TUESDAY 22 SEPTEMBER - Diving

It is a struggle to get the kids out of bed for our early pick-up by Dive Asia.  We decide to go for a big breakfast so that we can last the day – forgetting that we are getting breakfast on the boat! Stunning fruit and I go for the local breakfast option – rice, cashew chicken and pad tai – man, I can certainly live here! We are the first of the group to be picked-up and it takes about an hour to collect everyone and drive to the dive shop. From there we go through to the jetty where we discover we have a great 3-story dive boat. It is an 2-hour trip to the first dive/snorkel site. We are four in the dive group (including the dive master). Winsome has decided to skip the diving (sore back, ears – I tease her about old age!).

We dive/snorkel on 3 spots around Racha Noi and Racha Yai Islands. (Diving log – max depth 25 meters, time 60 minutes for all). Diving is not spectacular. We see Leaf Pipe Fish,  sea horse, clear shrimp stations, few boxies, few eels. One spot bright sea stars. The last dive looks a lot like Malawi – lots of boulders and nothing else. There is also signs of coral bleaching and lots of dead coral – on a more positive note, you can notice the sea life beginning to rehabilitate. The three on snorkel  also see eels and lots of other fish – including the trigger fish, of which I stay clear after being attacked by one in Tioman!

In between diving we are served lunch consisting of green bamboo curry (which none of us tried as the local dive master said it is spicy) and fried rice with minced chicken, and lots of watermelon and pineapple (kids love this!).  I am exhausted after the third dive and tell Winsome about really feeling old age, when I struggle to get on the boat with full gear on my back! Ai, how we miss the youth.

We have a nice slow boat ride back, each with a  beer shandy in the hand (will have to do some serious running in the morning!). Stunning sunset on our way back – even Luc comments about this.

Back at the hotel Luc goes for one last quick dip in the pool. We make croissants with ham and cheese for dinner. The kids refuse to get into their sleeper couch bed and we all end up in one bed! Lots of talking and telling stories. It takes Luc about an hour to share the story about the strange man at his school, as the girls interrupt him every 5 minutes. But he says he loves telling stories like this! It is only 11 when everyone is in bed and asleep.