Undersea Ramblings: Time in Paradise

Well it’s been a slow week in Paradise for me. I have settled into my bungalow nicely and my schedule is pretty relaxed.

For the first 5 days here I assisted Alexia during her shop hours. This involves sitting in a dive shop trying to catch people’s eyes as they walk by to sell them Discover Scuba Diving or Open Water Certification. Since I’m not really working at the shop for me it involved studying for Dive Master exams, finishing up Knowledge Reviews, and taking the exams. I have started working on my DM Mapping Project which is more of an exercise in concentration than actual difficulty which is pretty much why I haven’t finished!

As soon as my arm was healed enough for getting wet I couldn’t wait to get in the water for the first time on my journey. Alexia and I popped into the confined water section of the beach to work on some DM Watermanship tests. This involved me performing the 400 meter timed swim, the 800 meter timed snorkel/fin swim, and the 15 minute tread. I have yet to complete the 100 meter timed tired diver tow but expect to do this afternoon with Alexia after we complete some skill circuits.

The next day I joined another Barakuda Shop (Alexia’s diveshop) instructor in the confined water to help him out with an Open Water student. This was my first exposure to a non-Diver Dan’s instructor and the ways of island instruction. I was not impressed. I won’t go into too many details but I was surprised to see how many skills were glossed over, under-demonstrated, under-performed, or just plain ignored. This style certainly breeds a different kind of PADI Open Water diver from what I am used to back at home.

The next day I was fortunate to go on both the morning and afternoon boats to assist with both the OW student from a previous day, as well as Alexia’s OW students in the afternoon. All 4 dives were a pleasure, and it was nice to go diving for real again since the last time I was out was August 22 on 3 Reefcheck dives. I found it exhausting for a couple of reasons:

It was the first truly sunny day since I had been to Phi Phi and the sun just sapped the energy out of me. I applied and reapplied sunscreen the entire day but still lost the battle to the sun. Very unhappy about my burned arms and legs.
Working as a DM on the boat is very different from paying to play—you are always on, watching people, trying to accommodate their needs, packing and unpacking the boat. Underwater you are watching the divers like a hawk (I am used to this because of working with OW classes back at home), making sure they don’t float off, making sure they are happy.

Yesterday I finished up another 2 dives with Alexia’s OW students. They are very sweet people from London (New Zealand and Scotland originally), and we went to dinner to celebrate their conquering of their first diving certification. They gave both Alexia and me substantial tips which is something I shouldn’t get used to. No one tips here and I definitely didn’t expect it since I’m not even a paid member of the staff.

I hope to be finished with all my DM stuff in a couple of days. Barakuda said they might be interested in having me onboard although I’m still not sure if I want a DM staff position over a freelancing position. There are tradeoffs to both and the freedom associated with freelancing is quite alluring. There is plenty of time for all that to play out.

As for non-diving lifestyle, I’m finding the food great. I rarely pay more that 3 or 4 dollars for a meal and the portions and tastes are well worth it. Honestly I have already fallen into a rut of similar restaurants and ordering the same dishes at many of them. I’m trying to make a conscious effort to order something new but it is always a struggle when I have a specific craving for something I know and love (Masu Man Curry is awesome here!).

My place is quaint. It is a room with a fan directed at my full-sized bed. There are some chairs, end tables, and a vanity. There is no dresser so I’m a little unhappy about the lack of storage space. I’m thinking about buying a plastic stackable drawer set.

The room is spacious and so is the bathroom even. The bathroom is made to be wet at all times. Thai bathrooms don’t like to separate their showers from the rest of the room so the entire tiled space gets wet when you take a shower. That doesn’t bother me at all actually. The only complaint I have at all is the lack of hot water. The water doesn’t come out freezing by any means but getting used to a cool shower takes a bit.

Here are some pictures: