February Diary 2008

Friday 29th February 2008-

Reckon it would be nice if we all put our hands together to congratulate Big Blue Diving's first Tech certified divers! So in a cacophany of ecoustics & fanfare congratulations Mac & Tully! These guys are now on the path to exceeding depths greater than 70 meters. That my friends is the equivalent depth or size of a 25 storey building! Its dark, dirty & very eerie! Canada lives there! And in the world of diving you've achieved a benchmark boys. Imagine diving 25 storeys only to find you can't see anything! Good work Canada & Congratulations Mac & Tully.

My computer doesn't go ping when I want it to. So when you ask me a question in our chat window I don't hear Ping when I'm supposed to. So apologies for those partial pauses people. Please be patient. My Ping will be programmed in presently.

Water clarity is very good at the moment. The troops returned from their morning dive full of the joys of spring having seen another species of shark today at Chumphon Pinnacle. Frequent shark visitors to Chumphon Pinnacle include the Whale Shark, the Grey Reef Shark, & Bull Sharks! & we do get them but not very often & that is the Black Tip Reef Shark. You are way more likely to see them snorkelling at the south of the island than diving out at Chumpers but there we go. Nice Find DM's- Don't forget to let the air out of her & put it back with the other inflatable fish when you've finished with her!

Thursday 28th February 2008-

So the big news in Thailand today is that Thaksin Shinawatra, the formerly ousted Prime Minister is back! He will now answer in court to the allegations of corruption. Now I have no idea if he's guilty or not & nor does any of this make any difference to anything you'd notice on your holiday to Thailand. But I do know that since he was given the old heave ho, he went & bought a Premier League Football Club, Manchester City, & introduced the world to the wonders of Chang beer. C'mon how corrupt could he be? He can't be that bad!

There's a new toy I want which I've now put on my Birthday wishlist. I'm actually feeling a little nostalgic actually as I put it on my Birthday wishlist in 1977 aswell! The underwater car in James Bond- the spy who loved me. Its what every man dreams to have & every woman dreams to have after she's got all the things she wants. Of course in 1977 it was kiddy sized. Now its adult sized & I really want one!

I'm not a religious man but today I witnessed the Second coming! Well kind of. Thomas, our German Jesus lookalike is back. He fogot the white nightgown & the sandals but otherwise he looks exactly like he did last time I went to church!

Wednesday 27th February 2008-

Now if you go to our Contact Us page on our website you will notice a brand new, very cool addition to the site. Its our online chat window! You can sit there wherever you are & can ask me anything you would like to! Isn't that groovy! I am of course hoping the sort of questions I get asked will be diving or at least Koh Tao related. Not sure this is going to work too well tho, if people keep wanting to know what clothes I'm wearing & if I like opera!

Its pretty busy again in Koh Tao people. If you are on your way over I really would encourage you to at least book your accommodation ahead of time. Last night we were still looking for rooms for people at 7pm. & of course at that time of night don't be surprised if suddenly the room prices double because the hoteliers know you are in a pretty desperate position if you still haven't got a room by 7pm. Look at Rick! Yesterday morning he had a hammock on his balconey available for rent at 100 bt. By Lunchtime, as rooms became less available he upped his hammock rent to 500 Bt. Then by 7pm last night he was in a sellers market & increased his price again to 1000 Bt. Of course he still wasn't able to rent it out tho, as it was a drastically over priced piece of real estate, but good fun to talk about with potential tennants!

Very successful Full Day Trip to Sail Rock yesterday. Glorious sunshine. Best viz there for ages & about 20+ meters in some areas, & in case you didn't know Sail Rock is probably the best divesite we have in the Gulf of Thailand. So great dive site, great viz, & great sunshine! Must have been a great day till you got back & realised how sunburnt you were eh Dan?

Tuesday 26th February 2008

The rain came did its business & left! All rather anti climactic, but the plants look better! Annoying thing with the rain is it tends to fill up all the pot holes with water so they just look like patches of unlevelled road. These innocuous little patches become deep wells everytime I drive my bike over them. & the annoying thing is that after driving these roads this bloody long I really should know that by now!

Nice to hear from so many of you on our Facebook Group. Sounds like you are all well & have had an enjoyable experience with us in Koh Tao. I also hope you know that we have all had an enjoyable time you guys being here. Just don't go & spoil it by coming back! Ony kidding Charlie! It will be great to see you mate, just leave your scottish dress at home!

Hmmm. I'm hearing rumours that the Full Moon Party boat which ferries people from Koh Tao to Phangan & back, partied alittle too hard & forgot to come back to Koh Tao. Apparently it ended up in Samui. When first I heard I was a little bit concerned by it as I reckoned the Captain & his boys must have partied a little too hard. But then I realised why they had to go Samui first! McDonalds run! Everyone's crazy for a McD's after a big party!

Sunday 24th February 2008
Now I've never been to Manchester but I reckon when I look up at the sky today it looks like what I reckon Manchester looks like! Wet & dark! Apparently we are in for 19 mm of rain today! That's alot! Its a good thing too people! We haven't had any rain since the last time we had rain and then we flooded! There's alot of flowers around here that look like they could do with 19mm of water!

Its reef check day today! Darren & his team of tough looking eco warriors are off to Japanese Gardens to check, photograph, record & report on the state of the corals! We'll be focusing on colors, breakages, regrowth & regeneration, fish life & water temperature. The idea is once a month we check out the same area & see if there has been any noticeable changes. Today will be the first recorded entry of the area & we hope to continue the project for many years to come. Darren will be an old man by the time he's finished this little project!

I think the saying goes- if it aint broke don't fix it! Well I've only gone & put these little boxes down the side of our web page & funnily enough since I've done it our emails have dropped right down! Either that or people have heard Alex aint doing the emails anymore! I'm confused. Anyhow the amount of internet bookings we got so far this month is more than the total number of bookings we got last year in the 3 busiest months! Not bad eh? So why did I go & try & fix the bloody thing with these boxes! Muppet!

Saturday 23rd February 2008
I have yet to find out if I actually have been a target on some gotcha tv or radio show, but yesterday I got interviewed by the Nation newspaper, one of Thailand's largest English newspapers to discuss what we are getting involved in at Big Blue with regards our environmental efforts to clean up Koh Tao. AS you may or may not know we like to pick up rubbish here at Big Blue in an effort to rid the island of plastic bags, polystyrene & other non eco friendly waste products.'I said 'We are all Saints & that the stairway to heaven will have lots of gold & glitter everywhere!" He thought I said 'the 7 11 has made pots of gold & littered everywhere!" Hmm,! I couldn't have put it better myself!

Wow! Ricky has been Divemastering here for way over a year already & I think yesterday was the first time he has had a day off with his Missus together! Aww sweet! Hope you had a nice day mate. Did you get breakfast in bed? Your feet scrubbed & your back rubbed? Lunch out? Afternoon walking the dogs along the beach? A cocktail at sunset then a dinner & a movie? Ponce! Get back to work!

Do you remember that DM we used to have here. Brummie, rugby playing bouncer who reckoned she could have us all in a fair tussle then went & dislocated her shoulder in a strong breeze! Sonia that's right! Well I've just heard from the Horse's mouth (sorry Sonia) that Thailands' premier diving Doctor, Doctor Luba has given her the all clear to dive again. That's great news! Well it is for Khao Lak! For us in Koh Tao it means she'll be coming back soon! You bastard Luba, I thought you were my friend!

