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More Diving
After a lazy day in Phuket we took the ferry to Koh Lanta.
On Monday we went on a diving trip to Koh Ha, which was two hours away by normal boat. The diving was very nice, on both dives we saw a turtle and on the first dive I discovered a tiny Yellow Boxfish and an Orange-Spotted Pipefish.
Tuesday we relaxed on the Beach.
On Wednesday we wanted to go diving at Hin Daeng / Hin Muang, which was over 3 hours by boat, so we were supposed to get up at 6am and pick-up was scheduled for 6.40am. However when I woke up and looked at my alarm clock I saw that it was already 6.35am... I then checked my mobile and saw that it was past 7am already!!!! The alarm clock malfunctioned! So we grabed our things in a hurry and ran to the street to grab a cab and, as usual when you need one, they aren't around... After excrutiating 5 minutes on finally came along. So we sped to the pier where we could see our boat, they were just about to leave, so we got there literally in the last second....
The diving out there was great. Lots and lots of fish around, a huge school of Batfish (about 50 of them), lots of Barracudas, thousands of Glasfishes, however, there were no Manta Rays or Whale Sharks around, which was one of the reasons everyone goes out there... Still, the trip was worth it.
On Thursday, I walked along the beach for 1.5 hours to the pier and did some shopping, after I spent most of my money, I just had enough left to get a motorbike-taxi back to my bungalow.
Since Friday was my last day on Koh Lanta, I decided to go once more to Hin Daeng / Hin Muang, and this time I even managed to wake up in time.
The first dive we did on Hin Daeng, it was very beautifull but extremly similar to the dive on Wednesday, I saw almost all the same fishes again.
Then we went to Hin Muang for our surface intervall. Some people were in the water, snorkling, when someone suddenly pointed excitedly downwards. I grabbed my camera, mask and fins and sprang into the water. After looking around a bit I saw a Manta Ray circling below us!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately I had no snorkel, so I had to regularly catch a lungfull of air. He stayed there for about 5 minutes and then swam off.
Shortly thereafter we were gearing up for the second dive, when a crew-member spotted the Manta again. I was first into the water, started filming and swam towards the Manta. Again he was circling around the divesite and so I could follow him for quite awhile, shooting pictures and videos all the time. However, I had to pay a price: I was so excited, that I didn't pay attention to my surroundings and so it happend that I crashed into Anemones... it hurt for quite a while, but it was worth it. After about 30 minutes the Manta once more got bored and swam off... Afterwards, we spent some time looking at the reef, but suddenly that wasn't so exciting anymore. After 60 minutes I ended the dive with only 50 bar air left, which hasn't happened in a long while, escpecially since I was only at a maximum depth of 18 metres... That was the coolest dive in quite a while.
On Saturday I took the ferry to Koh Phi-Phi and spent a couple of hours there, looking around before going on to Phuket.
Now I'm waiting for my transport to the airport, which will leave in 5 minutes...
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