Scuba and Valentino the Baby Elephant

Today Yuliya and I set off early to do a pool dive. We are scuba diving tomorrow and you first have to learn some basic skills before diving in open water. The dive shop is located at Le Meridien in Patong, about an hour south of our apartment. The resort is very beautiful, with a ton of activities like rock climbing, tennis, jet skiing, and sailing. The hotel has the largest pool I've ever seen. 

The front entrance:

I forgot to mention earlier that it's still seems to be Christmas in Thailand. There are Christmas trees everywhere and it's not uncommon to hear Christmas music. Here's the hotel's Christmas tree:

We had about 45 minutes until the dive shop opened so we ordered some breakfast. I ordered a side of bacon and hashbrowns without a main dish and the waitress was very confused as to why I wasn't ordering them as a side to eggs. The portions were HUGE. There has to be at least ten slices of bacon in there. The potatoes were delicious. 

We arrived at the dive shop and were given some basic instruction and then were fitted with fins, a short wet suit, a bouyancy control device (a vest), a regulator for breathing, and goggles. We then went into the pool at the hotel. 

Those dining al fresco were able to witness us learning our diving skills. We learned how to breathe into our regulator, how to empty our mask underwater, how to equalize our ear pressure, how to find our regulator if it falls out of our mouth, and practiced the various hand gestures (up, down, okay, problem, etc.). 

Breathing with the regulator was extremely difficult. It feels like you can't get enough air, and each exhale has an startling amount of bubbles. 

Our lesson ended quickly and we had some time to enjoy the resort. 

Here's a hobie cat you can rent from the resort:

The beach and swimming at the resort are amazing. 

We went swimming in the ocean, and then Yuliya spotted the baby elephant who lives nearby. He's four years old and his name is Valentino.  He walks around the resort and beach eating fruit. We got to pet him and he gave me a kiss on the cheek. 

 

Part two of today in another installment...