Latest News- February 2016

Thursday 25th February 2016

People often ask why Koh Tao is so good for diving in the Gulf of Thailand. First of all Koh Panghan and Koh Samui have maybe 2 or 3 dive sites. The vast majority of centres travel to Koh Tao to dive. Divers who go to Koh Samui realise that after their 2 hour boat ride to dive around Koh Tao and then another 2 hour ride back again, it makes more sense just to come straight to Koh Tao where the diving is on our doorstep. Our limited depths and calm conditions make it perfect for training. From your first ever breath under water on a Try Dive in one of our shallow bays to exploring wrecks at 50 metres. We are lucky to have a wide range of sites suitable for beginners and the more experienced divers looking for macro life. Having dive sites located all around Koh Tao it is always possible to find a sheltered bay if the weather is windy or wavy.

Our house reef of Sairee is home to many Saddleback Clownfish, and the dive is like an underwater dot to dot to find the anemones they call home. The 'Nemos' here are much bigger than the ones we regularly see at Twins or Green Rock. Along with a wide variety of nudibranch and colourful reef fish is has everything a shallow site needs. A staff favourite is White Rock, this large spread out site is home to many blue spotted stingrays as well as a Jenkins Ray cleaning station just off the main site. We have seen Whalesharks and turtles there, huge Barracudas feeding at night and stalking their prey during the day. These sites of perfect for Open Water courses. Then we head slightly further away to Chumphon Pinnacle. This stunning location never fails to impress even the most experienced diver. Hughes schools of travelly, snapper and barracudas of all sizes. Another favourite spot of the the Whalshark with more sightings here than any other site around Koh Tao. This is a deeper dive site which allows you to complete the 30 metre dive of your Advanced course and even head off deeper to 40 metres for your Deep Specialty. You will also see our Technical divers here on sidemount or with multiple tanks hanging off them doing decompression dive training.

If scuba diving is not your thing but you still want to explore the ocean then we can leave the tanks behind and submerge below the surface on one single breath, being one with the ocean and surrendering to all which is around you and the silence of no bubbles. Freedivers are a rare breed who have the ability to retrain everything we thought we knew about the bodies abilities whilst underwater. This course will make you see your body and it's power in a whole new light, with relaxation and breathing techniques your journey underwater is on another level completely.

Once back on land and you have dried off, you will want to unwind watching the sun drip into the horizon, chilled music and cold drinks at the North end of Sairee and then getting busier and more of the party scene further towards the South end. Or if it's sport that your into most sporting events can been seen in a many of the sports bars. The island is full of some amazing restaurants. From cheap street stalls to beautifully located restaurants that will have you wanting more.

 So what are you waiting for........

Sunday 14th February 2016

Last night saw our annual Valentines auction to raise money for the Noistar Animal Clinic and Sea Shepherd. It saw our desperate Instructors and Divemasters selling them-selves to the highest bidder just so they can have a social life away from Big Blue. This did back fire to a certain degree with both Liam and Erik being bought by Mini Ant, and Irish G being bought by Steve-o. The prize was that the winner had the Valentine for an hour to do whatever they wanted them to do. Steve-o is having Irish G try and not talk and stand still for one whole hour and try not to say the word sweetie or ears.  Mini is going to have his strapping young men do 100 press-ups then cover them in baby oil while dancing to Ginuwines “Pony” and then just stare at them till his hour is up. A strange buy last night was Rick who bought Boz, what he is planning on doing is anyone’s guess, maybe be his tank carrier or in charge of polishing his valves…who knows watch this space.

We also had a few guest appearances from other dive shops who wanted to muscle in on the act. Scuba Junction and Roctopus joined us in the money raising see scantily clad females offering body shots all for charity. Recently we have seen Andreas searching down the back of the couches and picking up spare coins whenever he saw them, at the time we just thought he was a cheapskate, but it all made sense last night when he went nuts and did body shots off just about everyone who lay down including Piglet and Panda, this is probably going to be the most action he will get all year so we won’t hold it against him this time. His was the biggest….. smile in the whole bar last night.

The night was a great success and saw us raise a whopping 40,000 for the 2 charities. A massive thank you has to go for everyone who took part and were auctioned and humiliated by Simo on the microphone and also to the lucky people who bought their Valentines, please be gentle with them and give them back in one piece once you have finished with them.

Thursday 4th February 2016

We were recently privileged to have Miss Scuba UK Sarah Winterbottom join us for her SSI Stress and Rescue course and some fun dives. She has been lucky enough to dive in various countries while being hopeful to win the title of Miss Scuba International. We have just finished a photo shoot with some of our better looking staff, unfortunately Jim and Steve-o were unavailable so we had to drag in Handsome Swedish Erik, Hot Aussie Steve, Tattooed Hunk Matt and the newest Blonde German Danny. Our resident photographer Andy was on call to take some stunning shots which will soon be in our new brochure. Thank you to Sarah and our wanna be models, we look forward to seeing the pictures soon.

We think Jim is having a slight mid-life crisis or at least after watching the photo-shoot he has regressed back to his pre-diving life when he was working in the porn industry... Oh yes, not many people know that our illustrious bigger than Steve-o leader used to be known as Hugh Hefner to his pals. Now just to be clear he was never in front of the camera or involved directly as a fluffer, it was just the advertising or marketing stuff (or so he tells us).
Where was I going with this? Oh yes, Jim has decided to make an Instructors / Divemaster Calender and he is trolling Facebook of all places to find the sexiest picture of us he can. Please do not get too excited as I can see it being along the lines of either The Full Monty or Dads Army rather than Magic Mike...

