December 2009

Thursday 31st December 2009-

Happy New Year everyone or we say in Thailand- Sawadee Pi Mai! Its the last day of the year & the last day any of us have to be anywhere near that filthy smelling Frenchman! Today is Guillaume's last day at work. After slugging away for 5 years as an Instructor here G has finally decided to drop trousers & run!

He is leaving us to further his career in diving by becoming a PADI Course Director. & because we are a Triple certifying Centre meaning we teach PADI Courses, SSI Courses & BSAC Courses, G is not allowed to work for us anymore if he wants to be a Course Director. So after much deliberation, a few baguettes, a gob full of couscous, & a good nights sleep in a bed full of onions, G bit the bullet & resigned! Traitorous Mother Father! Only kidding! IF there's a good reason to leave us & work somewhere else I think this is about as good as it gets!

So G, mon ami, its been emotional. From all of us here I'd like to thank you for all the work you have done for the Save Koh Tao Group, for the work you did on the Bio Rock & the Buoyancy World. For your contribution into the Divemaster Training. For your efforts & expense spent on all the fancy dress parties & for all those G ism's & for the fabulous memories I have of your jiggling moobies as you run from the Diveshop to the Equipment room. & in the immortal final episode of Seinfeld- Good Riddance & thanks for the memories! Merci G! & Bon Chance!

Wednesday 30th December 2009-

So in many parts of the world right now its colder than a Penguins bollocks, so in the interests of servicing those of you that are feeling a little chilly in the swim wear region I thought you'd be pleased to know that it is hot hot hot, here in Koh Tao! Hotter than balls! Its bright & sunny, even the water temperature is warmer than most places in Europe. Well its a good job we're not in Europe right now cos that must really really suck! Oh good its almost 5pm. I'm off for a sunset beer down the beach! Happy New Year Europe!

Just another 24 hours working at Big Blue & the crazy frenchman has organised a beach clean up on his last day of work! Its so unfrenchmanly! Our last clean up of the year is to be held on Sairee Beach & as ever is being organised by G as he shows what needs to be done to his imminent successor Heather "The Green Queen" Keeler who will take over the Mantle G has been shouldering for so long. Cheers G for all the hard work you have put in to our eco efforts & good luck to our new Hero the Green Queen! Save the world & save the cheerleader!

Please don't feed the fish! In Hawaii several of the largest commercial merchandisers, including Walmart, have agreed to discontinue the sale of recreational snorkelling fish food, joining the Fish-Friendly Business Alliance through the "Take a Bite out of Fish Feeding" campaign, which discourages the practice of using food to attract fish for tourists to view. The use of fish food by tourists and tour operators can have negative consequences for both reefs and the tourism industry. By feeding the fish, we are affecting natural ecological relationships on the reef. More people are being bitten by aggressive fish. Algae is increasing in these area's too. Herbivorous grazing fish eat algae, helping to clean up the reefs. However, when they are fed food from other sources, they stop eating the algae and other things that they should be eating. The algae is left to flourish, and can potentially smother the reefs. The majority of people do not want to do harm to our oceans but are unaware that their behaviours have potentially dangerous impacts. Now that you are aware however... Please stop feeding the fish!

Monday 28th December 2009-

The last Full Day trip of the year & the first full day trip of the season are being organised for this Wednesday the 30th December to go to Sail Rock for 2 dives & then 1 more dive at Samran Pinnacle. Breakfast, lunch, 3 dives at rarely dived sites, but still top quality ones & the last time we'll have the garlic smelling, onion necklace, blue & white striped shirt, red crevate & beret wearing Frenchman on our boat! : )

Just in case you weren't aware... next years colors are... Navy blue shirt & light blue logo with writing. Our 2010 staff T-shirts were dolled out yesterday to all the dive staff to much rigmarole & fanfare. So our Navy Blue & gold Big Blue Dive Crew shirts are now just a distant memory. A collectors item no less! & a very much sought after piece of Big Blue paraphernalia. In years to come it might be worth something! But for now its the Navy Blue & light blue that is the talk of the town, & don't we look chic!

Once the team had picked themselves up off the floor after being told Jim was going to go diving again this afternoon, making that twice in a week, & 5 times in the year, they were able to sort out this afternoons double dive at Chumphon Pinnacle! And what is it that makes Chumphon so diveable right now & makes Jim don his neoprene yet again is the sharks. Absolutely 10's of them! Guaranteed at the moment if you dive below 20 meters there are at least 20-30 sharks cruising around. Just another reason to do your Advanced Course! & to dive with Big Blue. No one else going to Chumphon Pinnacle this afternoon!

Sunday 27th December 2009-

Ho Ho ho! Can't remember the last time I woke up on Christmas Day without a hangover. And didn't manage to do it again this year either! A lovely Christmas Dinner at Big Blue, then Secret Santa at the bar, then up the beach for Vibe, then down the beach for Fizz, & round off the evening with a couple down at Maya Bar. Nothing like celebrating Christmas on Koh Tao!

And as we celebrate this festive season let us not forget all the poor dolphins that are slaughtered in Taiji this winter. Every year a small community of Japanese fishermen slaughter in cold blood upto 29,000 dolphins. And sell off the dolphin meat under some other fish name like swordfish or whale meat. If you don't believe me you have to watch a movie which we mentioned here before & now this Christmas I finally got to see it. " The Cove" It is UNBELIEVABLE! A must see movie! Though not necessarily a Christmas Movie.You can watch the trailer for it right here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KRD8e20fBo Wow!

So hard to work out who is going to have to work over Christmas & New Year. Last year it was easy with Alain around who being the tee totaler always seemed quite chipper first thing in the morning after the night before so he was easy to schedule but this year... Well Heather, Soren, Pierre, Kelli & Paul all pulled the short straws over Christmas, who's going to be selling their short straws over New Year? I know one things for sure... it aint me ;) Sawadee Pi Mai!

Thursday 24th December 2009-

Another year another Staff Party & another very sore head! Congratulations to everyone who works at Big Blue, the Instructors, DM's, the shop girls, the boat boys, the Captains, the house keepers, the taxi drivers & the accountants for what has been another very successful & happy year for all of us at Big Blue. & what better way to celebrate than by getting everyone to do a shot of tequila & do a silly dance! Many thanks too to the team at ACE Marine Images who put together this years Christmas VDO. Lots of memories, lots of fun! & none of it would have been possible with out you, our divers! Thank you one & all for choosing to come & dive & stay with us. We hope you've enjoyed it here as much as we've enjoyed having you here! Merry Christmas & a very happy New Year!

Its the time of year when the beach literally disappears under the sea. At the highest tide the sea level has risen as far as the dive shop steps so you have to wade through the water to get to the restaurant. I guess its a phenomenon that is occurring throughout the world but for some reason you can really see the rise in the oceans sealevel is as high as I've ever seen in the last 10 years on Koh Tao. I blame that Global Norman!

Big Blue Tech and BSAC Thailand completed Skill Development Courses for Ash Dunn and Mark Slinn during a workshop in Koh Tao on the 23rd of December to enhace their abilities as scuba diving instructors. BSAC Thailand took Mark and Ash through the BSAC Oxygen Administrator Instructor and BSAC Compressor Operator Instructor SDC during the day long workshop. During this time the students had to demonstrate their overall knowledge and ability in both disciplines to the instructor examiner. After a written and practical exam they were issued their certification cards and received authority to begin teaching the courses. Andy Cavell, our other intern, missed this event because he was teaching a PADI Deep and Nitrox Specialty Course. He will complete this workshop on the 29th of December. For more information or to attend our next cross-over, sdc workshop or instructor course please contact us at info@bigbluetech.net

Monday 21st December 2009-

"Well as I was waiting for my taxi to take me and my travel mate Eric to the dock I ran into one of your instructors Jodie Roberts and we spoke for a few minutes about diving and just the look on how excited she was to be teaching and what was to be had by taking up diving. I have wanted to for awhile but kept putting it off for some odd reason. Well to make it short we ended up staying and taking our open water with Jodie and Big Blue. All I have to say is 5 stars to Jodie and the staff at Big Blue. Jodie made it all fun and I just wanted more! This is a world class diving resort and a first rate teacher! I will be back asap and having Jodie work for your company is a huge asset! Well done! Anthony and team America!" Good on you for writing that email & nice one Jodie! Job's a good 'un! Cheers Team America! Phark Yeah!

Great to see how quickly the numbers are mounting up on our new Facebook group "I will or am doing or have done my DMT at Big Blue Diving". Its a bit of a mouthful I know but its fairly descriptive & its proving to be quite successful. In just 24 hours we've racked up almost 100 Past present & future DMT's, which as ex DMT/ present BBKLDM (Big Blue Khao Lak Divemaster) Amanda has pointed out would be a much better name for the group but well you know I think we'll keep the name the same. It sounds kind of silly but it grows on you after a while. Just like herpes!

