Eat.Sleep.Dive.Repeat

Ever since I was  little girl, I heard epic tales of my Dad swimming with whales in Australia or sitting in cockpits of planes sixty feet (AKA 20 meters) under the water. I received my Open Water certification at the earliest age that I could, thirteen years old.

This is me on our dive in Thailand.

Kevin was certified in a cold quarry in the middle of October (and experienced extreme vertigo) in order to prepare for diving on our honey moon. It was basically an ultimatum to marrying me, but nonetheless he now shares a similar enthusiasm for diving.

Kev on our dive on Thailand.

 I also value that it is truly a family passion with my Dad, Mom, Ben and Kevin being certified scuba divers and, Clinton being crazy about swimming in the ocean.

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Why Do I Love Scuba Diving So Much?

1. ​It’s getting an opportunity to peek into a multi-colored world full of energy and life. Life goes on regardless if you are there or not. You just sit back, relax and enjoy the show. ​Check out this video of our dive to get a glimpse of the sheer amount of life in a coral reef we saw. All photos in this blog posts are from our diving experience in Thailand December 2017. 

Photo taken by a professional photographer, Richard, on our dive trip.

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2. ​It’s a sense of zen that I get from nothing else (even yoga). Just hearing your breath going in and out. I typically switch back and forth from focusing my attention on the entire scenery to drilling into two fish playfully chasing each other. Check out this video of us going through a swim through.

Photo taken by a professional photographer, Richard, on our dive trip. Audra in the background.

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​3. It’s a sense of amazement when you hear about fish that go back to the same rock each time to break open a clam shell, fish that actually can change sexes, migration patterns of whale sharks or sea turtles that live to over 100 years old. 

Photo taken by a professional photographer, Richard, on our dive trip.

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4. ​It’s a sense of excitement with 70% of our world is covered in the ocean and less than 5% has been actually explored. 

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​5. It’s a sense of awe when you peer into the blue abyss. Rays of light stream down from the top and lose their power as it gets deeper and deeper. 

Kevin took this photo on our Gro Pro. We had a lot of cool unicorn fish playing around our bubbles.

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​6. It’s a thrill when you are descending down a line on a night dive. Everything is pitch black except what you can see with your flash light (torch for our Australian friends ;). Your heart skips a beat when you see a massive beams from a shipwreck with squirrel fish just chilling in the cracks.

This was the wreck during the day. We didn't take our camera for the night dive.

The ocean and its’ millions of species is beautiful, powerful, and should be cherished.

​Our First Live Aboard Experience

If you are diving in Thailand, go with this company!

We did a scuba dive live aboard for four days with Similan Dive Safaris. We typically did four (sometimes five dives a day). It was truly EAT. SLEEP. DIVE. REPEAT.

​The dive company and staff were incredibly fun and definitely shared the enthusiasm for diving, valued  overall safety and were just good people all around. You also couldn’t beat the delicious authentic Thai meals, fruit or sticky rice that greeted us every time we were on the surface.

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The people on our boat.

One of the things that truly made the experience though – was the people (including staff). It was crazy to sit around a table with Australians, UK citizens, Americans living in other countries, Colombians, Italians, South Africans, and many more nationalities. We shared life experiences, swapped history about our countries, shared our world views, laughed at differences in languages and most of all chatted about the one thing that we all had in common - DIVING. Kevin and I are so grateful for meeting everyone on the trip and definitely hope to stay in touch.

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Our wonderful dive group. Four people are paired with one dive master.

I will also never forget ringing in the New Year's with our new found friends. We went to the top of the boat to watch fireworks on a distant coastline and Thais sending paper lanterns into the night sky. After the show, a dance party (topped with gymnastics and the worm) ensued as the boat rocked back and forth. It was impossible to be a bad dancer since everyone was just trying to keep their balance on the ocean. We even got some of the boat crew and Captain Bird to join us. We all danced to crazy Thai music to the wee hours of the evening.

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An Incredibly Diverse Ecosystem

Kev snapping videos with the Go Pro. Red Filter is a must since you lose colors as you descend.

We didn't just see an angelfish. We saw five different kinds of angel fish!

There were some moments in diving that I felt like I couldn't concentrate on one thing because there was too much to focus on - walls of fish, massive sea fans, and fish hunting everywhere you looked. I tried to showcase some of the incredible things that we saw, classifying the fish to the best of my ability. If I get any wrong, please let me know.

