When all is said & done the success or failure of any business relies very much on the involvement of the staff. Big Blue has a fantastic Dive team. Although all our Staff realize how lucky they are to live & work here. They love their jobs & look forward to coming to work. Their enthusiasm is infectious & consequently the atmosphere they generate increases the profitability of the business.
So lets see who does what shall we...
Alex Daluiso- PADI & SSI Instructor. Alex started with Big Blue as a Divemaster & now teaches all PADI & SSI Courses in English & knows a lot of useful phrases in Italian. Alex is a Science teacher by profession & consequently has all the necessary qualities to make him an excellent instructor, & has the reputation of being the Instructor that can convert the scared to the confidant! Alex is also the builder creator & editor of our Big Blue Blog Page. & if you choose to email us with your enquiries then he's the guy that replies to you. A busy boy is our Alex!
Ally List- Our German speaking Austrian skier & snowboarding queen has now been a full time PADI & SSI Instructor at Big Blue for over a year. She left the glamour & glitz of Austrian TV to become a Diving professional & will one day soon be a PADI Instructor Trainer. Ally has an amazing ability to get on with everyone, which makes her one of our more popular Instructors all round the resort. She is very considerate of others & extremely enthusiastic when it comes to diving & teaching. In addition Ally is a massive Formula 1 fan & right now is glad the season is over cos it was playing hell with her sleeping hours!
Andy Griggs- is married, & he & his wife together have 2 beautiful little girls that look nothing like their rather large father! Andy is one of Big Blue’s more experienced SSI & PADI Instructors who has been teaching, on & off, for almost 8 years. He also worked as manager of another Koh Tao dive shop but his love for diving drew him back away from the shop & towards the water. His fatherly experience has made him a very patient & understanding Instructor & his knowledge of all things underwater is second to none.
Darren Buckland- Has been diving the oceans of the world as a PADI & SSI Instructor for a number of years. He’s a bit of a joker & can relax you like nobody can with his good natured & lighthearted sense of humour. He is the proud owner of Koh Tao's first Spiderman wetsuit & has vowed by next Oktoberfest he will also have his own designer made Lederhosen Wetsuit! Serious when needed though, Darren is our environmental monitor, which means he is responsible for Big Blues environmental awareness & responsibilities- beach & divesite cleanups, report on whaleshark sightings, & environmental support campaigns.
Dean Jenkins – Deano, has also been with Big Blue for over a year now & has proven himself to be one of the most committed Instructors in Koh Tao. A mechanic by trade Deano learnt his diving skills while on holiday, quickly fell in love with it & decided to change his career direction & became a PADI & SSI Dive Instructor. Soon, Deano was working at Big Blue & is now highly involved with our Divemaster training & our equipment maintenance & servicing courses aswell.
Guillaume Fargues- G is our French speaking PADI & SSI Instructor who has been at Big Blue now over 2 years. G is a gentleman who knows that your diving course with us should be special which is why he’ll ensure that 110% of himself goes into every course. Extremely reliable & a good team player G is never shy of stepping forward to lend a hand. He is also a keen rugby fan & DJ & can often be seen spinning the decks at the Big Blue Bar, when he's not on his knees in tears after losing the rugby to England... again!
James Thornton Allen- aka ‘Canada’, PADI & SSI Instructor has a love for the deep & the technical. His military training in the Royal Marines has left him with an interest in Nitrox, Deep, Wreck & technical diving. Canada organises trips to some of the wrecks around Koh Tao on a special trip onboard Koh Tao’s only Liveaboard vessel- M.V. Trident every Wednesday. When he's not busy organising the tech & wreck diving Canada can often be found DJing in our bar on party nights or manically rearranging furniture, flower arrangements, classrooms & dive retail displays around the resort. There's a perfect little housewife underneath that painted Rock DJ/Action man exterior!
Linnea Sjoberg- Not only does our Scandanavian PADI Instructor speaks good Swedish her German aint bad either! Linnea came to us having worked for a time in Koh Samui, & has not looked back since. She is a very friendly & outgoing individual who makes everyone feel at ease immediately. Aswell as having that typical Scandanavian sassyness Linnea is also a very strong team player & is totally reliable & a very enthusiastic Dive Instructor. Ready to show our DMT's who wears the trousers, you can count on Linnea to keep the boys in line!
