A Day In The Diving Life

It's been 5 months since I landed upon this distant shore, and you may wonder what the more mundane side of life is like, when I am not swinging Tarzan-like through the jungle, riding elephants bareback or wrestling sharks.

A typical day in the 'diving' life is as follows:

I wake up around 7.15am, crawl bleary-eyed out of bed and gulp down a bottle of water to compensate for the dehydrating effects of a night spent beneath my uber-powerful air conditioning unit.

I leave my condo, greeting the security staff with the usual "Sawadee Ka" and make my way down the long drive, valiently ignoring the motorbike taxi men who continue to harrass me for business, just as they have done every day for 5 months. They are without a doubt the most tenacious sales men I have ever met. The image of a dog and bone springs to mind. Don't they ever give up?

"Where you go? Where you go?" They call out.
I smile and shake my head. That's the only English they know, thus any detailed response is pointless. I say nothing and walk by. Or I point in a random direction and say "I go there." It doesn't matter where "there" is. The other day I pointed at a Go Go Bar. Before that, I waved towards a building site. It's all gravy, baby.

I flag down a Song Theow, also known affectionately as a Baht bus, which are effectively pick up trucks with benches in the back for you to sit down on. When you want to get off, you ring the bell, and pay your 10 Baht.

As we drive along the beach road at alarming speed, I look out for the large red PADI sign which signals my turn to ring a ding ding that bell. I hit the button and we lurch to a shuddering halt, barely missing three Thai girls, one baby, one dog and one basket all sharing the same scooter.

I amble up the side street, blinking in the bright morning sun, and pass a couple of interns on their way past - no doubt paying a visit to the 7 Eleven for cigarettes and cheese and onion pasties. As I approach Mermaids there are groups of interns hanging around outside the shop, discussing last night's festivities on Walking street (sin central), and comparing hangovers. I say hello to everyone and make my way into the kit room, where we all store our equipment in large metal cages. When it rains heavily, the room leaks, forming puddles on the floor, thus it's well-deserved namesake, 'The Swamp'.

I join the other interns outside, having deposited my gear in the correct pile for the correct boat. (Usually...although mistakes can be made easily enough; I have previously sent my kit south and sent myself north). I engage in some social time over a cup of tea and a bacon buttie until the Baht bus arrives to take us to the port.
It's time to flex my non existent muscles as I help with the loading effort, carrying tanks and boxes in all shapes and sizes, before finally loading myself onto one of the trucks. At this point a slightly frantic Dive Master** or Dive Master in Training calls out names and points stragglers to the correct bus, some people jump off again at this stage, if they have left their bag on the steps, or forgotten to collect their egg sandwich from the bacon lady. (who must be raking it in, charging 50 Baht for just 1 bacon bap?) Eventually, the correct people are squeezed onto the correct bus, and off we trundle. The driver speeds to the pier as usual, occasionally ignoring the fact he has a bus load of people and a few hundred kilos of equipment on board. (particularly over the speed bumps - I think he does it on purpose, and chuckles wickedly to himself?!)

There is orderly chaos as we exit the bus, and we form a line all the way down from the top of the steps to the boat as we load up the equipment boxes and tanks. The acting DM that day does a role call and a boat brief, and off we go.

(Will complete this story on my next session...sorry about the delay!)

** Mermaids does not employ any Divemasters as permanent staff on the pay role...so this role is performed by volunteer interns when they have the inclination to help out... obviously, when an experienced DM goes home or moves on to be an instructor, the role may filled by a less experienced intern, who may continue volunteering until they become experienced and then also move on or away, and so it continues...