SCUBA DIVING WITH SARA
Earlier this week, Sadie, my dad and I went scuba diving off of the shores of Koh Tao. We dived with Big Blue Diving, which is how we ended up with Sara, our dive master for the day. Sara was kind-hearted, hilarious, and very welcoming and friendly to everyone. She is from Barcelona, which is where she started diving. She gave us some great recommendations for where to go when we are in Spain, and now we might even dive there! She left Barcelona to live and dive in Koh Tao, where she has been for almost six years. We were lucky to be partnered with her, because she was amazing and a great teacher.
To go scuba diving, we must wear a lot of gear, because we can't just go down 50 ft and hope to live. So, we have to wear a BCD, also known as a buoyancy control device. This connects to our oxygen tank. I dive with an 8L tank because it’s not as heavy, but the standard size is 11L. There are also different techniques to get into the water, like the giant stride - which we used - and the backwards roll. For the giant stride, we hold onto our mask and regulator with one hand and our weight belt with the other. We step in the water, going away from the boat then we fully inflate our BCD. For the backwards fall, we sit on the edge of the boat, hold our mask and regulator in one hand, the other on the mask strap, and simply roll backwards, as the name implies. We fully inflate our BCD and then we are off.
Our first stop was Mango Bay, a very large and complex dive site. The deepest part reaches 45 feet, and the shallowest only 15 feet. Although this coral reef is beautiful, it can be really dangerous to dive here. It is right up against the rocks, so if it is rainy or choppy, the currents can be really harsh, causing people to crash into the rocks. Luckily, we had ideal conditions, sunny skies and smooth waters. Sara told us these conditions make the animals friendlier. We saw some cool ones, like moray eels and angelfish. We also saw many varieties of soft and hard corals, but my favorite was definitely the christmas tree coral. When you swim near these colorful spirals, the christmas trees hide back in their holes, popping out again in a few seconds. They were cute, colorful and a nice change to the repetitive hard corals.
Our second and final stop was Twins Peak, a stunning reef near Buoyancy World. This reef was named Twins Peak because it is made by two similar rock formations, making it twice as beautiful. We started over in Buoyancy World, which is a man-made creation to help new divers gain neutral buoyancy. We saw even more wildlife over here, including pink anemonefish (Nemo’s sister), an aggressive triggerfish that “attacked” Sadie, and even a blue spotted ray.
Both dives were stunning and different from any others I have done so far. Sara made them even more enjoyable. They are two dives I will never forget, unless I get amnesia. So, if you choose to dive in Koh Tao, do it with Big Blue, and maybe you will be lucky enough to get Sara.
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