South Thailand Islands

Koh Phagnan

Stayed in lime n soda resort again near thongsala pier. Really like this place. Staff our super friendly and the free breakfast buffet is pretty good too. Double room air con per night was 900 baht. Chilled at the pool the first day. 

Then rented a bike and headed down to haad rin to have a drink at the coast resort. The infinity pool there is pretty nice too. Best singapore sling cocktail I had all trip! Went for dinner in an Italian restaurant on the way back.

Second day we went beach exploring. First haad yao, then haad salad. Really nice golden beaches. Water temperature was so warm too. The trick is not to step on any sea urchins or the coral.... Drove up north after to utopia resort. Here there is a wonderful viewpoint of Koh ma. 5-7 walk to the view point through the jungle. 

Highlights

• Shooting range 
• Coast resort infinity pool 
• Haad salad beach 
• Haad yao beach 
• Bottle beach 
• View point from utopia resort 
• Cheesecake nira home bakery 
• Beach lounge for dinner

Koh Samui

Highlights

• Lotus chaweng 400 baht each a night 
• Rent moped 200 baht a day 
• Hacienda 900 baht for twin room very compact 
• Fisherman village condo 1000 baht per night really really nice 
• Lamai view point 
• Big Buddha temple 
• Street market bophut (awesome), Friday lamai, Sunday Mae nae beach 
• Silver beach 
• Thai oil massage

Koh Tao

Got a free pickup from the pier with big blue. 
Checked in and booked open water course. 9000 baht.
Stayed in their guesthouse. Upgrade to air con room for extra 1000 baht per night.
Rented a moped for 200 baht and drove down to freedom beach to check out the view point. Second time a lot better as the  weather was sunnier and a lot clearer. Chilled out at freedom bar after.
Course started that evening. Everyone apart from Anna and I choose ssi. We went for PADI certification. We ran through section 1 and 2 that evening of the DVD. Then that night answered section 1 and 2 question sheets. Full on day.

Met our instructor rick the next day at 08:30. Watched section 3,4 and 5 at big blue 2 resort. Rick ran through section 1 and 2 with us and went into more detail on some areas. 
After that, we hit the pool and he explained all the scuba equipment. Then we had our first confined water session running through tests under water. 40 mins for lunch then back in again.... Tiring work! Finished around 5 then raced down to chopper bar to watch the lions match! After that grabbed a quick bite to eat then back to the guesthouse to fill out question sheets 3,4 and 5. Passed out in bed after all this course work!

Meeting rick at 8 in the morning so another early start. Ran through the final question sheets. Then time to take the exam. Passed it with 92% wohoo. Finally no more academics, then concentrate on going diving now in the open water! After lunch headed out on the boat with the rest of the group for our first open water dive.

Highlights

• Open water course big blue resort
• Portobello good pizza 
• Freedom beach bar and view point