Marcel Bruijs- Dutch/ German Speaking SSI & PADI Instructor- with considerable diving experience around the world. Having worked before in Thailand on Live aboard Boats, Marcel left for South America, then worked in Holland & Indonesia before returning to dive Thailands waters once again. He is another integral part of our Divemaster & Deep & Nitrox specialty training & having had a successful career in engineering is also a very useful mechanic to have around the place aswell!
Mathias Lindstrom- From Sweden, another of our Scandinavian PADI Instructors. Mathias is a very laid back individual with a friendly relaxing demeanour. Nothing stresses him out which inspires a very calm approach to scuba from both him & also his students. Prior to diving Mathias was in IT and has helped to update Big Blue on a technological front since arriving here. In between teaching Scandanavians how to dive Mathias can now be found as the manager of our Beach famous Beach bar- the perfect place to enjoy some post dive liquid refreshments!
Ricky McKendry- Ricky is a very experienced Divemaster who knows where to find all the good stuff. He is also in charge of our Equipment maintenance & is a certified Equipment Technician. He is very organised & highly responsible & takes considerable care to ensure all his divers have had a great day out on his boat.
Rick – James ‘Rick’ Rickert- Our resident Hawaiian American is an SSI Instructor & PADI Assistant Instructor. Rick is another Instructor with a nicely laid back approach to diving. He has a great sense of awareness & is very quick to help & improve his students skills where & when needed but by doing so without being all hands! He has a great sense of humour that comes out in his classes & he is the winner on every occasion for best fancy dress costume.
Scobby – Scott ‘Scobby’ Heelan is a retired Australian Rules Professional Football player turned landscape Gardener turned full time PADI & SSI Dive Instructor. Scobby has been diving since he was a kid & has worked in the diving industry all over Thailand. He has a true Australian charm & way about him that makes every course he teaches a memorable experience.
Simon Garrity- Worked as a Divemaster at Big Blue before becoming an SSI & PADI Instructor. His loyalty & passion for Liverpool Football Club is rivalled only by his enjoyment & enthusiasm for diving. He is unquestionably the one Instructor that gets the most returning customers & highest amount of compliments. Simon is exactly what you see. He is shy but friendly, funny & serious & is also a very key member of the Big Blue Dive Team.
Sonia Scott- Represented England at Rugby League & then became a Sports Physiotherapist by day & a nightclub Bouncer by night before finding her true calling as a Divemaster! Sonia has been working at Big Blue as our head DM for over a year. She is very organised & knows exactly what is going on at any moment of the day. She does a fantastic job of scheduling the boats & the divesites & entertaining the crowds when out at sea.
Bex Tyrer- Bex has been a journalist in the Middle East for a number of years & has a wealth of experience from her time spent there. She is also a very accomplished diver & has worked on liveaboards in the Similan & Surin Islands last season. Bex is a very thorough & patient instructor that has the understanding of a saint. She has a wealth of underwater knowledge & a love for teaching that keeps her on an echelon above most Instructors.
Panagiotis Iosifoglou- Our resident mediterannean German! Originally from Greece Panos got bored with the lovely sunshine & the crystal clear waters off his meditteranean island & decided to move to the sunshine & crystal clear waters of Germany instead. Having realised how stupid he'd been he came to Koh Tao for a holiday & is still here! Worked his way up from a humble divemaster at another Diveshop to becomming one of our talented number here at Big Blue. Panos has a great determination & will bend over backwards to ensure you get the best for your dollar!
Hiromi Daniella Takamura Svenssonsan!- Hiro is the newest recruit to the Big Blue Team. She speaks Japanese Swedish & English & also represents Sweden in Kendo- the martial art of Stick fighting! She will be leaving us in December to go get some practise in. Like all good Japanese Divemasters Hiro is the best at finding the small stuff!
Jim Donaldson- SSI & PADI Instructor (retired!). Has worked at Big Blue for just over a year but has been in Koh Tao since the millenium. Has worked at various different Diveshops as a cook! a Divemaster, an Instructor & a Manager & now sits around wasting away his retirement years filling in & keeping updated the Big Blue page on Facebook. Jim is getting married next year to his longterm German babe as a means of getting over his depression from the New Zealand All Blacks failure to win this years Rugby World Cup... again!
