We arrived on Ko Tao bright and early, filled with nervous anticipation about the 3 days of diving that lay ahead of us. We were picked up at the catamaran pier by our dive school and were whisked straight off to Sairee Beach (our home for the next 4 days) for a quick review of the theory we'd done some 7 months ago. Astoundingly enough of the diving knowledge seemed to have stuck for our instructor to be happy for us to continue. We then had a quick 45 min break for lunch before we were off on the boat. We'd already done all of the theory and the pool dives back in the UK last Halloween, but we opted to do a 'refresher' dive before we started on our underwater dives proper.

The refresher lesson was...interesting. I think we were both a bit nervous and I tried to do everything far too quickly, to just get it over with! The salt water felt very different to the nice chlorinated pool water, particularly when it went up your nose, and it took some getting used to. I also struggled to trust that the little regulator in my mouth would keep me alive underwater, and had to come up to the surface several times after forgetting and breathing through my nose rather than my mouth, getting a nice taste of saltwater! It was at this point I began to think perhaps the diving wasn't for me after all.....

However, the first actual dive was much better. We got used to the feeling of swimming underwater, surrounded by brightly coloured fish who were surprisingly calm around divers for the most part – since Ko Tao is second only to Cairns in terms of the number of PADI certificates it gives out, I guess this is hardly surprising! We even spotted a massive puffer-fish resting under a rock, which was pretty cool.

We had 2 more days of diving ahead of us, during which we completed 3 more dives at some of the best dive sites around the island. I veered during this time between enjoying what I was doing and being pretty much terrified – those of you who've been skiing with me will know my reaction well.

The diving itself was amazing, it was all the skills you have to complete in order to be designated an open water diver [which means you're able to dive to 18m] which I didn't like so much. The worst of all was the mask removal, where you had to remove your mask fully underwater, put it back on again, and then clear all of the water which was now inside your mask, in your nose etc. This was one of the last skills we did, some 10m down, and I was completely terrified. I came so close to bolting back up to the surface, but my instructor grabbed on to my arm, looked me in the eye, and managed to make me calm down and complete the exercise. Such a relief!! And with this completed, we were officially qualified divers. I felt very proud of myself, I have to say.

We were offered the chance to do a further dive at the end of our course, but we opted instead to give our ears a chance to readjust to living on land, and instead explored the island a little bit – up until this point we'd seen more of the underwater life on Ko Tao than anything above ground. The island is mostly famous for being a diving destination, but we hired a bike and travelled down to very southernmost point, which seemed to be more of a beach and relaxation destination. We spent an afternoon on Freedom Beach, which was absolutely stunning and which, amazingly, we had almost to ourselves. As the heat went out of the day we headed back to Sairee Beach to watch the sunset.

By coincidence, James's American cousin Dani was also finishing up 6 months of travelling on Ko Tao, so we managed to meet up with her for a celebratory drink having completed our dive course. Was really lovely to see a familiar face so far from home, and she had the honour of being the first person to see us as an engaged couple!

It was also amazing to be able to enjoy a beer with her, our only one during our entire stay on Ko Tao. We're heading next to do a detox on Ko Phangan, and as part of the 'preparation' we've been eating nothing but salads and drinking nothing but fruit juice for the best part of a week. It's been pretty depressing, especially for two confirmed carnivores, staying on islands where burgers and steaks are on every menu. I guess soon we'll discover if it was worth it.....