Friday 22nd February 2008-
Got some extremely sad news I'm afraid. Alex & Lucy are leaving & going back to England! Massive shame. Thanks Alex for all you have done for Big Blue & a special thanks from me for answering all those emails everyday! We shall all miss you, well the others will miss you. I won't have time to miss you! I'll be too bloody busy answering all the emails! Good luck guys.

Guys, I got a limp sausage! Who brike Sausage's leg. Poor little Chippalata. She looks ridiculous not to mention the pain she must be in. That's got to hurt! Luckily our Dogmaster Rick was around to alert the emergency services who will be over shortly to set her leg & bind it to a stick & then put her in a plaster cast. Yummm, who wants ketchup & mustard with their sausage on a stick!

Well if I'm going to give you 2 pieces of bad news in one day I may aswell go the whole hog & fill you in on a third bit of unfortunate drama. The viz has gone to shit!
But don't worry its Full Moon tonight. Thats all we need - one good tidal current will swoop it all away. This time tomorrow you'll be able to see so far we might even find the lost city of Atlantis at last!

Wednesday 20th February 2008-

Rumour has it that yesterday at Shark Island there was a mother whaleshark measuring 7 meters swimming next to her calf reportedly only 1 meter long. Hmmm. That made me think. If a whale shark can measure upto 20 meters as an adult then a 1 meter whaleshark must be a new born! Awesome! Camera's at the ready people. This shot could be worth something!

You may recall a few weeks ago me harping on about the dog problem we were having here at the resort. You'll remember we rounded them up & sent them out ParcelForce to a few difficult customers who we've had in the past. Those we kept- Uri, Ugly & Sausage are now all sporting their very own 'Big Blue Dog' Collars as donated by our Instructors. Very swish! First time Ugly & Sausage have ever worn a dog collar. Makes even Ugly look quite Dapper!

Its that time of the month when everyone deserts Koh Tao to head off for the Full Moon Party at Koh Phangan. 15,000 people all on one beach moving & swaying to the beats of techno & trance! Just not my cup of tea! Gimme a third the number of people, same beach, lots of pretty girls, some Duran Duran & a plethora of terrible haircuts. Now that's more my scene!

Tuesday 19th February 2008-

Its Official Big Blue is now big on Green! So much so that we have even been granted the Green Light! In other words Big Blue is the latest PADI dive centre to be awarded with Project AWARE Go ECO Operator status in 2008. Nice one people! Well done Darren! This means we are taking a determined stand to minimise the impact we have on the aquatic ecosystem whilst contributing to environmental, economic and cultural conservation- It's Big Green Diving Resort now!

Oi you! Whoever you are outside Aukotan yesterday about 3pm who nicked my bloody shoes! Give them back! Yours smell & I can't wear them! Make me walk like a Ponce!

Weather at present is pretty much the same as it has been for a while now! Bright & sunny! I can prove it too. The one day I go out on the boat I go beetroot red & now 3 or 4 days later my face looks like someone has been trying to rub me out! I got eraser poo all over my forehead my nose & the back of my neck! Remember everyone avoid peeling! Slip, slop, slap!

Monday 18th February 2008-

Its great being splattered across the face once a week with a douse of realism. You forget about the real world if you live on this NeverNeverLand too long! But every Monday the whole country wears yellow to show love & respect for the King Of Thailand. Its like an alarm clock. Its so easy to forget about things like traffic lights & Branston Pickle & even which day of the week it is, but once every week we get woken up! Wishing you all a very Happy Monday everyone! Its another beautiful Monday morning here in Paradise!

I got to be honest. As a certified diver if I was shopping around Koh Tao for a center to dive with I'd definitely choose us! Here's why. This afternoon we have a dedicated certified divers boat with only 7 divers & 2 DM's on it, going to any 2 dives on Koh Tao our divers wish to go to! So this arvo we are off to the magnificent Hin Wong Pinnacle in our search for turtles & soft corals & then my favourite divesite on the East coast of Koh Tao Laem Thien Caves! There are actually 16 swim thru's here & if you've dived it before you'll know what I'm talking about when I mention Star Wars canyon! If you haven't dived it before then its about time!

You do get asked some pretty weird questions in this job. My favourite was while I used to teach I was asked by a student one very wet afternoon - "If it rains while I'm diving will my pressure group increase?" Then yesterday I was asked "Can you cry underwater?" Where do people come up with these?

Sunday 17th February 2008

More whaleshark virgins were let loose yesterday. It was actually very scarey. Some of the smiles spread across these peoples faces so far I thought we might need to perform surgery! Nice one people! I remember when I lost my cherry to a whaleshark. Her name was Susan & she was from Hawkes Bay!

Ear mark the date people! This could be the very last time you see our Face book group in this perfectly functioning, orderly well conducted set up. I've let some of the ' the monkeys" out of their cages by making them administrators in our group & can't help feeling they are about to exact havoc upon my months of hard work!So Ally, Darren, Deano & G please control your monkey, Canada, please!

Congratulations Alison & Danielle on performing what was an absolutely hysterical Divemaster Challenge Beauty Pageant. Of course being of Yankee origin Alison is a lot more used to dancing & parading around in sequins & high heels & being the center of attention than our Danielle who being of Pommie origin is far more at home standing behind other people in a queue in a supermarket somewhere with a nice hot brew! An excellent DM Challenge & a comical pageant! So that's why you pay good money to become a trained diving professional, to dress up & look beautiful!

Friday 15th February 2008

Today is the islands annual festival to Save Koh Tao!It starts with a little ceremony of all the island elders & decision makers, & all the kids from Koh Tao's only school. The kids dress up & the school marching band plays some kind of unrecognisable jingle for everyone. Then the elders speak & then someone comes over to me with a mike in my hand & asks me to say something in English! Hmmm! not sure how I got roped into delivering a 5 minute speech to everyone, but I did!

The gist of which was that we are trying to clean up our beaches, educate the local people & the children & stop the import of plastic bags & other non biodegradable products. Then I told everyone that all the dive shops would be offerring a free dive to anyone who wanted to participate in the underwater cleanup that we would be organising in the afternoon on Maehaad reef!

And then in the afternoon over 120 divers gathered to help in cleaning up Koh Tao! I'd say that each diver picked up at least their own divebag size worth of rubbish! Other noticeable pieces of trash picked up off the bottom of our ocean were a JVC player, ceiling light fittings, a toilet complete with cistern & heaps of metal cookie tins! A heap big pile of rubbish! Thankyou everyone for participating in saving Koh Tao!

Wednesday 14th February 2008

Congratulations Yvonne! She is now a fully fledged PADI Instructor & is going to go out tonight & celebrate like Its Neinsehn Hundred und Nein und Neinsig!

Well some people have landed us in the poo with our other halves today! Darren! Look mate it works like this! If you do something which makes you look great & the rest of us look bad then you aren't exactly going to be making too many buddies around here! If you are going to go spend 1000 bt on a suitcase worth of roses for your Missus then at least let your mates know so we can go get armed with ours! Girlfriend Crawler!