So lets see who does what shall we...
Alex Daluiso- PADI & SSI Instructor. Alex started with Big Blue as a Divemaster & now teaches all PADI & SSI Courses in English & knows a lot of useful phrases in Italian. Alex is a Science teacher by profession & consequently has all the necessary qualities to make him an excellent instructor, & has the reputation of being the Instructor that can convert the scared to the confidant! Alex is also the builder creator & editor of our Big Blue Blog Page. & if you choose to email us with your enquiries then he's the guy that replies to you. A busy boy is our Alex!
Ally List- Our German speaking Austrian skier & snowboarding queen has now been a full time PADI & SSI Instructor at Big Blue for over a year. She left the glamour & glitz of Austrian TV to become a Diving professional & will one day soon be a PADI Instructor Trainer. Ally has an amazing ability to get on with everyone, which makes her one of our more popular Instructors all round the resort. She is very considerate of others & extremely enthusiastic when it comes to diving & teaching. In addition Ally is a massive Formula 1 fan & right now is glad the season is over cos it was playing hell with her sleeping hours!
Andy Griggs- is married, & he & his wife together have 2 beautiful little girls that look nothing like their rather large father! Andy is one of Big Blue’s more experienced SSI & PADI Instructors who has been teaching, on & off, for almost 8 years. He also worked as manager of another Koh Tao dive shop but his love for diving drew him back away from the shop & towards the water. His fatherly experience has made him a very patient & understanding Instructor & his knowledge of all things underwater is second to none.
Darren Buckland- Has been diving the oceans of the world as a PADI & SSI Instructor for a number of years. He’s a bit of a joker & can relax you like nobody can with his good natured & lighthearted sense of humour. He is the proud owner of Koh Tao's first Spiderman wetsuit & has vowed by next Oktoberfest he will also have his own designer made Lederhosen Wetsuit! Serious when needed though, Darren is our environmental monitor, which means he is responsible for Big Blues environmental awareness & responsibilities- beach & divesite cleanups, report on whaleshark sightings, & environmental support campaigns.
Dean Jenkins – Deano, has also been with Big Blue for over a year now & has proven himself to be one of the most committed Instructors in Koh Tao. A mechanic by trade Deano learnt his diving skills while on holiday, quickly fell in love with it & decided to change his career direction & became a PADI & SSI Dive Instructor. Soon, Deano was working at Big Blue & is now highly involved with our Divemaster training & our equipment maintenance & servicing courses aswell.
Guillaume Fargues- G is our French speaking PADI & SSI Instructor who has been at Big Blue now over 2 years. G is a gentleman who knows that your diving course with us should be special which is why he’ll ensure that 110% of himself goes into every course. Extremely reliable & a good team player G is never shy of stepping forward to lend a hand. He is also a keen rugby fan & DJ & can often be seen spinning the decks at the Big Blue Bar, when he's not on his knees in tears after losing the rugby to England... again!
James Thornton Allen- aka ‘Canada’, PADI & SSI Instructor has a love for the deep & the technical. His military training in the Royal Marines has left him with an interest in Nitrox, Deep, Wreck & technical diving. Canada organises trips to some of the wrecks around Koh Tao on a special trip onboard Koh Tao’s only Liveaboard vessel- M.V. Trident every Wednesday. When he's not busy organising the tech & wreck diving Canada can often be found DJing in our bar on party nights or manically rearranging furniture, flower arrangements, classrooms & dive retail displays around the resort. There's a perfect little housewife underneath that painted Rock DJ/Action man exterior!
Linnea Sjoberg- Not only does our Scandanavian PADI Instructor speaks good Swedish her German aint bad either! Linnea came to us having worked for a time in Koh Samui, & has not looked back since. She is a very friendly & outgoing individual who makes everyone feel at ease immediately. Aswell as having that typical Scandanavian sassyness Linnea is also a very strong team player & is totally reliable & a very enthusiastic Dive Instructor. Ready to show our DMT's who wears the trousers, you can count on Linnea to keep the boys in line!
