| Wake up to the calm seas as the water takes on | | | | the slightest inhalation or exhalation. There's also the |
| the warm pinkish tint of the rising sun. Fresh coffee | | | | constant novelty of the underwater world; the |
| brews as the boat sails to the first dive sight of the | | | | genuine anticipation of what this dive, despite the |
| day. Maps are laid out and dive briefs are given. A | | | | hundreds before it, will bring: Leopard shark? Mantas? |
| description of which fish will be seen at which depths. | | | | Or the Big Fish itself? Of course there is always the |
| Aboard our Similan Liveaboard (Thailand) everything is | | | | unexpected; the guitar shark at Breakfast Bend, the |
| prepared for us. The topography, the currents, the | | | | weird and wonderful pleurobranch at Koh Tachai |
| duration and the ease of collection after the dive. | | | | Reef, which ensures that even the most dived sites |
| Down to the dive deck. Music drifting out of the | | | | continue to hold their trump cards. |
| surround sound system, before the boat reverses | | | | Sixty minutes later and the silence of the underwater |
| and the signal given. | | | | world is broken as simultaneously as the surface is. |
| Wake up! A plunge into the ocean. BCD fully inflated | | | | Regs are removed, masks are dragged down and |
| and bobbing around in refreshing coolness. All ready? | | | | after a delay of a few seconds for readjustment, |
| Regs in. Dowwwwn. Silence. Inhale. Exhale. Bubbles. | | | | conversation initiated: "Did you see that?; What was |
| Ok? Ok - ok - ok - ok . All four divers down and | | | | that weird looking fish." Or |
| happy and floating. Now let the underwater | | | | "WOWOWOWOWOWOW! Its tail nearly hit me!" At |
| adventure begin. | | | | this point I will be leaning upon my surface marker |
| Slowly moving along the reef or around a submerged | | | | revelling in the consistently high level of job |
| pinnacle. Swimming over familiar rocks and coral, | | | | satisfaction that working as a dive guide in the |
| visiting the same fish whose habits you have | | | | Similans never fails to bring. Meanwhile, the Captain of |
| observed so closely every four days that you feel as | | | | the boat will be sounding the horn and sailing over to |
| if you are visiting a mute friend. At times I often | | | | collect my divers. As a fellow guide continuously |
| marvel at how the twenty or so most frequently | | | | comments, "Its just too easy" (pronounced with a |
| dived sites around the Similans have become as | | | | accentuated 'Zeeee'. Indeed, the liveaboards are the |
| familiar to me as an urban town, such as Khao Lak. | | | | easiest way to dive the Similans. Dive, Eat, Sleep, |
| The main difference being of course that it could only | | | | Dive, Eat, Sleep and so on. Or course there is always |
| be an act of the divine to travel around a town | | | | the option of jumping onto the dingy and exploring |
| suspended in mid-air and controlling your depth with | | | | one of the Princess's tropical islands. |