THAILAND - Phi Phi Islands - Part 5

I woke up before Monica, since she was still recovering, and walked down to the platform to do some yoga and stretching. Afterwards I made some breakfast outside the bungalow and headed into town around 9 to go scuba diving. At the dive center I met my instructor, he was a small man from Portugal named Hugo. He almost looked like a bald monkey but very nice and cute. He got me fitted in my gear and showed me the ropes to the course. All the other instructors were warning me about how crazy he was as a diver and never followed the rules... nice start... I remeber learning on my videos the night previous that smoking was very dangerous to do before a dive but on the walk to the beach Hugo must have smoke at least 2 cigarettes. What a character. But we talked a lot about traveling and shared how we both have a deep love and appreciation for being in the water. We got to the pier and got our gear on. It was so hot that day I could barely hear myself think. I was so excited to get in the water! We entered an enclosed area where other divers were present and no boats could hit us. I practiced a lot of diving skills such as closing my air tank and then having to switch to Hugo's air system. I also had to practice saving Hugo in case he passed out or something. I passed all the skills with flying colors! We swam around a little and saw some schools of fish. A little bit of ti,e passed before I started feeling light headed and noticed my air tasted kind of funny. I signaled Hugo to surface so I could tell him. He checked my air and everything was fine in the end and I was just overthinking it. We went back down for a little exta time and then we saw the same blue and black striped snake swim by. When this happened Hugo pulled me back and we swam away fast but the snake kept coming towards us a bit. After we got out again and Hugo told me the snake was very dangerous and that it had intentions of attacking us. Thank god it didn't! I was able to rest a little bit and grab so,e lunch in town before I had to head back and get on the boat for my last to open water dives. Around 12 I got to the shop and met 4 other people joining us on the boat, then again I had Hugo all to myself as an instructor and the other divers were already certified. There was 2 guys traveling from Sweden together, a French lady, and an American guy. Also the boat driver was a hearty old Australian diver who had been living on the island for a while now. On the boat ride there I talked about my travels to Cuba to the American guy and also looking at pictures of sea creatues that I might see. About halfway to the dive spot the boat got a call that there was a whale shark sighting not to far away!!! I think my whole life has led to this moment. I have always dreamed of seeing a whale shark and now was the time!! So we set our boat to a different corse and I suited up and did a buddy check with Hugo. We were all ready to go and I jumped into the water. Before I could go all the way under I had to do a few last tests with Hugo and then we could go try to find the Whale Shark that was supposidly just swimming not to far off the self. The dive spot was called Bik Nok and was very pretty. I practiced taking off my mask and swimming to the surface while breathing out. I almost didn't make it... After that was all done was hurried to the shelf to find the beast. And there it was not too far off into the distance. The slow moving animal was not bothered by us fasinated humans. I just floated there with a huge distorted grin under my equipment trying to soak in the beauitful sight. Best moment ever. After a while the whale disappeared into the deep blue abyss, never to be seen again. I was perfectly content after that. Since the dive site was an unusual one the aquatic life was thriving, definitely more than the island in Vietnam. The coral had color and the fishes were everywhere. The clown fish would swim up to my goggles and try to attack me and the others would just swim around me without a care in the world. I also got to see about 20 reef sharks! One of my favorite parts was swimming into a school of yellow snappers and becoming lost in it. One time a swam off from Hugo's path to go into a huge school and I was twirling around without a care in the world and then I saw Hugo in the distance laughing at me for getting so distracted my the shining cloud of fish.I saw many different fishes and also more dangerous snakes, but I made sure to keep my distance this time. Hugo led us down to 20 meters instead of the 18 I was allowed but I think I was more than capable. We got out and went to the boat for some rest and food before our next dive. We all got some coffee and sweet and sour stir fry. The next dive spot was out in the middle of nowhere but we all agree on it because no other divers were out there. All to ourselves! After 45 minutes passed we suited up. Down in this area was leopards sharks just grazing low to the ground and next to them were poisenous lion fish! I got to see shrimp and giant clams as well. This dive was also cool because Hugo let me lead the entire dive and decide where to go. We then surfaced and headed back to Phi Phi. I was a little dizzy afterwards but I think it was also mixed with the exhaustion and excitement I had all day. All I could do was smile the whole way back as I watched sunset approach. Back in the shop I had to take the fial test and talk with Hugo more about what it means now that I am certified. Although Hugo would not stop talking so I didn't get out of their till 9 at night and I was starving! I went to the market and got some food to go so I could eat back in the rom and go to bed early. Tommorow were plans for rock climbing!!