I admit! I need help! I am completely snowed under! We are so happy to be this busy but I need more hours in the day! Poor old Deano & Ricky who had to go to Burma yesterday on their visa run were then told to come back on the night boat, instead of staying in some hotel on the mainland, cos they both had to be back by 9am to start courses. Didn't look or smell very nice by the time they got to work but then that's the Welsh & Irish for you!

Tuesday 12th February 2008

So our eco warrior, Darren is hyping up the event we will be holding on Koh Tao on 15th February- the clean up Maehaad day! Its not the prettiest town, Maehaad, or the most welcoming either when you first arrive in Koh Tao- be warned those of you on their way over, & being a busy little harbour there is quite alot of mess around so we're off to pick it all up! Its free& it'll make you feel good! Anyone care to join us for a good feeling free dive?

Its always a sad day when you say goodbye to people or staff who have been here at Big Blue so long so we are all very sad to have to say goodbye to Chin, our ever so friendly cashier. He has been here almost 3 years now & is looking for a new change. So good luck Mr Chin. Its been a blast.

Wow, I know Koh Tao is beautiful, it always has been, but has it really taken this long to get the word out! Koh Tao has been getting busier for the last few years but so far 2008, well its busier than a one armed brick layer in Baghdad! Thailand's number 1 Rock group 'Loso' were even playing live in Aow Leuk lastnight! Its that busy that even the most popular group in Thailand came to little old Koh Tao to play a concert! Amazing Koh Tao!

Monday 11th February 2008
Cheers Sonia I forget to tell everyone yesterday. We have another website & its specifically tailored for our Big Blue Office in Khao Lak. Well worth having a look at www.bigbluedivingkhaolak.com . I gather it isn't very busy over there at the moment which surprises the hell out of me cos at this time of the year the Similans & Surin Islands are usually very active with the Manta Rays especially at the cleaning station in Koh Bon. You haven't experienced the true beauty of diving till you've dived with Manta Rays. Cmon guys off your arses- go manta spotting in Khao Lak!

Funny that Koh Tao, well the whole gulf of Thailand actually doesn't get Manta Rays. We get Whale Sharks though, but they do tend to be a little smaller than the visitors to the west coast of Thailand. But I think we get more of them. How many Whale shark sightings have you had over there this year, 2008, Khao Lak? And Manta's? We got 5 Whale sharks & 0 manta's this year so far in Koh Tao. Not bad, thats an average here of just under 1 a week. Rick's group yesterday were our most recent set of broken whale shark virgins!

Can't get a room anywhere! No rooms left on Sairee beach again! & I don't even know why! The amount of people coming to the island has increased so much in the last few years. A word of warning to any of you thinking of coming over in the next few days weeks or even months! If you don't want to spend your first day on Koh Tao wandering round searching for rooms then book ahead! I'd highly recommend it!

Sunday 10th February 2008

Pretty good turn out at Darrens surprise Birthday bash last night. Think Mummy & Daddy Darren were pretty impressed aswell. Had a surprise Buckland Birthday BarBQ bash at Vibe. Thanks Dave for sorting that out. Nice job too Ally, who managed to keep it all a secret & organise the food & cake & MC Deano for his mammoth soliloquay!

Meant to do this ages ago but it slipped my mind! We need to welcome Hendrik, our new Swedish Instructor, to the fold! Hendrik is a relatively fresh Instructor which means he is extremely keen to do well & impress! & so far he has. He does seem to have a habit of leaving his reg lying around a bit but as long as Ricky & I get our 2 beer penalty fine each time he does, I don't think either of us really mind!

Got to love Rick's idea for a T-shirt! "ATV's Suck!". Got to love the fact that he actually went ahead & got some printed! Also got to love the idea that he not only went & sold everyone he printed he actually made a profit out of it aswell! I guess he should do to cos he's right! ATV's do suck. They are big, noisy, death traps & if any of you coming to Koh Tao soon please don't rent an ATV, cos we all hate them! & we got a T-shirt to prove it now aswell!

Saturday 9th February 2008

Our Delboys Birthday today. Happy Bday Darren. & how about that for a nice prezzie! His folks arrive today! Well some people would call the arrival of their parents to the island on their birthday a nice prezzie, some may disagree! We're all going to have a big party tonight to celebrate Darrens well spent 34 years acting the clown! Happy Birthday Mate!

Well if any of you were interested in watching an operation in progress you missed the fun today! Had the fantastic girls from the Animal Clinic, Wendy & Jay, come down & give our lady dogs the snip so they can't have anymore babies! Think we've had enough of them lately! & then the clinic took mummy & her kids off to the clinic to find owners for them all. And suddenly we are back to our Big Blue brood of 6. Thank god!

I don't like repeating myself & I'm not one to harp on about the rights & wrongs of this world, but I just can't help feeling that some things are completely barmy! I mean, why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?!! Why do the Japanese continue to slaughter whales on a mass scale while the world does nothing to protect them. So at the risk of repeating myself... Please people... SAVE THE WHALE! Harpoon the Japanese!

Friday 8th Feb 2008

We got the troops on the case for the translations of our web pages. Soon we are going to be advertising to the world in not only English & Japanese, but also French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Finnish & Maori!

I have a morality question for you! You may be aware that in recent months we have had a bit of a mongrel epidemic. Our Canine's grew from 6 to 16 in a matter of weeks, which I'm sure you'll agree with me is a few too many! So we had a meeting & decided to give the dogs to the animal clinic with a healthy donation & ask them to take care of them all! & that's what was agreed! After a restless nights sleep I've decided I can't do that to all the dogs so we are going to get rid of all the new ones & just keep our six originals! So my question is this...If electricity comes from electrons then does morality come from Morons!

Can you feel it? I can sense it in my waters! You see there are two main kinds of ocean currents, those driven by the wind and the earth's rotation that affect the surface waters, and those driven by density that affect the deeper waters. Its these deep water currents, with mixes of cold & warm water creating thermoclines & also the extra accumulation of salt water that are so important here in Koh Tao because it helps to mix the deep waters, bringing oxygen and nutrients to the area, which in turn brings in the little stuff like plankton which inturn brings in the big stuff like Whalesharks! So all those of you who experienced thismornings strong currents at Southwest Pinnacle- not to worry, its a good thing!

Thursday 7th Feb 2008

Our Full Day Trip to Angthong Marine Park was a fabulous success, as if it was ever going to be any different! The sun was out, the sea was flat, the tourists kept away & the islands looked at their most magnificent! Apparently the diving was a little disappointing cos the viz was pants, but the swim thrus were swum thru & the air rings were round & had an air like quality so everyone had a jolly good day! Hurrah!

So its quite clear! Alex has done a runner! Obviously earnt way too much money last month & him & his Missus have jetted off to South America to live like drug lords! Hopefully that isn't strictly true & Alex will be back soon. He blimmin well better be, I got sores on the end of my fingers from all this typing I've had to do since he left!

Had a really hard time sleeping last night! Couldn't escape the ghastly images of our Deano & his quite stunningly beautiful new missus smooching like love sick teenagers at the waters edge for the whole world to see during sunset. Ghastly!

