Tuesday 30th June 2009-
Canada, Christos & Bryan are all off for the next few days on the Trident Liveaboard cruising in search of new & undiscovered wrecks with Thailands best Deep Sea Detectives Inspector Jamie Mcleod & Sergeant Stu! These guys have been locating wrecks around the Gulf for the last 10 years & can now run liveaboard trips which only dive the wrecks they have discovered. Its awesome stuff diving 2nd World War wrecks, submarines, cargo ships, & planes & its pretty deep & dark diving so this trip is not for the weak of heart but is really only for the techies amongst us. The rest of us can only sit on the sidelines admiring the technical divers enormous equipment, huge wetsuit pockets, big biceps & unkempt hair! Have a great trip guys! & bring us back a 2nd World War souvenir!
Apparently to be a dive Instructor you need to be relatively fit & strong. There's lots of working out to be done, lugging around of tanks & weights, occasional surface tows & the odd strong current to swim into! And most of us do try & keep in shape with various exercise regimes & what nots but I can't help feeling that Rick might have taken things to an extreme last week with his swim from the very north end of Sairee all the way round to Mango Bay! It took him 1 hour 40 there & an hour 50 back! Crazy Hawaiian! If you'd waited 5 minutes you could have got yourself a longtail taxi!
Its a 40meter deep dive with Emily for some of our DMT's & a couple of our regular divers tomorrow. & best part is that it's going to be at Sail Rock! Now to give you an idea of exactly how deep 40 meters actually is then consider standing at the top of a 15 storey building & then falling over the edge untill you reach the bottom. That's about a 40 meter drop! It just hurts less when you do it in water!
Happy diving everyone.
Monday 29th June 2009-
Canada, Christos & Bryan are all off for the next few days on the Trident Liveaboard cruising in search of new & undiscovered wrecks with Thailands best Deep Sea Detectives Inspector Jamie Mcleod & Sergeant Stu! These guys have been locating wrecks around the Gulf for the last 10 years & can now run liveaboard trips which only dive the wrecks they have discovered. Its awesome stuff diving 2nd World War wrecks, submarines, cargo ships, & planes & its pretty deep & dark diving so this trip is not for the weak of heart but is really only for the techies amongst us. The rest of us can only sit on the sidelines admiring the technical divers enormous equipment, huge wetsuit pockets, big biceps & unkempt hair! Have a great trip guys! & bring us back a 2nd World War souvenir!
Apparently to be a dive Instructor you need to be relatively fit & strong. There's lots of working out to be done, lugging around of tanks & weights, occasional surface tows & the odd strong current to swim into! And most of us do try & keep in shape with various exercise regimes & what nots but I can't help feeling that Rick might have taken things to an extreme last week with his swim from the very north end of Sairee all the way round to Mango Bay! It took him 1 hour 40 there & an hour 50 back! Crazy Hawaiian! If you'd waited 5 minutes you could have got yourself a longtail taxi!
Its a 40meter deep dive with Emily for some of our DMT's & a couple of our regular divers tomorrow. & best part is that it's going to be at Sail Rock! Now to give you an idea of exactly how deep 40 meters actually is then consider standing at the top of a 15 storey building & then falling over the edge untill you reach the bottom. That's about a 40 meter drop! It just hurts less when you do it in water!
Happy diving everyone.
Monday 29th June 2009-
Apologies to all who have been trying to reach us over the last couple of days but the problem with living on a tropical island is that quite often the internet goes to pot! So please don't think I'm being rude or lazy as its possibly more frustrating for me than it is for you not being able to send these answers to your questions! & these smoke signals are really stufing up the office!
Hi there, I was surfing around looking for a selection of dive shops in different locations as I have a specific request. I am looking to translate the following phrase into some 20 or so languages for a current awareness project:
1) Say NO to Shark Fin Soup
2) Say NO to Shark Finning
I currently have the phrase in 18 languages and am looking for seven more. For those languages which use characters other than the standard English characters I request if it is possible to receive a jpeg or psd file of the written phrase with a BOLD font size no smaller than 32 points. As this is a matter that is very close to most divers I trust that you would be happy to help out. Much appreciation in advance if you could help with this.Cheers,Mark. mark@liquidmocean.com
Jim - Had a wonderful time!! Simon was my SSI instructor and I was very impressed w/ his demeanor and friendliness and candor in and out of class. I felt 100% confident under his mentorship and would like to return some day to pursue advanced classes with him again. Thanks again for your prompt responses to my emails in the past. That was the deciding factor in my decision to invest in Big Blue. Best, Mel." Thanks Mel & nice one Simo!
Friday 26th June 2009- 
Hot on the tails of Sharkwater (about shark finning) & The end of the line (about overfishing) comes The Cove. A documentary about a town in Japan called Taiji. The little town with the really big secret. Dolphin slaughter. Everyone grew up loving the TV show, Flipper. Unfortunately we have loved dolphins to death. This award-winning “eco-thriller” shows how a hodge-podge group of filmmakers, activists, & freedivers shine a light on this crime against dolphins, the oceans and our planet. The Cove is as suspenseful as it is enlightening. The final result is a heart-wrenching, but inspirational, story that shows the true power of film in the hands of people who aren't afraid to risk everything for a vital cause. Check out their Website http://www.thecovemovie.com & spread the word & help bring an end to the slaughter of not just the dolphins,but also the whales the tuna & the Mafia run fishing fleets!
One of the greatest things about Koh Tao is that this beatiful tropical island paradise on the East coast of Thailand will never drown under the invading weight of capitalist commercialism...we hope! With no airport here, the big chain industries can't branch out & spoil this place. On the other hand, one of the greatest things about our other dive shop on the west coast of Thailand, in Khao Lak is that they are susceptible to capital commercialism thus the raising of the Golden Arches this morning has instilled a longing in the staffs bellies & everyone is putting in for a transfer! Capitalist pigs!
Weather forcast for the next week or so is glorious! Not a breath of wind or even the slightest swell in the sea. Average temperature is 30 Degrees & average visibility is 20+ meters! If you're like half the staff it is the perfect day to go for a sunrise dive at Chumphon Pinacle & then Southwest Rocks! If you're Rich its the perfect time to get back from your trip to the Uk. If your Barry its the perfect time to get the clubs out & go for a jolly over to Chumphon for 18 holes or 36! Aah. This is the life!
Thursday 25th June 2009-
Its a sunrise dive tomorrow morning on board Banzai! 5 in the morning is the meeting time & then we're off straight after that! Its a sell out too! more than 20 people all getting up before the cock crows just to go & see what a bunch of sleeping fish look like when they wake up for the day! Cool! Exciting! Reckon they'll see a few sharks at that time of day too! Blimmin well should do especially if they are getting up 10 minutes before half the population of Koh Tao have even gone to bed!
Many species of open ocean shark are under serious threat, according to an assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Red list gives the status of 64 types of shark and ray, over 30% of which are threatened with extinction. The main cause is overfishing. Listed as endangered are two species of hammerhead shark, often subject to "finning". A further 24% of the examined species has been classified as Near Threatened. Sharks are "profoundly vulnerable" to overfishing, because many species take several years to mature and have relatively few young. Many pelagic sharks are caught in high seas tuna and swordfish fisheries but despite mounting threats, sharks remain virtually unprotected on the high seas. Although some are accidentally caught in nets meant for these other fish, they are increasingly targeted for their meat, teeth and liver oil, and because of high demand, particularly in Asia, for their fins. Save the shark! Stop eating fish!
