Diving in Phi Phi is better than it sounds

The last time I was in Koh Phi Phi (pronounced 'pee pee') was 20 years ago, almost to the day, and at that point on the end of my post-university backpacking trip, my funds were insufficient to go diving.

Well now I'm back again, and this time I have some extra money (and an extra person) with which to dive. Annie received her Junior PADI certification in Vancouver back in September, but this would be her first open water dive in a tropical location.

We were up bright and early to begin our scuba adventure - I went into this knowing that the diving conditions weren't ideal. The wind has been blowing a bit stronger than normal, which means visibility wouldn't be at its best. But I really want Annie to get some diving in before we head to the Maldives in April.

We chose to dive with Scuba Addicts - guaranteed to make you an 'aquaholic'. Catchy slogan, I know. The dive outfit was recommended by someone in Koh Phangan, and since they assured us that a dive master would be with me and Annie throughout the dive, I felt comfortable that we would be well looked after. 

So like many journeys in Thailand, there were multiple segments in getting from Scuba Addicts to our dive location. A short truck ride, followed by a longtail boat ride....

...until we transferred to the big boat - the Laddavadee - on which we would spend the bulk of our day. It was a nice large vessel - and since it was a nearly 2 hour trip to the dive site, it was nice to be on something fairly comfortable.

We were greeted by the senior Dive Master and overall leader of the trip, Steve Webster, who debriefed us on the boat, crew and high level schedule and locations for today's two dives.

And as it turned out, Steve would also be our personal guide for the day. Scuba Addicts had assured us we would be provided with experienced and qualified supervision - it was nice to know they were giving us their most senior diver. We started with a detailed dive plan, as well as some refresher instruction for both Annie and me. 

Before we knew it we were pulling to our first dive site, a beautiful bay on the east side of Koh Phi Phi Leh. It was so nice above the surface it was almost a shame to have to submerge ourselves...almost.

Steve wanted a second planning session to go over our equipment needs. We most certainly felt in safe hands. Steve was funny and engaging, but definitely no nonsense - exactly what you want when you and your 10 year old daughter are plunging into the depths of the Andaman Sea.

Dad is ready to go!

And so is my little girl!

We swam from the point of entry to where we would begin our descent. Here we go...

I tried my best to capture the moment with my camera, but I learned that I need to improve my underwater filming skills. But to be honest, I was mostly trying to concentrate on Annie and my own needs (my diving is admittedly a bit rusty). It wasn't fantastic diving (okay viz and decent coral and fish), but it was amazing just to be diving together with my daughter.

I do have a filter for my GoPro which would correct some of the washed out colours, but did not take it on this dive - probably a mistake. Next time the images should be better.

She seemed to be enjoying herself - exactly the hand signal I wanted to see!

An impressive variety of coral and fish - we weren't treated to any bonus species (no sharks, turtles or rays) but I guess that just makes you hungry to keep diving.

The sensation of diving is hard to describe - afterwards Annie struggled to articulate it as well, but she clearly enjoyed that feeling of freedom underwater.

We did two dives during the day, with about two hours in between to have lunch and to move locations.

Dive buddies

The second dive was similar to the first, but a bit shallower, making for slightly better photos. The GoPro was set to take video with photo stills every 5 seconds. The video footage was a lot nicer than the photos, but difficult to post on a blog.

A nice shot of what we think is a Butterfly fish. It's a bit hard when you haven't studied up on your tropical fish. I need to graduate from "oooh, a pretty fish" to "look, that's a _______"

And we emerged safe and sound from the warm waters of the Phi Phi islands as (slightly) more experienced divers. 

And Steve is clearly relieved that he has returned a 10 year old girl safely back to the ship - must be a lot of pressure on these guys, especially when dealing with young and inexperienced clients.

Annie completed her dive log entry, and Steve pointed out some concerns he had with her diving and gave her some advice on how to improve for next time - a little tough love, but he also complimented her and let her know that he has dived with many adults who had more diving experience but who were not as good as she was (I'm wondering if he was talking about me!)

Time to head back to shore

Where's Kate Winslet when you need her?

There are so many different emotions in those smiles - satisfaction, relief, pride, exhaustion, joy and love. Can't ask for more out of a day shared together. 

I hope there will be a few more scuba adventures for us over the next few months. The underwater world is such a magical place - it's a shame we're not doing such a stellar job of looking after it. I want her to see it before it's too late.

Cheers from the Andaman Sea

(PS - check out Annie's blog for her Koh Phangan updates - better late than never!)