My job now is to ask his lovely wife if she has any hidden sexy photos that we can use, mwahaahhahaha! Maybe some when he had hair! (and I may be getting the sack now)

On a serious diving note which is why are all here at the end of the day, tomorrow sees the end of another SSI Instructor Exam with 4 new and sparkly candidates joining the flock. At the end of their exam and before they start teaching on their own they are shown the delights of recreational side-mount as well as spending a few weeks as interns with our full time instructors to learn the ropes and professionalism we expect at Big Blue. We are very proud that our standards exceed the required course standards set out by SSI and once they are off on their own they are certifying students who feel safe and comfortable in the water. Well Done guys the first round is on Mr Hefner.

Latest News- January 2016

 Saturday 30th January 2016

We had a crazy few days when a tropical storm passed through the Gulf of Thailand last week. The waves were big, we had lots of rain and the ferries were cancelled from the main land. The tide was so high that it was all the way up in the restaurant. Then after 2 days it was all flat again and sunny as if nothing ever happened. Got to love Koh Tao. The diving was still good though despite the waves and rain.

We had rescue students doing an amazing job in some challenging conditions with waves and currents, once back on land they were physically and mentally exhausted but over a few we earned cold beers said that it was the funniest and hardest and most rewarding course they have ever done. Well done to all the rescue divers who finished in these conditions, not everywhere in the world is flat and easy when you dive. The ocean is strong and needs to be respected, but once you appreciate that it will also show you how spectacular it is and once under the waves the life aquatic is way better than on land. No fish shooting or bombing each other just nature at its finest.

Full Moon has been busy and all of our fabulous Instructors and Divemasters have been out every day, be sure to book your courses and accommodation online in advance (and please not the night before) to secure a spot. We start courses everyday but we do not have unlimited beds for sleeping in.... So book early to avoid disappointment. Remember as well, depending were you are in the world there may be a time difference and all of our staff need their beauty sleep, some of them a lot more than others, In fact some are constantly sleeping but are still just as ugly....we will respond to your requests as soon as we possibly can.

Friday 22nd January

We have been having some amazing diving conditions for this time of the year. Usually monsoon season means that the visibility drops and the water temperature goes down a few degrees, but not this year. This morning at Southwest Pinnacle we had over 30 metre visibility, the divers jumped in and could see all the way to the bottom. The water is lovely and flat which is perfect for everybody. When it's like this we are usually lucky enough to see Whalesharks so we all have our fingers and toes crossed for some big fish. Whalesharks seem to love the conditions over Full Moon and we get lots of sightings. So don’t bother the messy party in Koh Phangan and just stay and enjoy the diving and Koh Tao.

Our boat Big Blue is now back from its New Year paint and refurbishment which means the Tech boys can head out to their deep sites and wrecks and the free divers can go and play at depth, without the use of a tank and just holding their breath.

Speaking of free divers a very good friend of mine has recently published a book One Breath- about the crazy world of competitive freediving- a sport built on diving as deep as possible on a single breath—testing the limits of human ability in the most hostile environment on earth. The unique and eclectic breed of individuals who freedive at the highest level regularly dive hundreds of feet below the ocean’s surface, reaching such depths that their organs compress, light disappears, and one mistake could be lethal. Adam Skolnick has visited 45 countries and authored or co-authored over 25 Lonely Planet guidebooks as well as written for New York Times, Playboy, Outside, ESPN.com, BBC.com, Salon.com, Men’s Health, Wired, and Travel + Leisure, among others. Big Blue Freediving teaches you how to dive safely up to 20m at Level 1 and all the way down to 40m at Level 3. Our Freediving staff have been doing this for 8 years and have national records for Brazil and Spain. If you want to do something different than just scuba diving this is a must. Contact out team at info@bigbluefreediving.com for more information.

Friday 15th January 2016

The New Year has come and with it came new sets of equipment, new TVs for our new classroom and new dorm rooms. Santa saw how good we were last year and has given us some stunning visibility for this time of year which has meant we have been able to go out on our full day trips to Sail Rock, which is the very best dive site we have in the Gulf of Thailand.

Big Blue Diving is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year. 25 years ago a young Swedish boy called Michael came to Koh Tao and what he did has now changed our lives forever. That’s 25 years of certifying divers, 25 years of showing divers their first Whaleshark. 25 years of changing lives and seeing marriages and babies, 25 years of the Big Blue Staff coming and going and then coming back again for more. 25 years of Big Blue t-shirt designs that our now collector’s items for the guests who have been over the years. 25 years of boats including  Banzai, Phalap, Big Blue, Navakid, Aow Mong, Poponawa, Waverunner and Enzo. 25 years of thai beers being consumed in Deck Bar, Blue Bar and Higher Ground. 25 years of helping ginger instructors feel wanted. 25 years of riding to work on a scooter in bear feet in the sun passing coconut trees. 25 years of sunsets on Sairee. 25 years of the best dogs including Ugly, Yurie, BBD, Leo, Rocko, Schnitzel (RIP) Sausage, Moomoo, Panda, Piglet, Ernie. 25 years of being in the best job in the world and being surrounded by some of the best people you could ever dream of meeting (except some of the gingers)

I could go one but they would start to get a bit silly… to celebrate this huge birthday Robyn down at Drift has made some limited edition t shirts to celebrate this huge milestone. They will be on sale soon, so it’s time to book your holidays back to Koh Tao so you can get yourself one to add to your collection, and celebrate what already looks to be an awesome year.

Apart from the deaths of David Bowie and Alan Rickman which just sucks!