Once we settled in to our hotel (different night differnet bed) we got some lunch and hired a taxi for a day to take us to both sites.  It cost us 1,100 baht ($35) for about a 3 hour tour.

Our first stop was to see the Big Buddha.  I am not sure that I have words for our experience there.  The highlight was being blessed by a monk who gave us bracelets to wear.  Being in the presence of this being nearly brought tears and profound joy to both Sebastien and I.

The second stop was to see the mummified monk.  I had read that this monk actually died in meditation and so his body was preserved in the sitting position.  This is not the case.  At the age of 50 the man became a monk and created his own meditative practice.  He did not die in a sitting position but because he dedicated himself fully to a meditative lifestyle (after the age of 50) his fellow monks decided to honor him after death and put him into this position.  Though the tourist pamphlets will tell you that he died in this position.

The monk who blessed us.

Big Buddha

Mummified Monk

Our blessed bracellets.

That evening we scheduled to go out on a dive for the following day so that I may have a chance to see one for myself.  It was also our first certified dive together!  Long story short we did not see  a whale shark but we had two really good dives.

Again we went out with the Sairee Cottage Dive “team”.  Our first dive was at Mango Bay in which we saw some trigger fish, yellow tail barracuda, and french angel fish.  On the second dive we were dropped off at Green rocks and dove to Twin peaks.  Very cool dive and unique (that’s what our dive masters told us).  We saw a HUGE puffer fish, schools of barracuda, banner fish, blue rig, angel fish, and needle fish.

A beautiful view near our hotel.

Loving Ko Tao!!!

The following day we decided to go to  Ko Tao.  Which is known as a great place to get your scuba diver certification.  We took a fast pontoon boat (dad you would have loved it!) about 2 hours to beautiful Ko Tao.  Which means Turtle Island.

After finding a hotel on Sairee beach we searched for a discovery scuba dive.  Which is easy enough because every 10 steps is another scuba resort or school.  All of the hotels/resorts offer scuba and if you are after your scuba certification they provide you with a free bungalow or a discount on the nicer rooms.  Good Deal!  We decided to go Sairee Cottage Diving School because they offered flexibility with the discovery scuba dive.  Which is for people who do not have a certification but want to try scuba diving.

Our diver’s name was Neil and Sebastien and I were the only ones who went out with him on the dive.  We went out about 8 meters deep, practiced some skills, and meet a few fish.  Sebastien was very friendly with a few Nemo’s they even let him pet them.  It was really cool!  I felt really comfortable underwater and enjoyed exploring more than I thought I would.

After resurfacing I decided I wanted to go through the certification course.  Sebastien just thought that I wanted to do it because it was cheap so he opted not to go through the course.  Plus, I think we really needed some time apart.

Since we had already done a dive I was put on a fast track.   That evening I started watching the SSI videos and had homework.  The following day I watched so more videos and practiced some skills in the water.  The only skill that was challenging was when I had to take off my mask and put it back on but Neil said I did fine.  That evening I had another video and more homework.

The following day Neil said we would be going out on 3 dives and after passing a 50 question test I would be certified!  SWEET!  The dives were incredible!  We saw lots of fish, some sting rays, beautiful coral, and I had no difficulties with the skills or with being underwater.  We went to two different dive sites and then dove in closer to shore for the last dive.  We even did some break dancing under water.  After passing my exam I was certified.  EASY!

As I am posting this, Sebastien is out on the boat diving to 18 meters and practicing his skills.  I think he was a little jealous and now wants his certification.