Breaking all kinds of records this month, Jim is off for another dive tomorrow morning at Chumphon Pinnacle! That'll make 6 dives this year alone, 4 of which have been done in the last week! But hey when the diving is this good its worth it! There are soooo many sharks cruising around the Pinnacles at the moment & the visibility is opening right up now as well. And with such a dramatic reduction in sharks all around the world these days who knows how much longer these sort of sights will be witnessed. & remember- Only softcocks eat shark fin soup! Hard cocks dive with them... at least 6 times a year!

Saturday 18th December 2009-

Not being the fastest kid off the blocks I have finally opened our Big Blue Diving Fanpage which according to those who are speedier out the blocks than yours truely will place us higher up in the page rankings on Google & Yahoo etc therefore generating more enquiries, more sales & a bigger & better name. Not quite sure how it works exactly but I've been told I need as many people as we can get to join us on our fanpage in order to bump us up. So to all 1529 of you who are members of this group please can you join our fanpage by copying & pasting this link http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Big-Blue-Diving/203260648110 . I'll be your best friend! : )

In our unique way of keeping at the forefront of Scuba Diving in Koh Tao please allow me to introduce you to our new feather in our cap... Big Blue Sailing! As of last week Big Blue now has a beautiful 20 meter long Sail boat all kitted out with space for 10 divers, 2 sails & 10 beds! So after Christmas & New Year we will now be running Full Day Sailing & Diving trips around Koh Tao & overnight trips to the beautiful limestone cliffs in the Angthong Marine Park. Canada is over the moon as it now means he has a boat he can use to sail around the Marine Park in search of underwater caves. & when we're not using it for diving & sailing, we'll be combining with our friends from Fizz & use it for those ubiquitous Booze Cruises! Sailing, Diving, tanning, snorkelling, trekking, caving, boozing & sleeping. In that order! Sound like fun? You bet your ass!

Just in case you weren't aware there are Sharks all over Chumphon Pinnacle right now but please for heavens sake don't tell the Fisherman. Its an absolutely awesome sight. Diving off the north point of the Pinnacle at Chumphon you can quite literally find yourself completely ensconced with sharks. In an area no further than 20 meters circumference with yourself being at the centrepoint it's no exaggeration to say you can see 20 sharks, Bull sharks & Blacktips & grey reefs all within your field of vision. It has got to be one of the best divesites in Thailand right now! So what the bloody hell are you waiting for? Trips leave for Chumphon every morning at 7am. Sign up in the shop immediately for the dive of your life!

Thursday 17th December 2009-

Turtles on Turtle Island, whoever heard such a thing?! Despite the sad fact that we've had several turtles wash ashore Sairee Beach this year after choking to death on plastic bags, our Helen has now seen 2 (live!) turtles in 2 days! Happy days, indeed.

Luke and Sophie our 2 new SSI Instructors are off to a flying start, Luke has been one-on-one teaching open students who needed a little extra time and attention to complete their Open Water Course with 100% success rate. So successful in fact that his latest student has signed up for her Advanced Adventurer Course just 4 days after nervously taking her first breaths underwater, she's off to 30m to play with the Bull Sharks! Sophie is also teaching small groups of advanced students, as well as conducting Scuba Skills Updates with our fun divers. Candidates who complete their SSI Instructor Training Courses at Big Blue have ample opportunities to teach and earn back some of the course fees - so what are you waiting for?

Next SSI ITC will be held 3rd of January 2010 here at Big Blue on sunny Koh Tao, contact simongarrity@hotmail.com or enquire through our website www.bigbluediving.com

Sunday 13th December 2009-

What a week its been! Its supposed to be quiet at this time of year but its been soo busy that we've hardly had time to even come up for air! The cheap bungalows are full all over Sairee beach & the more expensive ones are now fully booked from about the 23rd on so it seems accommodation could be a little tricky to sort out this festive Season. But if you are diving & if you book with me I'll bust my balls to find you a room & if I can't I'll give you your money back! Room booking guarantee or your money back! Got to be better than sleeping on the beach over Christmas wouldn't you say?

And despite all the billions of people rocking up on Koh Tao in recent days we still managed to squeeze in a couple of dives with a Whaleshark! There was one last week at South West & there's another one yesterday morning at Chumphon Pinnacle. How's that for an early Christmas present. We are of course hoping they'll stick around but if they don't I'll have Swapey inflate the one we have sitting in the store room just in case.

Got to hand it to one of our new members of staff Erik from Sweden, who speaks Norwegian & Danish, & Swedish & English as well of course, for his recent track record of students. He had a group of 7 Swedish ladies of which 5 went on to do their Advanced Course demanding they have the same Instructor & his recent 4 pack of Swedish beauties, (one of whom once modelled for Playboy!) on their Open Water Course all 4 of them demanded they do their Advanced Course with Erik as well. Erik, my friend. There are very many men who would kill to be in your shoes!

Tuesday 8th December 2009-

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, the vis is great, the sun is out, the whalesharks come and play! At Southwest Pinnacle this morning, a load of happy fundivers were lucky to spend some time underwater with the king of the oceans. Always an amazing experience, especially when it’s the first time. Our DMts Karin and Mick could not agree more. To top that, they swam with a one meter large turtle at Shark Island on the second dive. Not bad, hey? Our other boat was at Chumphon Pinnacle this morning and the divers on board had a lovely experience with our famous group of bullsharks. Can’t really get any better than this. Christmas is coming early this year for us underwater explorers!

Our West Coast Dutchman Marcel was here for a couple of days with his lovely fiancée Kathy, to soak up the Koh Tao atmosphere, forget about the boring lifestyle in Khao Lak and of course hand out some wedding invitations. They were happy to see that we had much less Speedo bearers than what they were used to (although there seems to have been a convention of them a few days ago on the island) and did not look like they were missing McDonald’s at all. Greasy Spoon, Morava, Zanzibar… what more can you ask for?


If you haven’t booked your accommodation for the holidays, now’s the time. As we get closer to Christmas, the island is getting crowded and restaurants (Hippo!!!) and bars that were closed are reopening. More importantly, it’s that time of the year when the Scandis leave their cold and snowy lands for warmer climates where they can wear nothing but a bikini. Watch out Emily, you're going to have some serious competition in the sunbathing game!



Saturday 4th December 2009-

Dear Jim and the rest of the Big Blue Staff,
I would like to say that big blue was the highlight of my trip but that would, quite simply, be an enormous understatement!!! I was in Bangkok, getting ready to head to Phuket when I met a group of guys that insisted I head to Koh Toa with them instead (I didn't even know the name of the island they were taking me to until after I was on the bus). They had done some research and really wanted to do their Open Water Diving course and I thought I'd tag along. After e-mailing a few diving schools on Koh Toa, they were overly impressed with Big Blue, so that's where we headed. Upon arriving, after the taxi (which was a HUGE relief by the way), we were pleasantly greeted by Swappy. He was super helpful in getting us organized, and settled in a room AND with all the information that we needed for diving! Not only was the paperwork and finding a place to stay painless, but actually quite pleasant. I started with a DSD with Pierre, who was fantastic. Always smiling, he was patient, really nice... and saw that I LOVED diving and suggested I continue to do the OWD course, which I did. I signed up for the PADI Open Water Diving course and started, literally, an hour after my first dive! My instructor for my OWD course was Nick. I could not have asked for a better instructor! Nick truly was AMAZING! He was super friendly, knowledgeable, professional, and a lot of fun (even if I did end up owing him a beer fine!) He honestly helped make, not only my diving experience, but my entire trip. I was actually in a group with another couple from Canada but it was definitely more the husband's desire to dive, and not the wife's. As a good sport she came along and did the course and the dives but at one point (I believe after a couple dives) she worked herself up. She had got herself riled up and burst into tears and didn't want to dive anymore. Even her husband couldn't convince her not to quit. Nick, aside from being professional about it, you could tell he actually genuinely cared about this woman and her being happy and comfortable. He spoke to her for no more than two minutes, and whatever was said, worked. She came down, not only not wanting to quit, but ready to take on the world. She was no longer scared in the slightest, and so excited we had to practically hold her back from getting back in the water right then and there! I know Nick helped make this couple's trip but I was so impressed and it gave me just that much more confidence in him! While on the boat I met another instructor who was awesome (even if he is welsh) named Deano. I never ended up diving with him, but he was so friendly and helpful both on the boat and at the shop that I felt the need to mention him and send my thanks to him as well! He was always there to make me smile and have a beer with. It's partially because of him, I enjoyed Big Blue as much as I did. The staff and people are just SO friendly and welcoming! The group of people I was with, after doing our OWD course and some island hopping, left back home. I was supposed to go to Cambodia or Vietnam, but I couldn't... I HAD to get back to Koh Toa, actually Big Blue! I walked up to the shop almost 2 weeks later and was greeted with warm welcomes and smiles (and a couple hugs). The staff remembered me and made me feel more at home than ever. I did some fun diving with Andy and Swappy and they were great as well! I love how Andy is always smiling, happy to see me or not! I could go on forever (as if I haven't already) about the people from the DMT's (Karin, my buddy! You ROCK!) to the rest of the staff (even Jim) and special thanks to Nick (and Deano) and how great my experience was, but instead... I'll simply say that I will be back! Not only soon, but I actually am working towards moving there to do my DMT...soon! Big Blue has made a friend and customer for life. I will be telling everyone and anyone who'll listen to go visit you! Thank you guys soooooo much for everything! Nick you did so much for me by helping me realize my passion, desire, and potential for diving! I could not have done it without you!!! I will see you all very soon! Sorry for such a long email but it had to be said! Everyone deserves a raise, or at least a chang! Sincerely, Emily C,Vancouver, Canada.

