Tuesday, January 30, 2007
First Liveaboard Trip
I have just returned to terra firma in Phuket, Thailand. I was on a liveaboard dive trip for 10 days. Imagine living on a boat for 10 days, constant moving, and shaking, and scuba diving 4 times a day!
It was both exciting and scary at first. What will the boat be like? who are the other people on the boat? What if we have bad weather? Will I get bored of diving, or eaten by a shark underwater. All these thoughts and more came into my head for the last 5-6 months before I took part of the trip. However, all doubts and worries were laid to rest, as I had an amazing trip.
Our boat was great. 29m ( 100 foot) boat, with 4 decks and stabilizers. A good crew and also good divemasters on the boat. There were 14 guest, from 8 different countries. Met all sorts of people from German police officers, to Tanzanian Diamond Miners/engineers.
Living on the open seas is of course for serious divers. People had logged 50-700 dives each. I only had 15... so I was the most inexperienced person on the boat to be sure! However, I improved so much, and I learned alot about marine life. I also did my advanced training, and learned how to dive with Nitrox mix instead of air.
I always enjoyed just looking at stuff underwater, and being able to do something "different" like Scuba. But diving is about exploration, and sighting of wildlife. After each dive, people discussed the different kinds of fish they found underwater, and the types of corals etc. etc. Many people had underwater cameras ( I did not..) and everyone had high tech dive computers.
Thankfully, Dallas had bought me one just before I left! Man, that thing saved me life 30 meters ( 100 feet) below the waves.
I saw so much, but our 2 big goals were realized. We saw Manta Rays, and Whale sharks! Two of the largest things in the ocean, swimming with us. On top of that, I saw white tip sharks, leopard sharks, massive moray eels almost as big as me, etc. etc.
if only I had a camera.. I will be getting photos from friends I met on the dive, and will put them online once I get them.
I didn't get seasick on the boat, but I am in fact, landsick right now. Everything is still moving, and I can't keep my head still.
I'm staying at Phuket town. It's much quieter, and "real" than the Patong beach, which is like a massive tourist trap. It's almost hard to see Thai people among all the farangs ( foreigners) on the streets. I like this small town here, where the foreigners are much in minority. We shuffle through the streets standing out, but at least it's quieter, and things are cheap. Just ate dinner~ bowl of noodles, and an order of satay chicken. it only cost me $2. no other foreigners in the restaurant, and no english menu. Just point at the ingredients.
On the boat, we ate like kings. The food was so good, and they just kept feeding us. I was very happy with my dive team's dive master. She is a thai woman. There are very few Thai dive masters, and very very few women. So needless to say, she has a different personality than many locals. She was a great diver, and took care of my useless butt for the first while. During our surface time, she was fun to talk to as well.
So where did we go? yeah, forgot to mention that.
We dove the similan islands, richelieu rock, Koh Bon, the Mergui Archepelago and the Burma Banks. We actually left Thailand, and entered Myanmar ( burma) by sea. It took us several hours to cross customs each time on the water. Officials boarded the boat and we had nothing to do but sit and wait. Everything went smoothly though.
We didn't have permission to make landfall in Myanmar, which is a shame. The diving was alright, but we saw more in Thai waters. In Myanmar the current was very fast. When the ocean is carrying you across it, while you are at depth is kinda scary and cool at the same time. You are literally flying weightlessly through an expanse of water.
The first time you see a shark? Super thrilling! Night diving was a great fear of mine. When you dive at night, you can't see anything except what is in your beam of light. Meaning, if something were to come, you won't see it coming until it's too late..
but it turned out to be very exciting. Then you come up, and all you can hear is water, and you see the moon and the stars, and the light of your ship in the distance. It's magic.
To speak much further would be boring to non-divers, and really without photos, it's hard to say too much as well. Being in the ocean is something you have to experience. It's part of our world, but it's so different than what we see, and deal with on land everyday.
It was both exciting and scary at first. What will the boat be like? who are the other people on the boat? What if we have bad weather? Will I get bored of diving, or eaten by a shark underwater. All these thoughts and more came into my head for the last 5-6 months before I took part of the trip. However, all doubts and worries were laid to rest, as I had an amazing trip.
Our boat was great. 29m ( 100 foot) boat, with 4 decks and stabilizers. A good crew and also good divemasters on the boat. There were 14 guest, from 8 different countries. Met all sorts of people from German police officers, to Tanzanian Diamond Miners/engineers.
Living on the open seas is of course for serious divers. People had logged 50-700 dives each. I only had 15... so I was the most inexperienced person on the boat to be sure! However, I improved so much, and I learned alot about marine life. I also did my advanced training, and learned how to dive with Nitrox mix instead of air.
I always enjoyed just looking at stuff underwater, and being able to do something "different" like Scuba. But diving is about exploration, and sighting of wildlife. After each dive, people discussed the different kinds of fish they found underwater, and the types of corals etc. etc. Many people had underwater cameras ( I did not..) and everyone had high tech dive computers.
Thankfully, Dallas had bought me one just before I left! Man, that thing saved me life 30 meters ( 100 feet) below the waves.
I saw so much, but our 2 big goals were realized. We saw Manta Rays, and Whale sharks! Two of the largest things in the ocean, swimming with us. On top of that, I saw white tip sharks, leopard sharks, massive moray eels almost as big as me, etc. etc.
if only I had a camera.. I will be getting photos from friends I met on the dive, and will put them online once I get them.
I didn't get seasick on the boat, but I am in fact, landsick right now. Everything is still moving, and I can't keep my head still.
I'm staying at Phuket town. It's much quieter, and "real" than the Patong beach, which is like a massive tourist trap. It's almost hard to see Thai people among all the farangs ( foreigners) on the streets. I like this small town here, where the foreigners are much in minority. We shuffle through the streets standing out, but at least it's quieter, and things are cheap. Just ate dinner~ bowl of noodles, and an order of satay chicken. it only cost me $2. no other foreigners in the restaurant, and no english menu. Just point at the ingredients.
On the boat, we ate like kings. The food was so good, and they just kept feeding us. I was very happy with my dive team's dive master. She is a thai woman. There are very few Thai dive masters, and very very few women. So needless to say, she has a different personality than many locals. She was a great diver, and took care of my useless butt for the first while. During our surface time, she was fun to talk to as well.
So where did we go? yeah, forgot to mention that.
We dove the similan islands, richelieu rock, Koh Bon, the Mergui Archepelago and the Burma Banks. We actually left Thailand, and entered Myanmar ( burma) by sea. It took us several hours to cross customs each time on the water. Officials boarded the boat and we had nothing to do but sit and wait. Everything went smoothly though.
We didn't have permission to make landfall in Myanmar, which is a shame. The diving was alright, but we saw more in Thai waters. In Myanmar the current was very fast. When the ocean is carrying you across it, while you are at depth is kinda scary and cool at the same time. You are literally flying weightlessly through an expanse of water.
The first time you see a shark? Super thrilling! Night diving was a great fear of mine. When you dive at night, you can't see anything except what is in your beam of light. Meaning, if something were to come, you won't see it coming until it's too late..
but it turned out to be very exciting. Then you come up, and all you can hear is water, and you see the moon and the stars, and the light of your ship in the distance. It's magic.
To speak much further would be boring to non-divers, and really without photos, it's hard to say too much as well. Being in the ocean is something you have to experience. It's part of our world, but it's so different than what we see, and deal with on land everyday.
# posted by jason @ 6:21 AM 
