We went to the dive shop on the main beach road to book the trip. Unfortunately we were told that they had to cancel as the scuba diving party went out late and wouldn’t be back in time. The guy was really nice and phoned Railay Divers for us as they did a similar tour. Our luck was in, they are heading out this afternoon at 3pm. Monica asked how we were going to get back from Railay as it would be late and we didn’t want a repeat performance of yesterday with the boatmen. No problems, they will drop us off at Ao Nang.
So another Long-Tail boat to Railay and time to visit the Flame Tree before setting off on our tour. As a little exertion was required, Monica opted for the young green coconut shake. I went for the Mango and Orange shake. Both were absolutely delicious. Feeling refreshed we headed for the dive shop to pay for the trip. Monica was a little worried about arrangements for getting back to Ao Nang. She asked the lady at the dive shop who confirmed that there would be no problems.
Back at the Flame Tree.
The only problem we seemed to have was the weather. It started to cloud over, similar to how the storm started yesterday. Our group of two Long-Tail boats set-off to the first dive point. On arrival at the first island it started to rain heavily. The tour organisation seemed to go awry as nobody seemed to know what to do. One of the attractions of the tour was the supposed tutoring on how to snorkel the professional way. We were handed flippers and the facemasks and that was that. One of the guides said that we would have to wait for the rain to subside, so Monica headed for shelter. Some of the guests didn’t like that and headed for the water. The guide then thought sod it and went in after them. By the time Monica had got back to the beach the group had made it out to the rocks.
The so-called tranquillity we were promised only seemed to apply to other divers. The sea where the group went was full of speed boats and Long-Tail boats zipping to and fro. We decided to stay near the beach and practice using the flippers. It’s not as easy as it looks. I couldn’t walk in the damn things. We soon found out that the easy way was to put them on when you were in the sea, and then it was still a challenge to swim with them.
Rain clears the beach.
The others soon returned to the beach and we headed back to the boats. Monica and I were ready for mutiny as were a couple of others. It would be no fun in the rain, especially the proposed BBQ on a deserted island in the pitch black. We decided against the mutiny as it was actually lovely and warm in the sea and the weather looked like it was going to improve. We sailed off to the next dive point.
Flippers take some getting used to.
The next dive point was off one of the huge rocks that jut out of the sea. The boats put down anchor and we had to jump off. Excellent fun. As advertised, the water was great for snorkelling and plenty of fish were visible. Maybe not as good as Phi Phi but given the weather the visibility was excellent.
Wonderful views under water.
The next dive point was outside a cave in one of the small islands off the mainland. The best site yet for diving. The water quality, the number of fish and the beauty of the coral was stunning. Swimming into the cave with all the fish was incredible. Some of the more expert snorkelers in the group where having a whale of a time. They dived deep down to the seabed and swam through caves and exited the other side. How the bloody hell do they dive without water going down the tube? Time flew by and soon we headed towards the island where we were to dine in high spirits.
Monica relaxs on the Long-Tail Boat.
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