Scuba-doobie-do!!

Today's been about one thing. Fish. Managed to book up a dive today, had to be ready for 7 so as to guarantee our space on the boat to head out to Racha-Yai island to the south of Phuket where we had two 50 minute dives. Wow.
I had to start from scratch but luckily we found an incredibly good rate and an American instructor Joe who you trusted - with your life, being no joke. It took around an hour and a half to get there but by the time you arrived and strapped all the gear on it was so hot that diving in to the water held none of the reserve that usually comes with jumping in. Once dunked and a few basics reviewed we headed down, reaching around 12m at times. It wasn't the most spectacular of areas but i'd be lying if i said it wasn't beautiful.
Various small corals were dotted around on the bed and rocks hiding fish and crustaceans such as... sea urchins/cucumbers, puffer/box/angel/pretty fish, flounder, moray eels, boxer shrimp AND an octopus right before we finished. That was amazing and being able to see these animals in a natural environment was a privilege - one that some boat owners didn't come close to understanding; at one point a loaded fishing line from a private boat was well worth cutting/un-hooking, however a tug tricked them and likely spared an exquisite large fish that was showing some interest..
Some good food and a beer on board afterward topped it off, though the sway of the boat returning didn't suit all.
Sooner or later we'll get some pictures up as words have no chance of doing the amount of colour and shapes justice.