Congratulations to DMT Pete who now after last nights DMT challenge can finally drop the T! & how about that! Even before he's been certified as a Divemaster the biggest diveshop in the world has gone & snapped him up & have offerred him a full time job as a Divemaster! Now that must have taken some serious impressing to have been offerred a job there! Either we've done a magnificent job training him up or he's been sleeping with his prospective employer! Ah! Yes. That'll be it! Its not what you know. Its who you sleep with! No it isn't only kidding! Well done Pete. Congratulations! DMing for the biggest Dive shop in the world! & Sylvanna said she aint coming back to Koh Tao now cos there aint no jobs! What a load of codswallop!
Wednesday 24th June 2009-
Whaleshark at White Rock this morning! And it was only a baby! Some say it wasn't even 2 meters big! So it was a macro whaleshark! It was a beautiful morning today with flat seas glorious sunshine 20 meter visibility & as I say, a Whaleshark! & then this afternoon with the news of a whaleshark we managed to fill Banzai & have sent a trip out to White Rock again to see more of our little friend! Again flat seas, glorious sunshine, 20 meter visibility & ... fingers crossed as they aren't back yet... another whaleshark! Life's a peach!
Thank God Yvonne is coming back soon. For a while now we have been questioning the state of Canada & Cory's relationship. At first it seemed to be one of teacher & student but ever since Corey became Canada's official bitch their relationship seems to have taken a turn for the homosexual! (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) & their actions last night has really got people talking. Mind you it would do if 2 grown men are seen rolling around on the ground in what looked like a lovers embrace. They say they were 'playfighting' but witnesses say they were rolling around naked, slapping each other's butties! Yvonne Hurry home! Your man is turning ginger! Not that there's anything wrong with that!
"To every one at Big Blue, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I got back from my 5 week trip 2 weeks ago, i've watched my dvd every day I think, Thank you to Heather for giving me this memory. Thank You Sonwan and Mike for your patience and, well frankly, to teach me how to dive and all the fun we all had on (and off) the boat. Thanks to all the dmt's, dm's en di's for all the good times in the bars and on the beaches and of course the staff from the bar and restaurant. (thanks Olav and Richard from holland, veel succes met de opleiding) You ALL have turned an almost 20 year overdue decision into the experience of a life time. I knew i was going to love diving, and i am hooked now. Why do i have to choose all these expensive hobby's, ah well i will just have to come back to Big Blue next year. I can not express in words how much space Koh Tao and Big Blue have in my heart. I hope everyone is well there and i will be coming back and tell everyone about Big Blue and Koh Tao. Frits."
Cheers Frits. You da man!
Tuesday 23rd June 2009-
Another Tuesday & soon to be PADI Course Director Guillaume Froisgrois has taken our DMT's out today to check out how the islands Bio Rock Project is getting on. Its been about a year since the project was first actioned with the construction of the dome & Chad the Island's main Eco Warrior came along today to see how things are getting on as well. In 2008 The Bio Dome was placed in a depth of about 12 meters in between Nang Yuan Island & Koh Tao & its electrically charged frame generates & speeds up coral growth by upto 6 times as fast as normal coral growth. Its a great project & could well be the answer for the future of the worlds depleting coral reefs! Yeah Man! Bio Rocks!
Bit of a Birthday bash tonight for a few of the team turning 21 again! DM Paul & Helen aka Zoe, have invited everyone down to an evenings entertainment at Vibe Beach lounge here on Sairee Beach. There'll be food & drink, singing & dancing & at some stage Paul is bound to fall over & squash some poor innocent nearby Dutchman! Ya big Moose! Happy Birthday Paul! Happy Birthday Zoe!
I'm just too kind! The guy who won our Full Day Trip to Sail Rock yesterday at the party to raise money for the Koh Tao animal clinic, missed the day & came in approximately 3 hours after the boat had left. I've never seen anyone so gutted I had to let him have another shot at making our next trip to Sail Rock- the best dive site in the Glf of Thailand- but if he's going to be 3 hours late again he's flippin well going to have to swim there!
Monday 22nd June 2009-
"Hi Big Blue, I am sending you an email because I wanted to say thank you for the great experiences we gained during our one-week stay on Koh Tao three weeks ago! We came to Koh Tao with neither diving experience, nor intention to dive. But when we decided to take the open water course and the advanced course with Bi Blue, we probably made one of the best decisions of our lifes. We were amazed by the professionalism and the kindness of the crew members. Especially our diving instructor Deano Jenkins had a great impact on the fun we had and the things we learned for our lifes. He was helpful, competent, professional and funny, that's why we trusted him from the beginning. He was always there, even after the dives he took us out and gave us information where to find good food, nightlife, etc. I think that's what you call "to walk the extra mile". We will always recommend Big Blue to the people we meet and we'll come back when there's time. As I wrote before, we came to Koh Tao with neither diving experience, nor intention to dive and we left as great diving fans! Again, thank you so much for a very special experience and keep continuing the good work!!! Hope to see you soon... Best regards from Germany, Mischa Lietzke and Deniz Guentepe"
Thanks Guys for taking the time to write in! Really appreciate & glad you had such a good time with us.
Love the sign Lara! So as you enter Big Blue now from the Sairee Village end one of the first things you will now see is a very long awaited sign saying Big Blue Diving! Its only taken us 16 years to get a sign in place there & now we've finally gone & done it! & it looks beautiful. Its bright, its shiney, & if you don't look where you're going you are likely to walk straight into it! How's that for in your face advertising!
Dan, Alain & Tim are all starting their Open Water Free Diving Course tomorrow with Big Blue Free-Diving Instructor Jeroen De Belgian. Rick has set an incredibly high bar with a static breath hold lasting over 4 minutes & 30 seconds. That is obviously quite impressive! Pressure is on boys! Who's got the biggest lungs? & you know what they say about the size of your lungs! Large lungs equals large breasts! So come on chaps. Who's got the biggest breasts?
Jeroen De Belgian. Rick has set an incredibly high bar with a static breath hold lasting over 4 minutes & 30 seconds. That is obviously quite impressive! Pressure is on boys! Who's got the biggest lungs? & you know what they say about the size of your lungs! Large lungs equals large breasts! So come on chaps. Who's got the biggest breasts?
Sunday 21st June 2009-
Lucky for Guillaume France lost yesterday at rugby playing the Mighty All Blacks from New Zealand. Lucky for G that they lost as it meant Jim wasn't going to have to sack him! Jim also got relatively lucky as he won 1000 Bt off G & didn't have to sack the hairy Gaul! See. France lose. New Zealand win. Everyone's happy!
Caitlin has her Divemaster challenge tonight. Now being a fully fledged thespian Caitlin is all too familiar with the feeling of being watched! Which is all the more surprising that she seemed soo shocked that time our team of tech divers caught her outside the wheelhouse of the Island Divers ship wreck at Japanese Gardens in nothing but her BCD & her birthday suit! Well tonight she will be giving her DM rendition of a James Bond Style Greek Tragedy. I beleive its called Oedipussy!
TDI - Technical Diving International is the largest and one of the most respected technical diving certification agencies in the world. At Big Blue Tech we have always provided TDI courses to our customers but now TDI is our primary source of certification for all our Tech courses that we offer. We’ll still have all options available like DSAT from PADI but now Big Blue Tech is the only TDI Dive Centre on the east coast of Thailand (Koh Tao, Koh Samui, Koh Phangnan and Pattaya; according to www.tdisdi.com) Along with the Dive Centre recognition meant a big box of promotional toys, manuals and certifications. Which Canada had great fun finding somewhere to put the giant flag! To learn more about TDI and courses through Big Blue Tech, feel free to contact us.
