Day 149! I’ve had a long couple of days, so I’m exhausted. BUT I finally decided to take the plunge into the world of diving. I’m super excited to see what this adventure holds for me. But that doesn’t start till tomorrow, so there’s still today to talk about!

Good morning Taco Shack!

I woke up at 9am this morning after a longgg day of travel. I felt rested but not ready to take on the day yet. So I laid in bed and started up on another episode of the Last of Us.

It was a pretty intense way to start the day, but I’m really enjoying the show so far.

I then headed over to the lobby to start my day and after ordering my muesli bowl, I decided to finally do something I’ve been thinking about doing for 2 weeks now.

I walked into the scuba school office and signed up for my Open Water certification class.

The staff in the dive school were super excited that I was finally doing it! And I was too!

I honestly hadn’t even thought about scuba diving or even getting certified before coming to Koh Tao. But because I’m here and have the money to do so… why not!

The set up process took a little bit. I needed to sign some documents and waivers. I had to fill out some questionnaires about my health and wellbeing too. I then paid 10,500 Baht, downloaded the Scuba Schools International (SSI) app, and I was officially signed up.

The SSI app has everything I need for my open water course. There’s places to log my dives, I’ll use it to prove I’m certified in the future, and there’s e-learning on it too… which I already had homework for.

I had to read the first 3 chapters (55 pages) before I start class tomorrow morning.

Here’s the schedule for the next 3 days:

I’m really excited and I’m also excited to meet the other travelers in my group! Over the past 2 weeks I’ve seen some amazing connections form from these groups and I hope I get the same opportunity.

I came out of the dive school office and told the diving instructors and dive masters in training the news and they were all super pumped for me. Some were a bit peeved I didn’t tell them before hand so they could get me on their boat… but I left it up to chance because I didn’t want to pick favorites.

I spent the rest of the morning chatting with travelers doing their diving and new arrivals. Once most of them left, I spent the rest of the morning playing pool with my coworkers!

I worked up an appetite after a few games and had a nice pad see ew for lunch.

I eat at the hostel a lot, but I really enjoy the food here. It’s also a big bonus that I can get it for so cheap. It’ll make my spending on Koh Tao pretty minimal! Outside of spending the money on the scuba course…

2pm rolled around and I snuck back to my room for a quick nap. The curtains on the beds were being cleaned, which was a weird sight, but no one was in the room so I took an undisturbed power nap.

When I woke up I started reading some of the chapters I needed to before class tomorrow (what a strange thing to say right now). While I did so, my friend Immy was walking across the island to join me for the gym!

We both were hitting leg day today, but were doing different exercises. It was still very nice having a friend there to chat with in between reps.

We finished up at the gym and then I drove Immy back across the island to the hostel she’s volunteering at, Echo Hostel. This is actually one that I talked to on my first day on Koh Tao, but I’m so happy they said no to me because I’m having a blast at Taco Shack!

I then went back to the hostel for a post workout meal of fried vegetables with chicken and rice.

I went back to my room, showered, and continued reading the chapters assigned to me. At the end of every chapter there’s a quiz… it’s been so long since I’ve had to take any form of test. I think at the end of the course I have to take a comprehensive test too… very much looking forward to that.

2 hours later, I went back to the lobby to start my night shift and eat dinner.

My manager was shocked that I was already eating again, but I was super hungry! Also, I can always eat a quesadilla.

For the next couple of hours I walked around and socialized with the travelers sitting around. It’s a much different vibe now that the long term Taco Shack travelers are gone. But it’s allowing me even more space to meet new people since I don’t have them to easily fall back on.

I ended up chatting with one of the travelers I met, Ivy from England, about a ton of deep topics. I had chatted with her earlier in the day and I’m not sure what exactly prompted this conversation, but it was a nice refreshing one from the basic “where are you from” and “what are your travel plans.”

The activity tonight was a Smash Ball tournament. A classic Taco Shack game. Usually most of the OG crew would be here, and winning, but their absence gave reign to a new group. It was a fun and intense tournament and everyone had a blast. Most people had never played before, but by the end of it I could see they were really getting into it.

I wrapped up the tournament and then Yi, my manager, told me I didn’t need to stick around. So I thanked him and went to my room to shower and read the rest of the assigned chapters before my class at 9am tomorrow.

I’m super excited to start diving tomorrow! I have never done anything like it before, so I’m stoked to try a new hobby… who knows, maybe I’ll love it so much I stick around to get my diving masters 😉

– Elie