Thursday 3rd December 2009-

This is sickening. Denmark is a big shame. The sea is stained in red and it’s not because of the climate effects of nature. It's because of the cruelty that the human beings (civilized human) kill hundreds of the famous and intelligent Calderon dolphins. This happens every year in Feroe island in Denmark . In this slaughter the main participants are young teens. WHY? To show that they are adults and mature.... BULLLLsh... In this big celebration, nothing is missing for the fun. Everyone is participating in one way or the other, killing or looking at the cruelty “supporting like a spectator” Is it necessary to mention that the dolphin calderon, like all the other species of dolphins, it’s near distinction and they get near men to play and interact. In a way of PURE friendship. They don’t die instantly; they are cut 1, 2 or 3 times with thick hocks. And at that time the dolphins produce a grim extremely compatible with the cry of a new born child. But he suffers and there’s no compassion till this sweet being slowly dies in its own blood. Its enough! Defend the animals, & sign this petition. Take care of the world, it is your home!

Welcome back, all but briefly DM Amanda who is back from her 2 week holiday in Dubai. Well I say 2 week holiday but its really been more like 4 or 5 weeks with a bit of time frolicking in Khao Lak. Or should I say flirting in Khao Lak! Now that the Japanese team are all over in Khao Lak for the season & not many of the team here in Koh Tao Amanda wants to go over to the west side now! I wonder why? Anything to do with the Ryo Carnival or the Yuta Saints? I think so! Genky deska!

The last Full Moon Party of the year was held last night in Koh Phangan. 10000 loud drunk dancing party goers all getting down to the jive dancing & the techno beats . & all 10000 of them on their way to Koh Tao over the next couple of days. Normally the thought of a busy spell excites me. But knowing that with the Full Moon crowd comes the demands for the world on a stick without having to pay anything for it, the quibbling about price, the requests for more of this & that, & the give me this for free or I'll go somewhere else, gives me the willies!

Tuesday 1st December 2009-

Well the troops are slowly returning from their adventures away. Canada and Yvonne have returned from a break up in the north of Thailand, elephant trekking, cooking courses and yoga courses, yes our tattooed ex-marine in now a non smoking, non (excessive) drinking, yogatastic super chef and Yvonne is still just German. Nice and refreshed to start in 3 new techie interns, Geordie Ash has now finished his DMT and has decided 2 tanks are better than 1. Our own Cav has returned now as a staff instructor to complete his full tech courses with the yoga guru and Mike also form the UK will be joining us for a while, welcome boys.

We ware also saying goodbye to Christos, who came to us back in April to do some diving with the tech crew and ended up working with us, sounds all to familiar of Koh Tao!! He is back of to the UK and then on to Greece for some olives and rehearse for a part in 300 part deux. SPARTA!!

Christmas is coming, Ugly has got the party started and has his antlers on, Panda and Momo are strapped the the sleigh (well it’s more like the trolley) and we are dusting off the decorations. Ho ho ho perfect time to go diving!!! Look with a smile like that who can refuse!!!

November Diary 2009

Saturday 28th November 2009-

The Maserati of Instructors, the Bazzarati aka Barry 'The Shed' Coville is off to Khao Lak tomorrow to join Rick & his team over in the Similans & Surin Islands operating the gorgeous Pawara Liveaboard & the 2 daytrip speedboats! So everyone is off to Vibe tonight to toast the high flying 'Shed' & his daring do's a bon voyage & a see you in 6 months! Cheers Bazza & have a great season.

Here's something new I learnt today! Why do hammerhead sharks have such a famously strange-shaped head? One hypothesis is that having eyes on either side of such a wide 'hammer' allows the sharks to see better. But even this idea divides scientific opinion, as researchers argue over whether the hammerhead design makes it more or less difficult to see. The mystery may now be solved by a study showing that a hammerhead gives sharks outstanding binocular vision and an ability to see through 360 degrees. Binocular vision occurs when the fields of two eyes overlap, allowing the accurate perception of depth and distance. It is especially important for predators which need to judge the distance to their prey. Which explains why you'll see so many drunk boys ogling the ladies at Lotus bar with what appears to be eyes at the side of their heads!

Weather report is absolutely glorious. The sea is flat, there's no wind, no rain, but there is some fantastic visibility & there's mountains of fish... nope sorry oceans of fish... buckets of fish... nope schools of fish. Fish everywhere. So many fish you can shake a stick at them. Not that you'd want to. That'd kind of defeat the purpose of what you're trying to see! Anyway. Flat seas as far as the eye can see. & heaps of fish as far as the visibility will allow!

Wednesday 23rd November 2009-

Call me paranoid but I can't help feeling like I've been deserted! Seems like forever since Canada & Yvonne left for their romp around Thailand. & now Paul left for Canada, Beccy is on her way to the Uk, Jodie is in Chiang Mai, Heather & Andy left for Florida, Duncan is in England, Amanda is in Dubai, Emily went to the Similans, Barry is in Samui, G is in Samui, Pierre is in Samui! Then soon Simo is planning on heading north to see the Missus in Chiang Mai, & Dennis is off to Germany & Spaz is off to Sweden. Then there's our 'newlyweds' Deano & Sonia who are both injured & can't dive, & Erik who has an ear infection, so they're all holidaying too. That leaves me, Andy Hat, Irish Colin, Helen, Kelli & Christos. Perfect. Small round at beer o'clock!

ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) has FAILED once again to implement a zero quote for bluefin tuna. They had a golden opportunity to save the fish they are supposed to be protecting and they failed to take advatnage of it. Instead of doing the job they are supposed to do (protect Atlantic bluefin tuna), ICCAT have acted as a roadblock to a protection. They appear to be more interested in supporting the fishing industry (which is very powerful in Spain - coincidentally ICCAT are based in Madrid). Write to them at info@iccat.int and tell them to DO THEIR JOB or GET OUT OF THE WAY!

Monsoon is over! Despite the look of fear & gloom on our exciteable Frenchmans face when he saw the weather forecast on Windguru yesterday, the 4 meter waves have dropped to just 1 meter, there is no 40 knot winds but a mere draft, as if someone left the back door open. There is no torrential downpour. Au contraire Monsieur Guillaume. Today is a beautiful Koh Tao day & the forecast for the next week is for even more sunshine, even flatter seas, even less wind & even drier days! Il fait belle jour n'est pas!

Sunday 22nd November 2009-

Dear Big Blue, My wife and I started our open water with you on 23rd october and completed on the 26th, and would like to say how impressed we were at the way in which the course was organized and conducted. This wouldn't have been easy for us unless we hadn't had the support and hard work of our dive instructor 'Deano'. He made it fun and enjoyable yet ensured safety at all times. Since we completed our course we have done other dives and they haven't been a scratch on 'Deano's' professionalism. We would like to thank big blue and especially deano for helping us seenjoy the experience so much, we will be recommending you to everyone we meet. Yours with thanks, Mike and Carley.
Cheers guys. Sure you meant Deano? ; )

So despite President Obama's mission to Asia to rid the world of muppets the Japanese still sent out 5 boats from their whaling fleet to Antarctica yesterday. As we’re all aware, Japan’s research claims are a giant joke. With well over 9,000 minke whales killed in 22 years and no useful data produced, Japan’s so-called research in the Antarctic is an international embarrassment. But don't worry cos this year we have our own ex DMT James out on the Sea Shepherd working to disrupt the murderous plans of the Japanese. Keep your eyes out for him on Animal Planets Whale Wars! Compulsory viewing & probably the best programme on the telly! Whales Good. Japanese whaling Fleet Bad!

