The longest bus ride ever, Phuket now & then

My last two dives (Lighthouse and White rock) were pleasant and uneventful. Highlights included hearing a whale singing in the distance at the Lighthouse and seeing a sea snake slithering through the coral at White rock. Coming to Koh Tao was a good idea, and after 10 dives, I feel ready to take on the more challenging dives of the Similans.

Gizmo's friend out fishing - this dog was always in the water

Getting from Koh Tao to Surrathani was an easy 2 ½ hour catamaran ride with a change of boats in Koh Phangan. We arrived in Surrathani at 2:00, and were met by a coach that promised to have us in Phuket Town by 6:30. When I bought my ticket, I specifically asked if the bus was “express” and “VIP” as opposed to the “aircon” busses that stop every time someone on the side of the road waves their arm. I was assured that I was on an express VIP bus. That turned out not to be the case.

At 6:30 PM – our scheduled time of arrival – we were still 150km away from Phuket Town, and stopping at every dirt road to let locals on and off the bus. At 7:00, the driver pulled over to a group of roadside stalls for dinner. "It is what it is", I kept telling myself... At 9:30, we finally arrived. Exhausted, I paid an exorbitant fare to commandeer a songthow (pickup with seats in the back) to get me to my hotel down by the beach. After 7 ½ hours in the bus, I just needed to get cleaned up and go to bed.

Patong Beach

I had entertained all sorts of ideas for the two days between leaving Koh Tao and getting on the dive boat to the Similan Islands. The two calendar days really distilled down to a single day by the time you take out the travel and other needed chores. In the end, I opted for the easy & familiar and a chance to make some needed purchases at the local dive shops in Patong. I spent the day wandering the beach, brushing away the touts, and picking up a new dive light and new straps for my fins. Some things never change – the beach is still beautiful and the touts still use the same tactics to get your attention and draw you in.

Soi Eric off of Bangala Road

Other things just keep changing. No traveler I’ve ever met is short on stories of how simple and cheap things used to be. People who started traveling in the 70’s would proclaim a place ruined by the 80’s – a decade or two before I “discovered” the same place. For me, my first trip to Thailand was in 1999 – I stayed in a small crappy hotel right on the beach for ~$30/night and Patong felt exotic, a bit sleazy, and most of the shops and stalls were simple and run by locals. 13 years later, my budget ($50/night) puts me in a small crappy hotel up the hill far away from the beach. When I came back in 2004, prices were going up, but the place was largely the same. The game changer was the tsunami that happened just a few days after I left in 2004 that wiped all of the beachfront stalls and shops off the map. When I came back in 2008, it was clear that they were gone for good, and “progress” was happening with many more chain stores moving in where local shops used to be.

new Muay Thai stadium

4 Years later, the sleaze factor has been replaced by something that feels more like Disneyland (if Disneyland had a section called LadyBoy Land). Most of the individual shops and stalls have been replaced by modern buildings and international chain stores – not just on the beach, but throughout the town. There’s a huge new mega mall at the end of Bangla Road, alongside the new giant Muay Thai boxing stadium and the Fresh Market where people and restaurants buy their produce, meat, and seafood.

farmer's market

meat

curry

Still, it’s not bad. If I hadn’t experienced what it used to be, it would still be a beautiful beach with things to do and see. You can still find good Thai food, though now there are probably more pizzerias than local restaurants. By international standards, it’s still dirt cheap. And, it’s a good jumping off point to other more unspoiled locations like my dive trip, or a trip down to Phi Phi or around to Krabi/Railay. So – happy to be here for a couple of days, but looking forward to jumping into the true leg two of my trip when I get on the boat at 7 tonight for an overnight motor up to the first of what should be about 15 different dive spots over the next four days.