​ The photos in this post are credit to Kevin, a seasoned professional photographer on board (Richard), and our new friend from Australia (Jemma).

​Leave a comment below and let me know which fish is your favorite!

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​Anemone Fish

The anemone and the anemone fish have a symbiotic relationship, meaning they help each other out. The fish has a special mucus that makes them immune the sting of the anemone. Their fecal matter gives vital nutrients to the anemone and the fish actually are little fighters as they frequently protect their home from other fish.  

Clark's Anemone. Notice the difference in color (more black) than the one above.

Angel Fish

Emperor Angel Fish

Blue Ring Angel Fish

Bat Fish

Most of the time, you would look up and see fish swirling around you. Check out these bat fish!

Butterfly Fish

Red Tail Butterfly Fish

Cuttlefish

Cool, huh? Cuttlefish are known to change colors rapidly.

Cuttlefish just chilling.

I'm ready for my close up!

Eels

 We saw tons of giant moray eels and honeycomb eels. Check out our videos (Swimming, Saying Hello, Honeycomb) to see eels swimming and saying hello.

Goat Fish

There are many types of goat fish. They are characterized by the little barbs hanging from the chin. You often find them wiggling their whiskers around in the sand in search for food (mollusks, worms, crustaceans). Goat fish also can rapidly change colors to become less visible to predators. You often see them a white-sandy color to blend in with the sand.

Goat Fish

Goggle-eye

According to my fish chart, I am 90% certain this is a Goggle-eye. But, I can't confirm online.

Grouper

Coral Grouper

Peacock Grouper

Lion Fish

Beautiful. But, the spikes contain venom and can hurt you. So keep your distance!

Lion Fish

Lizard Fish​

Doesn't it look like a lizard? These guys hang out on the sand.

Lizard Fish

Moorish Idol

This is one of Kevin's favorite fish. You can tell the difference between a Moorish Idol and a Pennant bannerfish by the placement of their eyes. The Moorish idle has eyes that look forward while the pennant has eyes on the side.

We have a video of five of them swimming around.

Nudi Branch

I was introduced to the splendor of Nudi Branches (i.e. Sea Slugs) from a member in our dive group. She actively hunted them throughout the dive and, it quickly became a mission to point them out to her every time one of us saw one.

There are over 2,900 known species all in extremely vibrant colors. They are soft-bodied molluscs that shed their shells when they are wee larvaes.

The photos below are  taken by Jemma.

This guy is actually only found in the Maldives and one of our divesites in Thailand (some how).

Octopus

Did you know that octopus have three hearts and blue blood? They are actually also rumored to be one of the smartest invertebrates. They have been even be known to slip out of aquariums.  These octopus are actually mating, hence the one tentacle in the other one. I thought that they were just holding hands. 

Puffer

There are over 100 species of puffer fish and they puff up to double their size when they feel threatened into a perfect ball. If threatened, the chemicals on their skin can be extremely dangerous to a human's nervous system. However, I have never seen the be afraid of scuba divers. They often just swim right by your face.

Beautiful puffer fish

Sweet Lips

This is a genus of a grunt fish. They are often found in groups hanging out under rocks or boulders.

Want a Kiss?

Sea Horse

Did you know the male sea horse has a pouch to carry his babies? The female actually deposits her eggs in the male pouch after a eight or so hour courtship.

Sea Snake

Sea Snake

Stone Fish

This fish is the most deadliest in the world, according to PADI.   The venom is usually released when pressure is applied to the stonefish’s spine, which means the poison is most often emitted when the stonefish is being attacked by a predator or accidentally stepped on by a human. If this happens, it will probably be the most painful experience of your life and can lead to heart failure or death if untreated. Medical attention and anti-venom is a must.

They don't go out of their way to hurt humans. It is only if you hit their spine. We saw many on the wreck dive.

Trigger Fish

I love the way they look and swim. Their mouths seem to pucker up as if they were a snooty member of an elite society and their dorsel and pectoral fins undulate.

I love the color of this red-toothed Trigger Fish. I want to frame this at some point.

Unicorn Fish

Another form of unicorn fish.

Leave a comment below and let me know which fish is your favorite!