Friday 19th June 2009-
Dreams do come true! For any self respecting red blooded male today's the day when you get the opportunity to watch a bevvy of wondrous women dancing around a pole. In the UK its called Maypole dancing & everyone laughs at you. In Sweden its called Midsommer & everyone gets jolly & drunk &...to quote my Swedish friend...' end up in someone else's bed the next morning & not feel guilty about it!' Happy Midsommer Sweden! I live at No 4 Sun & Sea Bungalows!
Fabio, the underwater VDO/photographer from Brazil, not Fabio the Male Model Adonis from Italy who once had a low flying goose fly full on into his face on a rollercoaster ride, has been hanging around lately taking some photos so we can use them in our new, soon to be published Big Blue Brochure! Many thanks to all who've posed unwittingly & those who posed knowingly & are about to be exposed to 90% of all new arrivals on Koh Tao. You all look great!
So now that seems to be 3 days out of the last 4 where our Japanese Team have seen a Blue Marlin darting around at Chumphon Pinnacle! & a Blue Marlin is one of the largest fish in the sea! So now we get 2 of the largest fish in the sea hanging around Koh Tao! No wonder Koh Tao is known as one of the best palces in the world to dive!
Thursday 18th June 2009
Barry flew through the air with the greatest of ease,
That daring 'young' man on the flying trapeze.
His movements were 'graceful', all girls he could please
He looked like he'd escaped from a KISS concert...
Oh, Emily floated through the air with the greatest of ease,
You'd think her a man on the flying trapeze(high praise indeed),
She does all the work while we took our ease (not the controlled substance),
And she wore a lovely pink wig.
No-one knew we needed a Trapeze school on the island until someone went ahead and started one. I for one think the clowns were unnecessary, though. Something about clowns, especially drunken ones wearing torn fishnets and brassieres just scares the crap out of me. Never mind the freaks on stilts, the bearded lady (sorry G) and 300 kilo woman (Cory didn't quite pull that one off). Fortune tellers, lions in cages - Koh Tao Carnival in fact!
Did you know?
The performance was invented in 1859, by a Frenchman named Jules Leotard who connect a bar to some ventilator cords above the swimming pool in his father's gymnasium in Toulouse, France. After practising tricks above the pool, Leotard performed his act in the Cirque Napoleon (now known as the Cirque d'hiver). The traditional flyer’s costume, the leotard, is named after him.
Wednesday 17th June 2009-
Obviously day 1 of Big Blue's first ever Freediving Course has gone very well as Fanette managed to a static breath hold for a personal best of 3.30 minutes. But Rick broke has set all records by being able to hole his breath for an unbelievable 4 minutes & 30 seconds! That is quite an amazing achievement & Rick is every ones hero today! Not a bad advert for Big Blue Breath Holders too eh Jerome!
So Barry & Emily are all set for their big night tonight as they represent Big Blue on the opening night of Koh Tao's newest business adventure here in Sairee- The Koh Tao Flying Trapeze School! So Barry & Emily are going to be flying through the air performing mid air somersaults & spins & then being caught on the other side dressed up all the while in their tight spandex leotards! and as tonight is opening night it will be a massive turnout with food stalls, beer tents, & a raffle where Big Blue will be giving a free Full Day Trip to Sail Rock & 2 part-time Dive Instructor jobs in case Bazza & Emily don't make it back to work after tonight!
Must have been another School Disco night at Vibe Beach Bar last night as I saw a couple of 'knock kneed' school children parading up & down the beach in their school uniforms touting for business! Looked very much like Andy Luckman & Micky! & judging by what Micky's school uniform looked like I wish my parents had sent me to her school! Think the majority of red blooded males did too as they seemed to have followed her to another very busy night out at Vibe moving & grooving to the sounds of Kenny Loggins & Banana Rama! Everyone loves the 80's!
Tuesday 16th June 2009
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Congratulations to Serra for finishing her Divemaster training. Our Aussie DMT lost her T last night along with her bag and camera and keys, after an uneventful search last night she woke up in Moov this morning. Good effort Serra!
The DM team put on a Magical Mystery dive tour yesterday, Koh Tao has a lot of unexplored areas on the East side of the island so today the boys have decided to stick a pin in the map and jump in to see what they can find, who knows they might find some caves, sunken treasure, mermaids, tuk tuks? Who knows, good luck on a new dive sight discovery.
We have a very athletic team at the moment if they’re not running round hitting rounder’s balls or doing chin up with twin tanks on in Canada’s Butch Club, they are spinning and flipping on the new trapeze, practicing for the opening night on the 17th Barry And Emily are doing Big Blue proud, the rest of us will be the clowns watching from solid ground.
Monday 15th June 2009-
So there seems to be a few aching limbs, a dabble of sun burnt bits, a cluster of headaches & a lot of Dan voice impressions, even now, 2 days after Husky Dan's legendary 30th Birthday Party. The headaches don't take much investigation but whats with the deep throats, achey limbs & sunburn? Might have something to do with Saturdays game of Rounders! All that sun, all that running & all that word repetition! 'Rounder, rounder, rounder, rounder!' No wonder everyone sounds like Husky Dan!
Its like the calm before the storm. We've just had our monthly Full Moon rush, & the majority of the Phangan revellers have finally starbursted out of here! Now there'll be a lull before the busiest time of the year! July August & September! Soon Peak High season will be upon us! So staff better get your sicknesses, ear infections, colds, bike spills, coral cuts, tropical infections & days off out the way now before you're all busier then a brickie in Baghdad!
Diving at the moment is marvellous! The visibility right now seems to be as good as its been all year! So we are talking up to 30 meters at some of our further dive sites like Chumphon & South west. Twins & White Rock too appear to be on a 30 meter par! Even in the shallows in confined you can see further than you could if you were in a swimming pool! Mind you that wouldn't be difficult! Its hard to see through all the wirey strands of body hair & smegma that harbours in some pools here! Much better diving in the sea than the pool. Much healthier too. For body & mind!
Sunday 14th June 2009-
Freediving is simple. A freediver relies on a single breath of air to explore the undersea world. Moving gracefully without wasting energy, a freediver can spend minutes underwater and experience the ocean as any other marine mammal does. Free from cumbersome equipment, a freediver can sneak up on a turtle, or glide to the bottom for a meeting with a manta ray. To get started, all you need is a basic knowledge of freediving safety, a buddy to dive with, equipment and a few tips on technique. Here at Big Blue we are now proud to offer freediving courses with our man Jeroen a Free Diving Instructor from Belgium, & it looks like Rick & Fanette are officially going to be Big Blue's first Free Diving students! Who's going to be our second set of students?
'Dear Jim, I just wanted to write to say how much I really enjoyed my Divemaster course at Big Blue. There is a great atmosphere there & everybody is always so very helpful. Both the Instructor mentors & all the Divemasters would go out of their way to help out. I'm very gald that I chose this Dive school to learn how to become a diving professional. Thanks to all the team. Lara Roberts'. Thanks Lara. Thanks for your letter & a really big thanks for doing all the signs around the resort for us!
