It’s our last full day here on the beautiful island of Koh Tao. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday scuba diving during which time…Scott, Renee, and Russ completed their open water scuba diving certification. Thursday we went to Nangyuan island--a private island owed by the Japanese person that runs the boat ferries between the three main islands here. The beaches look straight out of a postcard, with its land bar connecting three small islands. The resort island had the best coconut shake ever and great snorkeling.
We’ll now describe Russ’ most memorable moment scuba diving, but first let us preface the story with a little information. On the ferry from Koh Samui to Koh Tao, we met this really nice Canadian scuba instructor, named Kent, and we asked him “What dangerous fish/sharks do we need to be careful of while we scuba dive in Koh Tao?” He said Triggerfish pose the most danger to scuba divers--more so than the docile native spotted whale sharks. They are territorial fish (several feet in size) that will viciously swim at you and could bite you when you’re in their cone-shaped territory.
On the first dive of our scuba certification, Russ, Scott and Renee finished the skills training and went exploring. In the distance, we saw a large and colorful fish (~2ft tall & ~3ft long) then noticed the dive instructor looking back at us and made a hand signal in the shape of a gun followed by a sign of biting. Renee and I concluded the large fish we saw was a dangerous Triggerfish and swam away from it. I looked back to view the fish and see where Scott and Renee were. I noticed Scott swimming towards the big fish and he gave me a signal to look at the fish as he pointed to it. I immediately signaled back “No, come here”. Apparently he never saw the dive instructor’s signals and he signaled back to me with another “look” signal and pointed to the Triggerfish.
He swam within 10 ft of the Triggerfish then as he started turning back…he triggered the aggressive fish. Suddenly the large Triggerfish started swimming directly at Scott with his large mouth (about the size of my hand) chomping up and down. (At this point Scott had turned around and had no idea what was about to attack him). The massive Triggerfish (it was the largest Triggerfish our instructor had ever seen) reaches Scott and bit down on his fin. Startled, Scott turns towards the fish to see this huge fish with his mouth open and its characteristic big teeth swimming toward him. Instantly, Scott swam and kicked as hard he could to escape the attacking fish. 
The fish kept charging but he did a great job of keeping his fins between him and the fish. Russ soon realized that Scott and the aggressive, attacking fish were getting closer to him too so he started swimming quickly away too. Finally, after about 15 seconds the Triggerfish finally chased Scott out of it’s territory and swam away. Fortunately, Scott wasn’t hurt in this incident but afterwards we’ve heard about other Triggerfish attack to the point of causing stitches to a diver’s head. After that incident no one strayed away from the dive instructor. However, the next day on our navigational dive training Renee was leading us and accidently triggered a Triggerfish without her even being aware of it’s occurrence; she kept navigating the dive while Scott heart stopped when he saw the fish swimming towards his sweetie. Most of the non-natives we come across here seem to be 20 something backpackers. We’re right on the cusp of being too old and it appears most bars & nightlife cater to the young backbacker crowd. Our private villa (located a short 10 min walk from the beach) is the perfect location for us. It’s not the summer camp vibe of the bungalows near the beach but it also isn’t the all-inclusive older crowd. We’ve enjoyed lounging around and taking early morning dips in our private little pool.
Friday Russ and Lee-Anne embarked on one last dive session (consisting of two dives), but our first fun dive together. The dive resort, Big Blue, was going to one of the most revered dive spots, Champhon, which was our favorite Koh Tao dive site. With its diversity of fish, and known for big fish around Barracuda rock, no wonder we saw endless species of fish. Lee-Anne’s favorite fish she saw was a large, 3-foot long porcupine puffer. It was like being in a large tropical fish tank! Lee-Anne especially loved rolling upside down to look up at the schools of fish reflecting the sunlight. The second and last dive our morning dive session, took us to White Rock, another beautiful sight where we saw blue spotted stingrays, a diver filming a Triggerfish, and so much more. Once we surfaced…it was sprinkling…and a few minutes later we were on the boat and a downpour started. It made for a slow, wet boat ride back to shore.
The first few days on the island were hot and sunny! (a bit too hot for Russ) However, the last few days have been filled with occasional rain, downpours, and a few thunderstorms. We now know what torrential rain is like. While Russ and Lee-Anne were on the scuba boat, the roof at our villa started leaking. They also were amazed to see the road in front of our villa turn into a fast moving river due to the flash flooding. Utter downpour all day we played cards (San Juan); in the late afternoon we went for massages, then food and games (free pool, air hockey, & foosball) at the Simple Life restaurant & bar.
Today the weather has eased a bit but could change at any moment. We are lazily spending our day reading by the pool (and blogging) with an occasional food break or to make another cocktail.
Tomorrow we spend one night in Koh Samui before heading to the health spa in Chaing Mai.
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