bottom time for the second dive was also about 1 hour. I must have been more relaxed on the second dive because I wasn’t sucking air as bad as I was on the first dive.

Unfortunately, we didn’t see any leopard sharks 🙁

Also, it’s whale shark season, but I don’t think we will be going to any of those dive sites.

On the way back to the resort, they had fresh watermelon and pineapple. It was the best pineapple I’ve ever had! So fresh, sweet, and delicious. Justin, who doesn’t even like fruit, couldn’t stop eating it!

we’re diving again tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes!

P. S. I HATE putting on my wet suit!! It is awful. I know it is supposed to be tight but geez! Maybe I should lay off the pad Thai 🙂