Are you for SCUBA?

Sam and I finally made it diving today!  We took a long tail boat out to Koh Si and Koh He- two tiny islands that are really more like large rocks and we circled each one while underwater in less than an hour.  Our first dive was fun, but the water clarity was terrible.  We did see a pair of stingrays, some sea slugs, and crabs, but there was also a VERY strong current we had to swim against at the last leg.  The second dive was infinitely better!  We saw a sea snake, several large puffer fish, Sam found a school of squid, and I found a lion fish.  When we got back on the boat and headed to shore, we were delighted to eat a home-cooked meal of sweet and sour beef with veggies and rice.  Pretty sweet compared to what I've eaten on dive trips in the states. Also, these two dives mean that I've done as many dives in the US as I have done abroad- kinda interesting when you think about it.  

When we got back to the hotel, we found two lounge chairs and relaxed.  Sam read his latest book while I fell asleep for a couple of hours- I'm a little teeny bit pink as a result.  Oops.  Hopefully it's nothing a little aloe vera and shade can't fix for me. 

We watched the most amazing sunset from our chairs at the end of the day.  It was quite possibly one of the most stunning sunsets I have ever seen.  I like this photos so much I made it my desktop background on my laptop.

Pick your dinner!

After the sunset and some seriously needed showers, Sam and I headed to our hotel's restaurant where we saw a fantastic seafood BBQ on our way home last night.  We were blown away by all of the options- red and white herring, mackerel, barracuda, shrimp, blue crab, clams, and squid.  It was ridiculous!  

The chef cooked the exact shrimp you picked out, and cut the filets to order as big as you wanted directly off the side of the fish- which I had never seen before.  Everything was by charged by weight, as you can see they had a scale off to the left.  

Between the two of us, Sam and I tried everything except the two herrings, and we agree without a doubt this was the best seafood of the trip.  The view wasn't bad either, we got a table at the edge of the restaurant overlooking the beach and the bay.  It was probably our coolest dinner too, because we are on the windward side of Railay and there was a nice breeze keeping the air moving.  

All things considered, we are sad to be leaving for Koh Phi Phi in the morning, but excited to see what will come next on our adventure!