SSImon started his second Instructor Training Course for 2 new soon to be SSI Instructors yesterday. Its going to be a couple of weeks of early mornings, late nights, plenty of diving, demonstrating, & doing it all again till it becomes second nature. It takes about 2 weeks to do. Costs half the price of the PADI Instructor Course & there's so much worldwide demand for SSI Instructors now that the qualification now comes with a job offer somewhere in the world. Not a bad thing to train up & become especially in this time of global recession. Beat the economic downturn! Become an SSI Instructor & make the beach your office!

Saturday 21st November 2009-

All hail our new Emergency First Response Instructor Trainers G & Deano. The boys had to spend an afternoon learning how to use, demonstrate & evaluate each other & other members on the course til they were blue in the face! So needless to say our boys with so much experience and training breezed the whole thing. So now we are proud to say that if you want to become an Instructor in First Aid training then come see our boys. Dr. Deano & EFRIT G!

Emily has obviously been working herself too hard. After all, that little break she had lying by the side of the pool in Bangkok at the beginning of the month must have worn her out. So it was a very good job that 2 of her Open Water students insisted they have her as their Advanced Instructor on our Liveaboard in the Similans! So the poor exhausted Emily had to traipse all the way over to Khao Lak to depart last night on the very luxurious MV Pawara for 4 days & nights of diving, eating, reading, sleeping & topless tanning on the sundeck! Poor thing. Hope she doesn't have to work too hard! Licky butch!

Weather report for this weekend ... big waves, strong winds, bugger all rain. Its even sunny! Its just a horrible journey over made all the worse by the seethrough vomit bags that get manually distributed to each passenger as they board the boat. So word of warning to all travellers - take seasickness pills & come by Seatran Discovery rather than the Catamaran. Its still a bouncy trip over but at least you won't feel like you've just come out of a spin cycle in the tumble dryer! Bon voyage!

Wednesday 18th November 2009-

"Hi Jim!!! Missed you when we came over to visit, you were on 3 weeks holidays!!! We had a great time, ended up having Emily as a instructor for our SSI Open Water course and two of us loved it so much (the other one gave up on the early mornings) we did half our Advanced Course as we had to fly out the next day so we couldn't complete it. Emily was great, even though she FAILED to find us the yellow box fish as she had promised haha. We managed to catch up with a Whale Shark at Chumpon on the 3rd dive which was awesome and then took Emily and Deano out to Hippos for a dinner and some boozing afterwards. The rooms were probably the best we had in Thailand, nice and basic but clean, tidy and functioning which is exactly what we needed and wanted. Overall we got great service, great accommodation and you have some great staff! I would recommend anyone to come see you and I never have anything nice to say about anything so take it as a really big compliment. Anyway, enough ass kissing... The reason for the email is that I loved it so much I'M COMING BACK!!!" Cheers Simon, & this time I'll be here! See you soon!

Congratulations Donna on getting that dream job. Donna is off to sun herself & dive & rock climb & just generally lead a dream lifestyle on the idyllic Kadidiri Island, part of the Togean Islands in Indonesia. If you dreamt of an Indonesia with a riot of blue, gold and green, blissful beaches, plentiful coral and a place to live the life of a lotus eater then this archipelago of beautiful coral and volcanic isles in the middle of Teluk Tomini, could be just what the Doctor ordered! The undisturbed jungle shelters a variety of wildlife. The islands’ reefs support a rich diversity of marine life, and the people of the seven or so ethnic groups sharing this place are hospitable. Although the islands are difficult to reach, and the facilities are basic, many travellers fall in love with the Togeans and their lifestyle – and often end up staying a lot longer than they anticipated. Donna, it sounds amazing. Good luck have a great time & hippy daving!

Quick weather report! We were forecast heaps of rain & some strong winds today but its been a little slow coming. We have had a couple of solid downpours which lasted less than an hour each but its certainly not windy or wavey so its still all good for the diving. Don't mind the downpours either. Its actually quite refreshing!

Tuesday 17th November 2009-

Due to an unfortunate event with one of our charters on our Liveaboard MV Pawara departing from Khao Lak, the November 20th trip is open for bookings and is undersold. So we are going to offer a last-minute price of 20% off. The Pawara is adequately booked throughout the season, so we expect this to be a rare opportunity for customers to enjoy the Pawara at a discounted rate.
Master Cabin - Normally 33800, now 27040,
Deluxe Cabin - Normally 31800, now 25440
Standard Cabin - Normally 29800, now 23840
Please call 077 456 772 for bookings, or check our website www.bigbluediving.com for up to date availability. Be quick there's only 3 days left!

A super-fast, space-age powerboat which scythes through waves and smashed the round-the-world record is set to be unleashed on Japanese whalers next month, activists said on Friday. The tri-hulled, kevlar-and-carbon vessel, which can manage speeds up to 50 knots (57 miles/93 kilometres per hour), will chase the controversial boats during their annual hunt in seas south of Australia. The futuristic "Ady Gil", formerly known as "Earthrace", jetted round the world in just under 61 days last year, two weeks faster than the previous record circumnavigation. Campaign spokesman Paul Watson said the boat will pursue the Japanese harpoon boats and stop them spearing whales killed in their hundreds in waters off Antarctica each year. The Ady Gil will be our interceptor. It will be able to latch on to a harpoon boat and prevent it killing any whales. It should be able to run rings around them." Watson said the boat, bankrolled to the tune of one million dollars by Hollywood businessman Ady Gil, will accompany the "Steve Irwin" ship during the three-month campaign from early December. Excellent. Sounds like compulsory viewing of the next season of Whale Wars!

4 very big Bull Sharks at Chumphon again this morning. All our divers got very excited! Well you would do I guess. After all you are less than 20 meters away from 4 of the biggest Bull sharks you will ever see in your life! And you survive to tell the story. I'd be pretty excited too. Just after I'd wet myself. Chumphon Pinnacle! Diving it every morning still!

Monday 16th November 2009-

What a pleasant surprise! Rick is back! He's managed to tear himself away from his office in Khao Lak to come over here & take care of a little business but he's only here for about 24 hours! Sounds like the little sleepy village just north of Phuket, known as has completely exploded this year. Its become so famous people only refer to it as KL now! The Liveaboard is proving a massive success with lots of bookings coming in regularly & the trips are filling up very fast. The speedboat too is becoming extremely popular for our daytrippers to the Similans, so busy that we are getting another one to reduce the amount of divers per boat! Busy busy busy! I don't think Rick has come over to do some business at all! I reckon he's escaped!

Newly certified DM Curt is off to France today to teach skiing. Not bad! DMing in the Summer in Thailand, skiing in the winter in the French Alps. Obviously its not all bikinis & steam showers. There's a lot of suntanned bodies & apres skiing to take care of too. Then there's all that nature. The marine life, & all those European birds! Poor Curt. Remember when it all gets on top of you, just lie back & think of England! Congratulations Curt & see you next summer!

Its been amazing how many bookings we have been getting in the last few days for accommodation around Christmas & New Year. Its now becoming so full up that I know for sure that there will be people sleeping on the beaches, in the bar, or in the classrooms. If you want to avoid being one of those sleeping under a starry starry night, a bar stool or a classroom chair then I suggest you book your accommodation before you get here & if I was you I'd do it pretty damn quick! Koh Tao is going to be a very lively place this Festivus!

Sunday 15th November 2009-

Absolutely nothing to do with diving, Koh Tao or the marine world but...New Zealand have reached the World Cup finals for the second time in their history with victory over Bahrain in their qualifying play-off second leg. The All Whites have booked their place in next year's football extravaganza in South Africa & the country is pumped with pride & emotion! & a little bit of fear! Roll on South Africa 2010! New Zealand win the World Cup!

Congratulations to Rick & his team at Big Blue Khao Lak who saw off their first full Liveaboard boat of the season. 20 very lucky divers all off for a jolly around the Similan & Surin Islands in pursuit of Manta Rays, Whalesharks, turtles, ghostpipefish, seahorses, & maybe the odd guitar shark or two! Such a fantastic holiday we are all sitting here in Koh Tao being extremely jealous & envious of Rick, Fanette, Panos, Kayleigh & next week when Barry gets back from India he will be going to work over there too. Lacky Bustards!

The weather here in Koh Tao is still gorgeous! No monsoon conditions for ages, (though I immediately regret saying that!). Still no wind, no rain. The viz is still quite good & its still pretty busy here. We are having to put our monsoon movie collection & the board games back in the box & guess we'll get them all back out again when the weather does kick in! But for now its diving diving, diving. And a couple of beers to wash it all down with! Why don't you come & join us!