Well the word is obviously out there, as our Barry has been invited by one of the largest IDC Centres in the World, Bans Diving, to guest speak at this months IDC. His Fish Identification lecture that he does here at Big Blue every month for our own DMT's, has become so popular & informative that Jonas Samuelson & Tim Hunt the Koh Tao IDC Group Course Directors now want Barry doing a lecture regularly on their IDC's as well. Nice one Bazza! First it was Barry Footloose Covill dancing on stage infront of 1000's of people at this years KT festival. Now Professor Barry is teaching a generation of new Instructors what fish have what names & why! Is it possible Barry might surprise us all with another secret other unknown talent in the next few days? Watch this space!
Saturday 13th June 2009-
So who was the mysterious diver wandering around the ocean with no wetsuit or even a swimsuit on yesterday afternoon at Japanese Gardens of all places? Poor thing appeared to get the fright of her life as she nonchalantly cruised past Canada & his team of Techies completely oblivious to them sitting in the wheelhouse of the wreck that rests there. Luckily for them & all of us reading this website, & unluckily for our underwater Lady Godiva, they had a camera!
Going! Going! Gone! First it was the whales. Then it was the sharks. & now it seems to be the tuna! There are warnings that tuna could start to disappear from the sea as early as 2012. There are fears that the creatures, known as the "cheetahs of the ocean", could be driven to extinction by our growing appetite for sushi and omega-3 oils. I mentioned last week of the movie that is about to change the way you look at fishing- 'The end of the Line' is another amazing Documentary movie to rival Sharkwater. Do your thing people & do what you can to reduce over fishing. You can start by watching this!
Happy Birthday Dan! 30 years young today! Seems to have been an awful lot of Birthdays in May & June what with Canada, Ricky, Deano, Tim & now Dan we all seem to be putting on a bit of a party paunch! And I guess tonight isn't exactly going to help what with dinner & then drinks over at Vibe after! Don't worry Kymmie we'll look after him. We'll make sure he doesn't get too sozzled. After all he's no spring chicken anymore. We're bound to need someone to help the frail old man! Happy Birthday Dan.
Friday 12th June 2009-
Well we've been having some gorgeous tropical weather over here in Koh Tao lately. Apparently its been pretty bad weather all over Thailand right now but here in the Gulf its another beautiful day of sunshine, smooth calm seas, warm crystal clear azure waters, not a breath of wind, not a cloud in the sky! In fact if it wasn't so bloody early it would be a perfect place to have a Pimms about now!
Great to see our ladies showing some initiative and organising a big game of rounders on the beach tomorrow afternoon! Girls versus boys! And so far there appear to be almost 30 players signed up to swing a bat & ball around! Of course the great thing about beach rounders is you can just jump in the sea when it gets too hot which is why the majority of players are going to be dressed in their swimsuits! & jus t to make sure we know who is on who's team the boys will be 'shirts' & the girls will be 'skins'! That should draw the crowds!
Nice to have Ricky back & doing some teaching for us again! Ricky has been working in the Similans for the last 6 months as a Trip Leader on board one of the Similans more successful Liveaboard Operators with Wicked Diving. But now its the off season on the west coast right now so he's come back to be with his family for the next few months till he has to go back again & do some more Liveaboard trips leading, & diving with Manta Rays & Leopard sharks! Its a hard life. But somebody's got to do it eh Ricky?
Thursday 10th June 2009-
Well it looks like Sonia has gone down with something & might need a few days to recover! But being the tough ballet dancer that Sonia is she is bound to be back up on her feet in no time! Triple Pirouetting all over the place! More than can be said for Simon who in an inevitable Simon style got himself a teeny weenie cut, so small you need a magnifying glass to see it. Well now its infected & the Doctor says he'll be out of the water for 5 days. But knowing how slowly Simon heals we'll double that, add 3 divide by 5 & then times it by the number you first thought of! Get better soon guys.
Bit of a delayed Full Moon Rush but as they say better late than never! Once every month for about 5 days Koh Tao gets really busy as the revellers from Koh Phangan make their way to the next island & the next adventure on their travels around Thailand & Asia & this, unsurprisingly, is where everyone comes to learn to dive! So welcome Revellers & Party people. Glad you had fun under the moon on Koh Phangan. Now lets have some fun under the sun & under the water here in Koh Tao! So shirts off trousers down... mask snorkel & fins on!
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
Tuesday 9th June 2009-
Imagine an ocean without fish! Imagine your meals without seafood. Imagine the global consequences. This is the future if we do not stop, think and act. The End of the Line, is the next big feature documentary film, following in the steps of An Inconvenient Truth & Sharkwater. It reveals the impact of overfishing on our oceans & shows the effects of our global love affair with fish as food. It examines the imminent extinction of bluefin tuna, brought on by increasing western demand for sushi; the impact on marine life resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications of a future world with no fish that would bring certain mass starvation. Scientists predict that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will see the end of most seafood by 2048. We must stop thinking of our oceans as a food factory and realize that they thrive as a huge and complex marine environment. We must act now. Overfishing is the great environmental disaster that people haven't heard about, & ultimately its demise will make the dive industry obsolete!
In the world of the DMT's its a very big day today as its graduation day for the world's longest serving DMT! After 6 years 4 months, & 21 days Heather has finally completed her Divemaster Course & not only that is seriously considering taking her Inst Course next! But first she has to under take the final test of the Divemaster Course & that is tonights DM Challenge! DMT's from all over the world have been flying in to mark the occasion. The press are here & I believe there is a letter from the PADI Daddy on its way as well. As I said its a very big occasion! Congratulations Heather! Now when do you sign up to be an Instructor?
Great to see Rick back in the fold after his Honda Dream road trip around Thailand last month. Rick is of course our manager at our Big Blue Dive shop in Khao Lak & has been over there on the west coast since October so its great to have him back. And as its his first day back at work he's straight in team teaching with Instructor Dan a whole cluster of very excited Discover Scuba Divers. You're in for a blast guys!
Monday 8th June 2009-
Looks like a couple of our young DMT fillies managed to get G's knickers in a twist! Poor Frenchman got so stressed at such a critical moment! He was supposed to be controlling the equipment exchange between Mette & Caitlin when suddenly they flooded G's mask as they performed the bikini top exchange. By the time G had stopped panicking & replaced & cleared his mask the girls had completed their exchange. Poor G. Flooded mask at the critical moment! He must have felt like a right boob! Cos he certainly didn't see one!
Full Moon Party last night in Koh Phangan. A legendary event that brings the sleepy little island alive with music, people, & everything you can associate with good times including sex, drugs & neon paint! There'll be somewhere in the region of 5000 revellers on their way from Koh Phangan to Koh Tao over the next few days. After all, the June Full Moon usually marks the beginning of a 4 month high season for us here in Koh Tao. So if you are on your way here anytime from now till October especially around Full Moon then I would highly recommend dropping your drugs & putting on your neon Paint & booking yourself a room quick smart. Sex is optional. Highly recommended... but optional!
Well we're onto the second intriguing tale of Canada & his Adventures in search of the Hidden Village in the Khao Sok National Marine Park. The last exciting installment ended as Canada & his team of intrepid techies discovered some man made steps on the outskirts of the Sunken Village. Since then we've all been hanging on a knife edge in eager anticipation of what might be discovered next. & we are just getting word that the boys have discovered a sunken temple! Might be a little deep for recreational divers but for those of you interested in doing some Tech Diving then this could be just what the high priest ordered!
Sunday 7th June 2009-
There's going to be nudity tonight! Rumour has it 3 of our almost finished DMT's are about to log their 100th dive & as custom dictates the rules of diving state that a Divers 100th logged dive must be done in one's birthday suit! So Caitlin, Mette, & Sara, & Guillaume our BB Official, (there in an offical capacity) are all down the tanning salon getting bronzed & having their bikini lines waxed in preparation of tonights naked antics! Needless to say tonights night dive is a sell out! As everyone is wanting to see what G's bikini line looks like!
