During my first month of travel, I spent what — in retrospect — feels like an eternity on the Thai islands on both theAndaman Sea Coast and in the Gulf of Thailand. It totaled a little over two weeks and could have been spread out better to incorporate more time in the North exploring the other provinces and cities aside from Chiang Mai. Oh well, live and learn.

Of all the islands visited — Koh Lanta, Koh Phi Phi, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan — Koh Tao easily took the cake as my favorite. Each island was vastly different and beautiful, but Koh Tao offered the most laid back atmosphere and the opportunity for me to learn a new hobby.

Koh Tao is one of Thailand’s most treasured beach locations because of its key location for first-time divers. I had never been diving before, but was interested in the possibility of learning after deciding to stay in one of the many guesthouses with a diving school attached. According to the instructors at the Crystal Dive Guesthouse, about five percent of the world’s divers are certified in the Gulf because of its incredible marine life and cheap costs for certifications.

Andrea and I had decided on the introductory PADI Discover SCUBA Divers course (2,000 baht, or about $60USD) instead of leaping right into the four-day certification course, which is probably one of my biggest regrets of the trip. Though it would have set me back about $300 USD, the certification would have been well worth it because by the end of the day I was hooked. The daylong course though, included equipment, a dive master, basic diving skills and our very first dive: 40 minutes at 40 feet under the sea near the island of Koh Nang Yuan, one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen.

As I said, after just learning the basics in the pool, I knew I’d be hooked on diving.  By the time we actually started diving with our dive master, Ben from England, I knew I wanted to come back for certification. Of course there was a quick adjustment period, some minor discomfort during which I had to rise higher up before descending deeper into the sea, but all nerves and unease seemed to disappear the second I saw my first school of fish jet by me and the anemones below me sway back and forth like the palm trees above water. After our dive and on our  way to return to shore, the boat captain spotted a baby whale shark basking near the surface and allowed us to jump off the boat and snorkel alongside it; something I was told is an incredibly rare and lucky opportunity, especially for first time divers.

Sadly, I never made the time to get back to Koh Tao for certification, so it’s definitely something on my list of things to do on my major adventure (or some time in between!).