Open Water Dive #1 & 2

Koh Tao, 6/15/11

Our first proper dive is back at the Japanese Garden. We drop down to 12 meters and follow the Germanator, who gracefully swims backwards wearing stylish board shorts. We can barely swim properly moving forward and each of us wears ill-fitting "shortie" wet suits. My bouyancy is getting better, although most of my peers resemble drowned cats, recklessly flapping their arms and legs to stay afloat. As this is technically Open Water Dive #1, we take time again to practice our scuba skills on the ocean floor. As we train, large bucktoothed red-breasted wrasses swim between our legs, auditing the course. Cheapskates. It's really a good deal in Thailand and they should cough up the money. The wrasses smile at us with a toothy grin only a XXX whiskey-drinking country bumpkin could love.

In addition to the wrasses, we're visited by butterfly fish, parrot fish, trigger fish, angel fish, each of which we identify with special hand signals - fluttering of the hands in a crossed motion, make an eye patch, shoot a gun, form a halo, create a flag from the center of one's head. As the standard-bearer reef fish of the Gulf of Thailand, we will get to know these particular fish quite well throughout the next week. Especially since in addition to the warm water, the visibility is tremendous and we can see clearly ahead of us for roughly 20 meters.

Our second dive of the day is a couple hours later at 4pm, still in the Japanese Garden. 2 meters shallower this time at a maximum depth of 10m. We practice skills on the surface this time before descending, including losing one's cylinder and BC. This time our underwater classroom finds another school, full of hundreds of foot-long yellow-striped barracudas. As Yvonne kneels down to instruct, she almost steps on a devil scorpionfish, one of the most dangerous sea creatures in the gulf, with venomous spikes surrounding a beige body, which perfectly blends in with the sea floor. She flicks him away with her fin and before going on his way, he flashes a deadly gaze at us as if to say "next time". Some of the other highlights include fluorescent Chromis fish, with electric blue bodies and neon yellow tails and skunk clownfish.

Back on shore, we follow our typical routine of group homework with tall Chang beers, dinner, and more drinks while watching the local fire twirling show. The performers particularly enjoy throwing their fire sticks 20 ft in the air and making death defying catches even though the non-inflamed grip area is only around 8''. Around us, dozens of tourists look on in awe, while others dance drunkenly and frolic in the water to the latest top 40 hits. Once the hangover wears off, those foolish enough to try amateur fire twirling will have some unwanted body art in the form of second degree burns.