When I choose places to travel to, it’s usually either a place that I have been to before and enjoy revisiting, or it’s for an adventure to discover new sights, cultures, and people. However, since I didn’t have a real summer because of having to prepare to move to Shanghai, I had to wait until Christmas to visit Taiwan again, as I try to do each year. Now that I have checked that off of my list, it was time to go somewhere for the spring festival. This time I decided that what I needed was just some good old-fashioned relaxation time at the beach. So, Thailand it was! But knowing myself, I couldn’t just spend 2+ weeks lying on a beach; I had to feel like I was spending my time productively. So, I decided to enroll in a scuba diving course. While I visited a friend in Rayong (1.5 hours from Pattaya), I spent the majority of my time between the islands of Koh Samui and Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand and then finished in Bangkok.

I had been told that a lot of places in Thailand, especially the big beach areas, have been quite commercialized. While I found this to be true, it didn’t detract from my overall experience (unlike the terrible sunburn I got on my shoulders that finally blistered). (That made my holiday hell for a few days.) Without further ado, here is what I saw.

The first place I visited was Rayong, a place about 1.5 hours east of Pattaya. I went there specifically to visit someone I had met maybe 3–4 years earlier but hadn’t seen for the last 2 years. He happened to work at a 5-star Marriott resort on the beach, so I decided to take him up on his invitation. It also didn’t hurt that he had my room upgraded and breakfast comped.

While I enjoyed spending hours in the water and enjoying the hotel food, the food that I really wanted was some authentic local cuisine. Luckily, my friend knew a place that served just that. I apologize for the focus or lighting in some of my photos, as many times these delicious dinners were served in low-light conditions.

There was one menu item I wasn’t particularly interested in trying, though. See if you can guess why…

I was once told on a bus about how commercialized Koh Samui has become. As I mentioned before, my main reason for going there was not to get a deep cultural immersion but rather to try to relax and enjoy the tropical pleasures of this area. Yes, it certainly is commercialized, with many, many restaurants, bars, salons, guest houses, massage parlors, and even tattoo shops lining the roads surrounding the outside of the island. If I had spent all of my time here, I might have gotten a bit bored with the cookie-cutter scenery. Luckily, I had signed up for an island-hopping tour to Ang Thong National Marine Park.

Some of the scenery reminded me of what I saw while in Coron, Philippines (the color of the water, visiting a saltwater lake). The food was also quite decent.

While in Samui, I met a guy who happened to be a tour guide (as well as a property manager). He had a car, so he offered to show me around parts of the island. While driving around, I realized just how steep and hilly the central part of the island is. There were several points going uphill, and I wondered if the car was going to make it!

While in the car, I also noticed something that I thought I would see in China, but I guess there is no reason not to see it here, too. I tried to zoom in on it quickly on my phone.

For dinner, we found one of the many restaurants that had beach seating available. While this made for a great dining environment, it hindered my ability to take clear photos in such low light. But I tried anyway.

While dining here, I discovered a great dish called Khao Soi. It’s a curried noodle soup with coconut and peanut sauce served with wet noodles and crispy fried noodles. Apparently, it’s a Burmese-styled dish that is also eaten in northern Thailand in areas like Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. It’s now a new favorite of mine. The server actually came by and advised my friend that I should eat it quickly before the crispy noodles turned soft.

Here at Silver Beach, I managed to get burned terribly, especially on my shoulders.

I figured that since I had already spent the past week being out in the sun and slowly developing a tan, I could make do without sunscreen for a short period of time (I planned for roughly an hour or so). Turns out, I was REALLY wrong. The intensity of the burn slowly crept up on me. By the evening, it had gotten worse, so much so that as soon as I left my room to go out, the hot, humid air in the hallway felt like fire on my skin. While my friend was driving me around on his motorcycle, my skin felt both hot and chilly (like rubbing on “Icy Hot” but without any of the benefits). I had to leave the next day for Koh Tao with a heavy backpack pressing on my shoulder area. Not one of my smartest moves.