Koh Tao. Its changed a lot over the last 10 years or so. Realistically I don't think anyone can actually say its changed for the better but at the same time I don't think its really any worse either. It has a vibe here like nowhere else I've every been. & once you can get away from all the commotion of the touts that greet you off the boats pledging free palatial suites & ease into the lazy island hammock lifestyle you'll quickly feel the magic this place has to offer. You'll be throwing away your jeans & trainers in favour of a pair of Fisherman Pants & flip flops in no time!
Mammoth evenings entertainments for all Big Blue Staff, DMT's & any of our fundivers or students that wanted to come too! Barry, who seems to have adopted the social responsibilities duties organised a fabulous night of bowling & mini golf at Koh Tao's only Bowling & Minigolf course, originally enough! Everyone had a great night knocking off each others pins & sticking their balls in the holes! In fact some people had so much fun it was even suggested they leave their clothes on next time!
Thursday 4th June 2009
Good morning and a great big sorry for the lack updates in the last few day. What with Jim’s parents visiting and a few recent birthday hangovers suffered, the writers have not been tapping on the keyboard. So today I have a mass of information to update you guys on, so here goes…..
First a big welcome to are four new DMT’s, Emma from England, Geoff from France, Lee from England and Glen from England. And, with the DMT circle of life we would also like to congratulate Alex, Sarah and Cody on completing their DMT. Good effort guys and an excellent DMT challenge.
We today also say a very sad farewell to Oskar who leaves our beautiful island today. Oskar is off on a trip with the Big Blue Tech Dept to Khoa Sok National Park on a cavern diving trip then heads off back to Scandinavia . Good luck with everything Oskar and come back soon mate.
Keith an old Big Bluer rolled in to town yesterday with his girlfriend Alex which is great news. The bad news is that he is only here for a couple of days, so…… you can expect a lot of catching being done in the local bars around here. Good to see you buddy!
Finally another big welcome back to Rick and Fanette who have returned from the west coast. Rick has been managing the Big Blue office in Khao Lak since last October and with the season now finished has returned, welcome back guys.
Hot on the tails of Sharkwater (about shark finning) & The end of the line (about overfishing) comes The Cove. A documentary about a town in Japan called Taiji. The little town with the really big secret. Dolphin slaughter. Everyone grew up loving the TV show, Flipper. Unfortunately we have loved dolphins to death. This award-winning “eco-thriller” shows how a hodge-podge group of filmmakers, activists, & freedivers shine a light on this crime against dolphins, the oceans and our planet. The Cove is as suspenseful as it is enlightening. The final result is a heart-wrenching, but inspirational, story that shows the true power of film in the hands of people who aren't afraid to risk everything for a vital cause. Check out their Website http://www.thecovemovie.com & spread the word & help bring an end to the slaughter of not just the dolphins,but also the whales the tuna & the Mafia run fishing fleets!
One of the greatest things about Koh Tao is that this beatiful tropical island paradise on the East coast of Thailand will never drown under the invading weight of capitalist commercialism...we hope! With no airport here, the big chain industries can't branch out & spoil this place. On the other hand, one of the greatest things about our other dive shop on the west coast of Thailand, in Khao Lak is that they are susceptible to capital commercialism thus the raising of the Golden Arches this morning has instilled a longing in the staffs bellies & everyone is putting in for a transfer! Capitalist pigs!
Weather forcast for the next week or so is glorious! Not a breath of wind or even the slightest swell in the sea. Average temperature is 30 Degrees & average visibility is 20+ meters! If you're like half the staff it is the perfect day to go for a sunrise dive at Chumphon Pinacle & then Southwest Rocks! If you're Rich its the perfect time to get back from your trip to the Uk. If your Barry its the perfect time to get the clubs out & go for a jolly over to Chumphon for 18 holes or 36! Aah. This is the life!
Thursday 25th June 2009-
Its a sunrise dive tomorrow morning on board Banzai! 5 in the morning is the meeting time & then we're off straight after that! Its a sell out too! more than 20 people all getting up before the cock crows just to go & see what a bunch of sleeping fish look like when they wake up for the day! Cool! Exciting! Reckon they'll see a few sharks at that time of day too! Blimmin well should do especially if they are getting up 10 minutes before half the population of Koh Tao have even gone to bed!
Many species of open ocean shark are under serious threat, according to an assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Red list gives the status of 64 types of shark and ray, over 30% of which are threatened with extinction. The main cause is overfishing. Listed as endangered are two species of hammerhead shark, often subject to "finning". A further 24% of the examined species has been classified as Near Threatened. Sharks are "profoundly vulnerable" to overfishing, because many species take several years to mature and have relatively few young. Many pelagic sharks are caught in high seas tuna and swordfish fisheries but despite mounting threats, sharks remain virtually unprotected on the high seas. Although some are accidentally caught in nets meant for these other fish, they are increasingly targeted for their meat, teeth and liver oil, and because of high demand, particularly in Asia, for their fins. Save the shark! Stop eating fish!
Congratulations to DMT Pete who now after last nights DMT challenge can finally drop the T! & how about that! Even before he's been certified as a Divemaster the biggest diveshop in the world has gone & snapped him up & have offerred him a full time job as a Divemaster! Now that must have taken some serious impressing to have been offerred a job there! Either we've done a magnificent job training him up or he's been sleeping with his prospective employer! Ah! Yes. That'll be it! Its not what you know. Its who you sleep with! No it isn't only kidding! Well done Pete. Congratulations! DMing for the biggest Dive shop in the world! & Sylvanna said she aint coming back to Koh Tao now cos there aint no jobs! What a load of codswallop!
Wednesday 24th June 2009-
Whaleshark at White Rock this morning! And it was only a baby! Some say it wasn't even 2 meters big! So it was a macro whaleshark! It was a beautiful morning today with flat seas glorious sunshine 20 meter visibility & as I say, a Whaleshark! & then this afternoon with the news of a whaleshark we managed to fill Banzai & have sent a trip out to White Rock again to see more of our little friend! Again flat seas, glorious sunshine, 20 meter visibility & ... fingers crossed as they aren't back yet... another whaleshark! Life's a peach!
Thank God Yvonne is coming back soon. For a while now we have been questioning the state of Canada & Cory's relationship. At first it seemed to be one of teacher & student but ever since Corey became Canada's official bitch their relationship seems to have taken a turn for the homosexual! (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) & their actions last night has really got people talking. Mind you it would do if 2 grown men are seen rolling around on the ground in what looked like a lovers embrace. They say they were 'playfighting' but witnesses say they were rolling around naked, slapping each other's butties! Yvonne Hurry home! Your man is turning ginger! Not that there's anything wrong with that!
"To every one at Big Blue, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I got back from my 5 week trip 2 weeks ago, i've watched my dvd every day I think, Thank you to Heather for giving me this memory. Thank You Sonwan and Mike for your patience and, well frankly, to teach me how to dive and all the fun we all had on (and off) the boat. Thanks to all the dmt's, dm's en di's for all the good times in the bars and on the beaches and of course the staff from the bar and restaurant. (thanks Olav and Richard from holland, veel succes met de opleiding) You ALL have turned an almost 20 year overdue decision into the experience of a life time. I knew i was going to love diving, and i am hooked now. Why do i have to choose all these expensive hobby's, ah well i will just have to come back to Big Blue next year. I can not express in words how much space Koh Tao and Big Blue have in my heart. I hope everyone is well there and i will be coming back and tell everyone about Big Blue and Koh Tao. Frits."