Saturday 14th November 2009-

So slowly & surely & very very steadily my wandering troops are returning. Last week Sonia & Emily came back though their ailments have prevented them from going diving so they've been a fat lot of good! But now both Helen is back from a month in the UK & Kelli has come all the way back from Taiwan. Both look pasty white, quite ill, & a little podgy! Must have a good holiday ladies & thanks for bringing me back my crumpets Helen even if they were beaten & battered bits of bread by the time you delivered them to me. Very thoughtful! Welcome home!

Our friend Claire at Responsible Travel has asked us if we can help ARKive (www.arkive.org) who are calling on divers and underwater photographers for their help in gathering images of all the world’s threatened marine animals and plants. ARKive promotes conservation and builds environmental awareness through wildlife photographs, films and sound clips. The aim is to produce a global, centralized record of all 16,928 species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This will provide an invaluable conservation tool - a quick, easy and free online source of information for anyone keen to learn more or to help with conservation efforts. Threatened marine species make up just ten percent of the current material held in ARKive, reflecting just how hard these films and photographs are to collect, so the divers underwater images are urgently needed to help fill the watery gaps in the rapidly growing library. (There you go Claire, how was that?)

DMT challenge last night for Christy & Curt who participated in a Battle of the Sexs. Christy won by beating Curt in the best chat up line category. With the "Im not wearing any panties. Can I get into your line!" Always a winner a line like that coming from a pretty girl! So sorry Curt. You didn't stand a chance! Congratulations guys on successfully completing your Divemaster Training, we hope you dived heaps, you loved every minute of it & then you learnt alot. Now go out there Divemaster!

Thursday 12th November 2009-

Well the weather outside is completely unbelievable. Especially for this time of the year when it is supposed to be howling winds & buckets of rain! Right now the sea is mirror still. You can see the reflection of the clouds on the surface of the water. Visibility especially here on Sairee Reef is 10-15 meters, & there's fish everywhere. & word is spreading that the weather is good here & the island is getting busier & busier everyday. Must suck for all those who thought they were leaving us for the monsoon. The weather hasn't been this good since the summer!

A very big congratulations to the team at ACE Marine Videos, the same team that produce our daily videos. We are delighted to announce that on Saturday night, 7 November 2009, the documentary, "Lost and Found", about the submarine USS Lagarto was awarded three Emmys. It picked up up 5 nominations, including one for outstanding cinematography, and went home with 3 awards. "We are proud to have been involved in such a spectacular and significant film and could not even have imagined that our underwater footage could have helped to bring about such acclaim." says a very proud Chris Clarke the owner of ACE Marine Images. Well done guys. First the Emmy's & next it will be the Oscars!

"Its an Amazing boat!" "I've only done 4 Liveaboards but this was by far the best trip I've ever had." " The food was amazing. Both the Thai & the western. It was as good as any restaurant & there was so much of it." "The dive deck is huge! Easily enough space for 25 divers & there was only 14 on this trip so it really felt like spacious & so comfortable to kit up." "Rick the trip leader, as opposed to Rick the Manager, has been working on Liveaboards a long time & knows exactly what sites to dive & when to avoid the crowds so we had most of our dives to ourselves."- Just a few of the comments Christos had to say when he got back this morning from his trip on our Liveaboard boat the MV Pawara. 4 days & 4 nights of gratuitous Dive porn! Send your enquiries to info@bigbluediving.com for the trip of your life!

Wednesday 11th November 2009-

So with the opening of the Surat Thani airport on the mainland the Seatran Ferry company with boats to Koh Tao daily is moving from their present departure point at Chumphon to a departure point nearer to the airport so that they can now take customers from Chumphon & from Surat Thani, which is great news! So now the Seatran Discovery will be departing from pretty much half way between Surat & Chumphon and at the closest point to Koh Tao. So ferry times to Koh Tao will only take an hour now which cuts down the journey time in half! Great for all those who get a little queezy on the journey over!

Time to mention & help out 2 old Big Blue staff who went their own way & created for themselves their perfect dream by opening up their own diveshop in Samoa. Vanessa Machadinho-Cooper & her husband Ian Cooper both old Big Blue Staff recently had their dreams shattered when the tsunami came through Samoa last month. Their whole dive shop has been completely destroyed. So if anyone remembers Vanessa or Ian or feels like giving to help 2 people going through some hard times out then please log into http://www.facebook.com/l/15995;www.liquidmotion.ws & give a small donation. Every little helps! Good luck guys!

A pregnant shark at a New Zealand aquarium was bitten by another shark, unexpectedly releasing four baby sharks. Stunned visitors saw the injured shark and alerted staff that they had also seen things float from the gaping wound. The babies were removed from the tank to prevent stingrays and other sharks from eating them. When staff also moved the mother they found a further four sharks inside her. The mother's wound was stitched by a vet at Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World in Auckland. All eight baby sharks survived.It is common for sharks to take chunks out of each other, even in the wild, but noone has ever heard of anything like this. The unusual delivery had probably saved the baby sharks' lives. If the mother had given birth naturally, most likely at night, the babies would have been eaten by adult sharks and stingrays before staff could rescue them!

Tuesday 10th November 2009-

Well last weeks atrocious weather has obviously put off the majority of people coming to Koh Tao. The Ferries & catamarans are now so empty that most companies are actually only running one boat a day from Chumphon. So if any of you are planning on coming over in the next few days you might just want to check with your ferry companies to see when they are running their boats. Or even better tell everyone how very quiet & completely beautiful Koh Tao is & bring them over & ask them to tell their mates so we can start filling the ferries back up again & running back on normal schedules!

Khao Sok National Park is slowly becoming a popular diving destination for those who want an escape form the hustle and bustle of popular destinations and would like to experience something completely unique with fresh water diving with the options of caves and caverns.
Additionally, Khao Sok is the opposite of Koh Tao with respect to weather. When it’s terrible on Koh Tao it’s perfect in Khao Sok. This means we have more options now for training and completing courses with the added benefit of giving our customers more of what they want; diving options! The recent launch of Big Blue Khao Sok and future developments for a permanent facility, blending station boat and accommodation shows this recent push and interest in the region. Although Big Blue is not the only dive operator traveling to the region, we’re pretty sure we’ll be the only one setting up shop!

Since DM Andy Hat, as the Thais affectionately call him, has re structured our retail section in our dive shop he has sold heaps of equipment! I don't know how he does it! But if you buy a mask you need a snorkel & if you are going to spend a couple thousand Baht on a mask & snorkel you should seriously consider a defogger so your mask doesn't steam up underwater & if you've gone to that much trouble you should really purchase a decent pair of fins & booties so you can go snorkelling when you want & hey if we've got the right colour Big Blue mask strap then buy that too! Aah so thats how he does it! Just talk a lot of bollocks!

Monday 9th November 2009-

Unbeleivable! Its like a complete about face. After the last few days you wouldn't beleive what the weather is like now! Its absolutely gorgeous! Its completely flat seas. There's over 10 meter clarity on Sairee Reef & at Chumphon Pinnacle this morning the viz has also increased which means we can see the sharks again! & the best part about diving at Chumpon Pinnacle right now is that it is completley deserted! Apart form us & the sharks there aint no one there! Just another reason to choose to dive with Big Blue- definitely the best dive shop on Koh Tao!

Nice to see after I'd put the Instructor SOS call out that they've started to come back in their dribs & drabs! Well Sonia & Emily did at least which is a start though ladies it would be more helpful if you could do some diving. Unfortunately both ladies are out of action having injured themselves sunbathing by the swimming pool in Bangkok. Its a hard life. So today we've had Jodie doing her first German Course & brilliantly I might add, & it looks like Beccy is going to get herself a course today as well. Good. Well deserved! Nice to see our reserve staff coming off the bench & playing a bit for the first team!

Learning something new about our staff every day! Heather Keeler, longtime movie maker, holder of the longest running DM course, & now fresh faced PADI Instructor & soon to be SSI Instructor, is also a highly qualified Swimming Instructor & has taught adults to swim in just 1 day before, & is fluent in Sign language which means she can teach her Open Water courses in Sign Language. How cool is that! I once took a couple of deaf people diving a few years ago. Absolute nightmare. Typical females! They just wouldn't shut up Even underwater! Find out more about our Open Water courses for the deaf by writing to info@bigbluediving.com

Sunday 8th November 2009-

A Russian armoured-car builder is boasting that its latest vehicle has seats covered with “whale-penis leather”. The $1 million Dartz Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition armoured car has been developed by the same company that built armoured vehicles for Tsar Nicholas, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky.The company says the whale-penis leather is the same as that used by Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis on the yacht Christina O which was rumoured to have had some of the barstools on the yacht, the world’s most expensive at the time, covered in the controversial leather. The leather is not the only tacky accessory on the world’s most expensive SUV. The bulletproof windows are gold-plated, the exhaust is made of tungsten, the gauges are encrusted with diamonds and rubies and the exterior has a Kevlar coating, which makes it “rocket grenade-proof”. And for those wondering just how may whales may need to be harvested to outfit this ridiculous contraption, the answer is not many. The penis of the Blue Whale, for example, can grow up to 2.4 metres! Lucky bugger!

