Memories Bar

Today the DMTs (Divemasters in Training) had the morning off, so a bunch of us decided to go to Memories Bar in Bangnam about 20 km from Khao Lak.  There was a cabana, surfing, music, and volleyball - what more could we want??

On the way to the beach, we drove along an incredible muddy and pitted road. Oh, there were also elephants.

This was unexpected... and AWESOME.

Surfboard rentals were 100 baht ($3.50 in U.S.) per hour because we're "locals," and the water was actually too warm for me - I wished it were a few degrees cooler. Beautiful sandy beaches and ideal waves for easy surfing! Technically, Memories Bar doesn't open until Oct 25th, but one of our Thai friends knows the owner and they let us hang out and rent boards :)

Well I didn't realize I have such terrible posture, but hey look at my surfboard!

Me and Tuk stood up! Tuk was a little wobbly though...

The gang settles into our bungalow

Model shot

This afternoon, we helped a family of 4 with their Open Water Course. The parents are American and they're living in Bangkok right now with their two daughters age 13 and 11, both of whom are super hardcore swimmers and are getting certified. The 11 year old is teeny but super adventurous, and I think both girls are loving scuba already.

I don't have many exciting photos because we mostly sat at the bottom of the pool and taught them basic scuba skills like how to clear a mask, how to inflate/deflate the BCD, retrieve and clear regulators, but tomorrow is my first dive in the Thailand tropical ocean! SO EXCITED! It will still be a dive with the open water family so nothing too intense - but it'll be my first tropical dive since Australia. I can't wait!

The dark shapes are the Open Water class + instructors. I had to check my gear  - turns out I had a leaky O-ring :(

See I'm diving! I know it seems like I'm just eating and hanging out, but there's actually a lot of work involved in this class too. Promise. It's just really fun work.