The Restless Firefly

This is the first time I was encouraged to take photos of the underwater world. The colors when the sun rays hit the reef, the tranquility, the vastness of the blue, and the weirdness of the creatures you don’t normally see everyday (not unless you work in the diving industry) – these elements are just mesmerizing and I am very eager to take a snap of this world to show to my friends and family. There is something under the ocean that makes me release a lot of oxytocin (the love hormone). Lol. Marry me, my beloved ocean. Marry me!

My very good friend and colleague suggested me to dive with him in Rawai, Phuket, Thailand. He normally travels alone and dive to some of the South East Asian waters. Since I started diving, I’ve always longed for a dive buddy who will be nice enough to accompany and teach me at the same time, I was such an amateur back then, terrible if I may say. And there he was, Mr. Shahril. He was patiently teaching and encouraging me, like a mentor and a scuba confidant. The world needs a lot of him – always encouraging rather than criticising. He flew from Singapore first then I followed the next day. We booked 2 separate rooms at Thai Palace Resort (yup separate rooms, no malice here, I really appreciate that he treats me like his younger sister) and then dived with Scuba Cat for THB 3900 for a day tour consisting of 3 dives. He owns a Sony RX100 camera with housing, tray, arms and other accessories which set up was beyond my comprehension at that time.

These pictures are actually his and he was nice enough to share it with me. . Photos are taken from 3 Dive Spots: King Cruiser, Shark Point, and Koh Doc Mai. Shahril lost his cable that connects the strobe to his camera so some shots are just shades of green and blue and not as colourful as others. King Cruiser is just majestic. . Damn. No sighting of sharks in the shark point but the locals said many years ago it used to be a haven for leopard sharks, too many that one would probably bump it’s head unto you. Gone are the days, I thought. Koh Doc Mai is like the garden of eden under water. The colorful and vibrant corals are the main attraction here. I hope this collection will encourage my non-diver friends to start scuba diving soon.