Snorkeling with Sharks

I managed to sleep quite well last night although I was practically falling out of bed trying to be in the stream of the fan (it is fixed on the ceiling and not adjustable) but I managed to sleep through till my alarm this morning. I was one of the first up this morning as most people went out last night and were feeling the effects this morning, so I waited around for a bit till I could go grab some breakfast along with the Dutch girls, whom were the first up. We walked down the road to this little street stall which done a bacon roll for cheap, this automatically put a spring in my step from the start. Today me, Jack and the Dutch girls were planning on getting a taxi over to Shark Bay which was a beach on a private resort with crystal clear waters and known for the blacktip reef shark that lives there. Before meeting at 11am for the taxi, I went to 7/11 for some more sun cream which cost me £21! A total rip-off if you ask me. I also went to a corner shop and decided to buy myself a snorkel set as at least that way, I don’t have to worry about hiring one each time plus it will come in handy in Australia; not that I have really thought about how it will fit in my rucksack yet. The taxi was a

pick-up truck and managed to fit all 12 of us in, quite a relief really that we had 12 people on the dot otherwise we could have been in trouble; well we wouldn’t, but the ride would have been more expensive.

When we got there, I could not believe what I was seeing in front of me, the sea was unbelievably blue, I thought that colour was only due to filters on pictures; I could not wait to go in and explore. As we walked along the shoreline, the water lapped at my feet and it was so warm, I could not believe I was next to the sea as not even swimming pool water is normally this warm. We eventually stopped down the beach near a tree so that we had the option of sun or shade throughout the day. Me, Michella, Kirsten, Britt and I believe it was Alba, set off into the water to go and explore the ocean world. Near the shore you could not see much when you looked under the water, I assume as the sand was being churned up, but the further you swam out the, more corals, fish and reefs you were able to see. The sea was so calm, and it was easy to float with hardly any effort needed to swim. There were loads of fish beneath me but my favourite one to look at was the triggerfish which has loads of rainbow colours on it and just looked so magical. We had read in the tourist guide that we would need to swim a few

hundred metres out from shore to where the water was going to be about 3-4 metres deep, I am sure we must have ended up swimming further than this though when we saw our first one, the shark swam along the bottom of the seabed and was not fazed by us swimming above it. I think I saw around 10 in total with them varying in size from 4-feet to around 7-feet-long, that is asides from the baby one that I saw swimming on its mothers fin. I did try to get some pictures, but my phone is temperamental in water and the sharks were fast and hard to follow but I know Jack and Michella managed to get some so when they get them off their cameras back in England, I will be able to get them to show you. This experience was amazing and I was snorkeling for over an hour just ignoring the world around me and being at one with the fish. Once we got out, we went along to a restaurant on the beach for some lunch; I got the cheapest thing I could find which was some tomato pasta, but the service was terrible and so slow, even to the point in getting our change where we waited for around 10 minutes just for that. We then went back to our spot on the beach and laid down for the remainder of the afternoon reading till 5pm when our taxi came for us.

Once back, the cold shower felt so refreshing and it was good to get some of the salt off my body, although I am sure I was playing whack a gnat in that shower with 5 being in there with me, so I just

had to keep trying to squish them; the worst part is I have no idea how they got in. At 6.30pm I met up with Jack and Georgia to go and get some street food, except on Koh Tao the, street food in the evening is about the same price as a cheaper restaurant so we decided to go in there and have a sit-down meal. I had a chicken burger and chips which was on a special deal and tasted amazing, especially as it was only £2.50. We then walked around looking at the shops and trying to find something neon to wear for the full moon party on Wednesday, I am still unsure if this is going to be one of my best or worse night of the trip as the thought of staying up partying from 6pm till 6am, then getting a ferry back to Koh Tao sounds like an absolute nightmare but as it is included in my package, I feel as if I would be a fool not to go to at least experience it. I managed to find myself a neon pink vest top with giraffes on it and tassels which I shall wear with some shorts I don’t mind getting ruined.

That has been my exciting yet slightly expensive day, once again people have gone out drinking but with the full moon less than 48 hours away, I need to conserve my hydration and energy, so it is another early night for me.