The land of "please let me go back and dive every day forever"

And now, for the relaxing leg of the journey.  (Why, oh why, didn't we do this part last?)

We spent 4 days on a live-aboard dive boat off the coast of Khao Lak, Thailand, cruising around the Similan Islands.  We gave up our shoes when we boarded the boat and didn't see them again until we got off.  The daily routine was basically like this:



- wake up to watch sunrise
- dive
- eat breakfast
- dive
- eat lunch
- dive
- go hiking
- sunset or night dive
- eat dinner
- sleep




We also took the occasional break to hike around some of the amazingly beautiful islands during our surface intervals. And remember: we were in Thailand.  So when we were eating, it was coconut curry, or drunken noodles, or chicken satay, or some other incredibly delicious Thai meal prepared by our talented cook.  This was heaven.  It very well may have been the best vacation I’ve ever had – I was surrounded by beauty, I was eating my favorite food and exploring around the outdoors, and when I wasn't doing that, I was participating in one of my favorite hobbies of all time with my husband and a bunch of new friends from around the world who also happen to share in this favorite hobby.  I don’t think I can top this.

Everything was stunningly beautiful.  The beaches were lush and empty, with clear, turquoise water and extra-fine white coral sand.  The skies, for the most part, were clear and pristine – besides during the sunrise, when we had some nice scattered cloud cover to magnify all the colors.  And the dives!  Amazing, vibrant coral in purples, yellows, and reds, soft fans, and fish and exotic sea life everywhere!  All colors of the rainbow, of all shapes and sizes.  There were huge schools of fish, all moving in sync, flashing when they caught the sunlight just right, all suddenly changing directions at the same time.  We swam through one section in Richlieu Rock – one of the top 10 dive spots on the planet – that felt to me like a city center, with all sorts of masses of fish crisscrossing through the coral.  We saw batfish, barracuda, clownfish playing in anemone, angelfish, parrotfish, a sea turtle, honeycomb eels, stingrays, lots of beautiful nudibranhes, and slugs with bright-colored spikes.  We saw two big octopus that changed colors (and inked) while we watched.  We got to do a night dive – my first ever – to see how active the fish get at sunset.  At the end of the dive, we all turned off our flashlights so Luca, our dive master, could show us the luminescent phytoplankton that glow in the darkness when you clap your hands. 


It was unforgettable.  

Before we even went on our last dive, I was already feeling nostalgia for the experience.  

I was missing the Thai crew of the boat – even though we don’t speak the same language, we can share smiles.  I miss the delicious Thai curry and noodles and mini pancakes with banana in them.  I miss our dive masters – they’re a goofy group.  They have fun together but they also really know their stuff and take diving seriously. 

I also miss the new friends we made.



Besides the diving, we all took part in jumping off the top of the boat during a surface interval, and we all rode a dinghy to an island in the pouring rain to hike barefoot through the soaked/flooded trail to see fruit bats hanging in the trees.  There’s a camaraderie you get from sharing in these experiences. The two we hung out with the most were Amy from New Zealand, who was until recently a teacher in England but had quit her job to travel for a year, and O’Rese, an ophthalmologist from Miami, currently doing his residency in Cleveland.  We stayed up late talking with them, schemed in the mornings about how the French teenager was stealing all the bacon, quoted movie lines, introduced O'Rese to Flight of the Conchords, swapped stories, and just enjoyed each others’ company.  It’s really fascinating to hear everyone’s stories and what makes them tick, especially when we’re bound by the common thread of being totally hooked on diving.

When we did find ourselves back on land, we got “pedicures” where cleaner wrasse fish ate all the dead skin off our feet (illegal in most states in the US, or I would've done it before now) and we got one of Thailand's wonderfully inexpensive massages.






After that, we wandered down to the beach and were treated to a fabulous sunset.

I was sad to leave this pace behind. Maybe someday I'll get to pay a visit again.