Cheers Frits. You da man!
Tuesday 23rd June 2009-
Another Tuesday & soon to be PADI Course Director Guillaume Froisgrois has taken our DMT's out today to check out how the islands Bio Rock Project is getting on. Its been about a year since the project was first actioned with the construction of the dome & Chad the Island's main Eco Warrior came along today to see how things are getting on as well. In 2008 The Bio Dome was placed in a depth of about 12 meters in between Nang Yuan Island & Koh Tao & its electrically charged frame generates & speeds up coral growth by upto 6 times as fast as normal coral growth. Its a great project & could well be the answer for the future of the worlds depleting coral reefs! Yeah Man! Bio Rocks!
Bit of a Birthday bash tonight for a few of the team turning 21 again! DM Paul & Helen aka Zoe, have invited everyone down to an evenings entertainment at Vibe Beach lounge here on Sairee Beach. There'll be food & drink, singing & dancing & at some stage Paul is bound to fall over & squash some poor innocent nearby Dutchman! Ya big Moose! Happy Birthday Paul! Happy Birthday Zoe!
I'm just too kind! The guy who won our Full Day Trip to Sail Rock yesterday at the party to raise money for the Koh Tao animal clinic, missed the day & came in approximately 3 hours after the boat had left. I've never seen anyone so gutted I had to let him have another shot at making our next trip to Sail Rock- the best dive site in the Glf of Thailand- but if he's going to be 3 hours late again he's flippin well going to have to swim there!
Monday 22nd June 2009-
"Hi Big Blue, I am sending you an email because I wanted to say thank you for the great experiences we gained during our one-week stay on Koh Tao three weeks ago! We came to Koh Tao with neither diving experience, nor intention to dive. But when we decided to take the open water course and the advanced course with Bi Blue, we probably made one of the best decisions of our lifes. We were amazed by the professionalism and the kindness of the crew members. Especially our diving instructor Deano Jenkins had a great impact on the fun we had and the things we learned for our lifes. He was helpful, competent, professional and funny, that's why we trusted him from the beginning. He was always there, even after the dives he took us out and gave us information where to find good food, nightlife, etc. I think that's what you call "to walk the extra mile". We will always recommend Big Blue to the people we meet and we'll come back when there's time. As I wrote before, we came to Koh Tao with neither diving experience, nor intention to dive and we left as great diving fans! Again, thank you so much for a very special experience and keep continuing the good work!!! Hope to see you soon... Best regards from Germany, Mischa Lietzke and Deniz Guentepe"
Thanks Guys for taking the time to write in! Really appreciate & glad you had such a good time with us.
Love the sign Lara! So as you enter Big Blue now from the Sairee Village end one of the first things you will now see is a very long awaited sign saying Big Blue Diving! Its only taken us 16 years to get a sign in place there & now we've finally gone & done it! & it looks beautiful. Its bright, its shiney, & if you don't look where you're going you are likely to walk straight into it! How's that for in your face advertising!
Dan, Alain & Tim are all starting their Open Water Free Diving Course tomorrow with Big Blue Free-Diving Instructor Jeroen De Belgian. Rick has set an incredibly high bar with a static breath hold lasting over 4 minutes & 30 seconds. That is obviously quite impressive! Pressure is on boys! Who's got the biggest lungs? & you know what they say about the size of your lungs! Large lungs equals large breasts! So come on chaps. Who's got the biggest breasts?
Jeroen De Belgian. Rick has set an incredibly high bar with a static breath hold lasting over 4 minutes & 30 seconds. That is obviously quite impressive! Pressure is on boys! Who's got the biggest lungs? & you know what they say about the size of your lungs! Large lungs equals large breasts! So come on chaps. Who's got the biggest breasts?
Sunday 21st June 2009-
Lucky for Guillaume France lost yesterday at rugby playing the Mighty All Blacks from New Zealand. Lucky for G that they lost as it meant Jim wasn't going to have to sack him! Jim also got relatively lucky as he won 1000 Bt off G & didn't have to sack the hairy Gaul! See. France lose. New Zealand win. Everyone's happy!
Caitlin has her Divemaster challenge tonight. Now being a fully fledged thespian Caitlin is all too familiar with the feeling of being watched! Which is all the more surprising that she seemed soo shocked that time our team of tech divers caught her outside the wheelhouse of the Island Divers ship wreck at Japanese Gardens in nothing but her BCD & her birthday suit! Well tonight she will be giving her DM rendition of a James Bond Style Greek Tragedy. I beleive its called Oedipussy!
TDI - Technical Diving International is the largest and one of the most respected technical diving certification agencies in the world. At Big Blue Tech we have always provided TDI courses to our customers but now TDI is our primary source of certification for all our Tech courses that we offer. We’ll still have all options available like DSAT from PADI but now Big Blue Tech is the only TDI Dive Centre on the east coast of Thailand (Koh Tao, Koh Samui, Koh Phangnan and Pattaya; according to www.tdisdi.com) Along with the Dive Centre recognition meant a big box of promotional toys, manuals and certifications. Which Canada had great fun finding somewhere to put the giant flag! To learn more about TDI and courses through Big Blue Tech, feel free to contact us.
Friday 19th June 2009-
Dreams do come true! For any self respecting red blooded male today's the day when you get the opportunity to watch a bevvy of wondrous women dancing around a pole. In the UK its called Maypole dancing & everyone laughs at you. In Sweden its called Midsommer & everyone gets jolly & drunk &...to quote my Swedish friend...' end up in someone else's bed the next morning & not feel guilty about it!' Happy Midsommer Sweden! I live at No 4 Sun & Sea Bungalows!
Fabio, the underwater VDO/photographer from Brazil, not Fabio the Male Model Adonis from Italy who once had a low flying goose fly full on into his face on a rollercoaster ride, has been hanging around lately taking some photos so we can use them in our new, soon to be published Big Blue Brochure! Many thanks to all who've posed unwittingly & those who posed knowingly & are about to be exposed to 90% of all new arrivals on Koh Tao. You all look great!
So now that seems to be 3 days out of the last 4 where our Japanese Team have seen a Blue Marlin darting around at Chumphon Pinnacle! & a Blue Marlin is one of the largest fish in the sea! So now we get 2 of the largest fish in the sea hanging around Koh Tao! No wonder Koh Tao is known as one of the best palces in the world to dive!
Thursday 18th June 2009
Barry flew through the air with the greatest of ease,
That daring 'young' man on the flying trapeze.
His movements were 'graceful', all girls he could please
He looked like he'd escaped from a KISS concert...
Oh, Emily floated through the air with the greatest of ease,
You'd think her a man on the flying trapeze(high praise indeed),
She does all the work while we took our ease (not the controlled substance),
And she wore a lovely pink wig.
No-one knew we needed a Trapeze school on the island until someone went ahead and started one. I for one think the clowns were unnecessary, though. Something about clowns, especially drunken ones wearing torn fishnets and brassieres just scares the crap out of me. Never mind the freaks on stilts, the bearded lady (sorry G) and 300 kilo woman (Cory didn't quite pull that one off). Fortune tellers, lions in cages - Koh Tao Carnival in fact!
Did you know?
