Graham recently finished his PADI Open Water Diver and PADI Advanced Open Water Diver with us in Koh Tao. Read what he had to say below;
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What do you do with week of free time in Thailand?
Having finished my work related business in Bangkok, I had booked some annual leave and was determined to get out of the city. Having heard my friends go on and on about diving had got me interested, and after looking around I gave scubadubadive a call. They arranged everything for me - transfers from Bangkok to Koh Tao, all my accommodation, as well as two diving courses.
As a novice diver I really didn't know what to expect, but my big, friendly Mexican instructor Manuel was easy going and a very reassuring presence as he took us through the theory on the first (classroom based) day, before moving into the pool to teach us important basic skills like buoyancy, breathing technique, and mask removal.
On the third day of our open water course we were finally heading into the sea and the excitement was easy to feel! To me there has always been something inherently uncomfortable about the concept of diving - essentially you are relying on a tiny tank of compressed air to keep you alive while the enormous weight of the water above you steadily squeezes more nitrogen into your blood - but as soon as we started to descend all these fears vanished as the freedom and relaxation involved in literally being part of the ocean life swept over you.
As the wek progressed and I moved from the Open Water to the advanced open water course, I experienced more and more of my underwater surroundings as I became steadily more at ease during my dives. Huge highlights included a brief glimpse of a black-tipped reef shark, and an amazing night dive. Here our skills were really put to the test by the strong currents, as well as the opportunity to dive on a wreck in deeper water.
Evenings were spent relaxing at the bar and enjoying the local food at any of the nearby restaurants, as well as fighting off the attention of the local mosquitoes! I also got the chance to explore the island as my holiday had a built in day off from diving to go and use as we wanted. It was a really worthwhile experience and ap ps all group of myself and three Canadians joined forces to ride mopeds to each end of the island and really experience all that was on offer.
Koh Tao was brilliant and the customer service from scubadubadive was really good - I got quick replies to the one small problem I had and it was sorted the same day. "
Many thanks for the review Graham and we looking forward to seeing you back for more diving!
