My fears of sitting on a boat in the middle of the ocean in the rain were unfounded. In fact, I was forced to liberally apply sunscreen for three days. And if I have to pick the lesser of two evils, I'd definitely pick the latter.
We've spent 95% of the last three days either on a boat or in the water, including at least 3 snorkeling dives every day, and one full-blown scuba dive. Needless to say, the underwater sights were incredible. I saw lots of Nemos, along with the other fish he with whom he shared the dentist's aquarium. There were also lots of colorful coral, foot-wide starfish, sea anenomes, parrot fish, and sea urchins, one turtle about 15 feet underwater, a "shoulder-to-shoulder" line of black squid looking as if they were marching to war, and the highlight: a manta ray with a 2-meter wide wingspan.
One of the best parts of the trip was compliments of one our fellow passengers. He was a diving fanatic who took a video camera underwater on 2-3 dives a day. After dinner every night, we gathered around the TV to marvel at the National Geographic special that we were living in.
These movies showed off coral reefs that were by far the best underwater scenes I have ever seen in person. The view above water was amazing as well. We spent some time at beautiful Ko Surin, the home of the Moken Gypsy tribe that survived the Tsunami by running to higher ground when the water receded. We also spent one afternoon on one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen: Ko Tachai.
Hopefully I will be able to post some (above water) pictures soon!