Wednesday 6th Feb 2008

So its always a magical day when you go out diving & one of the last things you expect to turn up turns up! I'm talking of course about the largest fish in the sea- growing upto 20 meters & weighing upto 20 tonnes- the Whaleshark. A very interesting fact I learnt the other day about the whaleshark is that the Japanese DON'T hunt or fish for the Whaleshark because they are regarded as a good luck symbol. In Vietnam they are even revered as the Fish God! Cool eh! Well our Fish God yesterday measured in at a pubescent 4 meters & made a lot of virgin Whaleshark spotters very happy. Not sure our Open Water students are aware of how lucky they are.Just to give you a clue- Jacques Cousteau dived for 20 years before he saw his first whaleshark! & apart from the fact he was French, I reckon he was pretty lucky!

Now being a kiwi, I was of course aware it is Waitangi Day today - New Zealand Day! What I wasn't aware of was that the Thais would be celebrating it in such style today.There are literally fireworks going off all over the island today since about 7am thismorning! Completely befuddled as to why Thailand would be celebrating a New Zealand holiday in such style I came into town to be greeted by dancing dragons & juggling acrobats- aah! Of course! Chinese New Year today aswell! Happy Waitangi Day China!

A very pleasant House warming Party for Tim last night who has moved into Hannahs old house on Cape Big Blue. Its a very Big Blue community on those cliffs up there what with Rick & Fanette, Alex & Lucy, Canada & Yvonne, Jim & Andrea, & now Tim aswell. Might think about moving the resort up there aswell then we won't all have so far to travel to work!

Tuesday 5th Feb 2008

Would very much like to thank Jerry & Ari for last night's banquet of delectables at the opening of their new restaurant in Sairee, at the crossroads, inbetween Brother's & the new Farango's Sairee. Great location, good turnout, top food & excellent waiters & waitresses- they got Tuna, remember her? & Ooo from Thongs- remember him? Keep your eyes on this place its going to do really well!& the name is Don Yangs. Sounds like the Mafia's Chinese Takeaway!

And then after all the free nosh, it was off to the Beach Bar to celebrate the festivities with Jeroem who is now another Big Blue certified Divemaster. Now Jeroem used to be the Cable Guy in his previous life so his DM Challenge last night revolved round his impressions of 10 channels off Cable TV! I didn't realise they still made Red Hot & Dutch in Holland!

So I can see why Alex has gone off for a few days. He asked me to take care of the emails while he was away, which is of course not a problem, well wasn't a problem a few weeks ago but now with our new website... well I just spent the last 5 hours replying to over 40 enquiries! Now ordinarily I would of course be stoked to see the website is doing so well. I'd be even more stoked if the website was doing so well & Alex was here to answer the emails!

Sunday 3rd February 2008-

I guess it must be really cold in Scandanavia right now cos I think the whole of Stockholm got off the Lomprayah this morning & came to Big Blue. Good job we just took on a Swedish Instructor aswell! Welcome Henrik. We hope you are happy working with your new BB pals, & will encourage the splendid Scandanavian habit of sunbathing topless right outside our restaurant!

So Sonia left last night on the overnight boat bound for Khao Lak. She got there at about 9am this morning fresh faced & ready for a day of room hunting & finding one's bearings. Not sure she was quite ready to be dumped in at the deep end! She's shop girl today. All alone on the other side of the country with only Simon, Keith, Joachim, Paul, Klaus, Takeshi, Naomi, Robyn, Oscar, Becky, & Marcel to keep you company from Big Blue. Erik is off on a visa run. Guess you better do some work then. If anyone wants to meet the best shop girl in Thailand ( & give her a little bit of support) you'll find her in our Big Blue Office in Khao Lak at the moment, asleep, under a pile of papers I'd imagine!

We got another Full Day trip coming up but this time instead of going to the Internationally accredited Sail Rock we are off to the world famous Angthong National Marine Park. You may know it better as being the National Marine Park where one of the islands for that book the Beach by Alex Garland was set on. Now we shall be going there for the beauty of what is both below & above the water. If we happen to find any weirdo's hanging out on one of the islands we will not be picking them up & bringing them back to civilisation! If you ask me the world would be a far greater place with one less Leonardo De Caprio's anyway!

Saturday 2nd February 2008

So we've had a small friendly neighbourhood hawksbill roaming round White Rock with us this week. Beautiful creatures & if they could talk I'm sure they would sound like Owen Wilson! Hawksbills frequent rocky areas like Laem Thian Cape, coral reefs like Hin Wong, shallow coastal areas like Aow Leuk, lagoons or oceanic islands like Shark Island, and narrow creeks and passes like inbetween Koh Tao & Nang Yuan Island. They are seldom seen in water deeper than 20 meters. Apparently adult females are able to climb over reefs and rocks to nest in beach vegetation to give birth, but I reckon they just like the Koh Tao nightlife.

I almost feel sorry for Alex & Lucy this week. They are off on a visa run to Penang and are going to try & make a little holiday out of it. Well its Chinese New Year which is possibly the biggest holiday weekend in Asia & you can't get a ticket on the overnight train,(luckily they did!) But, they can't get a hotel room anywhere on Penang Island so I was feeling sorry for them till I realised well at least they can either sleep in McDonalds or at the cinema! Now I'm jealous as hell!

I'm recruiting! I'm looking for someone who can sell & work at our newly opened booking office in the Khao Sarn Rd. I need someone who can dive, knows about diving, about Koh Tao & the Similan Islands & wants to live & work in Bangkok. Naturally the position will come with a work permit & salary will be commission based- the more you sell the more you earn! Oh yeah & FREE diving everytime you come to Koh Tao. Anyone know anyone good who is looking for a job in Bangkok? Please ask them to contact jim@bigbluediving.com for a good time!

Friday 1st February 2008

In the old days if you as a foreigner wanted to own a business in Thailand then you had to have a Thai partner. So Big Blue is owned by a Swede- Michael, & it is also equally owned by a Thai- P'Pon. Together these guys have brought Big Blue from the days when they struggled to pay the rent to where it is now, one of the Top Dive Centers in Thailand/ South East Asia. All that in 16 years. They are also BTW the longest serving Thai western partnership any of us know of. About time we all sat around for lunch & had a yarn about the good old days... when there was no electricity, tourists would arrive on the island by overnight coconut boat & horses were used for transportation on the island instead of cars! Sounds like Cornwall!

I'm extremely proud of myself today cos by enlisting the help of a friend or 2, we have deciphered the gobbledeegook that is the programming behind installing PADI e-Learning onto our website. Yeah I know! Cool. So now if you are interested in doing any PADI Dive Course you can study the theory part at home & then of course save yourself when it comes to being here on holiday from spending much time in the classroom. Click here to see how it works http://www.bigbluediving.com/wrapper/elearning.html After looking at it tho, I got to be honest- I'd still rather be taught by an Instructor in person! Up to you!

And by the sounds of it we re about to have a spontaneous 'Bye & see you back again soon party' for our Sonia. She will be headig off to Khao Lak tomorrow I believe to work in the shop there till the end of the season or so, cos she has a shoulder injury & can't dive for a while. So spontaneous party it is then. Cool haven't had one of them for what, oooh, 2 days! Good luck sonia & see you when you come back.

