Koh Tao - Christmas & Scuba diving

Next morning was Christmas Eve and we went to Koh Tao Crossfit (link to workout page) then moved to our Christmas accommodation Molly had booked through Air bnb before we left, called Blue Heaven - beautiful views, really nice food and amazing WiFi in the restaurant (not rooms). We dropped our bags off then went exploring on the moped, snorkelling at Tanote Beach and then had an amazing dinner at Blue Heaven.

(View from our duplex) On Christmas Day we had an amazing pancake breakfast at Blue Heaven before heading down to Sairee Beach to get a long tail boat (150THB pp return trip) across to Koh Nanyang (amazing viewpoint Island). We snorkelled and chilled here for a few hours then headed back andbwandered around Sairee Beach shops (Molly bought a nice dress for Christmas dinner). Chilled at Blue Heaven for a bit before getting a taxi to Barracuda restaurant for an incredible three course ‘Christmas dinner’. Taxi service great (300 - 400 THB each way) and the driver gave us a phone with a Thai sim so that we could call him to drop us back at BH later that night. After dinner we watched a brilliant Ladyboy cabaret show then hit a bar to phone everyone back home to wish them a Merry Christmas.

(Christmas Day at Koh Nanyang)

On Boxing Day we chilled at Blue Heaven, making the most of the fast WiFi before heading down to Big Blue Diving where we started our SSI Open Water Scuba diving course (9,000 THB 4 Day course including accommodation). It pissed down with rain that evening so just chilled in our room (we got upgraded for free to what was meant to be a 1500 per night private room!) then did our induction before heading to a pub to watch Saints vs Spurs.

(Another Christmas shot from Blue Heaven)

We started our dive training at 8 the next morning with about an hour of theory, four hours in the pool then another 45 minutes training. Pool training was great fun, learning all about the breathing apparatus, techniques and skills we’d need to display in the sea to qualify. Skills included breathing apparatus removal, mask filling and removal, buoyancy removal and shared air ascent. The next two days were spent learning the theory, taking the multiple choice exam and doing four dives at sea at 10m, 12m and 18m where we tested our newly mastered skills and swam among the coral. Unfortunately due to the terrible weather conditions visibility was pretty bleak (7m max) but we still saw some beautiful fish and had some close ups with some sting ray. That night we all got together and watched a film Big Blue had produced of our dive (we bought two digital copies between for of us for 4000THB and just shared the download links with each other) then headed out for drinks.