The performance was invented in 1859, by a Frenchman named Jules Leotard who connect a bar to some ventilator cords above the swimming pool in his father's gymnasium in Toulouse, France. After practising tricks above the pool, Leotard performed his act in the Cirque Napoleon (now known as the Cirque d'hiver). The traditional flyer’s costume, the leotard, is named after him.
Wednesday 17th June 2009-
Obviously day 1 of Big Blue's first ever Freediving Course has gone very well as Fanette managed to a static breath hold for a personal best of 3.30 minutes. But Rick broke has set all records by being able to hole his breath for an unbelievable 4 minutes & 30 seconds! That is quite an amazing achievement & Rick is every ones hero today! Not a bad advert for Big Blue Breath Holders too eh Jerome!
So Barry & Emily are all set for their big night tonight as they represent Big Blue on the opening night of Koh Tao's newest business adventure here in Sairee- The Koh Tao Flying Trapeze School! So Barry & Emily are going to be flying through the air performing mid air somersaults & spins & then being caught on the other side dressed up all the while in their tight spandex leotards! and as tonight is opening night it will be a massive turnout with food stalls, beer tents, & a raffle where Big Blue will be giving a free Full Day Trip to Sail Rock & 2 part-time Dive Instructor jobs in case Bazza & Emily don't make it back to work after tonight!
Must have been another School Disco night at Vibe Beach Bar last night as I saw a couple of 'knock kneed' school children parading up & down the beach in their school uniforms touting for business! Looked very much like Andy Luckman & Micky! & judging by what Micky's school uniform looked like I wish my parents had sent me to her school! Think the majority of red blooded males did too as they seemed to have followed her to another very busy night out at Vibe moving & grooving to the sounds of Kenny Loggins & Banana Rama! Everyone loves the 80's!
Tuesday 16th June 2009
-Congratulations to Serra for finishing her Divemaster training. Our Aussie DMT lost her T last night along with her bag and camera and keys, after an uneventful search last night she woke up in Moov this morning. Good effort Serra!
The DM team put on a Magical Mystery dive tour yesterday, Koh Tao has a lot of unexplored areas on the East side of the island so today the boys have decided to stick a pin in the map and jump in to see what they can find, who knows they might find some caves, sunken treasure, mermaids, tuk tuks? Who knows, good luck on a new dive sight discovery.
We have a very athletic team at the moment if they’re not running round hitting rounder’s balls or doing chin up with twin tanks on in Canada’s Butch Club, they are spinning and flipping on the new trapeze, practicing for the opening night on the 17th Barry And Emily are doing Big Blue proud, the rest of us will be the clowns watching from solid ground.
Monday 15th June 2009-
So there seems to be a few aching limbs, a dabble of sun burnt bits, a cluster of headaches & a lot of Dan voice impressions, even now, 2 days after Husky Dan's legendary 30th Birthday Party. The headaches don't take much investigation but whats with the deep throats, achey limbs & sunburn? Might have something to do with Saturdays game of Rounders! All that sun, all that running & all that word repetition! 'Rounder, rounder, rounder, rounder!' No wonder everyone sounds like Husky Dan!
Its like the calm before the storm. We've just had our monthly Full Moon rush, & the majority of the Phangan revellers have finally starbursted out of here! Now there'll be a lull before the busiest time of the year! July August & September! Soon Peak High season will be upon us! So staff better get your sicknesses, ear infections, colds, bike spills, coral cuts, tropical infections & days off out the way now before you're all busier then a brickie in Baghdad!
Diving at the moment is marvellous! The visibility right now seems to be as good as its been all year! So we are talking up to 30 meters at some of our further dive sites like Chumphon & South west. Twins & White Rock too appear to be on a 30 meter par! Even in the shallows in confined you can see further than you could if you were in a swimming pool! Mind you that wouldn't be difficult! Its hard to see through all the wirey strands of body hair & smegma that harbours in some pools here! Much better diving in the sea than the pool. Much healthier too. For body & mind!
Sunday 14th June 2009-
Freediving is simple. A freediver relies on a single breath of air to explore the undersea world. Moving gracefully without wasting energy, a freediver can spend minutes underwater and experience the ocean as any other marine mammal does. Free from cumbersome equipment, a freediver can sneak up on a turtle, or glide to the bottom for a meeting with a manta ray. To get started, all you need is a basic knowledge of freediving safety, a buddy to dive with, equipment and a few tips on technique. Here at Big Blue we are now proud to offer freediving courses with our man Jeroen a Free Diving Instructor from Belgium, & it looks like Rick & Fanette are officially going to be Big Blue's first Free Diving students! Who's going to be our second set of students?
'Dear Jim, I just wanted to write to say how much I really enjoyed my Divemaster course at Big Blue. There is a great atmosphere there & everybody is always so very helpful. Both the Instructor mentors & all the Divemasters would go out of their way to help out. I'm very gald that I chose this Dive school to learn how to become a diving professional. Thanks to all the team. Lara Roberts'. Thanks Lara. Thanks for your letter & a really big thanks for doing all the signs around the resort for us!
Well the word is obviously out there, as our Barry has been invited by one of the largest IDC Centres in the World, Bans Diving, to guest speak at this months IDC. His Fish Identification lecture that he does here at Big Blue every month for our own DMT's, has become so popular & informative that Jonas Samuelson & Tim Hunt the Koh Tao IDC Group Course Directors now want Barry doing a lecture regularly on their IDC's as well. Nice one Bazza! First it was Barry Footloose Covill dancing on stage infront of 1000's of people at this years KT festival. Now Professor Barry is teaching a generation of new Instructors what fish have what names & why! Is it possible Barry might surprise us all with another secret other unknown talent in the next few days? Watch this space!
Saturday 13th June 2009-
So who was the mysterious diver wandering around the ocean with no wetsuit or even a swimsuit on yesterday afternoon at Japanese Gardens of all places? Poor thing appeared to get the fright of her life as she nonchalantly cruised past Canada & his team of Techies completely oblivious to them sitting in the wheelhouse of the wreck that rests there. Luckily for them & all of us reading this website, & unluckily for our underwater Lady Godiva, they had a camera!
Going! Going! Gone! First it was the whales. Then it was the sharks. & now it seems to be the tuna! There are warnings that tuna could start to disappear from the sea as early as 2012. There are fears that the creatures, known as the "cheetahs of the ocean", could be driven to extinction by our growing appetite for sushi and omega-3 oils. I mentioned last week of the movie that is about to change the way you look at fishing- 'The end of the Line' is another amazing Documentary movie to rival Sharkwater. Do your thing people & do what you can to reduce over fishing. You can start by watching this!
Happy Birthday Dan! 30 years young today! Seems to have been an awful lot of Birthdays in May & June what with Canada, Ricky, Deano, Tim & now Dan we all seem to be putting on a bit of a party paunch! And I guess tonight isn't exactly going to help what with dinner & then drinks over at Vibe after! Don't worry Kymmie we'll look after him. We'll make sure he doesn't get too sozzled. After all he's no spring chicken anymore. We're bound to need someone to help the frail old man! Happy Birthday Dan.
Friday 12th June 2009-
Well we've been having some gorgeous tropical weather over here in Koh Tao lately. Apparently its been pretty bad weather all over Thailand right now but here in the Gulf its another beautiful day of sunshine, smooth calm seas, warm crystal clear azure waters, not a breath of wind, not a cloud in the sky! In fact if it wasn't so bloody early it would be a perfect place to have a Pimms about now!