Marcel Bruijs- Dutch/ German Speaking SSI & PADI Instructor- with considerable diving experience around the world. Having worked before in Thailand on Live aboard Boats, Marcel left for South America, then worked in Holland & Indonesia before returning to dive Thailands waters once again. He is another integral part of our Divemaster & Deep & Nitrox specialty training & having had a successful career in engineering is also a very useful mechanic to have around the place aswell! 
Mathias Lindstrom- From Sweden, another of our Scandinavian PADI Instructors. Mathias is a very laid back individual with a friendly relaxing demeanour. Nothing stresses him out which inspires a very calm approach to scuba from both him & also his students. Prior to diving Mathias was in IT and has helped to update Big Blue on a technological front since arriving here. In between teaching Scandanavians how to dive Mathias can now be found as the manager of our Beach famous Beach bar- the perfect place to enjoy some post dive liquid refreshments!
Ricky McKendry- Ricky is a very experienced Divemaster who knows where to find all the good stuff. He is also in charge of our Equipment maintenance & is a certified Equipment Technician. He is very organised & highly responsible & takes considerable care to ensure all his divers have had a great day out on his boat. 
Rick – James ‘Rick’ Rickert- Our resident Hawaiian American is an SSI Instructor & PADI Assistant Instructor. Rick is another Instructor with a nicely laid back approach to diving. He has a great sense of awareness & is very quick to help & improve his students skills where & when needed but by doing so without being all hands! He has a great sense of humour that comes out in his classes & he is the winner on every occasion for best fancy dress costume. 
Scobby – Scott ‘Scobby’ Heelan is a retired Australian Rules Professional Football player turned landscape Gardener turned full time PADI & SSI Dive Instructor. Scobby has been diving since he was a kid & has worked in the diving industry all over Thailand. He has a true Australian charm & way about him that makes every course he teaches a memorable experience.
Simon Garrity- Worked as a Divemaster at Big Blue before becoming an SSI & PADI Instructor. His loyalty & passion for Liverpool Football Club is rivalled only by his enjoyment & enthusiasm for diving. He is unquestionably the one Instructor that gets the most returning customers & highest amount of compliments. Simon is exactly what you see. He is shy but friendly, funny & serious & is also a very key member of the Big Blue Dive Team.
Sonia Scott- Represented England at Rugby League & then became a Sports Physiotherapist by day & a nightclub Bouncer by night before finding her true calling as a Divemaster! Sonia has been working at Big Blue as our head DM for over a year. She is very organised & knows exactly what is going on at any moment of the day. She does a fantastic job of scheduling the boats & the divesites & entertaining the crowds when out at sea. 
Bex Tyrer- Bex has been a journalist in the Middle East for a number of years & has a wealth of experience from her time spent there. She is also a very accomplished diver & has worked on liveaboards in the Similan & Surin Islands last season. Bex is a very thorough & patient instructor that has the understanding of a saint. She has a wealth of underwater knowledge & a love for teaching that keeps her on an echelon above most Instructors.
Panagiotis Iosifoglou- Our resident mediterannean German! Originally from Greece Panos got bored with the lovely sunshine & the crystal clear waters off his meditteranean island & decided to move to the sunshine & crystal clear waters of Germany instead. Having realised how stupid he'd been he came to Koh Tao for a holiday & is still here! Worked his way up from a humble divemaster at another Diveshop to becomming one of our talented number here at Big Blue. Panos has a great determination & will bend over backwards to ensure you get the best for your dollar!
Hiromi Daniella Takamura Svenssonsan!- Hiro is the newest recruit to the Big Blue Team. She speaks Japanese Swedish & English & also represents Sweden in Kendo- the martial art of Stick fighting! She will be leaving us in December to go get some practise in. Like all good Japanese Divemasters Hiro is the best at finding the small stuff! 
Jim Donaldson- SSI & PADI Instructor (retired!). Has worked at Big Blue for just over a year but has been in Koh Tao since the millenium. Has worked at various different Diveshops as a cook! a Divemaster, an Instructor & a Manager & now sits around wasting away his retirement years filling in & keeping updated the Big Blue page on Facebook. Jim is getting married next year to his longterm German babe as a means of getting over his depression from the New Zealand All Blacks failure to win this years Rugby World Cup... again!
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