Theory in the morning
We had a fairly early start, as we had to be at the Crystal Dive Centre by 8:30 to begin our Advanced Open Water course. On the way, we got breakfast at a pancake stall, where you can have pretty much any topping. Mango was a favourite for me! After doing the usual paperwork, it turns out because I have epilepsy, I had to take a walk to the clinic. As I’ve not had any issues for 5 years or more, the doctor gave me the all clear. The check cost about 20 baht, so not too much of a big deal. Once we’d done the paperwork, we were sent outside to our instructor and the team we’d be with.
After we made our introductions, we all huddled round the table and began to read through the theory behind the dives we’d be doing. Some was informative, but a lot was common sense or things we already knew. Everyone breezed through the tests as well. We were going to be using compasses on one dive, so we descended to the beach, and our instructor attempted to show us how to use them. Turns out, he was a bit unsure himself. I think he’s a trainee instructor, but we had a full instructor to help him along. Once we’d completed all of the theory, we had some lunch across the road with a couple of people from our team. After our lunch, the fun began!
To check out the first Open Water course, click here!
Confusion
We boarded the ship and donned all of our gear. Compared to Nha Trang, there’s about 5 times the amount of people. The first dive of the advanced open water course was to be about buoyancy, how to keep balanced and afloat during the dives. We had some exercises to do once we were on the bottom of the ocean. These included staying perfectly horizontal, and floating upside down, with your fingers on the floor, and legs to the surface. Any sort of confusion intensifies below water, as no one can talk. I was floating upside down with my fingers on the floor for about a minute as no one told me to stop. The final exercise was to swim through a hoop, both forwards and backwards. This is more difficult than it sounds, and not just because we had a large tank on our backs.
Having completed the exercises, we headed back up to the ship and had a short break. It was great to be out and diving again, it’s one of my favourite things to do now. Plus, you can’t beat being on a boat in this clear and beautiful weather, wind blowing through your hair. The next session of the advanced course was centred around navigation under water, using a compass. We definitely needed it as the water was murky as hell, I could barely see 2 metres in front of me.
The first exercise consisted of swimming in pairs in a square, each side being 10 metres long. When I did it, it seemed to go all right, but when Mat had the compass, somehow we only managed a triangle before we were back with the instructor. It was funny as hell. Another exercise was to swim a certain length, and then swim back in a straight line with the fewest number of strokes. This exercise seemed a bit naff, it didn’t seem like anyone was taking it seriously. It’s fun to dive no matter what you do, but there are some much better dives to come, I hope!
Diving in the dark
Everyone returned to the ship, took off their gear, and enjoyed the sunny ride back to land. Me and a few others had dinner at the same place again whilst we waited for dusk to fall. Our final dive of the day was to be night dive…this should be a pretty wicked experience. Once we were back on the boat, we suited up, and got ready. When everyone was set, we jumped in and grouped up. After everyone was accounted for, we began the slow descent down. It appeared my mask was loose or faulty, and when trying to descend into pitch black, and water is entering your googles, you kind of panic a bit. I returned to the surface, and an instructor came up too.
He tightened my mask and we resumed the dive, everything was fine after this. It was a mind-blowing experience, totally different to diving in the day. You’re a lot more on edge because without your torch, you cannot see a single thing. We all swam slowly along the corals, checking out the different hiding holes for sting rays, lion fish, crabs, and much more! It was a truly awesome adventure, one that I won’t soon forget. During the swim, I’d developed blisters due to the flippers being a poor fit. Once we were back to shore, I was able to change them though, so tomorrow should be better.
When we were done for the day, we were told there was barbecue at the adjoining restaurant, and that we were free to join and have some food…you don’t have to tell me twice!!! After we’d had our fill, we returned to base as we had an even earlier start tomorrow.
