How many people dream of spending their days living on a tropical island, no cares in the world, doing whatever strikes their fancy? To be honest, it wasn’t high on my bucket list when I planned this crazy adventure, but it has become my favorite portion of my trip to date.
For those just joining us, I have been living and training as a divemaster on the island of Koh Tao, in the Gulf of Thailand. I momentarily paused my round the world adventure when I got hooked on diving every day while visiting in May. After fulfilling previously planned excursions in Cambodia, I returned here to get my dive on.
Living like a local
The standard work week here is 6 days on and one day off. That might seem like it would be more stressful than life back home, but in general, the work is so enjoyable that I hardly noticed when I’d dived 6+ days in a row. On days off, after having a good lie in, I often would find myself exploring the island. In June, I barely took any photographs and barely made it around Koh Tao, so I was determined to reverse that trend this month.
I made a concerted effort to explore every last bit of this 21km² island and nearly succeeded! A couple weeks ago I posted my recap of the island’s best beaches.
When not exploring or diving, I can often be found hanging out with friends throwing back a beer or 5. This island is certainly not good for one’s liver! Our common hangouts are the dive shop complete with cafe and bar, the locals watering hole (a bar), or a club called Bar Next Two (yup, a bar). When I first arrived on Koh Tao, one night out with the dive instructors here was enough to give me an awful hangover the next day. I’m no longer in my early twenties! But now two months on, I can tangle with most if not the best of them. Something to be proud of? I’m not sure.
A divemaster’s day
When I first got to Koh Tao, I had no plans to pursue higher levels of training beyond becoming a Rescue Diver. This level of training covers Emergency First Responder training, handling emergencies underwater and on the boat, and dealing with stresses. But that initial course spurred me to take on additional specialities like Wreck Diving and Deep Diving. From there I had maxed out the recreational diver training levels beyond subject-specific training. If I wanted to continue gaining additional levels of knowledge, I would need to transition into the professional level courses. Divemaster is the first of these levels and is seen as the entry into the pro diving community.
As a Divemaster in Training, or DMT for short, you must meet a series of requirements in order to complete your certification. Most people complete the following in 6-12 weeks. You must start with at least 40 logged dives and finish with 60. You take lectures on physics, physiology, and equipment. There are graded practical assessments of your in-water skills every week and a final skills circuit review that has a minimum point value required to pass. You are tested on your fitness level using five tests ranging from easy to incredibly exhausting. You also become an integral part of the team, loading and unloading the dive boats daily, greeting customers at the shop, sizing up customers for equipment, working your customer service skills, and assisting the boat captains with various tasks. And the final test in your DMT program is the infamous snorkel test, which essentially consists of a great deal of hazing from the staff in the form of drinking. More on that to come next month!
Any given day I could be expected to do any of the above and often more. Divemaster training is truly an internship. If this is something you are thinking of doing, know that it is very hands-on and hard work. But it has also been the most rewarding intensive two months so far!
Goodbye but see you soon
With my cohorts at Goodtime, we’ve become quite the motley crew, leaving a wake of destruction in our path. (Just kidding… kind of). We are all about having any excuse to be silly, throw a party, or have a bbq. I’ve shown up to work to find the management staff decked out in jury-rigged Stars Wars gear posing for photos (May the 4th day). I’ve had Charly, my boss, randomly decide we will host a huge July 4th blowout with myself and our other American, Mark, as guests of honor. And I’ve scavenged all over the island for costumes for our epic pirate party.
I’ve also come to appreciate my place in it all. I’ve learned an immense amount about what it takes to be not only a good diver, but also a good dive leader. The team here, while loving to have fun, are the utmost professionals when it comes to safety and customer satisfaction. They’ve helped shape my learning process and helped uncover a new passion in my life.
And with that experience, I have decided to return to Koh Tao for the next high season starting this December to work for Goodtime as a divemaster and adventure guide. I’ll be taking certified divers out to all the amazing divesites our little rock has to offer. I’ll also lead cliff jumping trips (my favorite land-based activity we offer), work in the shop, and take crazy Contiki-ers out on our booze cruise – I mean snorkel tour ;).
I can’t wait to spend all day, everyday with the wildest, craziest, bunch of people I’ve met. See you guys in December!
Countries Visited: 1
Thailand
Cities Visited: 2
Koh Tao, Koh Samui
Budgeting
Accommodation:
$255.51 or $8.24 per day at the start of the month I ended up moving to a new place with friends from the dive shop. The new room was a huge upgrade and was easily the largest space I had ever lived in. The house also included utilities which ended up in slight savings over the month before.
Food:
$349.17 or $11.26 per day I spent slightly less on food for the month of July but spent way more per meal as I found myself eating often at the dive shop cafe. The food there is fantastic but it’s a bit pricier than the $2-$3 meals I get most everywhere else. Near the end of the month I became aware of this after paying off my tab, so I’ve gotten back to exploring all the small Thai and Burmese joints on the island.
Transport:
$106.40 or $3.43 per day I once again rented a motorbike for the month of July as it is so much easier to get around the island that way. I got out of my June lull and explored the rest of the island this month, photographing the rest of this beautiful place. I also had to make a visa extension run to the closest immigration office which is over on the big island of Samui. That cost me $40 in transportation costs for the ferry and moto taxis.
Entertainment:
$96.74 or $3.12 per day Big savings on this category this month as my friends and I were all a bit rundown from a crazy June. But once again about 95% of this category turned out to be my beer budget. Maybe I should just rename it to “Beer!” What do you think?
Miscellaneous:
$131.06 or $4.23 per day I broke the dryer at my first house and had to get that repaired so there went $20. I got a more hefty data plan this month since wifi is so unreliable so there was another $20. And the aforementioned visa extension cost $57. The rest of this category consisted of non-food groceries and other non-exciting purchases.
Total
$938.87 or $30.29 per day I’m really happy to see my 6th month of travel be my cheapest yet. I’ve really dialed in a normal budget and responsible spending level for Thailand and could probably get it even lower when I return in December. It will also be interesting to see how the first instances of income from working the dive shop compare to my spend this winter. The upcoming few months in Europe will get pricey so it’s a good thing I’ve completely offset Australia and New Zealand and I’m at a cool $47.39 per day spend over the past 6 months.
Next Month
I finish out my time in Koh Tao in the first half of August. I have the final test and rite of passage, the dreaded snorkel test I wrote about above on the 11th then I have 5 days to recover before getting on a train to Bangkok! Then I’m off halfway around the world to London, England. This will be my first time to London and England and will spend 5 days exploring the city before heading north to Edinburgh to meet up with friends for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I’ll round out this end of the month hanging about there and perhaps popping over to Glasgow.
