The whale shark
Recently I was lucky enough to get my open water diving certification from Big Blue Diving on the island of Koh Tao, Thailand. This island is known for good diving, and also happens to be one of the cheapest places in the world to get certified. Since I love swimming and animals, I figured I would probably enjoy diving, so despite the high cost for someone traveling on a budget, I went for it.
The course was 4 days long, and we were split into groups of 6 to do it. 5 of the 6 people in my group were Canadian, and we were all around the same age, so we got along swimmingly. The course consisted of teaching sessions (watching videos, reading materials, informal lectures with the instructor), learning skills, and, of course, doing actual dives. On land, we learned about how the air we breathe at depth is different than the air on the surface and why that matters. In a nutshell, we learned how not to blow up our own lungs, which I thought was pretty beneficial. Most of the in-water skills we were taught were to make sure that we had control over ourselves and remained calm in less-than-ideal situations (being out of air, losing our mask or regulator, etc.).
On the first day, we got to learn our underwater skills in Mango Bay. This was lucky, as most of the time these skills are practiced in the pool at the resort, which is obviously less fun. However, we quickly learned why the pool is an easier place to start: we had to deal with currents, fish, and uneven ground, which was expected, but the part I didn't expect was having to deal with other people. Snorkelers and swimmers would randomly swim right into our group, including basically colliding with our instructor as he was trying to demo skills, despite the fact that we had a marker on the surface signalling to others that we were below. Our instructor wasn't impressed, but I burst out laughing into my regulator, which caused so many bubbles that I couldn't see him demoing anymore. We were in the water doing skills for about 3 hours, so the day wasn't easy for most of us. However, it was particularly hard for two members of our group, one of whom got seasick on the boat ride to the bay, and another who had a panic attack in the water. By the time it was done, we were all glad to be back on land with a cold beer.
The rest of the course went more smoothly. Everyone in the group improved very quickly, which made our course way more fun. And, of course, as we started to actually do some dives, we got to see some amazing marine wildlife: angelfish, bannerfish, triggerfish, barracuda, eels, rays, so many different kinds of coral of different colours and shapes, and much more. Swimming through schools of fish is a unique experience that made me grin from ear to ear.
After we all finished our course, I decided to sign up for one last day of diving on the island now that I was certified. I could have stayed there for weeks and done dives everyday if my budget allowed, but I would have been coming home before summer if I had done that, so I limited myself to one more day. There had been a few whale shark sightings in the past few days, to the point that most of my friends had seen one by now, so I thought I might get lucky, too.
Our group for the day was only three: our dive master, Jonas, who would guide us around the dive sites and make sure we didn't die; myself; and a 13 year old Thai kid named Teva, who had a higher level of certification than me - what a badass. Our first dive was at a site called Red Rock, and we saw lots of neat marine life and corals, and did several challenging swims through tight rocky spaces. The dive lasted more than 50 minutes, which was the longest dive I had done yet, and Jonas was impressed that both Teva and I had enough air to last as long as we did. Our second dive was diverted at the last minute to a different site: Green Rock. When we entered the water and were swimming toward the descent point, Teva shouted to me: "Come on! There's a whale shark!"
Holy shit. I immediately sped up my kicking from leisurely to frantic en route to a large gathering of divers. When we got close, Jonas pointed in the direction to look and we submerged our heads, and... nothing. I was squinting, thinking it would be pretty far away, but I couldn't see anything. Did I miss it? I turned my head a little bit, and lo and behold, I was surprised to see an absolutely giant shark within a few hundred feet of me. There it was. This was, without a doubt, one of the coolest things I had ever seen. It was way closer to the surface than I expected, so our view was as clear as day. At one point it turned and started swimming directly toward me to the point that I actually had to get out of its way. We would see it several more times during the dive: far away, close up, above us, under us. We could see it in as much detail as in the video below (filmed by a videographer at Big Blue):
Needless to say, I'm very happy I chose to do that last day of diving. I made a lot of memories on Koh Tao and had a great time with the people I met, but nothing was quite as mesmerizing or unforgettable as the whale shark. I look forward to seeing more amazing marine creatures on future dives around the world.