Koh Tao is similar to Koh Samui; however, the island is smaller, and even though it also has a commercialized outer ring area with the same kind of businesses, it felt calmer, quieter, and a bit cleaner. This is also where I took my scuba diving course. This was a great place to find restaurants on the beach. It’s also a great place to watch the sunset.

The evening that I got into my little cottage in Koh Tao, my shoulders began to develop blisters. I spoke to the diving instructor and told her that I didn’t think it would be a good idea to start the next day and that I should take a day to rest from the sun. I had a limited amount of time there, so all I could spare was one extra day. I was worried that if it didn’t improve quickly, I might have to cancel my course and live like a shut-in the rest of the time. Luckily, it didn’t ruin the class, though it did make applying sunscreen and lotion painful.

My scuba certification experience was certainly an interesting one. It went for three days, and it was a mix of watching videos, doing some homework, starting off the training with the equipment in a pool, and finishing with four dives (two dives in water down to twelve meters and two dives down to eighteen meters). The first time in the pool was OK, though the hardest part was when we were going over how to attain neutral buoyancy. I kept going up and down quickly, and my ears began to ache. I was told that in a stationary body of water (like a pool), the effect of the pressure from going up and down is greater than when you are out in an open body of water. The method I was told to use to equalize my ears and sinuses was to hold my nose and blow gently until I heard the slight “pop” sound. This is contrary to the method I use whenever I’m on a plane (I just swallow or yawn), but these methods weren’t effective for me under the water.

The first two dives in the ocean were fine, and I got to see some interesting sea creatures. It was on the third dive further out that I encountered some issues early on. The third dive site was where we were to go down to eighteen meters. Out there, the water was a bit darker, and you couldn’t see the bottom. This alone was more intimidating. To make matters worse, as I descended with my instructor, I felt like my breathing was more difficult, as well as feeling like there was some water getting into my mask in the nose area. All of this made me start to panic a bit, and I had to signal to the instructor to ascend. He helped calm me down (after what felt like a slight briefing or chastisement for me not being more communicative with my hand signals) and regain my composure.

I felt embarrassed because I’ve always been someone who is not afraid of doing “wild” or adventurous activities, and I’m a decent swimmer and thoroughly enjoy being in the ocean. I felt embarrassed because, throughout the course, I felt like I kept having minor issues with the equipment, like forgetting a couple steps and fumbling to get into my scuba gear. It felt like I had to do the Macarena dance to find where everything was. All of this made me nervous, and then having reservations about starting the third dive made me more self-conscious. Luckily, I finished the rest of the dive and completed the course. I now have my PADI open water certification for down to eighteen meters!

While on the boat, I didn’t really take too many photos as I was busy thinking about the dives, but I did manage to get some shots on the way back.

These are some of the animals that I saw while diving. I didn’t have a water-proof camera, nor have I ever used one before. So, I had to take these photos from one of the diving school’s books.

One night, while looking for a place to eat, I noticed a sign that I enjoyed reading. It made me feel better about the efforts made to keep the island clean.

Speaking of eating, I also got some more lunch and dinner photos.

By now, you might have seen a pattern of lots of coconuts. I have tried coconut water a few times, and I was never that impressed by it. However, after trying coconut water from a fresh, chilled coconut, I developed a taste for it. Plus, it has essential minerals that help with hydration, so why not drink it up while I have the chance?

My final stop in Thailand was back in Bangkok. I have been through here each time I have been to Thailand, so I always like to make it the last part of my journey. This time, I was determined to fulfill my goal of visiting the ancient capital of Ayutthaya, about 1.5 hours away from Bangkok. The last time I was here, the weather was too rainy.

It might be a while before I head back to Thailand, but when I do, I will continue to try new beach areas, as well as some more areas in the north, too.