Pulling out of the boat harbor from Ko Phi Phi quickly revealed the island's better face. The day was calm and sunny, which is apparently how it will likely stay for the next few months. Phi Phi's dramatic rusty cliffs rose out of clear blue waters. I kicked myself for leaving the cameras back on shore with Kirsten, but we'll be out again soon, so we should be able to take some photos then.
After an easy 40 minute boat ride we showed up at the Bida islands just south of Ko Phi Phi Noi. These islands offer the best diving around Phi Phi and also some of the only deep dives. As a result, it was a bit like bumper cars on the surface, with several boats from Phi Phi as well as daytrippers from Phuket and Krabi all motoring around picking up and dropping off divers. I still haven't quite figured out how they know which divers are theirs, but somehow they manage to be close on hand when you pop up, and motor right over to collect you.
1. Bida Nok, departure from Ko Phi Phi , Thailand
100 feet for 38 minutes
My first deep dive started off with some simple chalkboard exercises intended to demonstrate the effects of nitrogen narcosis at depth. But as it turns out, writing my name out backwards didn't really turn out to be any harder at 30 meters than it was on the surface, and I didn't notice feeling funny or anything. Bit of a letdown after all of the hype.
After doing that, and playing around with egg yolks underwater for a little while, my instructor and I headed off around Bida Nok. The coral here is fantastic-big walls, huge fan corals, table corals and a bunch of other stuff I don't recognise. Also, a banded sea snake, a squid, loads of lion fish swimming around, schooling barracuda, and a varicose wart slug. I only got a quick look at the slug, because just as I was about to take a closer look, another group of divers came up from beneath me and I ended up with one fin resting on some guy's head, so I figured I should clear off.
Back on the boat, we spotted a freakish double banana-two in the same peel. We all admired it for a while until a french woman spotted it and immediately ate it. I told her she, probably get mutations, but she didn't care. Those french people will eat anything...
2. Bida Nai, departure from Ko Phi Phi , Thailand
80 feet for 48 minutes
More of the same, with even better coral, and some fun swim throughs. I started this dive with some simple compass navigation exercises, and then we went all the way around tiny Bida Nai. Clownfish, banded boxer shrimp, morays (one getting a tooth cleaning from a wrasse), masked porcupinefish, giant clam, good stuff.
What's K doing while J is off getting his advanced diver cert? We've attached a picture to help you guess...
1 comment:
Calvin and Emmett said: Those are sime mutations. That's the French Lady that ate the banana. Right?
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