We did nine dives in six days in Koh Tao and came away with our open water and advanced certifications. We are hooooked!

The open water course was a combination of class time, homework and diving over four days. We learned basic skills like how to assemble (and use) our gear, how to breathe underwater and what to do in any number of potential panic situations (run out of air, broken mask, lost diver - this last one actually came in handy during the advanced course). We also got to do our first dives to 18 meters, which is when the fun really began. So much so that we didn't want it to end.

We moved on to the advanced course, which is all practical. Meaning, no classroom and lots of diving. We dove a wreck, a retired WWII ship called the HTMS Sattukut. We learned navigation skills (using a compass underwater is harder than you think). We refined our buoyancy at an underwater "theme park" called Buoyancy World, where we swam through hoops and floated upside down. We did a night dive, where we lost a girl in our group and had to put our new skills to the test (she's fine, just easily distracted). And we went deep to our new max depth of 30 meters, although visibility was so bad, it felt like the night dive.

There were definitely a few times when we got nervous. B was pushing through his comfort level with water like a rock star and I had to face my fears of giant man-made objects in the ocean at the wreck (thank goodness it wasn't a submarine). But all-in-all diving has been an absolutely incredible experience. It really is a whole new world down there and diving allows you to be a part of it in such a natural way. We cannot wait to do it again in Indonesia!

We didn't have much time outside of diving, but the little free time we did have, we used to explore Koh Tao. It's a beautiful island. Very developed in some areas, but completely untouched in others. And, it's small, so with the right vehicle (ATV or 4-wheel drive) you can get pretty much anywhere in an hour. Our scooter confined us to the beaten track, but we found some ridiculous beaches on the south of the island.

We left Koh Tao with a new passion and a decent tan... A week well spent.