[Phi Phi, Thailand] Don’t think V got much sleep last night – she was anxious about getting back under water. The dive centre was kind enough to let me join V and Stephane for the confined water dives in the harbor. It gave me a chance to play around a little and keep an eye on my V. I have to admit that we were not that impressed with the gear at the centre, compared to Sea Dragon in Khao Lak it was in bad shape but we kitted up fully and marched down the main street to the beach. That knackered us out immediately, the stuff is heavy!

With all the time in the world to complete the skills and Stephane’s calm tone (our kind of tone) we got in the water and V spent around 10 minutes just ‘acclimatizing’. It just felt more comfortable and less pressurized and a much better environment than the pool. Lots of space, warm, varying depths and cool little fish to watch. V’s previous wide-eyed expression was replaced with total calm, control and enjoyment after her little swim around. She cruised through the first exercises (even the dreaded mask removal) without any problems. At one point I was just cruising around and found V and Stephane on the bottom at over 4m in the deepest area doing mask removal. I was impressed!

After a short break to warm up V completed the final two confined water dives, again with ease, although she always moans about having to take the mask off 🙂 Two and a half hours is all it took for the 5 skills sessions. We’re both really chuffed. It was a major fear for her to overcome after the last experience. V rocks and I love seeing that ear to ear grin on her face. She’s genuinely excited about the dives tomorrow.

In the afternoon we took a walk around town and purchased an el-cheap-o underwater camera (£10) that may (or may not) produce some shots of V’s qualifying open water dives. Feeling a little more energetic than usual we headed up to the Phi Phi view point. It was a hot, steep hike but rewarding with the view of the island. We decided to wait for the sunset but as soon as the sun dropped below the sea cliffs to the west the mozzies launched an offensive. We didn’t last long! Not to worry – we needed an early night – tomorrow we hit open water.

[Pictures: From the viewpoint on Phi Phi]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi