I have a fairly restless night, as I am considering whether I feel confident enough to do the dives today. However, I am glad I do, as I regain my lost confidence, diving with Becky on the first dive, and then with Tavis on the second. It is better just diving in buddy groups, as people don’t get in each other’s way so much. Also, I feel more in control of my own dive.
The dives are revisits of previous dives, but this time we are doing some speciality dives. This includes the multi-level dive, where we plan 20 minutes at 30m, and then 20 minutes at 18m. In reality we won’t have enough air for this, and vary the levels as we swim accordingly. This first dive is at Chumpon, the home of the Bull Sharks. In the back of my mind, I am conscious that I have a cut on my knee which is perhaps a little risky when swimming with potentially lethal sharks. However the herd excitement wins out again. This time, with Becks’ assistance I see up to 15 swimming within 10m of us. They won’t come too close as they are nervous of us, or they are just use to divers being there and aren’t in the slightest bit curious. On the dive yesterday, the only shark I saw turned and swam away when it saw me.
I am still apologetic about releasing Becks’ belt yesterday, but we are confident that it will be retrieved. She is known around the island as the pink weight belt lady, so someone is bound to pick it up.
On the second dive, which is our ‘Fish ID’ dive, we are given cards to carry underwater to help us identify the fish. However, having chosen not to do the underwater photography because it was too expensive, Poli kindly lends me his personal camera to take down. He even produces a CD of photos in the evening for me to keep, including the photos of the bull sharks he took on the previous dive.
During the descent on this dive, my mask keeps filling up repeatedly, so I ascend to get another one. Poli isn’t diving, so lends me his, which works much better. Our instructors have been as good as we could expect and they have emphasised having fun on the dives.
To the evening, and we don’t spare much time until we retire to the bar. I am first there again, but am joined soon after. We don’t stay at Ban’s this time, venturing to dinner down the beach toward the town proper. I am with Stacie and JC, South African sisters, and their friend Nicola, and fireman Jimmy, Chris the tall handsome blue eyed Norwegian, and the shapely Mayke (pronounced My Kah) a Dutch girl who joined us for the advanced course. We go on to the Australian bar, where they are celebrating Australia day with live music and dancing on the tables. Poli joins us there too. Eventually we go down to the Lotus bar for late drinks, but it is too crowded and we go back to one a couple of stops up the beach. Later, I wake up on a bean bag there with everybody else gone. I get up, going back to the Lotus bar where I find Chris, Poli and Mayke waving goodbyes to Jimmy and Stacie, who are weaving down the beach back to the hotel. It’s closing time though, so I waddle back myself not long after.
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