The Khao Lak Chronicles

Hey Divefans,

Its good to be back on Koh Tao after a short stint over on the west coast of Thailand. Basically I was working over at Big Blue Khao Lak, where we dive the Similan Islands every day. Despite the fact that the Similan Islands are, without question, some of the best diving in the world, I was still happy to get back to "The Rock" (aka, Koh Tao as us residents call it). And I'll explain why...

For me, it comes down to a matter of lifestyle. While the west coast has amazing life under the water, the east coast has even more amazing life above the water. The thing that made me move to Koh Tao 4 years ago and never look back is the atmosphere of the island. A great, laid back, chilled party vibe with great people. Tao has none of the headaches or chaos in the likes of a Koh Pha-Ngan full moon party, but we do have great sunset bars and even clubs that stay open to 6am. Tao has none of the commercialism of Samui, but you can still find a top-notch steak dinner on the island. Theres always something to do in Koh Tao, and always plenty of great people to do it with. Khao Lak, while it is a divers dream, seems to stop after the diving. Most people there are holiday makers as opposed to travelers, and do their diving and go back to their hotels afterwards. Most dive staff there work long hours or are away on live-aboard dive boats for several days, so the only happenin' bar in town usually has a crowd of about 50. Dont get me wrong, I loved my time in Khao Lak, and I loved hanging out in that one hip bar, but theres a vibe on Koh Tao that I've never found anywhere else in the world. Its the only placed I've ever lived where I was genuinely excited to go home to after a holiday. This is coming from a guy who grew up in Hawaii. :)

For anyone trying to decide if they should do their dive course in Koh Tao or the Similians, I'll offer you all the info I have and then you can decide. For starters, the courses in the Similans are about twice the price (9000b here, as opposed to 16900b there), and rooms in the Similans are much more expensive as well. On Koh Tao, you're likely to be in a course with a few other people, at a dive shop with a lot of lively action. I always enjoy teaching courses with more people, as it makes for a good group dynamic. Most courses in the Similans are just one or 2 people. For some people this is a plus. But at most dive shops around the world, if you request a private teacher, the shop will try to find you one.

Now the diving itself, most people will tell you, is better in the Similans. While I agree with that statement, I'd like to make a few comments. First, Koh Tao can have diving as good as the Similans, its just really rare. Usually our underwater visibility is between 10-15 meters, and in the Similans its normally around 20-25 meters. Diving is usually good in Koh Tao, and usually great in the Similans. But, we do get those rare days in Koh Tao where the visibility is 30 meters and the dive site is teeming with life. We also have dive sites where we can almost guarantee you to go nose-to-nose with a rather large reef shark. In this divers humble opinion, there are few things in life cooler than diving with sharks. We also get more Whalesharks per year in Koh Tao.

So heres what I recommend to those faced with this decision of east coast vs west coast. Do both. Rather than pay 16,900 for your open water in the Similans, do your Open Water here in Koh Tao, stay a few more days and enjoy the atmosphere and the island, then go over to do some fun dives in the Similans. This would end up costing 9,000 for the OW, and then 5,100b x 2, for 2 days of fun diving from Khao Lak, for a total of 19,200. That's only an extra 2,3oob, and you'll end up with 8 dives rather than just 4 and you'll have experiences diving on both sides of Thailand. You have the chance to enjoy the nightlife of Koh Tao, and the aquatic life of the Similans. [Note - The Similan islands are only open from Nov to May. The water is undiveable outside those months.]

In the end, it really doesn't matter. Just get yourself under the water, and I guarantee you'll fall in love!!

See you below,
-Rick

January Daily Diary

Thursday 31st 2008

I reckon for those of you have been here before, you would all be very impressed with the fantastic display of Greenery & Concrete that we have been able to place over the Poonama Canal. P'Nen has been working the boys hard to ensure the vines do the right type of wrapping & ravelling & the supports for the concrete are strong enough to hold the weight of Canada & his oversized mean machine.

Apparently Hannah is off! No one tells me anything! She's off to sort some stuff out back in the Mother Country & then flying down under to her Dave, the deepsea diving lobster catcher to live the life fantastic in Australia. Happy travels Hannah, hope everything works out according to plan & that you'll pop back & pay us a visit. You bring the lobster, we'll supply the Tartar sauce!

Any Investors out there? Want a good deal? A perfect buy? Sale of the century? You see our man Rick, bought some land here in Koh Tao quite a while ago now & he's now starting to build on it but needs cash & quickly! So he's dividing up the land & selling it off for a good price to ensure a quick sale! If you want more details guys check out Rick's site www.travelhead.com/landIf you tell him I sent you I'll buy you a beer!

Wednesday 30th 2008

So the weather is sooo nice at the moment. Its flat calm not a ripple, not even a cloud in the sky. Excellent sunsets everynight aswell. So nice in fact that we thought we'd go on another Full Day Trip to the funtastic Sail Rock- the best Divesite in the Gulf of Thailand. Which would then make what we are doing today a Top Ten Trip To Take in Thailand! Just hope everyone realises!

So we are almost at the end of the first month of the year! Does time go as quickly in the Real world as it does here in Peter Pan Land!

Hope you will all be pleased to know that Sonia is going great guns! Apparently she is way beyond the treatment steps she should be on at this stage. Which means she has taken off her little black number- the Nimbus 2000 sling, & has replaced it with a far more slinky sling. Looks alot more comfortable & doesn't make you look like such a bruiser anymore Sonia. The tongue treatment is going well too by the sounds of it & we hope Sonia will be on her way to Khao Lak within the week. Go get 'em Son!

Tuesday 29th 2008

Well its busy now! We had to take 2 boats out this morning to spread the load. Our Big Blue Armada went sailing off into the horizon & has just returned with a gaggle of giggiling giddy goats. Take it that was another successful trip!

Well I didn't want to say anything the other day cos he was an extremely disgruntled Pommie Canadian, but Canada lost a fin, a special fin given to him by his peers when he left the Marine Corps, so naturally he was a little cheesed off. But yesterday Oskar found it! Excellent. Now he's we got a cheerful Pommie Canadian!

Would like to wish Yvonne luck! She starts her Instructor Development Course today which means in about 3 weeks she is going to be really good at telling people what to do!

Monday 28th 2008

Well the wind has totally died down, the sun has come out from behind the clouds in all its splendour, the ladies are back on the beaches in their skimpies & the boys with the body builder breasts are strutting their stuff, muscles sheening as they prance up & down the beach to get noticed. You can literally smell the testosterone! Smells like chicken!

So I'm hearing unconfirmed reports that G stepped in the way to help some lady last night after she was being harrassed by some drunken monkey. I hear he took one in the face & has a shiner to show for his bravado! Sir Guilliaume our knight in shining armour came to the rescue of our fair maiden, he outfought the dastardly villain, & then he put the damesl in distress upon his horse & rode away in to the sunset. These French.. you just can't compete against them when it comes to romance eh!

Got to give a healthy shout out to Ian who is just another one of our fabulously well trained Divemasters who has now got himself work as a DM for another diveshop on the island. In all my days working in this industry I have never seen so many exceptionally well trained Divemasters & jolly proud to think that Big Blue now has the reputation among many Diveshops in Koh Tao for the place to do your Divemaster Training. Well done Ian. & very well done team!

