Well, slightly distraught I left Bangkok on the night train to Surat Thani on Sunday. I have a pleasant ride, though the only sleepers left were in the air con car, and it was COLD! Probably only 21degrees, but holy smokes I'm not used to that! I met a few canadians (that darn little flag sure is useful for finding friendly people), but pretty much kept to myself. Had a crappy breakfast at 6am for 80baht (should have learned from the Chiang Mai sleeper train that the food was shit) and arrived in the connection city at 6:40am. I hopped on the bus to the pier and about an hour later I boarded a slow passenger ferry to Ko Samui. The boat filled behind me and I was trapped on the forward deck. I had a great seat, maybe the best, but I couldn't get out of the sun and didn't have sunscreen. Managed to get some before I burnt too much, though. Three hours later I arrived and found Andrew waiting for me on the pier. Immediately I got the impression that Ko Samui was a developed resort island, much like Hawaii. Expensive accomodations abound there, though andrew's bungalow was only 200baht; it was set back from the beach a ways. The weather was fine, gorgeous in fact. October is supposed to be rainy season down here, but thankfully no signs of that since I've been here. I enjoyed a few swims and some frisbee on the beach before sunset. Andrew has been travelling with three british (two irish, one brit, to be politically correct) girls, and we all went out for dinner in the town centre (Lamai Beach). Along the way we stopped in at a dive tour shop to ask about a tour the girls were interested in. turned out that we all signed up for an Open Water PADI course on Ko Tao. The taxi would pick us up at 7am to take us to the ferry to the smaller northern island, so our plans to spend a night out n the town were quashed. Instead we found a place that served decent western food and had a good meal. All five of us have been experiencing, or have recently had difficulties with our digestive systems (the girls just came from a month lng tour of India...), so we welcomed the 'soft' western style.
The next morning we caught a catamaran to Ko Tao, and, after a brief stop on Ko Phag Nagn, we arrived at the pier 1 1/2 hours later in tao. A thai with our names on a placard greeted us and we went immediately to the dive shop. After signing in and paying the remaining cost of the course (9600baht plus 990baht for insurance, so just over 300CAD$) we dropped our things in our rooms and went to the classroom.
That was yesterday.
today we spent the morning in the classroom and went out for a 'confined' dive in a shallow bay on the northern end of the island. After practicing breathing, which is VERY important, and several techniques to help in an emergency, we drifted deeper and deeper. Fish school around you the whole time your under, and Christmas wrasses nip at your mosquito bites. Saw a few different types of damselfish, some surgeon fish, a fox face, a few different butterflyfish, cleaner wrasse, parrotfish of some kind and of course some pretty incredible corals. So cool to see these creatures in the wild after dealing with many of them at my old job, Xotics. We went deeper than I had ever been before, to about 4m. The pressure change over the first 10 m is double the air pressure at sea level, while the subsequent pressure increases over the next 10m is 1.5, and the next 1.33. Never mind the theory stuff, the point is that your ears react most to the first few meters.
I surprised myself with my comfort level under water, as I am not the most able fish in the sea, but I was able to remove my mask and my regulator without freaking out. Actually very easy.
Tomorrow we write our Final Exam, oooo!, and then have two dives in the afternoon - one pleasure (12m), the second skills-based. The next and final day we have two real dives out in open water at a depth of 18m, the limit for my qualification level.
I can see myself becoming hooked on diving, but the costs might prevent any real dedication. Most tours (two dives) are about 3000baht (100CAD). The equipment is sold at western prices.

I've been in here too long, so I should buzz off. I hope all is well back home or where-ever you are reading from.