Great to see our ladies showing some initiative and organising a big game of rounders on the beach tomorrow afternoon! Girls versus boys! And so far there appear to be almost 30 players signed up to swing a bat & ball around! Of course the great thing about beach rounders is you can just jump in the sea when it gets too hot which is why the majority of players are going to be dressed in their swimsuits! & jus t to make sure we know who is on who's team the boys will be 'shirts' & the girls will be 'skins'! That should draw the crowds!
Nice to have Ricky back & doing some teaching for us again! Ricky has been working in the Similans for the last 6 months as a Trip Leader on board one of the Similans more successful Liveaboard Operators with Wicked Diving. But now its the off season on the west coast right now so he's come back to be with his family for the next few months till he has to go back again & do some more Liveaboard trips leading, & diving with Manta Rays & Leopard sharks! Its a hard life. But somebody's got to do it eh Ricky?
Thursday 10th June 2009-
Well it looks like Sonia has gone down with something & might need a few days to recover! But being the tough ballet dancer that Sonia is she is bound to be back up on her feet in no time! Triple Pirouetting all over the place! More than can be said for Simon who in an inevitable Simon style got himself a teeny weenie cut, so small you need a magnifying glass to see it. Well now its infected & the Doctor says he'll be out of the water for 5 days. But knowing how slowly Simon heals we'll double that, add 3 divide by 5 & then times it by the number you first thought of! Get better soon guys.
Bit of a delayed Full Moon Rush but as they say better late than never! Once every month for about 5 days Koh Tao gets really busy as the revellers from Koh Phangan make their way to the next island & the next adventure on their travels around Thailand & Asia & this, unsurprisingly, is where everyone comes to learn to dive! So welcome Revellers & Party people. Glad you had fun under the moon on Koh Phangan. Now lets have some fun under the sun & under the water here in Koh Tao! So shirts off trousers down... mask snorkel & fins on!
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
Tuesday 9th June 2009-
Imagine an ocean without fish! Imagine your meals without seafood. Imagine the global consequences. This is the future if we do not stop, think and act. The End of the Line, is the next big feature documentary film, following in the steps of An Inconvenient Truth & Sharkwater. It reveals the impact of overfishing on our oceans & shows the effects of our global love affair with fish as food. It examines the imminent extinction of bluefin tuna, brought on by increasing western demand for sushi; the impact on marine life resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications of a future world with no fish that would bring certain mass starvation. Scientists predict that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will see the end of most seafood by 2048. We must stop thinking of our oceans as a food factory and realize that they thrive as a huge and complex marine environment. We must act now. Overfishing is the great environmental disaster that people haven't heard about, & ultimately its demise will make the dive industry obsolete!
In the world of the DMT's its a very big day today as its graduation day for the world's longest serving DMT! After 6 years 4 months, & 21 days Heather has finally completed her Divemaster Course & not only that is seriously considering taking her Inst Course next! But first she has to under take the final test of the Divemaster Course & that is tonights DM Challenge! DMT's from all over the world have been flying in to mark the occasion. The press are here & I believe there is a letter from the PADI Daddy on its way as well. As I said its a very big occasion! Congratulations Heather! Now when do you sign up to be an Instructor?
Great to see Rick back in the fold after his Honda Dream road trip around Thailand last month. Rick is of course our manager at our Big Blue Dive shop in Khao Lak & has been over there on the west coast since October so its great to have him back. And as its his first day back at work he's straight in team teaching with Instructor Dan a whole cluster of very excited Discover Scuba Divers. You're in for a blast guys!
Monday 8th June 2009-
Looks like a couple of our young DMT fillies managed to get G's knickers in a twist! Poor Frenchman got so stressed at such a critical moment! He was supposed to be controlling the equipment exchange between Mette & Caitlin when suddenly they flooded G's mask as they performed the bikini top exchange. By the time G had stopped panicking & replaced & cleared his mask the girls had completed their exchange. Poor G. Flooded mask at the critical moment! He must have felt like a right boob! Cos he certainly didn't see one!
Full Moon Party last night in Koh Phangan. A legendary event that brings the sleepy little island alive with music, people, & everything you can associate with good times including sex, drugs & neon paint! There'll be somewhere in the region of 5000 revellers on their way from Koh Phangan to Koh Tao over the next few days. After all, the June Full Moon usually marks the beginning of a 4 month high season for us here in Koh Tao. So if you are on your way here anytime from now till October especially around Full Moon then I would highly recommend dropping your drugs & putting on your neon Paint & booking yourself a room quick smart. Sex is optional. Highly recommended... but optional!
Well we're onto the second intriguing tale of Canada & his Adventures in search of the Hidden Village in the Khao Sok National Marine Park. The last exciting installment ended as Canada & his team of intrepid techies discovered some man made steps on the outskirts of the Sunken Village. Since then we've all been hanging on a knife edge in eager anticipation of what might be discovered next. & we are just getting word that the boys have discovered a sunken temple! Might be a little deep for recreational divers but for those of you interested in doing some Tech Diving then this could be just what the high priest ordered!
Sunday 7th June 2009-
There's going to be nudity tonight! Rumour has it 3 of our almost finished DMT's are about to log their 100th dive & as custom dictates the rules of diving state that a Divers 100th logged dive must be done in one's birthday suit! So Caitlin, Mette, & Sara, & Guillaume our BB Official, (there in an offical capacity) are all down the tanning salon getting bronzed & having their bikini lines waxed in preparation of tonights naked antics! Needless to say tonights night dive is a sell out! As everyone is wanting to see what G's bikini line looks like!
Koh Tao. Its changed a lot over the last 10 years or so. Realistically I don't think anyone can actually say its changed for the better but at the same time I don't think its really any worse either. It has a vibe here like nowhere else I've every been. & once you can get away from all the commotion of the touts that greet you off the boats pledging free palatial suites & ease into the lazy island hammock lifestyle you'll quickly feel the magic this place has to offer. You'll be throwing away your jeans & trainers in favour of a pair of Fisherman Pants & flip flops in no time!
Mammoth evenings entertainments for all Big Blue Staff, DMT's & any of our fundivers or students that wanted to come too! Barry, who seems to have adopted the social responsibilities duties organised a fabulous night of bowling & mini golf at Koh Tao's only Bowling & Minigolf course, originally enough! Everyone had a great night knocking off each others pins & sticking their balls in the holes! In fact some people had so much fun it was even suggested they leave their clothes on next time!
Thursday 4th June 2009
Good morning and a great big sorry for the lack updates in the last few day. What with Jim’s parents visiting and a few recent birthday hangovers suffered, the writers have not been tapping on the keyboard. So today I have a mass of information to update you guys on, so here goes…..
First a big welcome to are four new DMT’s, Emma from England, Geoff from France, Lee from England and Glen from England. And, with the DMT circle of life we would also like to congratulate Alex, Sarah and Cody on completing their DMT. Good effort guys and an excellent DMT challenge.
We today also say a very sad farewell to Oskar who leaves our beautiful island today. Oskar is off on a trip with the Big Blue Tech Dept to Khoa Sok National Park on a cavern diving trip then heads off back to Scandinavia . Good luck with everything Oskar and come back soon mate.
Keith an old Big Bluer rolled in to town yesterday with his girlfriend Alex which is great news. The bad news is that he is only here for a couple of days, so…… you can expect a lot of catching being done in the local bars around here. Good to see you buddy!
Finally another big welcome back to Rick and Fanette who have returned from the west coast. Rick has been managing the Big Blue office in Khao Lak since last October and with the season now finished has returned, welcome back guys.
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