Where the hell is everyone? Not guests but staff! There hardly seems to be anyone around. Well I guess Bazza is excused after all he's in India! Helen has gone to the Uk so she won't be here in time to start todays course! Kelli is in Taiwan on a Visa run. Canada & Yvonne are galavanting around Chiang Mai. Sonia & Emily are sunbathing topless by some hotel pool, G is off staffing another IDC, Simo is doing an SSI Instructor crossover & Deano is off injured after another motorbike stunt went wrong! So Paul, Heather. I guess its just the 3 of us! & the 17 freelance Instructors we are using right now!

Well the wind has died down completely today but unfortunately has been replaced with buckets of rain! Still the rain sinks the sediments in the water that have been stirred up by the wind & the huge waves we've had recently, which means the visibility should open up again. Though its pretty dark with all this rain & cloud cover so we might need torches to see if the viz is better! Oh the joys of diving in a Thai monsoon!

Friday 6th November 2009-

Time to welcome a couple new staff or 3! After all DM Andy has left us for what could be quite a while to go back to Britains sunny climes, Amanda is over in Khao Lak till Christmas probably & DM Paul is now pretty much a full time Instructor! So to fill the gaps we are very happy to welcome DJ Andy Luckman to the team & Irish man DM Colin Farrell pinched from another Koh Tao Diveshop rather than a famous Hollywood studio! Nice to have you both on board Andy & Colin & congratulations Paul on the Instructortoriall promotion!

As of Oct. 25th, low-cost airline Nokair will start has been flying between Bangkok and Suratthani. For the first three months, the fare is only Bt555 one-way or Bt1,000 roundtrip. The new air route, aimed at increasing tourist traffic to Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao, will have two roundtrip flights daily. The flight from Bangkok will come from the Don Muang airport. The new air route will provide tourists bound for Samui or Koh Phangan a chance to make a side trip to some of the province’s many other attractions & instead of a long ten-hour bus ride from Bangkok, budget travelers can get to Samui or Phangan in just a few hours.

Its all getting very exciting as we await the grand opening of the Big Blue bar which has been under renovation for the last few weeks. Spaz is off on a European vacation shortly which leaves an opening for a new bar staff & I believe I know just the person to run the place! It might surprise many of you but I think you will all agree the new person who is going to run that bar is going to be just what the doctor ordered! & their name is... oops sorry I better wait till Ari tells you all. You'll never guess but you all know them! Watch this space!

Thursday 5th November 2009-

Its just a few days before the maiden voyage of our brand new Liveaboard the MV Prawara, which heads out on the 7th November for 4 days & 4 nights, 14 dives, 17 meals & heaps of memories! Rick & his team at Big Blue Diving in Khao Lak are organising a launch party tomorrow night on board the newest & best managed boat in the Similans. All the VIP's from the world of Scuba diving in Thailand will be there. All the Big Blue Khao Lak staff will be there & there will be a press & people there! In fact you'll find it pretty hard to find anyone who won't be there! After all its a Big Blue party & we all know how Rick likes to party!

With the Alpha UWCP, talk with someone 15,000 miles away while diving a tropical reef or in your pool! This complete and sophisticated communication diving system can do it. This new underwater communication unit is integrated with a speaker and microphone and comes installed on the Neptune Space full face mask. This unit is wired with a 40 meter cable and can be modified to most any request. A quick release waterproof rubber connection allows the diver to separate from the cable at any given moment. The cable ends with a quick water resistance bayonet connection, plugged into an impact and water resistant compact box. This compact box is placed in a special custom made buoy with a unique top pocket to provide a firm attachment to the box. The water resistant surface box contains an electronic interface which can be connected by Bluetooth to a cellular phone. The device works with a 9v alkaline battery, & at 1790USD is a complete waste of money!

Weather forecast for the next few days is muuuch better than it has been for the past few days. Two days ago it was 3 meter waves & everyone was seasick, yesterday it was 2 meter waves & only half the people were seasick & today we are predicted for only 1 meter waves so our Chucker Charlies should be down to a minimum & then by Sunday the forecast tells us the wave height is only going to be a half meter maximum! Just in time for the ferries & catamarans to stock up on there see through vomit bags.

Latest News October 2009

Saturday October 31st 2009-

"Dear Jim, I hope that you are the right person to write to. I recently returned from a week's diving trip to Koh Tao, during which we stayed at Big Blue and we took the Open Water and Advanced Open Water courses. We are all teachers at an international school in Bangkok and I can safely say it was one of the best holidays that we have ever had! I am mainly writing to compliment you on your excellent staff - Simon and Jodie who looked after us so well during the trip and taught us with ease, confidence and pragmatism. They really went way beyond the call of duty and we all became good divers in a short period of time. It is definitely due to their confidence and ability that we all felt sure we wanted to embark on the Advanced course the day after we finished OW. During my life I have been in receipt of many, many services and courses and workshops and teaching and whatever, and I can safely say that this is one of the best experiences I have had in a long time and certiainly in Thailand. I will recommend them highly to anyone who wants to learn to dive! Thanks again. Craig L."
You are welcome Craig- glad you had such a great time! Same again next holidays?

Officially its Open Season in Khao Lak tomorrow which means Rick & his team are going to be having their hair & make up put on tonight in readiness for the next 6 months ahead. Early mornings, late nights, busy days, no holiday, world class diving, highclass liveaboard, 2 posh speedboats, & very important Japanese customers! If anyone can handle it, Rick can! Happy Open Season Khao Lak!

Well the Whaleshark is still at Chumphon Pinnacle today. Only one of them which is only half as exciting as it was yesterday but way more exciting than 2 days ago. Having said that 2 days ago Chumphon was also pretty exciting because of all the Bullsharks swimming around. Though not as exciting as this morning because this morning we had a whaleshark & lots of Bullsharks swimming around, which makes this morning officially better than 2 days ago which was only half as good as yesterday!

Friday October 30th 2009-

Well despite the heavy downpour a few days ago now the weather has really brightened up & now its glorious sunny days, bright red sunsets, calm flat seas & crystal clear waters! In fact the conditions are so good right now even the whalesharks have come out to enjoy themselves! Thats right. I said Whalesharks! 2 of them a 3 meter baby & a 6 meter sibling. What a wonderful way to start the day today 2 dives 2 whalesharks Too right!

Took a while but it seems at last that the people in the position to do something about the plight of the Blue Fin Tuna are finally paying attention to the problem. The body charged with regulating catches of the southern bluefin, a closely related species, has just approved 20% quota cuts across the board. Now of course this is nowhere near good enough but it is a start & movies like 'The End of the Line' help to spread the message. 'Save the world! Save the Cheerleader!' (Oops sorry wrong movie!) Save the Tuna!

Canada is back from Khao Lak! He had to go over there to install the brand new shiney Nitrox Panel we have on our West Coast Liveaboard, the Pawara - she really is a beauty. A 35 meter long gleaming erection! This Liveaboard is so hot it makes other previosly sexy liveaboards burst pipes in inferiority! First trip leaves on the 2nd November & there's only a few spaces left. So if you want to ride the Sexiest beast in the Similans you better give me a call ;)

Tuesday October 27th 2009-

And the the heavens opened & the gods did unleash an ocean of rain upon a small little island in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand, that we all know so well & love. Its definitely a good thing to have the wildlife & local fauna watered as heavily as they are getting right now. & for sure its a good thing for the Koh Tao water table, & the Koh Tao Reservoir, but I am not looking forward to the time the Poonama Canal bursts its banks again. Got to love monsoon rains.

The prospects of saving the world's coral reefs now appear so bleak that plans are being made to freeze samples to preserve them for the future. Researchers believe that most coral reefs will not survive even if tough regulations on greenhouse gases are put in place. So Scientists proposed storing samples of coral species in liquid nitrogen. That will allow them to be reintroduced to the seas in the future if global temperatures can be stabilised. And that could take a while so if you haven't seen a real live reef before then don't you think its about time you did, before the only chance you get will be looking through a test tube!

Well the sharks are bigger, more inquisitve & more numerous than they have been in years! They are everywhere as well so this mornings double dive at Chumphon Pinnacle went down a treat with a full boat of very happy & excited individuals all looking for a morning of fun & adventure with sharks & by the sounds of it, it was mission accomplished! A sharktastic morning!