Sunday 27th 2008

Being the responsible & resourceful individuals that we are at Big Blue we have our own environment minister, Darren. Its his job to ensure that we do our bit & some to help the environment, undertake research projects, get involved in beach clean-ups & generally pitch in to keep Koh Tao clean & heathy for our childrens children. Check http://www.projectaware.org/asiapac/english/activities/icd.asp to see some of the things we've done already.So this year Darren has signed us up to adopt a reef & we are all very proud to be adopting everyone's afternoon favourite, Japanese Gardens. Nice one Ecoman!

Strong winds & choppy surface conditions are what is greeting our travellers to the island at the moment. Hope you've taken your seasickness pills if you're on your way over today. But good news is its almost over. Forecast for this afternoon is a drop in wind & flatter conditions. Cool, we'll be able to get the lilo's out again.

Sunrise diving thismorning for our experienced fundivers. A few waves wasn't gonna stop this band of hardened mariners. Off by 6am - ( its still dark then!) & off to Chumphon for a little bit of underwater slap & tickle as the sun comes up & the fishies awaken & back on land by 11 am to enjoy a nice afternoon of sunsoaked leisure. Ahh.

Saturday 26th 2008

You got to give it to them. They have a great country, a wonderful lifestyle, they are pretty good at sport, they are pretty healthy & active, and when it comes to hairstyles these guys lead the world. The Scobby! or in broader terms... The Australian! I'm not quite sure why they get a day named after them tho! Anyway Happy Australia Day Straylian Scobby's! You have introduced many fine things into the world likethe phrase you Dag, the word gallah, violet crumble chocolate bars, Victoria Bitter, & Natalie Imbruglia but I still reckon its about time you built a bridge between New Zealand & Australia & shot Pauline Hanson!

Today we broke the 500 member mark on our Facebook Group. I can't quite work out if that is high or not? After all we certified almost 3000 students last year. & at least there are a 100 Big Blue group members who dived with us before 2006 so that's 400 from this year. I reckon once you take out Instructors exgirlfriends, we're down to about 200. Then from there take the families & friends that joined when I first set this up so it wouldn't look an unloved & sad lonely group, that's another 50. Then all the staff DM's & Inst's we employed this year who have left us this year aswell I think we're down to about 2. Me & Canada!

Well I don't know what you all did with the weather, but it's rubbish! It suddenly turned just when all the big groups started arriving after the Full moon Party. We had heaps of rain lastnight & its pretty windy now too. We also are pretty busy at the moment & need all 3 boats to take everyone out this arvo but we can't get out beyond Nang Yuan Island cos the waves are too big. Good old White Rock & Twins coming to our rescue once again

Friday 25th 2008
Well the weather has gone a little funny today. Big waves, out of nowhere! Made it to Chumphon Pinnacle this morning but decided to cancel the dive & go somewhere else cos it was horrible! Bouncy, strong currents & rubbish visibility just below the surface but wide open beneath! Bugger! Guess we'll have to wait for the waves to die down before going there again in the next few days. Give the sharks a couple of days off! They could do with a break. Entertainng the tourists all day can be exhausting!

So yesterday may well have been the busiest day we have had since I arrived almost 2 years ago. Filled up every room on Sairee Beach & at 7.30 last night the last rooms in the whole of Sairee up by the cliffs! Its manic. I think we started 22 students yesterday!Instructors? Hmmm well...there was an Englishman, a Welshman, a Frenchman & a Germanman.... . I better stop .... this could turn into a joke!

Got some big wig fashion photographer on Koh Tao at the moment taking shots every night of all these astoundingly hot looking super sexy bikini models rolling around on the beach & at the waters edge. Strategically placed sand splats over anatomically perfect tantalising female forms.(Sigh!) And I thought I had a good job!

Thursday 24th 2008
So the sun has got its hat on! Its another beautiful day in paradise. The fish are swimming the birds are chirping the ferries are packed, the classrooms are full! & we got rid of one more puppy! That's 6 down & only 5 more to go!

Top tip for gardeners! As you know we've had to entice our growing vines to grow a little more & a little quicker! Coconut husk! Its like Koh Tao's version of miracle grow! P'Nen came back from his holiday saw the vines weren't growning. Got on his bike upto the jungle & came back with a sack of nuts! Coconuts. He chopped them up & covered the vine soil with coconut husk. & now we've grown a beanstalk!

So the Full Moon Party is over! You can tell. We got no more rooms left, we're out of Instructors, BCD's & Regs, I can't get a seat at the restaurant, my phone never stops ringing, prices are up, room availability is down, the power keeps cutting out, there's never enough water pressure in the shower now, my bike won't start when I'm in a hurry, there's always a queue at the 7/11, the pizza in the restaurant takes longer to come, and there's never any bloody sugar left in the the sugar bowls when I need my morning coffee! Something's got to give!

Wednesday 23rd 2008
Well there's celebration in the Donaldson camp today! Not alot of people know this but my Mum's cousin is a lady! And because this lady is my Mums' cousin I am therefore her second cousin once removed! With me so far? Well last night my second cousin once removed got nominated for an Oscar! Yeah thought that would raise an eyebrow! So its Julie Christie to win Best Actress for her role in some movie I've never heard of! She better mention her second cousin once removed if she wins or I'm crossing her off my Christmas card list!

Churchie's Birthday party yesterday, & in true ex-pat island style he threw a pool party at Koh Tao's new pool bar in Chalok Baan Kao. Excellent location, fine choice of large or small Chang's & a very tasty Birthday Cheese cake. Had all the ingredients for a fantastic night till one got a very unpleasant glimpse of the barman in his tight grey genital hugging speedo's!

Right I'm off down the pier now for what is always a highlight of the month. The Full Moon Party people will be coming in on the afternoon boats soon. It always reminds me of a kind of futuristic war scene of troops returning home from battle. Instead of the blood stains it will be fluorescent paint. Instead of mud there'll be sand. Instead of the bandages & slings healing the marks of bullets & shrapnel there'll be bandages & slings healing the wounds of bike crashes, & intoxicated fallings over! The wounded & straggling will evolve into the sleepy & hung over & shell shocked soldiers will be replaced by dirty dribbling drunks.I love the Full Moon Party!

Tuesday 22nd Jan 2008
Well how about that! We chartered the only Liveaboard in Koh Tao today, the MV Trident to take out Canadas' Wreck, Deep & Nitrox courses! Total was 18 passengers today to go out & explore the murky depths at the Unicorn wreck. Wicked! Hope you all had a great day & like the liveaboard cos this time next year we are gonna have our own! Only in Khao Lak not Koh Tao!
(damn!)

The Koh Phangan Full Moon Party is tonight & by all accounts it is going to be massive! I heard that every boat to Phangan was full to bursting with revellers & ravers! And in Koh Tao, for those of you who don't know this is when KT completely empties out & goes to the Full Moon Party. Then tonight it will be party hard till your pants fall down & then back here again tomorrow. And then all the boats to Koh Tao are full to bursting! For those of us who live here & aren't going to the party it's like the equivalent of a quiet Sunday followed by a hectic Monday in the real world, only... island style!

