I came to Khao Lak for my last weekend of Thailand with the plans to dive Richelieu Rock. It is the top dive site in Thailand. I wanted to dive two days with one night on the Similan Seven Seas liveaboard boat. But since it was the Christmas holiday high season, there were no cabins. So I booked two day trips.
Originally, we were to dive Koh Tachai on Saturday and then Richelieu Rock on Sunday. I would take a speed boat out to meet the liveaboard boat and back each day. The sea was rough and choppy. On Friday, I was warned we might not be able to go to Richelieu because it was further and the boats might not make it there in these turbulent waters. A month ago, some boats sank near Koh Phi Phi. ***
” The dive boat Barracuda, anchored in Ton Sai Bay, split in two and sank. Four Phi Phi speedboats went down, along with one speedboat from Phuket.”
So I am glad my diving company was responsible enough to cancel the trip to Richelieu today. It was disappointing. And then I was more saddened to learn we were going to the same island I dived yesterday. I was hoping at least to go to Koh Bon. (Not as great as Richelieu but still highly rated.) I asked if we would at least dive different sites. There does not seem to be too many options. The reef or pinnacle are the choices. I started out the day bummed.
It ended up being one of my best dives.
The ride out there on the speedboat was very unpleasant. Very bumpy. The impact of landing after jostling over a wave abused my back. It felt like a bolt of pain shot right up my butt and into my spine. And I wish I wore a sports bra. It was an hour and 20 minute torturous ride.
The accommodations on the liveaboard were just as lovely as the previous day. The staff was friendly. The food was wonderful. Unlimited free coffee or tea and snacks (bananas, oranges, and cookies.). I met a lot of cool divers from all over the world.
Our first dive, like yesterday, was the reef. I found it boring yesterday. I did not bother to bring my underwater camera with me today. I was worried it would slow me down or divert my attention. Instead, there seemed to be more beautiful, colorful fish than on Saturday. I enjoyed this dive a lot.
The last dive, my last dive in Thailand until my next trip here, was one of my best dives ever! It was the Pinnacle site. We mostly stayed in the same area because a member of our team had equalization problems. I spent a lot of time swimming in circles taking photos of any tropical fish that swam into my lense’s vision.
Over the 43 minutes of diving, we saw many interesting sea creatures. Also, many were a first for me. We saw groupers, jackfish, a large school of barracuda, trigger fish, butterfly fish and angel fish, eels, cowfish, and clownfish. But my highlights were 1) the scorpion fish (hard to spot him but he is there!):
Then 2), I was so excited to see my first octopus! As first it was small and retracted. Then after my group started to swim away, I remained a bit longer and witnessed the reemergence of the cephalopod. It was amazing and beautiful.
And my highlight… what made this worth missing Richelieu and one of my best dives…. 3) I saw my first shark! It was almost breathtaking. But that would have made scuba diving a bit difficult.
***I was later told by the dive shop that last week, a ferry from Phuket to Phi Phi sunk with 200 passengers. But they are keeping it out of the press. He said it was mostly tourists. I am not sure how true this is since I can not imagine families of the tourists not taking it to the international press.
About Kerri Kat
I am a NICU nurse based in the United States and a world traveler when not working. I used to work "travel nurse" contracts, which meant working in a different hospitals around the country for 8 to 13 week contracts. In between those contracts, I tried to explore new countries. I have been based in the same location for the last five years while I pursued my Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree, which I finally achieved in May 2019. Now my feet and backpack are itching to become nomadic again and return to adventuring the world.
My first passport was obtained in 2004. At the time, I was a nurse for only a few years and felt I could not afford travel. I had a lot of debt from being a irresponsible twenty-something that put a lot of charges on credit card. I kept thinking "I will wait until my debts are paid off and then I will travel." I already experienced some foreign voyages with the Navy in the late 1990s and got to see some of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Those exploits gave me a taste for new lands.
Then in 2004, my father was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was given 6 months to live and the doctors predicted right; he died 6 months after the diagnose. I spent those 6 months getting to know more about my dad than I ever knew in my whole life. (He was not a sociable or lovable father.) As the only nurse in the family, it was my job to go to all his appointments. I sat with him in the hospital when he recovered from surgeries. I had to empty his drainage system in my sister's home after he had a lung removed. This gave us time to get to know each other. And I will always remember the discussion we had when he told me he worked his whole life just to retire comfortably and now he will not get that chance. He realized he missed out on a lot of opportunities. He told me not to wait for the things I wanted; not to wait until I was old to relax. He told me if I wanted to travel, I should go get a passport and go somewhere. Debts will always be there but chances won't.
The next week, I applied for my passport. My first trip was to London and Paris. I stayed with people I met online to save money. It was the beginning of my lessons in traveling on a budget. I bought my dad some mints in London to try to encourage him to quit smoking. (He never did quit but just hid it from me.) He died a month after my trip.
I met guy on that trip to London, who I began communicating with daily via instant messenger. Few months later, he came to visit me. We began a relationship and it began many trips to London for me. I was able to find flights for $400 back then. He and I visited Ireland for my 30th birthday and spent a Valentines weekend in Paris. Our relationship did not last, but my wanderlust did.
A year later, I got my first travel nurse contract. Without having to pay rent (the company gave me free housing) nor utilities, I was able to start paying off my debts. I received money after my dad died that I used to buy a Saturn Vue without a loan. This small SUV helped me get from assignment to assignment. Not having a car payment was a great help to paying off debts and saving money. I extended my 1st travel nurse contract and after 6 months, I was able to afford a two week vacation to Egypt. I added in a layover in Germany. Then back to the US for another contract that lasted 9 months, then I went to New Zealand and Australia for two months. For 9 years, I worked a two to six months in a few states and then went overseas for a few weeks to months. I parked my Vue at my mom's for most of the trips and kept my stuff stored in her attic.
In 2014, I decided I wanted to settle down. I was tired of living out of bags and I missed some of the things I kept in my mom's attic. I bought a lot of souvenirs while I traveled that went right up to her attic. I wanted a home to display all my "treasures". I also wanted to go back to school to get my BSN. (In the USA, registered nurses need to have at least a diploma in nursing or associates in nursing degree, but it is getting harder to be hired without a BSN.) I found a job that reimbursed me for most of my RN-BSN program. Now I feel ready to use this degree to find a job overseas or to secure more contracts in the USA.
So please enjoy my stories of my travels. Please comment. And don't wait to enjoy life!
Kerri Kat's Adventures and Travels 
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