After getting scuba certified in Ko Tao, I journeyed to the other side of Thailand for a 6 night live aboard scuba diving trip in the Similan Islands. The boat that I stayed on offered 5 dives per day, including one night dive every evening. It was an amazing experience that started with trying to find transportation off of the island of Ko Tao.
The boat ride back to the mainland from Ko Tao was a nightmare. I bought a ticket like everyone else. It was an overnight trip so we were all assigned beds.
It thought it looked like a prison ship, with all of the bunk beds in one giant room. I found my bed and sat, waiting for the trip to start. Then a staff member approached and told me that I was in the wrong place. My bunk was below.
Now it really felt like I was in a prison ship! They put me in a room with about 5 bunks, cleaning supplies, no blankets or sheets, and random gear that belonged to the crew. To top it all off, the door to this room was right next to the exhaust stacks. The room was blazing hot so the other people inside wanted the door open. With the door open, the room filled with exhaust. It was absolutely miserable.
I ended up taking my mattress out on the deck and trying to sleep outside. Eventually someone told me that there was an empty bed in one of the normal rooms. So I was able to get a couple hours of sleep.
On the mainland, I had to find a bus to Phuket. If you've never traveled in South East Asia, you need to understand that no one has any idea of what's happening. You'll be walked to one place to be picked up, then moved to another place. Then be told that the bus is 6 hours late. Luckily my bus wasn't too late and I had a long drive to Phuket which was about a million times more comfortable than the boat ride.
At Phuket, I had a few hours to kill. I was too tired to walk around with my backpack so I found a place to sit for a few hours.
At the lobby of a hotel, I met up with one of the crew of The Junk. I filled out my paperwork and paid my fee. Then I was brought to the ship.
I loved the ship instantly. I had a nice bed and small bedroom that I shared with one other person. The galley was roomy enough and there were snacks available to tide us over until dinner.
We got a rundown of the ship, diving schedule, safety briefing, etc. Then we had dinner and the ship headed towards the first diving spot while we slept.
If you've followed my blog, you might already know that I love boats and ships. I'm a huge fan for British Navy fiction books like the Hornblower series and the Aubrey / Maturian series. Living on this ship was a dream come true. Getting to scuba dive 5 times a day was just the icing on the cake!
There wasn't any cell phone service on the islands, so we all spent a lot of time reading and relaxing. On the ship, the guests were 2 brothers, 2 couples, me and one other solo guy. Everyone was great and easy to live with on the ship.
There were also 5 or 6 staff members. The main dive guide was an American. Everyone else was Thai. They would help with the dive gear, drive the boat, and cook some of the most amazing meals I've ever had. Thai is in my top 3 favorite foods (next to Mexican and Indian). Every meal was an absolute delight. Every time we came back from a dive, there was either a meal or a snack waiting for us.
In general, I'm a pretty light sleeper. I was up before dawn almost every morning. I was awesome to be out on the deck by myself, drinking some coffee and listening to the exotic birds on the island that we had drove to through the night. Then I would watch the sun rise and hear the boat slowly wake up as the other guests started to move about.
I don't really have any decent photos from the dives. I took a bunch of videos, but I can't find them now. They're probably on a memory card somewhere.
Life on the ship was awesome. I loved the dives, but I also just like being on the ship in the middle of the ocean. After 6 nights the trip was over and we were dropped off in Phuket.
I think the less said about Phuket the better. It was a shithole full of drunk westerners and sex tourists. The whole place felt scummy. I stayed for one night because the bus didn't leave until the morning.
I went and saw some muay thai kick boxing. It was pretty fun and I won a few dollars betting on one of the fights. I had mixed feelings about kids fighting. Luckily none of them got knocked out.
It was mostly adults fighting (both male and female). The kids were on the undercard.
After the fights I went to bed then caught a bus to a city that's thousands of times more enjoyable than Phuket. I hope you'll join me tomorrow for that post!
