Discover Scuba diving is the first step on the PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) ladder to becoming a Scuba Diver. Wild Planet staff member Varintorn a.k.a ‘Tarn’ took her first breaths underwater with Planet Scuba dive school on the southern island of Koh Tao. The weather conditions had been perfect for several days which meant water clarity was exceptional. In diving terms we say the ‘vis’ (visibility) was 25 meters.
After a short swim to the shallow waters of ‘Japanese Gardens’ Bay (ranked 74th in the worlds best dive sites), we found a perfect patch of sand. Tarn had to learn and then demonstrate basic scuba diving skills such as clearing a mask and recovering a regulator while underwater. These are just a few of the skills students need to master before progressing on to the PADI Open Water course. However today was just about discovering scuba. After a demonstration from her instructor (Wild Planet’s Toby Bell) on how to control her buoyancy Tarn was soon gliding through the water with ease. With large schools of ‘Seargant Major’ and ‘Fuselier’ fish swimming around her, any anxiety of breathing underwater quickly faded.
After a surface interval (lunch break) on the boat Tarn was ready for a second dive. This time descending from the boats’ anchor line rather than swimming to the shallows. PADI standards don’t allow you to exceed 12 meters for this type of program but that didn’t affect the quality of the dive. Japanese Gardens is famed for its countless species of coral which are best observed at no deeper than 7 meters. With scattered patches of sand it was easy to just sit and observe the ‘Damsel’ fish defending their territories from the schools of grazing ‘Parrot’ fish consuming the algae from the reef.
Most participants of this program spend around 40 minutes underwater depending on their air consumption. Given Tarn’s calmness and small physique her air could have lasted for hours. As the saying goes ‘all good things must come to an end’ , and it was soon time to return to the surface. The happy expression on her face said more than a 1000 words. A future Open water diver for sure.
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