Finding Nemo (or trying to, in my case)

Thursday, February 28th

First, let me start off by saying that I did write the typical middle-school paper about wanting to be a marine biologist when I grew up (I think my ‘slant’ was that I wanted to work out in the ocean, not necessarily at a marine park, like SeaWorld). I will add the disclaimer, however, that since that time I’ve never been overly intrigued by marine life. Fish have always grossed me out a bit…living on lake george every summer, 95% of my interactions with them were either fishing off the arcady docks, and catching (and recatching) only sunnies, or being brushed up against by larger fish, probably bass, out in the deeper areas.

But Southern Thailand’s changed my perspective a bit…

So, Heather and Tom went diving one day and I’m neither certified, nor was I in a good state of health to try and dive (sinus problems…not so great for scuba diving…), so I stayed behind in Railay. Apparently, I could have gone with them and snorkeled, but we didn’t know that at the time.

This time around, when heather and I landed in Krabi Town, we knew better. Heather, having her open water certification for Scuba, and being a bit obsessed with marine life, didn’t want to leave the area without a few more dives under her belt. So while we were searching for our caveman on Tuesday, we also looked at dive/snorkel options.

Thursday was the day --- we were picked up at 7am, bright and early, and we were on our boat by 8. Again, it was an experience, especially since I’d never been on a dive boat before. After getting on board, we had a full meeting to go over the ‘rules’ (about climbing the ladders to the top deck and using the toilets), our day’s schedule – with 2 dives, lunch between around 12, and the refreshments on board (soda, fanta, tea and coffee – help yourself if no one’s behind the bar). It was pretty laid back, and when all the dive masters (the really certified divers who work for the dive companies and lead groups of usually no more than 4 divers a day) were finding their groups to introduce themselves and go over the more technical stuff, I was surprised to learn that even us snorkelers (aboard mainly for the pretty sites and lovely breeze and, you know, we jump in the water for a nice little look-see once the divers are all set 80m below the surface) had a divemaster assigned to us.
I asked my divemaster, Chris, an Austrian whose only in his first season working off Ao Nang (coming from a few seasons in Indonesia, apparently), what he’d done to get stuck with the snorkelers for the day…he replied he didn’t know and must remember to ask when we got back to the office. Apparently, dry sense of humor. Which didn’t really let up all day. But I got him to crack a few smiles along the way. And eventually I learned that the dive masters have to take one day a week, usually, and snorkel instead of dive. Hard lives they lead...

The dive culture was fascinating to me. One of the first passengers we met in the morning was a retired Brit, who’d started diving because his kids took it up on their vacations and, as he put it, “couldn’t be left behind, you know?” He’d done the first certification, and was currently working on his second. Later in the day we were sitting with him and another british couple, and just listening to the two older men and Heather talk about all the places they’d been, or wanted to go dive, was energizing. I also realized what an operation I’d unsuspectingly found myself thrown into.

Back to the changing my life bit…I was expecting to get in the water at the first stop (Maya Bay – from The Beach with Leonardo dicaprio…yea, THE beach…love my life) and see a few fish and swim around and enjoy myself. Instead, I was absolutely enthralled, saw more species of fish and clams and coral than I’ve ever seen in one place – other than planet earth dvds – in my life, and returned to the boat absolutely intoxicated. I was a little jealous of heather, as her group had seen a sea turtle, and multiple nemos…I had to settle for a few of his cousin species, as well as cousins to Dorit, because I was just snorkeling and apparently nemo’s live a bit deeper in the seas.

Our second stop was a bit more interesting, mainly because a thunderstorm hit us as the divers were suiting up…pretty much it meant nothing except for a bit of a rocky ride back for the divers, but for us snorkelers, it meant we couldn’t get to the backside of the island we were at because of the waves and currents that were absolutely hasseling us. Unfortunate, definitely, but at least we got to get in and see some of the coral reefs around the island. The storm also quickly condensed our group from 5 to 3, as the other two women swimming with an older Swiss traveler, our dive master and myself opted to stay dry and untaunted by the waves this go-round. I, on the other hand, loved snorkeling during the storm - it was awesome to be able to retreat to under the waves, knowing that above the surface craziness was taking place. It was also really cool to watch how the currents affected the fish, especially the smaller ones, who were getting quite the ride as a result. We were also still able to see a good amount of cool fish, coral and clams – and I even saw an eel this time around.

Suffice it to say, I’ve started thinking about potentially taking a dive course on one of my school breaks while I’m in this region of the world. Anyone want to come along? Nice little week vacation to a tropical paradise? Any takers – let me know.