Racha Yai, sardines, BIG moray eels, & Seahawks!

Our first dives of the trip and Max's first dives in eight years were from an overpacked boat where the dive gear and the people were packed in like sardines, with most of the people on the boat doing the "discover scuba" thing, which his a way to do some shallow diving without being certified. Max and I had a few gear issues to sort out - which was half the purpose of doing this day trip before the 5 day liveaboard - but we pulled it together and had a couple of good dives. Dive number 1 was at Racha Yai cove 1, and was mostly uneventful except for a very strong current - both down deep and up on the surface. Dive #2 was at Racha Yai cove 3, and was much more interesting with lionfish, scorpion fish, triggers, one ugly stone fish, and 4 of the biggest moray eels that I've ever seen. Max did great, and all the new gear checked out, so ready for the Similans.

Patong beach in Phuket just keeps becoming less interesting to me as a city/town - but the reasons for coming (beach & diving) stay the same. Over the past two days, most of the bars have been closed due to the national elections, which have been the source of considerable unrest and the current state of emergency as declared by the government. Didn't stop people from finding sources of cheap beer, but it did quiet down the nightlife scene a bit. It also meant that a lot of people were wide awake in time for the 6:30 am Superbowl kickoff, though Americans or any one else who cares about American football are few and far between down here.  Max and I were both up at 5, and he did find us a good place to watch the game - The Summer Breeze Hotel - a very nice, small American owned hotel just 3 or 4 blocks from our hotel. After skipping dinner and crashing early after the dives, it was good to have a big American breakfast and settle in for the game. 22 to 0 at halftime with the Hawks in the lead? Seattle is in uncharted territory...

 

Post-script:  43 to 8 thrashing of Denver and the first Superbowl win ever for Seattle!  Memorable time!