Since landing in South Africa back in October, time has gradually but continually gained momentum, moving by a bit faster with each passing day. Once we hit Thailand, it felt like time was flying, and we weren't quite sure how to decelerate.
Our first few weeks in what was possibly our most highly anticipated country whirred by. Thankfully, we found the solution to regaining control of time as soon as we hopped aboard the Dolphin Queen, a four night scuba diving liveaboard trip.
Finally, we got the diving fix we'd been craving. The visibility was near perfect, at times 30+ meters, meaning we could see straight through the water as if it were air. There were fish everywhere, from the tiny, bright neon dassies to massive brown groupers.
Note: the photos in this gallery were taken either from the boat as we sailed between islands or from the remote beaches where we stopped for hour-long breaks along the way. To see photos taken during dives, check out the gallery Pepe Suarez Underwater Photography.
Aside from the phenomenal scuba diving, one of our favorite elements of the liveaboard was the varied group of people bonding over a common love: scuba diving. We met couples from Brazil, Belgium and France, solo travelers from Chile, China and the good ol' USA, as well as brilliant dive instructors from all over the world - Switzerland, Mexico, Quebec, and even one who went to Rutgers in New Jersey (because those "it's a small world after all" reminders are always waiting to pop up)!
Life on the boat was blissfully simple. Our daily schedule looked like this:
6:00am: wake up call
7:00am: first divers geared up and in the water, directly followed by breakfast
Mid-morning dingy ride to the closest island beach
11:00am: back in the water for the second dive of the day, then lunch as soon as we're back on board
3:00pm: afternoon dive
5:00pm dinner
7:00pm: night dive, followed up an evening snack, then down time
Yes, it was a lot of diving. (Four a day!) But the rest of the time was relaxed and relaxing. All our meals were fresh, flavorful Thai favorites, served family style. The people who didn't nap between dives could be found sunning on the roof or playing card games. We spent our nights on the boat's roof deck, gazing at the amazingly unobstructed starry sky above or sitting in a circle with new friends, chatting and laughing about everything from that day's dives to global politics.
It was as delightfully wholesome as it sounds. There was no wifi, no long list of landmarks and museums to see. By the time we disembarked, we were firmly planted in the moment, refreshed and reinvigorated.
Maybe what had been propelling time at supersonic speeds seemingly out of our control was, in fact, us.
The four days we spent on the Dolphin Queen were easily one of the best, most memorable parts of our journey so far. It was certainly a highlight for us in Thailand and we can't wait to go on more liveaboard trips in the future.