"Please do not sell firework lanterns and hot air. It may cause of the burning and trouble somebody" Good advice!

more diving, beach dogs, and a lost buddy

At 6am, it’s still dark here, and even the beach dogs are still sleeping. By 6:30, the sun is rising, and with 20 people, 40 tanks, and all of our gear packed into a 20 foot dingy shaped like a bathtub (with the stability of one), we motor out a couple hundred yards to the dive boat and climb aboard.

bathtub boat

open water dive students

the dive boat

Dive #5 was at a place called Chumphon Pinnacle, and was high in anticipation as one of the best dive spots in Koh Tao. It was also a good warm up for my trip out to the Similans in that it was both a deep dive and a dive with some strong currents. Currents are good, in that they bring nutrients in that attract fish to the site, but between the depth and the current, I knew I’d be air challenged and that it would likely be a short dive.

When we first got down to the pinnacle, we were greeted by massive schools of fish. Really spectacular to watch these bait balls move in unison.

big school of fish, Champhon Pinnacle

Down deeper at ~95 feet, I encountered a huge grouper. I swam close to get a good picture or two, and my fellow divers said that the grouper was roughly the same size as me - big boy! My computer told me I was down to about 7 minutes of no-decompression time, so I came up to a shallower depth and saw another big grouper & shot some video. Overall, a really nice dive.



We motored over to a place called “Shipwreck” for my dive #6. I’m not generally a fan of diving wrecks unless they’ve been down long enough to create a true artificial reef, attracting sealife. This boat had only been down for a few months, and as we dropped down, it was clear that this wasn’t going to be a very interesting dive. I was wrong, but not in a good way…

As we worked through some very murky waters, people stopped to take pictures and the dive master – our young 22 y/o Swedish girl took a head count and came up one short. After (IMO) way too long looking around in visibility that was no more than a few feet, we all (minus one) slowly ascended to the surface, which is standard practice for a missing diver situation. We looked on the surface for 15-20 minutes before the Dive Master and another diver went back down to search the wreck. No one was thinking the worst, but after 40 minutes since we first went under, if he was still down, his air would be getting low.

posing on the wreck

When the search party finished looking through the wrek and came up empty, the assumption was that the missing guy either encountered another group and followed them by mistake (easy to do with crowded dive spots), or was bobbing on the surface someplace and we needed to get in the boat and go find him.

By the time we got back to the boat, the Thai crew said that they had seen the missing diver surface, and then go back down to join another group – unbelievable! In the end, it turned out that he had a very nice dive, while the other 7 of us bobbed on the surface with almost full tanks for air. Diving with newbies (including newbie dive masters) has really impressed on me the difference experience makes.

The afternoon dives, #7 and #8 were both very pleasant dives in garden-like settings of boulders covered with coral, swim-throughs, walls, and ledges that hide sting rays and moray eels. With fewer divers and a more experienced Dive Master (Milla from Finland), it was a very nice change.

Big blue-lipped clam

> Think I'll catch the next one...


Back on land, I cleaned up and went in to town to book my travels to Phuket. 800 baht (~$27) for a nine hour journey by boat and bus to Phuket Town where I’ll transfer to my boat to the Similan Islands. I took a walk down Sairee Beach, and I quickly saw why my brother suggested the Coral Grand to me, which is at the far north end of this very long beach. The further south I walked, the younger the crowd got - I was truly in “gap year” land. Lots of Scandinavian blondes, tattoo’d guys twirling things on the beach that looked like they were meant to be lit on fire in the evenings, dive shops offering open water certifications for next to nothing…Makes me wonder what the hell I was doing being hard working and responsible in my 20’s. I guess that's why I get to come back here in my...later years (I'll keep telling myself that anyway)

shooting pool on the beach

Panang curry with shrimp and squid

After a nice dinner, I stopped in the local mini mart to pick up a couple of necessities (Chang), and decided to buy some treats for the local beach dogs. I purchased a package of bologna-like meat, and quickly made a new friend when I got back to my bungalow. My new pal – known as Gizmo – never left the porch for the rest of the evening.

Gizmo with bologna breath

I’ve been sleeping from 9pm to 4am every day since I got here – in part because that’s what my body wants to do, and in part because the first dive of the day departs at 6am-ish. Last night was no exception, and by 9:00, I was out. Sometime around 11, I woke up hearing someone on my porch. The scuffling got louder and louder, and I got out of bed ready to confront whoever was out there. Just as I was about to turn on the porch light and open the door, someone started banging and scratching on the door. I opened the door – and there he was! Gizmo wanted more lunch meat, and was not being shy about asking. I shoo’d him away and went back to sleep. Since I was skipping the 6am dive in the morning, I really didn’t mind the late night visit. Good boy - no bologna.

