with anna
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A.nna
anna // singaporean. my dream is to some day live in a countryside and have a lot of dogs. reach me on
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Sunday, August 20, 2017
Solo Diving in Phuket No buddy, no problem!
<me, by me>
My 2nd time traveling alone and this time I dived! Picked Phuket because I dove in Racha Yai before & the visibility was unforgettable. Back then I only did one dive, it was an impromptu plan as my uncle decided to try an introductory dive when we were out at sea so.. There I was, a week ago, back in Phuket after close to 2 years.
Chose to dive with Sea Bees Phuket this time, think they're one of the oldest and most popular dive centre around in Phuket. Quite different from the usual dive trips where we stayed with the dive resort & the dive centre is in the resort itself. This time we were given the option of staying in Patong/Kata/Karon and they'll pick you up for free every morning! I'm a little more familiar with Patong so I stayed in Best Western Patong, 5 mins walk away from Jungceylon & Bangla Walking Street so dive allll day, shopping allll night!
Based on the weather forecast for the past years, it shouldn't be the monsoon season but it was raining every day. On the first day of diving, it was raining the whole day & the water was got really choppy. Thank god for big ass boats so I didn't get too seasick to the extend of puking. Was out in the sea from 9am to 4pm and it was raining heavily throughout. I was thinking shittt at this rate I don't think I'd get to tan already :(
Most importantly the water was relatively calm though the weather was not. Mild current but everything was pretty much under control. Two dives for first day was at Shark Point. Not sure how I felt about that - shark point. I've heard from many experienced divers that sharks are the best, they're not aggressive bla bla bla but problem is I don't know how to differentiate the types of sharks so a great white can be in front of me and I might mistake it for some friendly nurse shark or something. A bit exagerrated but you get the gist. Disclaimer: I'm not saying that great white would definitely attack but I'm not sure if I'm ready for this..
That aside, nope, we didn't see any sharks. Can't say I'm not disappointed at all but it was at least an easy dive, just to get back into the water and familiarize myself again. Pardon the low quality photos, I was struggling & juggling between green & blue water, switching between magenta & red filter. Side note, someone has to tell me how do you identify and confirm if it's green/blue water? I was so sure for one that it was green water so I had magenta filter on and the whole dive's photos were horrid. I tried, here you go.
<when
The highlight of day one has gotta be the huge school of fish. I'm certain there were at least a thousand around us. It was not only a school, it was a queue as well, covering the whole stretch of wall. While diving forward, they were just beneath us the whole time. Amazing.
Second day of diving was back at Racha Yai. The visibility and state of sites were so much worst than before. Not sure if the artificial reefs and marine life were further ruined by the increase in c****** divers or it just wasn't my luck..
And a change to green water for 2nd dive :/
<I didn't even know this was pufferfish, it was HUGE>
Other than the wrong filter, you can pretty much tell the visibility. It was so poor that when we descended, we were told the seabed was around 10m and as we descend, we couldn't see shit. Only when I was around 8m+ then I saw the seabed. And that was the vis through the dive, 2m to 5m max.
But the artificial reefs at Racha Yai really has a lot to see. Every box has so much to see if you look closely. I gave up snapping any more photos before I lose my guide. Found quite a big nudibranch by myself with the nest beside, super cute. I think nudi is becoming one of my fav to find & see underwater.
Last day of diving was awesome. Had super Sunday with Seabees, meaning it's 4 dives a day at Phi Phi Island. But because I was flying off the next day, I did 3 dives only. That being said, I stayed on the boat throughout from 8am to 9pm, no joke. I guess sea god kept all the best stuff for me till the last day.
Sunday was when I clock my 50th dive for my 1st dive and I was blessed with 10+ blacktip reef sharks, bamboo sharks and I had my best dive moment. No photos but let me try to describe my best dive moment yo.
It was when I was diving at Viking Cave in Phi Phi & my guide held my hand and we dove into the cave which was literally pitch black. I was quite scared because fuck we had no torch! He then turn us around and told me to look out & around - it was that moment - like looking out of a tunnel and at the end of it all we could see was the endless blue ocean. It was prettier than any coral/fishes/wrecks I've ever seen. The serenity I sought through diving was taken to a whole other level, my heart was full and at peace, words just can't articulate whatever I've experienced, truly out of this world.
While I skipped my night dive and had the boat to myself and the crews (trying not to emphasize my fomo feels for not joining everyone for the last dive), I was looking through my dive logs which I also managed to fully fill during the trip (yes I brought a new logbook along, this is what a good student does - in Jan's words lol). This is definitely one of the best sport I've picked up and I thoroughly enjoy every moment underwater, except when I see triggerfish.
There was this site which I think is Bida Nok (?), we were told to descend where the triggerfish normally nest at. I was like whutttttttt?! OF ALL PLACES?! But yes, I didn't have any much peace during the whole dive. I was looking around and being very cautious not to trespass any triggerfish's nest. And then there's this funny moment (well at least to the others) when I was right in front and suddenly I u-turned and started swimming towards the other direction from where we came from and everyone was just looking at me like this
... the next moment they saw a huge triggerfish in front of them and the guide started laughing knowing my fear. Boy, you don't joke with such stuff. Every man for themselves, I'm abandoning anyone if an aggressive triggerfish is around. I said it.
Haha right gif at the right time. I was that 👆, 200%.
Well, all in all, the dives were great. I had Nelson as my guide and he made sure that every dive was safe and fun. I have no complaints be it their safety or service. Except that the dive sites are really far from Chalong Bay (where all boats take off). Easily 1.5 to 2.5 hours, Phi Phi was the furthest - and when the water is choppy, it's just plain dreadful. Other than that, they made this trip really easy and fun for me. Also to the new friends who made surface interval less boring ❤️
Solo dive trip isn't as scary as I thought it'd be. Well, not as scary as this one guy we saw underwater who was legit ALONE by himself, no buddy no guide??? And here we have me some fun land stuff I did..
<not becoming an alcoholic, just starting to really like gin>
<thai food>
<and more thai food>
<work from home Monday situation>
<see one time, drool one time - finally having it.>
<last day so a mandatory selfie, no?>
Because I spent most of the time on the boat, my meals were well taken care of by the impressive cook who was onboard with us as well. So whenever I get to eat out, I ordered 2 portions each time so I can eat as much as I want. Sadly with the increment of Chinese tourists, you can barely find authentic Thai food around. The only legit one I had was this street stall outside Banzaan Fresh Market. Other than that, I don't recall tomyum or phad thai to be sweet. Even outside Banzaan Fresh Market where there's lots of street stalls, more than half were serving Chinese food. C'mon!
Anywho, so now I've tried solo diving and am here to confirm & report that no buddy, no problem. Though I still miss the ever-lame jokes and companion of the people I normally dive with but sometimes it's just that hard to get everyone's schedules to come together, so till we can do so, I'm happy this is something I can finally and able to do by myself.
Still gotta learn how to be braver to sleep by myself but other than having to fully cover myself in blanket and build a fort with pillows, traveling alone is something I want to do more. This is quite a fulfilling year with a lot to look forward, though it's August, I still have 2 more trips coming up (one of it will be yet another solo trip + a place I've never been to, so double yay!) and till then, adios for now xx
Labels: activities, annainphuket, annateng, beach, bida nok, dive, dive spot, dives, diving, fishes, island, marine life, phi phi island, phulet, racha yai, shark point, solo dive, solo diving, thailand |
xx
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