Day 162! Whew… get ready for this one! It was a pretty crazy first day. I’m super excited to be back in the water, but this is going to be a challenging 2 months. I’m totally okay, but with almost nothing wrong happening in the first two programs for diving, something was bound to happen. Today was the first and hopefully last time I experience something like this…

After a very fun karaoke night the night prior, I had to wake up nice and early for my first day of my dive master training. I’m currently on the road to completing 40 dives. Once I do, I can officially start my dive master course.

Throughout these next few weeks of constant diving, I’ll get to go on fun dives, work with the instructors, help out in different classes, and continue expanding my knowledge and skills in this wonderful activity.

So at 6:15am, I rolled out of bed and made my way on a short walk to the taco shack lobby.

Before I got there though, I grabbed a snack from the market next door. I thought I found some tasty fig newtons… but turns out they were sweet black bean filled instead! Not what I was looking forward to at all.

Hope wasn’t lost for my morning snack, as I knew I’d be able to get fruit and biscuits after my first dive.

The divers started to slowly show up and we headed over to the pier. This week is really packed with divers, so I hopped on my motorbike instead of the taxi.

Today, our fun dive was being led by Albert, a fellow DMT who is almost done with his training. I was also diving with two travelers who I’ve met prior, who are on Koh Tao to just fun dive for two weeks and my friend Till who also is a DMT.

We went up to the top of the boat to prepare for a dive I probably won’t ever forget.

After a long 40 minute boat ride, we made it to South West Pinnacle, a dive site everyone raves about! I had never been here before, but I was amped to finally see it.

We strapped on our gear, did our buddy checks, and then jumped into the water to start our dive. I was a bit nervous since it was my first dive outside of a training course… but I was excited nonetheless.

We started our descent and this is where my first “problem” came in. I was having a bit of pressure in my sinuses and a little trouble equalizing, but after taking some time, I was able to make my descent. I was pretty pumped that I got over this hurtle and was able to figure out what I needed to do to properly equalize.

We then started our dive around just over 20m below sea level. Everything was great, I apparently was frog kicking very well and was using my new fins for the first time… but things quickly changed as we got around 15 minutes in.

We were met with this amazing school of fish that easily had 500 fish swimming in it and we stopped to admire it. Soon after, out of nowhere I was feeling like my frog kicks weren’t taking me anywhere. Trying all I could I just felt like I wasn’t moving. Now what I didn’t realize is we were being hit by a current… something I’ve never experienced or been briefed on how to deal with.

Unfortunately, my brain freaked out. My breathing sky rocketed and I started having, what I think was, a panic attack. Now luckily, I have had a similar feeling during my open water course, but nothing to this extreme.

I was trying my hardest to take deep breaths and remind myself I could breathe and I was okay. But with the current pushing me and not knowing I needed to switch to full leg kicks, I couldn’t control my breath. I looked over at Albert and gave the sign that I was needing help. He quickly came to my aid and tried his best to help coach me through slowing my breath… but I started quickly ascending because of my deep and quick inhales.

Before I knew it over the short span of 3 minutes we had ascended from 15m to the surface. Around the 8m mark I had finally controlled my breath and was ready to descend again… but in my haste and a bit of panic I guess I accidentally inflated my Buoyancy Control device and shot to the surface.

I was okay, Albert was a little flustered (rightfully so), and he directed me to go back to the ship which we were thankfully nearby. He stayed around for a bit to try and find the group as I went back to the boat, but eventually he came back to. Thankfully, Till is experienced enough to help guide the two other divers safely back to the top as well.

I was frustrated with myself, but very glad nothing worse happened. The biggest concern though is decompression sickness from coming up too quickly, but I was assured that the speed we came up would most likely be okay.

All the diving instructors and DMTs on the boat were very kind and making sure I was okay and reminding me that this is a learning moment and to not get too frustrated with myself. I’m still very new to this activity and need to be patient with the progression! Also I’m not the first and won’t be the last person to experience something like this.

Now… I could’ve let this first dive put me off from diving the rest of the morning or even forever. But I was determined to try again and prove to myself that I could do this.

So after a long ride to our next dive site, we did our dive briefing (this time discussing about currents and what to do) and got ready for the next dive.

This dive was at a dive site I was very familiar with, HTMS Sattakut 742. This was my 3rd dive at this site and I was very excited for a familiar spot to hop back in the water.

We strapped back in to our gear and set out on our next dive.

This dive went INSANELY better than the first one. We made our way down to 28.7m and started our dive. We were swimming around the wreck, peaking through the windows with Albert’s torch, and swam through the captains quarters again!

My air consumption could of course get better, but this dive I actually did the dive, stayed with the group, and felt like I did it successfully!

At one point during the dive, a random diver was swimming below me on his back and we held eye contact for a few seconds. He then removed his regulator and started blowing O bubbles at me. It was a pretty goofy moment and one that reminded me why I decided to go down this journey!

We also saw a fish at one point with a fish too big in its mouth… it was pretty silly as well. There were also giant queen fish and other large fish I have no clue what they were.

After surfacing from the dive I felt a major sense of accomplishment. With such a stressful first dive, I needed a victory and I achieved that.

It was time for the boat ride back to the pier… and it was a choppy one. At one point, I looked behind me and I saw one of the divers puking over the edge of the boat. Probably something I’ll need to get used to seeing with being on a boat every day.

We got back to the pier and headed back to Taco Shack to clean the gear and put it away.

Afterwards, I met up with my friend Kit and we went out for brunch!

We of course went to mamas, where I got my favorite meal there… their fried chicken. I needed some filling comfort food after the long morning.

The rest of the afternoon we spent hanging out, I’m really pumped to have him around!

Kit and I, along with some assistance from Albert, went out to dive shops to get some gear. I personally was on the hunt for a dive mask, so I wouldn’t have to use a shared one anymore.

After searching a couple stores, I finally found one that fit my face. I guess having a slim face and a mustache makes it hard to have a perfectly fit mask, but I found the closest thing.

I also, in the end, purchased a used dive computer from Iris, the head of the dive shop at Taco Shack. Lots of purchases being made, but soon I’ll be able to fully enjoy what I’m spending money on. Also hopefully I’ll be able to make it back guiding dives in the future… maybe Australia?!

With new dive masks, apparently there’s a layer of silicone covering the glass that you need to BURN off. So, I trusted the direction of Iris and took a flame to my new goggles… then I had to brush it with toothpaste to clean it. A strange process, but I guess it’s needed to be done.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon playing pool with the Taco Shack employees.

For whatever reason, the whole island didn’t have power today from 9am to 4pm… so once 4pm rolled around, I went back to my room to have a nap.

I slept really well, after all that had happened today. I woke up and laid in bed for a bit and then headed back to Taco Shack to meet up with Kit for dinner.

We enjoyed some cheap and delicious quesadillas, while chatting about diving and life.

We then played pool… a lot of pool. Our plan is to play a ton of pool and keep a running total of the games on the chalk board next to it. I’ll of course keep you all updated on what the tally is… after night one, here’s what it is:

After 8 fun games of pool, it was time to have an early nights sleep.

I was very exhausted after today but I’m also very ready to get back on the boat tomorrow! The schedule is constantly changing, but as of right now I’ll be assisting a new freelance instructor who is taking out a few people on a try dive. It will be nice to get back into shallow water and practice the basics again with these potential divers!

Looking forward to a new day and continuing this amazing experience!

– Elie