Koh Tao

Phad Thai is probably the ultimate pre-scuba food. Lots of good carbs for energy, protein from the shrimp and tofu to keep you going, and with a good sprinkling of chilis, it wakes you up and gets you ready to plunge into the cool blue. I could do that every day.

Phad Thai in Samui, waiting for the boat

I love being here. It’s impossible to be stressed in a place like Thailand. It’s hot, but pleasant. The people are warm and friendly – but even when they show signs of farang fatigue, they are generally harmless. Other parts of Thailand are easier to categorize than Koh Tao. Bangkok is a big, fast moving city with a well-known reputation. Phuket is an international destination for beaches and nightlife. Railay Beach is still quaint and understated, even though it’s grown and become more expensive.

first night sunset

To me, Koh Tao feels like it breaks the rules. It’s neither an undeveloped paradise, nor an in-your-face high end resort. Instead, it’s more of a resort wannabe – which to me means it makes promises that it can’t really deliver – which can be worse than making no promises at all. The place I’m staying – the Coral Grand Resort, is a nice collection of bungalows right on the beach. Beautiful in every way, but the finer details are lacking. Generally, I would rather pay less, expect little and get less - or pay more and get more. A good friend of mine once said – 1 star or 5 stars – nothing in between. I tend to agree. No complaints - just observation. Very happy to be where I am.

my bungalow by the beach

I came to Koh Tao to get my feet wet in a place that is known as scuba school central. It’s been over 6 years since my last dive, and a refresher course and some easier diving seemed like the right thing to do before I go back out to the deep dives and strong currents of the Similan Islands. Scuba schools here are all run by 20-somethings using diving as an excuse to escape Germany/Sweden/Australia/etc. for a couple of years. In retrospect, it doesn’t sound like a half-bad plan – kind of wish I’d have thought of that way back when…



After doing a “refresher course” in the morning – a mini classroom session followed by some time in the pool going through various drills to clear my regulator, practice taking off and putting back on various pieces of equipment underwater, and practicing staying neutrally buoyant – I was ready for the open ocean. My first two dives in over 6 years were spectacular – in that they were my first two dives in over 6 years! Visibility was decent, and saw many beautiful fish, great coral, and a couple of blue spotted sting rays. Tomorrow, I head out at 6am for some deeper dives at a couple of the better sights around Koh Tao. Nice to be back in the cool blue.

aquarium

underwater garden

Nemos - sad ones are called Emos

Day 2 - Dive #3 was at a place called “Green Rock” – to distinguish it from dives #1 and #2 at Red Rock and White Rock (said they were first mapped by an Italian). Visibility was poor, and our ~22 y/o Sweedish dive master didn’t know the site and took us on a fruitless journey over barren sand for 20 minutes before we found signs of life. In contrast, dive #4 at “The Twins” made the 6am start totally worthwhile. If Disney built an underwater garden for visitors to explore, this would be a Fungineer masterpiece. My new Canon G12 in its plastic housing was awesome, taking both great pictures and videos. Compared to 10 years ago when I was shooting my Nikon SLR with slide film, having the instant feedback and gratification of digital makes getting great underwater shots so much easier. Tomorrow, I’m on the 6am boat for 2 dives followed by the 12 noon boat for two more.

big trigger fish

another Nemo

moray eel

And finally, after going to dinner and leaving my computer to upload to YouTube, here's some video from the Twins.

Same Same but Different

Same same but different...This is my 7th trip to Thailand - much the same, but a little different. Diving in the Gulf of Thailand around Koh Tao is new to me. A liveaboard trip to dive the Similan Islands, Ko Bon (with the mantas), & Richelieu Rock I've done before - but it was 10 years ago, amazing and worth a trip back. Visting with my brother, his family & friends in Chiang Mai is always a good time. Roughly 24 hours from now, I'll be in Bangkok where it's 92 degrees, 80% humidity and the air stepping off the plane has that unforgettable smell of SE Asia. Can't wait!