You would be shocked to see the increase in our enquiries & bookings now that we have changed the website! Alex asked me today if he thought Didi & Kate might get a little cheesed off if he gave them all the bookings he has just received at the same time, & then showed me around 20 booking forms he has now received. Too right they'll be miffed... but I'm delighted!

Monday 21st 2008
The world tilted on its axis yesterday! Did you feel it? Didi did her Refresher with Anna! I agree the world would have tilted more if it had been me but none the less it was a memorable day. Got to say though Didi, I thought your mask made your bum look big!

Save the whales! Harpoon the Japanese!

There's a big shiney ball of bright light emanating from the sky. Its hard to see against the backdrop of a cloudless sky & every night it drops down beyond the horizon in an amazing display of amorous maroon. Anyone know what it might be? It looks like pizza!

Sunday 20th 2008
Rick is back! He has had an amazing 2 weeks working over in Khao Lak but after all that work & the nightboat back last night he has decided he is in need of a 2 week holiday! Not entirely surprised either. As much as I love Khao Lak & the Similans & Richelieu Rock & Liveaboards etc etc, I'd still rather be in Koh Tao with my 9-5 job, my sunsets, my big bottle of Chang, & my daily hangovers. Welcome back Rick. Great timing BTW. We have an Instructor meeting tonight!

Another Divemaster Challenge tonight! This time its Dan & Hugo who wil be in the spotlight. Tonights fun & games is loosely based on the reality TV Show- Help I'm a celebrity! Get me out of here. Now I'm a little behind the times with this reality TV stuff , so I'm not quite sure what that all means but the brutality of it all will be dished out by Deano & Alex & they are nasty bastards so it should be pretty good fun!

There is one of the most beautiful boats I have ever seen parked right on Sairee Reef at the moment. Now Hugo, who before being a DMT used to be a welder for these posh boats in Holland, reckons he was part of the team that made this particular boat. He tells me that its worth 63million USD has 18 full time crew & belongs to Roman Abramovich- the Owner of Chelsea United Football Club! So me & some of my mates who happen to be dedicated fans of Fulham Football Club are going round on the longtail this evening & are going hurl fruit at it!

Saturday 19th Jan 2008
A hearty celebratory conglatulatory well done to you both, Thats Dan & Mayuko, who as you can see in the messages below have gone & got themselves hitched! Wow! Congratulations guys from all of us here at Big Blue Koh Tao. Nice one Dan & 'O-may-day-tou' to you too Mayuko!

Full Day Trip went out again today. "The Three "S's" Southwest Pinnacle, Sail Rock & Shark Island. Beautiful day weatherwise, golden sunshine, flat crystal clear sea's, 30 meter visibility & more fish than you can shake a stick at! Reckon there'll be a lot of sunburnt bodies coming back this afternoon.

Anyone know anything about growing vines. I planted some a few weeks ago to grow over the Poonama Canal & be all pretty but they are going soooo slow! I'm not even sure they are actually growing. Bugger. Back to the 'Hide the Poonama Canal' drawing board!

Friday 18th Jan 2008
Well we've put the welcome home Sonia banners out & we're all very pleased to see Sonia back. She also has the coolest sling in existence aswell. Beats the crap out of our EFR slings that's for sure. Its got a pouch for storing things in & a ball to play with if you get bored, its got a beer rest & comes in with a sleek black finish! Yeah Sonia, you got trendy girl!

And Simon is back for a couple of days aswell. He had to leave the bright lights of the big city for the ambient lights & loud music of the small islands. Blended in a treat aswell of course with his first nights back worth of binge drinking with his old beer buddy- that'd be the other guy wondering around today with a hangover... Alex!

Haven't heard much from any of you with regards to our new website. C'mon, let's hear it? What do you think? I am fully aware of a few probs still but as each day passes our site gets a little bit more complete. We've also had a big increase in internet bookings this week so I tell you I am very happy! Are you?

Thursday 17th Jan 2008
Congratulations Monsieur Guillaume on completing your Instructor Development Course Staff Course! ( Never did know how to say that right!) G joins the BB IDCStaff Bandwagon & goes down to Dirty Nelly's & gets absolutely blottoed! Should be a good night! ... again.

Great idea from someone the other day- actually it might well have been that frenchman again! You see we have 9 of these puppies sitting around the diveshop having just been blurted out into this world by mummy. They are unwanted & unloved but my word they are cute! & they seem to be a real tourist magnet as anyone walking thru Big Blue immediately stops to have alook & make a silly noise or 2. So G said lets advertise on them. C'est bonne idea! So its black marker pens on the light ones & tipex on the black ones- you guys are going to get branded today! Yeehaaa.

Wednesday 16th Jan 2008
Sssh. Don't tell anyone but today we have the exterminators coming to the island to exterminate things! Thailand is having a plague of bedbugs at the moment- Khao Sarn Rd is especially bad. Well we have our fair share aswell. We've thrown out the beds that were infested & have since burned them & have completely emptied out the top rooms upstairs in the fan rooms & are having them fumigated for the next 3 days. Got to be honest- when I organised the exterminator to come over from the mainland I kind of had visions of a Thai Arnie. What I got was a Thai Dame Edna. Still they are both doing the same thing at least!

Deano & Ricky are off on another visa run to Samui. Think they are planning on combining it with a Sonia pick up as she has been released from the hospital in Bangkok & is flying down to Samui & then coming over. Problem is that she isn't very mobile- naturally enough after having an operation!- so I heard Bex helped her to the plane in Bangers & then Deano will pick her up in Samui on Thursday to bring her back to the Rock on Friday. Nice to have friends eh Sonia. & it looks like you have a few! 84 friends joined your Entertain Sonia group. Good. So now we've all shown you a bit of support & love... about time you came back to work isn't it!?

Tuesday 15th Jan 2008
My oh my was that 2 nights out on the razzle for you Marcel? What a state! What is it with you guys from the West coast & your alcohol consumption! Either you drink too much over there on 'The Other Side" or not enough & aren't used to a jar or 2 when you come visit your friends on this side! West Coast Shandy drinking lightweights!!

Rumour going round that there was a whale shark today at Chumphon Pinnacle. Hmmm. We were there & didn't see it so I'm not sure how accurate this rumour actually is. Still these rumours are good for business!"Whale shark today at Chumphon Pinnacle! Tell your friends!"

So I haven't been around much for the last couple of days cos I've head my head face down in a computer amending all the little amendable things that need amending on our new site, which by the way is up! Trumpeting tirade of thunderous music! Its got a couple of teething problems but I'm on it don't worry. Would love to hear your thoughts. Do please have a look & if you love it let me know & if you don't ... keep it to yourself!

Monday 14th Jan 2008
Ooh dear.. Hands up all those who went out last night on an involuntary bender! Marcel? Do we have a hangover today? Just like the good old days eh?Why is it whenever I get back I always seem to coincide it with an enormous amount of bad timing. Its been really busy ( apparently) but now its dead! Good job too judging by the amount of sicknotes I have in from the staff this week! Guess its time for an afternoon of Monty Python movie madness.

