DIVING TRIP

Today was our first dive trip of Thailand. We were off to Sail Rock to hopefully see some whale sharks (didn't see any...). All of the books mentioned this as being one of the must-do sites, and the diving on this side of Thailand is supposed to be some of the best in the world so we couldn't miss out on this opportunity. Our last day in Koh Phangan and we just had to go for a dive.

This was actually my first dive ever without considering the certification dives that I went on. Even then, those dives were just in the Arizona lakes... The ocean was a whole new experience to me, and after overcoming the fear that a shark was going to eat me the moment I jumped in, the entire experience was pretty amazing. 

Our dive master was from Finland and had moved to Thailand a couple years prior to lead dive trips throughout the region. He had dived all around the world, yet still felt as though Thailand had some of the best dive sites to offer. Sail Rock--even to him--was one of the best sites in Thailand and he was going to be showing us around.

Sail Rock is a large formation halfway between Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, and is the only rock habitat of the sort in the nearby area. Because of this, most of the nearby marine life congregates to this area, bringing the divers right along with it. Furthermore, it features a large vertical swim through chimney that you enter at 18m and exit around 7m.

Jon was given control of the camera for the trip and managed to take tons of amazing photos of both the sea life and my dorkiness alike! While we didn't get to see any whale sharks this time (the last one was spotted three weeks ago) we did get to see a myriad of fish, including the large school featured that looked a wall in the middle of the water as they moved together throughout.

Overall, the dives were a pretty great amazing experience, and a great way to end our time in Koh Phangan. Unfortunately, Jon's jaw seemingly will prevent us from taking anymore dive trips while here in Thailand as it is causing him more pain that seems reasonable having to hold a regulator in his mouth for hours on end. 

Off to Koh Samui now for a birthday celebration, and to say goodbye to Thailand's east coast before heading off to Phuket!