They told us in Koh Tao that the island is the #2 spot in the WORLD to become scuba certified, after (naturally), Australia. I believe it. PADI says there are 20 dive resorts on this 8 square mile island that offer certification classes.
We chose Buddha View Dive Resort, on the southern tip of the island, about a 15 min drive from the pier (hop in the back of a truck w/ your bags and off you go. Just remember to duck as you enter the resort or the tree branches will wack you in the face ☺ We learned quick). Buddha View, as Trevor was keen to point out, was like a Scuba university, which, for he and I anyway, was the equivalent of summer school. Classrooms at Buddha View University (BVU) are all over the resort filled with students studying in several languages. The tall building above the pool is where we had most classes.
A bit tough to concentrate with a white board in front of you,
and THIS out the window behind you:
Our 6 days there were very structured with classes and dives. Our course took the better part of 4 days to complete, during which time we went on 5 open water dives. Buddha View is unique in that they do one of the confined water dives in the ocean. My guess is to free up the ever-occupied pool. This meant we performed swim tests and underwater tasks in the open water, complete with surface currents and salt. While it would have been easier to swim in the pool for the required time/distance, and do things like take off your mask and replace it with your eyes closed, it was also nice to have that additional time with the FISH – and we saw plenty!
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| Colorful "Christmas Tree Worms" - wave your hand close & they disappear! |
As for our accommodations…let’s just say we appreciate things like shower doors and blow dryers in hotel rooms now. A bath tub or in-room coffee maker would be luxury items. Our first night, we “upgraded” our room from the free room that you get if you are taking an Open Water class, to the one with sheets, towels, toilet paper (not kidding) and a/c, which the free room had none of. The upgraded room was a whopping $38, so totally worth the extra expense. We had a balcony across from the Buddha pool, which was almost exclusively used for scuba training. Our room was on the right in the photo below, 2nd floor. The biggest drawback with staying here was the noise. The rooms face the parking area for all the motorbikes – which meant a lot of typical parking lot noise, sometimes at 1am. Think the Roadway Inns of the 80’s with the car headlights shining into your room at 5am as guests left.
The biggest advantage by FAR was the convenience of being on BVU campus.
For instance, one day, we were summoned with a knock on the door when it was time to leave on a dive trip. We could also wake up, be down at Buddha Café (our FAVORITE morning hang out) and in class in no time.
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| Buddha View Cafe - bean bag chairs! |
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| BBQ @ Buddha View - Jumbo Prawn meal - $11 |
One of our most vivid memories will most certainly be the clambering (as it can only be called that) from boat to boat (to boat to boat), stepping on the edge of one, and across the water to the next, ducking to avoid smacking your head, trying not to drop your bags, slip on wet floors, or fall in the ocean between the boats! We filed in a line, up to 30 of us, each day as we left the pier.
It was all just too funny!
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| That's our blue Buddha View baby - farthest from the pier! |
There were 6 students in our OW class. A wonderful couple from Holland, Ingra and Sven, a Columbia University professor there w/ her already-certified boyfriend, and a 19 yr old adorable blond South African girl named Lynette who had graduated high school and was spending 6 mos traveling - by herself!
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| Our classmates |
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| Beautiful Koh Tao pier |
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| Trevor and his instructor, Andy |
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| Complimenting an instructor on his flip off the boat! |
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| Two tanks per diver. You sit down in front of it and strap it on! |
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| Erikka and her fellow diver. They came on our last few dives. |
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| Koh Tao - literally, Turtle Island |
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| Hop in, hang on, and remember to DUCK entering Buddha View! |
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| The water was warm and clear! |
We had a bit of an opportunity to do some things other than scuba while on Koh Tao though…and probably our favorite memory out of the water is of this adorable, charming, sweet, talented, kind, hard-working man named, Abdul. But most people just call him, “The Pancake Man”
His pancake stand is attached to his motorcycle. It just folds up, sort of, and he drives it to work out front the 7Eleven (which are all over Thailand) near Buddha View. He works 4PM to Midnight, or when he runs out of pancake batter, which he did one night. Soon after we took delivery of a chocolate-banana number, a girl walked up only to find he had no more. He gave her a free banana instead, which almost helped...
Abdul has 8 siblings back home in Burma (north of Thailand) where he's from. He sends money home to them every month. He charges less than $1.50 for his famous pancakes! I told him he could make a lot more than that if he came and set up shop on Harbor blvd near Disneyland. He said he'd love to come to America, but he needs a work visa to stay longer than 90 days, and he can't get one. He asked if I knew anyone who could help him get a work visa!
I wish...
This video was not buffering well after I uploaded here in Turkey, so if it doesn't play smoothly (really need to see it at normal speed), then here he is on youtube but it says his name is Ali...I'm pretty sure it's Abdul! Maybe he's Ali Abdul, or Abdul Ali... Whatever his name, he's amazing!
