Koh Tao

We're recruited into Big Blue Diving school as we get off the boat, with the bonus of free accommodation as we want to do our PADI Open Water course. We're told they have a mosquito problem (actually bed bugs! urgh!) and are given a concrete apartment a 2 minute walk away rather than a beachside bungalow. Fine by us. After dumping our bags we head back to the bar for our induction and meet up with Rach & Emma, they're staying at the same place & doing the same course! Yey! The sixth member of our group is a Swedish girl called Ida. The next morning we start our theory work and in the afternoon head out into the water with the gear on to do some skills. One of the first is breathing underwater without the mask & i just can't do it, the bubbles against my shut eyes are freaking me out, so we move on for now and do some other skills, which I'm fine with apart from completely filling the mask then clearing it. As we're all getting cold we finish off and I'm to try again tomorrow. Not such a late night as we've homework to do and the same pattern is repeated, theory in the morning then practical. It quickly becomes clear while Ally, our instructor and I, have started ahead of the rest of the group, that I'm not going to be able to complete the skill. So we decide I'm to give up and stick to snorkeling. I was pretty annoyed with myself and very disappointed, I'm not going to be able to see the great barrier reef in the same detail as the boys. From then on my days were taken up with reading on the beach, and going for little swims to cool off. Drinking beer to make the boys jealous in the evenings (not advised with diving). On the last day, after 2 dives and their graduation we all went out for a few drinks on a beachside pub crawl. The vodka & redbulls ensured I didn't have much sleep and I was still drunk & chatty eating breakfast, soon passed out on the boat later that afternoon on our way to Koh Phan Ngan for the full moon party. Quote of the last night in Koh Tao goes to Innes who after being snogged/pounced on by a good-looking Scandinavian bloke says "sorry mate- I'm not your man!" Good job Rachel was there to fill us in on that, damn memory loss.