Last day of Scuba Course: Thur 18 March

I wake to torrential rain which means that conditions out at sea will be choppy. Its a very early start (7am) and I take-up the offer of a seasickness tablet from my instructor, just in case the big waves make me queasy.

Our first dive is at Shark Island. So named because the island is supposedly shaped like a shark (see photo) and not because there are lots of sharks in the water. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to be face to face with a shark yet!

When we go to jump into the sea the waves are very big and the current strong. We descend down a buoy rope for a bit. This is our 18m dive and it does feel quite deep! Luckily the visibility gets better as we go down and we see more Puffer Fish, a Trigger fish (who does not attack us but does go for another group of divers!) and quite a few Goat Fish which our instructor gets to change colour however I sadly miss the colour-change.

After an hour's break on the boat, tea and some fresh pineapple we then do our second dive of the day at Three Rocks. This is a shallower site at 10m however we get to dive for 46 min. The visibility isn't brilliant however we get to swim through lots of rocky corridors which is great fun. I see Sea Cucumbers, some Prawn Gobis and the stunning Parrot Fish.

Once we are back at Chalok I have a quick lunch and then take my final exam, getting 100%. Apparently it is tradition for your instructor to buy you a beer if you get full marks but I'm yet to nab Sarah and make her pay up.

That night Karine, Alex and I (who all passed our Open Water today) celebrate at the Buddha Bar where there is a cross-dressing party going on (I administer make-up to one of the boys) and then some of us head up to the Castle where there is a party going on. The venue is fabulous however it hasn't really got going at 1am. We explore a few other places with a plan to go back there later but then fatigue sets in and when I get home I realise it is 3am which is why I'm so tired. I was up at 6am for my morning dive! Luckily I can sleep in and take it easy now as I'm not diving for a few days. I don't think I'm going to my Advanced Open Water this trip but I definitely want to get some fun dives in before I leave.