Sunday October 25th 2009-

Its almost Christmas so we've started to fix & do up our boats. In fact any day now we'll have old faithful Big Blue boat back after its last month in the boat boutique over on the mainland. When she comes back with Captain Dum & Boatboy Lek proudly steering her home she will be put to work pretty much straight away as the next boat in our fleet Navakid will be taken off for a short back & sides & then a month later it'll be a brush up & a bikini wax for Banzai. All in time for Christmas! & if you are surprised to see just how much we do for our boats at Christmas, you should see what we do for our boats at Valentines!

A man was stopped by a game warden in Northern Michigan recently with two buckets of fish leaving a lake well known for its fishing. The game warden asked the man, "Do you have a license to catch those fish?"
The man replied to the game warden, "No, sir. These are my pet fish."
"Pet fish?" the warden replied.
"Yes, sir. Every night I take these here fish down to the lake and let them swim around for a while. I whistle and they jump back into their buckets, and I take em home."
"That's a bunch of hooey! Fish can't do that!"
The man looked at the game warden for a moment, and then said, "Here, I'll show you. It really works."
"O.K. I've GOT to see this!" The game warden was curious now.
The man poured the fish in to the lake and stood and waited. After several minutes, the game warden turned to the man and said: "Well?"
"Well, What?" the man responded.
"When are you going to call them back?" the game warden prompted.
"Call who back?" the man asked.
"The FISH."
"What fish?" the man asked.

There looks like there might be a change in wind direction tomorrow followed by what looks like a very heavy overnight downpour. If you are planning on coming over in the next few days might not be a bad idea to pack stuff you don't want getting wet, getting wet! But don't let a few raindrops put you off the diving. Its still 20 meters + & there's sharks all over Chumphon Pinnacle.

Friday October 23rd 2009-

Canada & his team of techies are off to Khao Sok again tonight for another 3 or 4 days of underwater exploration in search of Red Rackhams Treasure & the Temple of Doom! The team have been preparing themselves all week with some practise runs at our local sites getting their kit prepped, trying out the rebreathers & getting used to diving with the twin tanks on again. Pretty exhausting work if you aren't used to it so Canada is delighted to have a couple of hands Christos & Ash along to help out with some of those more demanding favours that quality customer service demands! No sense going out half cocked! You got to give your all if you work at Big Blue Tech!

Not that I've seen it yet but apparently the new in thing to be watching if you haven't already seen Shark Water, The End of the Line or The Cove, (3 of this years most memorable documentaries on the state of our oceans), is Whale Wars. A documentary charting the legendary Sea Shephard as it tries to stop a Japanese Whaling Fleet in the Antarctic Sea. Its real arousing viewing according to Sonia & Paul... if fat hairy Canadian tattooed whale warriors is what arouses you! Yvonne can't wait to watch it!

Its a big thankyou, good bye & see you again soon for Panos & Kayleigh today as they head off the Rock for a little town we all know so well, situated over on the West Cost of Thailand called Khao Lak. They are both hyper excited at the prospect of having to work for Rick & his team operating Big Blue Khao Lak with one very nice Pawara Liveabaord & 2 very nice 15 meter speedboats departing daily to the Similan & Surin Islands. What a Be-ach! Leaving one sun soaked tropical island for another. I can think of worse ways to while away the years! Good luck guys & cheers for all your help.

Thursday, October 22nd 2009-

Who stole the monsoon? This is the time of the year when usually beach bars and restaurants shut down for a month or two, instructors go on holiday, the winds blow harder than ever and the heavens open at least once a day, leaving all of us soaked. The bungalows are damp, our clothes never dry and our motorbikes won’t start. Well, not this year: the weather is amazing, the beach is still rocking in the evening, the sea is crystal clear (have we mentioned the sharks recently?) and the only way we get soaked is by diving, playing volleyball on the beach or attending a DM challenge. Paul’s bike wouldn’t start last night but that’s his problem!

Tomorrow, the Save Koh Tao group will be transplanting out 50 of the largest giant clams from the nursery area in Ao Leuk. Giant clams are one of the most ecologically important organisms in a coral reef, known as a keystone species. Like hard corals, Giant clams produce a shell that adds to the reef structure. In addition to this, they clean nutrients from the water that could otherwise smother and kill corals. A single Giant clam can filter 100s of liters of water in a single day, and the presence of Giant clams on a dive site is the usually the sign of high coral abundance and biodiversity. In the evening there will be a buffet dinner at Dirty Nellie’s starting at 7:30pm to celebrate the end of another productive year of community run marine conservation. The dinner is only 100 baht per person, and 100% of that goes to Save Koh Tao Marine Branch.

Kayleigh is on her way to becoming a Rescue Diver under the guidance of Instructor Paul, just before she and Panos head off to the other side for a season in the Similans tomorrow. It’s been great having them both back here and we will miss them for sure. See you next year!Wednesday,


21st October 2009-

Sharks, sharks and more sharks! By now, everybody knows that we’re diving with our long lost bullshark friends again at Chumphon Pinnacle every single day. So today, we thought we’d try out Southwest in the morning for a change. Guess what? There was a whaleshark there. It’s always a special moment for people when they see their first whaleshark and if you missed it, you still have a few minutes to sign up for the afternoon dives because we are going back there! Actually, it’s always a special moment diving with the biggest fish in the ocean, even if you’ve already seen more than 30. Ask some of our divemasters. Video tonight at 6!

Last night, we had a multilingual DM challenge for Daisuke and Erika, hosted by G and Mayuko. The challengees were both thoroughly congratulated with a lot of iced water, talc powder, shots, beers, buckets and a nice Vaseline shampoo. What more could you ask for? Daisuke performed a “Japanese Dance” with all the other DMTs and then tried to stop time by blinking. Yatta!!! Didn’t work so well, maybe he should try the dancing the “Time Warp” next time. It was also Christie’s birthday and she got to join in the “fun”. Happy 19th birthday Christie! Yuta also “volunteered” to help Daisuke and was the victim of what some might call collateral damage…



Staff gossip: Barry’s gone to India for a well-deserved holiday and Helen has gone home to do nothing for a few weeks, that lazy girl! And G got back yesterday and is already at work but who really cares?






Monday 19th October 2009-

Our divers were treated to 2 dives at Chumphon Pinnacle this morning and it was a sharktastic! 2 metre bull sharks, grey reef sharks, masses of barracuda and crystal clear water and it was just us on the second dive. Lovely!

A brightly-coloured fish which bounces along the seabed has been hailed as a new species by scientists - who have dubbed it "psychedelica". Research published in the US scientific journal Copeia says the fish was spotted by scuba divers off the island of Ambon in eastern Indonesia.

The new psychedelica frogfish is completely covered in swirling concentric stripes - white and blue on a peach background - radiating out from its aqua-coloured eyes. It has a broad flat face, thick fleshy cheeks and chin, and eyes that look forward like a human's.

The divers described it moving away from them in a series of short hops, its pelvic fins pushing it off the sea bed with each bounce. "The overall impression" says the Copeia research paper, was of "an inflated rubber ball bouncing along the bottom".

New instructors are getting their water wings out and notebooks at the ready, PADI instructor Jodie is teaching Open Water along side Simon today. SSI instructor Becky is off tomorrow resort diving with some beginners. Apples for the teachers or bottles of beer, mmm you decide!

Thursday 15th October 2009-

More congratulations are in order to some brand new PADI Instructors today. Koh Tao’s dog whispering DM Andy, along with Mickey and Jodie passed the last of their instructor exams and presentations today. By the time the morning boats came back this morning they were already sinking some well deserved beers and glasses of wine. After celebrating some more in the bar here, they have their I.E Party tonight down at Dirty Nelly’s, well done to all the candidates who passed today. See you in the pub later!!!

Something wasn’t quite right this morning when I drove in to work! The smell was normal, the sleepy eyed DMTs was normal. Hmmm, could it have been that there was a big red truck with only 3 of its wheels left on the bridge over our Poo-nama Canal? The 4th wheel was kind of hanging over the side of our walkway! Woops, some silly-billy misjudged the turn resulting in one of its wheels slipping off. Anyone know any driving schools on Koh Tao?…. How 'bout Master Drivers ?! ;-)

Sharks, sharks and more sharks, we're surrounded by our pelagic friends! Bull sharks at Chumpon in the mornings, and this afternoon a whale shark at White Rock! Always good to see the longtails coming back to shore with a load of excited people after seeing their first whale shark, the excitement's contagious! Chumpon and White Rock seems like a good combination of dive sites for some big spotted fish spotting!

Wednesday 14th October 2009-

Shark Safari! At last, sharks were seen all over Chumphon Pinnacle this morning! The other day DM Duncan reckons he saw 2 Bull sharks. Today Commander Bond reckons she saw at least 5! Now all we need to do is make sure the fisherman leave them alive catwalking the pinnacles for all our divers to see. They are worth way more alive than dead & just the excitement from this mornings fun divers has generated a surge in divers for tomorrow mornings little outing! Shark- Safari... So goody!

