We came in search of sun!!! We stopped in Ao Nang for a few nights first to explore the sights. The scenery in Krabi is amazing huge rocky islands straight out of the water and you can see the island where they filmed the man with the golden gun. The next day we walked the coast, the beach is not white like the other places we have been but was clean and full of really pretty shells. At one end of the beach is a huge walk way that takes you over the rocks and its full of loads of monkeys. We took loads of pictures of the baby ones as they seemed tamer and less likely to bite!!

From there we took the boat over to Ko Phi Phi which was an absolute paradise. The beach is pure white and the sea gorgeous turquoise and the weather seemed alot better we got a couple of hours of sun each day. After spending the first couple of days lazing on the beach and swimming in the sea we got booked on to our diving course. The instructor we got was Tyler who was lovely and very patient (he needed to be!) It was really good as there was only Andy and I in the group so we got to learn it all in our own time which really put me at ease. The first morning we spent in the class room doing mini tests and learning all the theory and then Tyler took us to the beach. In our first lesson we learned all the techniques we would need for the dives like buddy breathing clearing your mask taking your equipment on and off, and learning how to breathe again. Its alot harder than it sounds. The hardest bit for me was nealing on the bottom the current takes you all over the place. It was really strange as the things I picked up easy Andy found it harder and visa versa it just shows how different people learn thinhs in different ways. After that we were all set for the 1st dive the next day. We got kitted up and headed of to Bida Nok for a 12 metre dive. I couldn't believe how heavy all the tanks and kit are I felt like I was going to sink as soon as I jumped in! I found it really hard to equalise at first and Andy was straight down like a fish in water. On the first dive we saw loads of lion fish and other reef fish and were lucky enough to see a leapoard shark for the first time. We were down for an hour and then we took an hour break on the boat and had some lunch. The next dive was great I really started to enjoy it after that as I felt way more comfortable and in control, as long as you remember to keep breathing everything is OK! We did a few more techniques on the floor then explored round the reef and saw a turtle. It was so big yet so gracefull, the best thing we saw was the Octopus. Can't even describe how amazing that was it changed colours comletely right infront of us to try and hide I didn't even realise they could do that! We had to take a test that night and both passed Andy got 2% more than me, not that we got competitive... much!

We had 2 more dives the next day and on the first we saw 5 leapord sharks 2 in a pair male and female which were big enough for me!! We went down to 18 metres this time and its amazing how colour fades the deeper you go. In between the dives we had to do a swimming test and tread water we were so tired the diving really tires you out. That night we rewarded our selves with a drink as we were officially PADI certified open water divers. I'm glad we did it in Ko Phi Phi though as we felt so safe and Tyler was such a good instructor, even if I did keep 1 eye on the deep water just in case a shark made an appearance!

Andy went on to do his advanced course and 1 part of it was the photography so we have put his pictures on the site. He was even lucky or (unlucky enough which ever way you look at it!) to see a black tip reef shark. We will definately be doing a dive in OZ I think there will be no keeping Andy out the water if I tried now!

xxx