The course was 4 days long, and we were split into groups of 6 to do it. 5 of the 6 people in my group were Canadian, and we were all around the same age, so we got along swimmingly. The course consisted of teaching sessions (watching videos, reading materials, informal lectures with the instructor), learning skills, and, of course, doing actual dives. On land, we learned about how the air we breathe at depth is different than the air on the surface and why that matters. In a nutshell, we learned how not to blow up our own lungs, which I thought was pretty beneficial. Most of the in-water skills we were taught were to make sure that we had control over ourselves and remained calm in less-than-ideal situations (being out of air, losing our mask or regulator, etc.).
On the first day, we got to learn our underwater skills in Mango Bay. This was lucky, as most of the time these skills are practiced in the pool at the resort, which is obviously less fun. However, we quickly learned why the pool is an easier place to start: we had to deal with currents, fish, and uneven ground, which was expected, but the part I didn't expect was having to deal with other people. Snorkelers and swimmers would randomly swim right into our group, including basically colliding with our instructor as he was trying to demo skills, despite the fact that we had a marker on the surface signalling to others that we were below. Our instructor wasn't impressed, but I burst out laughing into my regulator, which caused so many bubbles that I couldn't see him demoing anymore. We were in the water doing skills for about 3 hours, so the day wasn't easy for most of us. However, it was particularly hard for two members of our group, one of whom got seasick on the boat ride to the bay, and another who had a panic attack in the water. By the time it was done, we were all glad to be back on land with a cold beer.
The rest of the course went more smoothly. Everyone in the group improved very quickly, which made our course way more fun. And, of course, as we started to actually do some dives, we got to see some amazing marine wildlife: angelfish, bannerfish, triggerfish, barracuda, eels, rays, so many different kinds of coral of different colours and shapes, and much more. Swimming through schools of fish is a unique experience that made me grin from ear to ear.
After we all finished our course, I decided to sign up for one last day of diving on the island now that I was certified. I could have stayed there for weeks and done dives everyday if my budget allowed, but I would have been coming home before summer if I had done that, so I limited myself to one more day. There had been a few whale shark sightings in the past few days, to the point that most of my friends had seen one by now, so I thought I might get lucky, too.
Our group for the day was only three: our dive master, Jonas, who would guide us around the dive sites and make sure we didn't die; myself; and a 13 year old Thai kid named Teva, who had a higher level of certification than me - what a badass. Our first dive was at a site called Red Rock, and we saw lots of neat marine life and corals, and did several challenging swims through tight rocky spaces. The dive lasted more than 50 minutes, which was the longest dive I had done yet, and Jonas was impressed that both Teva and I had enough air to last as long as we did. Our second dive was diverted at the last minute to a different site: Green Rock. When we entered the water and were swimming toward the descent point, Teva shouted to me: "Come on! There's a whale shark!"
Holy shit. I immediately sped up my kicking from leisurely to frantic en route to a large gathering of divers. When we got close, Jonas pointed in the direction to look and we submerged our heads, and... nothing. I was squinting, thinking it would be pretty far away, but I couldn't see anything. Did I miss it? I turned my head a little bit, and lo and behold, I was surprised to see an absolutely giant shark within a few hundred feet of me. There it was. This was, without a doubt, one of the coolest things I had ever seen. It was way closer to the surface than I expected, so our view was as clear as day. At one point it turned and started swimming directly toward me to the point that I actually had to get out of its way. We would see it several more times during the dive: far away, close up, above us, under us. We could see it in as much detail as in the video below (filmed by a videographer at Big Blue):
Needless to say, I'm very happy I chose to do that last day of diving. I made a lot of memories on Koh Tao and had a great time with the people I met, but nothing was quite as mesmerizing or unforgettable as the whale shark. I look forward to seeing more amazing marine creatures on future dives around the world.
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