Meanwhile in the deeply technical world of Deep Tech diving, Canada & his tattooed team of black hooded twin tank techie boys have been taking Navakid off for a jolly with a fish finder & a depth reader to see if they can find somewhere deep & dark to go diving. Ideally chancing upon a wreck would be a fine thing, but we'll suffice with a ridge or a wall or a series of pinnacles. As long as its deep & its dark & its technical & it involves carrying around lots of tanks & a gimps hat it doesn't really matter!

Amazing weather today & the diving is fantastic. It's got to be 30+ meters at most sites & here on Sairee Reef you can practically see the mainland through the water it is so clear. There isn't even a waft of wind & its really quiet on the dive front as well with very few people arriving on the island at the moment. Mark this month down in your diary for next year if you want a good dive holiday!

Tuesday 13th October 2009-

Internship programmes. That seemed to get a lot of people talking, well emailing at least. I posted it up on our website only yesterday & already have 1 booking & another 2 additional enquiries into the Open Water to Instructor Programme, including the training to become a professional videographer, with 7 months accommodation, & a guaranteed job placement. I better ring around some old work colleagues & start calling in a few favours! Only joking! Study to become a Dive professional. Live life at the beach!

Going to give a big shout out to DM Andy, CGD Mickey, & Vidiot Jodie who all start their PADI Instructor exams today. Over the next 2 & half days they will be made to lecture on the importance of mask clearing, demonstrate phenomenal Buoyancy control, prevent possible accidents from occurring & multiple guess their way through 8 exams. Then its trousers down & beers till dawn. Pretty much the same as every other night! Good luck guys!

In the high end world of Fashion a new bikini has been unleashed upon the unsuspecting public. Its being labelled as the womens equivalent to Borat's lime green Mankini. In fact it is very hard to imagine anything worse than Borats Mankini but lo & behold it has been achieved. Ladies & gentlemen it is with complete horror I present to you the Nimbus 2000 Bikini.

Monday 12th October 2009-

For those of you who are interested in coming out here to do your Divemaster or Instructor Courses it is definitely worth checking out a new page on our website called Internship programmes where we are offering all sorts of great course offers to become a Diving professional. We have some great packages from Open Water all the way thru to Instructor including your own brand new set of kit & 6 months accommodation a guaranteed job at the end of your training. Not a bad offer in this world of high unemployment. Not bad at all. A guaranteed job offer as either a Divemaster, an Instructor or a Professional Underwater Videographer in one of many exotic locations around the world. Tempted? Then drop us a line at info@bigbluediving.com & change your life!

Seems to be some rather exciting news coming from Chumphon Pinnacle over the last few days. Bull Sharks! They're back. Well we hope so at least. They've been spotted over the last couple of days so it looks fairly promising. Chumphon Pinnacle used to be wall to wall with sharks so it will be very exciting if they are back. Fingers crossed & watch this space.

Ex DM/ brand new SSI Instructor Big Paul has his first course today! Paul will be taking out a very sweet but totally unsuspecting Israeli couple for their first experience of breathing underwater. Paul is obviously very excited & has been jumping up & down in eager anticipation which could account for the recent earth tremors the world has been experiencing in this region over the last few days. Good luck Paul! Mazel Toff Israeli couple!

Friday 9th October 2009-

Congratulations to our very own Dive master Paul and videographer Becky who passed their SSI Instructor Exam this afternoon, these guys have been studying for weeks and impressing the examiners with high scores on the their exams and presentations.Well done both of you-HIGH 5.

Even bigger congratulations and well done to SSImon Garrity Big Blue’s first SSI Instructor Trainer, as this was his first instructor training course. The evil little pair didn’t even tell him they’d past until they’d drunk at least 2 or 3 beers while sitting giggling waiting with there phones! Simon is bursting with pride right now and will be bursting with beer and shots later on after celebrating tonight with his two new SSI instructors. Venues for tonights festivities are starting at Vibe and then heading down to the Airport Party!! Well Done to all of you.

Technical Divemaster Andy Holdaway is off back to the UK again probably to beat people up or blow them up or maybe just walk around wearing two tanks and shouting at people for pointing at his handlebar moustache. Canada’s marine bum chum came to do his technical divemaster trainee internship a few months ago and is now a certified technical diver and dive master. see you in a few months...

Thursday 8th October 2009-

The place is like a ghost town at the moment. What with the mass exodus over to Khao Lak, we are saying “see you in 6 months” to Rick, Ricky, Anna, and Keith; Simon is teaching the SSI ITC with DM Paul and Becky; Deano is staffing the PADI IDC with DM Andy, Mickey and Jodie and then there is G who is off having a wine and cheese party up the Eiffel Tower!

Good news though, Yvonne is finally back teaching again after getting the all clear from the Doctors, and about time too - a bored Yvonne is a very annoying Yvonne. I’m sure Canada can vouch for that!

Like in many places of the world, marine litter on the Kenyan coast has become part of the landscape. Last summer as part of their Ocean Project, Camp International, volunteer organisations running trips to Africa and Asia, coordinated 7 beach clean-ups involving gap year students from the UK to clean-up the Kenyan coastline. Over 200 bags of litter were collected which included over 7000 flip-flops. The Camp Kenya School Team Expedition then worked with local artists to create a life size whale shark made entirely from the recycled flip-flops picked up from the beach.

The flip-flop Whale Shark project not only raises awareness about the importance of gaining protection for Whale Sharks but also reminds us that humans have created the marine litter problem and that it is our responsibility to take action to tackle it.

Monday 5th October 2009-

So many career recreational divers & technical divers & now welcome back to Big Jan from the Nethernetherlands who trained with us over a year ago & is now working as a commercial diver in the exotic part of Australia- that's New Zealand isn't it? So welcome back Massive Jan. & now I'm hearing rumours that James Brooks another ex DM in training of ours has got himself a job on board the legendary & controversial Sea Shephard ship on their next mission to Antarctica. That's wicked news James. Congratulations!

In an attempt to improve the view, Spaz has set up our beach volleyball court right outside the Big Blue bar here on Sairee beach! Its about time too! After all what view could be better while sitting at the bar with a free beer at the end of a busy day than watching a bevvy of bouncing beauties banging their balls down before a setting sun? Did someone say free beer?

Some confusion today as to whether the Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan was last night or tonight! Its a very important religious holiday for Buddhists today so there is no alcohol served till noon today so obviously that could cause a wee bit of a problem for the FMP organisers! Any how judging by the amount of revellers who haven't shown up today I think its a safe enough bet to assume the party is now on tonight! Best Fishes & a Happy Full Moon to you all.

Friday 2nd October 2009-

Boss man Jim, who after pulling a sickie yesterday claiming to be ‘jet lagged’ is now back in the driving seat once again. While he was away it was kept warm by Sonia when she wasn’t in the hospital, Kayleigh when she wasn’t emailing, running around organising rooms and our PR guys on the ferries, and Bazza when he wasn’t teaching or mixing cement. Welcome back boss, and thank you for the litre of Oktober Fest beer in its huge 1litre Masse-Krug (glass).

Tonight we will be celebrating the birthday our Geordie DMT Ash, so hay way man, lets gaan doon toon for a canny drink alreet!! Er ok, a night down at the bowling alley is planned followed by a few/ many cheeky drinks somewhere I’m sure. Happy Birthday Ash!

A rare sight was captured last week by tourists on a cruise along the coast near the Island of Mull in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. Witnesses watched in awe a three-metre Basking shark leapt out of the water and breached three times. The basking shark is a harmless, toothless species and feeds only on microscopic plankton.

Basking sharks can grow up to several metres long and is one of the only sharks to visit the shores of Britain. It eats by swimming with its mouth wide open and sucks in as much of its tiny prey as it can get.

Now that’s something you don’t see everyday!

Thursday 1st October 2009-

More leaving parties and farewell drinks, this time we say goodbye and safe travels to our arty farty Lara, thanks to this little missy we have beautifully painted artwork scattered around the resort including signs, white board displays and even the Grease car which has pride of place in the restaurant. Have a great time back home and we’ll see you again soon.

After searching for some weird and wonderful news articles we came across this little gem.

On September 5th over 60 members of the Stowe Sub Aqua Club in Buckingham UK, had the ingenious idea of a 24hr underwater Twister competition. They raised over 2,000 GBP for CANCERactive, a charity which helps people increase their odds of beating cancer by laying out all the very latest research information from around the world whether this is regarding orthodox, complimentary or alternative therapies. Well done you guys over the pond, all for a good cause and what a great idea!

With the Buoyancy World soon to be deployed near Twins, how quick do you think it would take to knock up a Big Blue Twister game? Or a new underwater challenge for the Koh Tao Festival next year?! Oh the mind is boggling now!!