While in Phuket early this year, my friend and I decided to do something we’ve never done before - Diving 🤿! It was spontaneous as we had no events booked for that day. As we arrived first night in the busy street of Patong, we walked into a random travel agent booth to get information on scuba diving. The vendor lady took out a brochure and confidently reassured us that it was the one we’re looking for. A guided beginner-friendly underwater tour, where 1 scuba diving master will be assigned to both of us. It was 2500 Thailand baht per person ($100 cad), and it includes transportation to the island and a photographer taking pictures of us under water. Not a bad deal - and tbh price wasn’t much of a concern as long as I could resurface.
Honestly, I wasn’t too scared until the day arrived where a van picked us at 8am from our hotel and a couple others along the route to the first waypoint - a travel agency. A lot of tourists were already seated waiting and the guide began to introduce the plan of the day. They transported us to the port and a medium-sized speed boat took us off to the island. Arriving in beach of Racha island, a guide drove us with his limousine - a tractor pulling a trailer - across the villas down to the other side of the island where we’ll dive. We put on our diving suit, flippers, weights, and the heavy oxygen tanks, while the diving instructor introduced us with a couple of things to note about diving like:
- what to do on the event of an ear barotrauma? swallow or pinch your nose
- breathe steadily in water
- hand-signs to signal that you’re ok, if some things aren’t ok, if you need to go up the surface, or if you’d like the cancel the whole thing altogether.
- what to do when water gets in your mouth? press the mask twice
- what to do when water gets in your goggles? hold the goggles and sniff air out from the nose
When we got into the waters and practiced to breathe, fear began to overwhelm. I had the tendency of holding my breath underwater which fucked up my breathing rhythm altogether. When this happens, I could only calm myself down and attempt to fix my breathing on my own instead of resurfacing. That was challenging, especially with me healing from a rough cough early that week. I find the whole experience of breathing from an oxygen tank very intriguing.
Suddenly I had the ability to breathe just like all sea creatures. I could see colorful corals and school of fishes, dark sea urchins, and starfishes lying on the sea bed. It was a rich habitat and home of creatures that has evolved along-side our humanity, with many of its mysteries left unknown. It felt magical and for a long half-hour we were all tourists witnessing the daily lifestyle of an ecosystem and its long inhabitants.
Of course, it didn’t go as smooth as it would look in camera. I was struggling to swim and maintain altitude. I swallowed some salty water down my throat. I even had one of my flipper float away as I panicked to signal the diving master that I was not ok; my feet was not ok 🤡. He then came back to fetch the abandoned flippers and tighten it back on my feet. The event just happened to be caught on camera, and my friend would now hysterically laugh at me whenever that clip gets replayed. Aside from making fun of me, she enjoyed every part of the diving experience and didn’t share the same struggles as I had. Sometimes we’d hold hands while navigating the seas together, and other times I would watch her effortlessly maneuver and approach a school of fishes to get the best pictures while I’d standby watching from afar. I didn’t care about pictures. I care about my survival. I was in my head a lot, super conscious and alert of how my body was reacting to everything.
Would I do it again? Absolutely. Like most activities, I have a feeling that things will get obsessively fun once I nailed down the basics, get more comfortable, and overcoming the fear. I think I’d be interested to someday train and pursue the certification 🐒. Watch me.
Nonetheless, we were in awe by the diving master’s expertise. He held and pulled us both to keep us moving, watch over us, deal with my multiple panic attacks, and doubles as a photographer too! A true man of the sea, earning all my respect for making my first diving experience the best that it could be. 5 star would be a bit of an understatement.
For those of you beginner divers looking to try out scuba diving in Phuket, check out Racha island.