I am officially the worst blogger. I am going to try and catch up in hurry in an effort to write about my current events. There was too many great things that have happened for me to just jump into my new stories. So…..
I went to Koh Tao, Thailand to get my Open Water License for SCUBA diving. Koh Tao is a small island off the Eastern Coast. Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan are two neighboring islands that are fairly well know. When my cousin Mel visited, we actually hit both of those islands, but they were way too young and full of partying. Koh Tao was a mature party vibe. But there were heaps of outdoor bars geared towards relaxing and chatting with friends.
I spent about 7 days in Koh Tao in total, and a few days before leaving my diving instructor told me about something called a “liveaboard”. This is where you can live aboard a boat for a few days while diving. Off the Western Coast of Thailand they ran these liveaboards to various islands and diving spots. But I had heard stories about one diving spot called “Richelieu Rock”. Named by Jacque Cousteau, Richelieu Rock is 30 miles or so from the coast and a pinnacle of diving in Thailand. It is also widely known as a top ten diving spot in the world. I felt spoiled even considering diving a top ten within my first ten dives. I decided to pull the trigger.
Bomb Manta from Thad Anderson on Vimeo.
Let me preface with this…..diving is extremely tiring. Every 10 meters equals an additional atmospheric pressure. We were often diving for 50 minutes as deep as 30 meters. This was absolute bananas on my body. The first night we took off at 10 pm and traveled to the first diving site during the night. I awoke the next morning at 6 am, a quick snack, dive, breakfast break, dive, lunch, break, dive, break, dive, dinner, then an optional night dive. I ended seeing a giant 15 foot manta ray, a whale shark, and a leopard shark. I made some great friends as well. Def one was one of the best experiences of my life. Till tomorrow.