Had a bit of a bow out today! We were supposed to take the Samui immigration people on a snorkelling trip arund the island. We had it all planned- Tor, Anna & I were supposed to be the snorkel queens today as we snorkel guided our Immigration ducklings around Rocky Bay, stop for a nicely prepared buffet lunch at Mango Bay & then spend the afternoon paddling around Nang Yuan Pinnacle. Would have done! Would have been nice too! If the bloody b'stards had bothered to show up!

Sunday 13th Jan 2008
Marcel is back! But only for a few days as he is taking a break from all the fun he has been having over on the "Other Side". & Darren & Ally are back from their jolloping around the Austrian Alps. Sweet. Welcome back guys. Ally looks as fabulous as ever & Darren is in need of a haircut- (his curls are growing) & he obviously wasn't shy when it came to helping himself to seconds over Christmas at Almutti's Mutti's! Might have to put you back on the salads there Spidey!

Very happy to welcome a brand new member to the team in a permanent capacity and that is our friend Sopi. He will be joining us here in the Divemaster team starting today & has proved himself to be an excellent catch for us. Welcome to the team Sopi.

Come join the party!Wishing a belated Birthday Greeting to our Lord & Leader- Michael Spjuth, who is the owner of Big Blue Diving. Michael set Big Blue up in 1991 & has been an integral part of Big Blue's success. Happy Birthday for yesterday Michael, from all the team at Big Blue! Did you appreciate my wake up call this morning? No I didn't think so!

Saturday 12th Jan 2008
Glad to see I have been missed! Thanks Jade! Had to go away for a few days of mirth with my buddies in Khao Lak. Unfortunatley got food poisoning & a fever at the same time. 6 days off, 2 days travelling, 3 days ill & 1 day on the piss! Not what I'd call the greatest holiday in the world but it was still good to see everyone.

So gradually I shall need to recap on things that have happened of late but forgive me if they aren't as accurate as they usually are as I obviously haven't been here myself & am only getting snippets of information from the team in dribs & drabs.

Hey Guys, click here for a good time!http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6853414143

Friday 11th Jan 2008
Umm. I'm going to get shot for this... but here goes! Women drivers! Honestly. Can you imagine a man running over their own dog!... on a motorbike? Yvonne & Heather ran over Simba today. Simba is the islands most hyperactive dog & is Canada & Yvonne's piece of precious pooch! She is ok tho. She wailed, whined whimpered & sulked but Yvonne is basically ok now! Simba on the other hand... is also fine now too but has a restraining order out on Yvonne & Hannah. They aren't allowed within 5 meters of her when they're on the bike now!

Heard from Sonia today. She has seen the surgeon & the neuro & the neuro wants to take further tests as there may be a complication since Sonia has had a reaction since the operation. As none of us are sadly able to be with her I can only tell her what she tells me. What she said was " Ahgattachpwollen tonn!" We are still trying to work out what that means & hope will be able to report to you on it tomorrow.

Thursday 10th Jan 2008
Sonia has her operation on her shoulder today. Good luck mate! Its obviously a great day for it cos when she got in the taxi to take her to the hospital the fool who was in the cab beforehand forgot their i-phone! Doh! Still thats Twenty large for our Sonia. You go girl!

Well what dya know! Our siblings in Khao lak, that's Big Blue Khao Lak, are going great guns. We know that of course as they are crying out for help from us over here so we have sent Rick over. Last reports from him after he'd taken his first DSD's for a day in the Similan Islands was 'Man that was awesome' & then he was told he'd be starting his first West Coast Open Water Course to which he stated. 'Radical dude'. Now I don't speak Yank but I have been informed that basically Rick is pretty happy with the way things are going there! Nice one mate. Unlike Simon however who will be seeing out the season on the Other side, you my friend have to come back! Remember... you have a girlfriend here!

Wednesday 9th Jan 2008
So G is still doing his IDC Staff Instructor & is enjoying it sooo much he is thinking about going the whole hog & becoming a CDG! Can you imagine that. Our own little French Course Director! AS part of the CDG course you would be required to plant underwater detonating devices on environmentally active Greenpeace vessels, & then plead ignorance to all knowledge of such foul play in New Zealand waters!? Hmmm sounds familiar? Un petite deja vu n'est pas??

Well the resort looks like its had a bit of a haircut! The big wiry afro of a tree that fumbles its way around the big coconut tree outside the aircon rooms has had a proper trim! Looks quite smart & tidy now!

Tuesday 8th Jan 2008
So there's some filthy type of lurgy flying around at the moment & its probably German but we're not sure! Everyone is coming down with it too! Even I'm ill & I never get ill! I might be a little accident prone but I'm not one that sneezes & whoops alot. Seems the only die hard few unaffected are Celine, Alex Anna & Ricky! Ha! Thats what they think! At least we're getting over ours now. Yours is still to come! (Sorry that wasn't very nice!) Fight on brave soldiers!

Haven't had a lot of enquiries for my offer of a job to a Scandanavian female yet! Do you think it might help if I attach my photo? & a text that could have been read straight from a Lonely Hearts page?

Monday 7th Jan 2008
So Simon has been asked to stay till the end of the season in Khao Lak. Obviously made a good impression on Erik! What did you do? Have a beer too many & fall asleep at the table did you?

I think we have now utilized all the Bamboo we had sitting under Bungalow 2 for a year! We've made nice little border fences, only knee high, around the messy bushes & it all looks very pretty now. Goes well with the little red brick path we have cemented down outside the AC Rooms aswell. Good job P'Nen!

Sunday 6th Jan 2008
Today was hot & sunny in Koh Tao! ( I was told!) I was in Khao Lak where it was also hot & sunny! & bright & happy & Busy! Really busy!! Rick. I hope you know what you've let yourself in for! They work nights here aswell as days!

Sonia is off to BKK to see a proper Doctor about her shoulder. Fingers, toes & arms & legs are crossed for you mate! Hope it all goes well.

Saturday 5th Jan 2008
Can you imagine how much money Thailand are making by imposing this infuriatingly annoying monthly visa run thing! It costs 550 baht to get across on the lomprayah then 1200 Baht to go with a visa run bus to the Andaman club. You got to stay a night in Chumphon to get back to Koh Tao which costs at least another 300 Bt & then another 550 Bt just to get back to Koh Tao- thats 2400 Bt every month some of us have to pay! Its not even any fun! Bloody good idea to make some money tho eh?

Luckily tho I only have to do it every 3 months cos I is great! This time I went with the Missus & Oscar. We caught our mini bus to Ranong, our weird little River cat thing to the Andaman Club, ponced around by the pool for an hour with a club sandwich & some fries. Jumped back in the weird little River cat thing back to Ranong & then met up with Tor's Mama & Papa who were good enough to taxi us all the way down to Khao Lak in a car made for 2 & a couple of bags! So the 5 of us squeezed in & Papa drove us slower than people walk all the way to Khao Lak. 3 hours later with numb bums & in need of knee surgery we were in Khao Lak & having beers with all these old Big Blue boys & girls! Marcel, Robyn, Becky, Paul Landgraver, Oscar, myself & the missus, Keith Joachim, Simon & tomorrow Rick is coming over for a couple of weeks to help Eric with the high season shortage of staff! Now that was a good visa run & I have a bruised butty to show for it!

Friday 4th Jan 2008
As if by some form of miraculousnusness the wind has completely died! The sea is flat calm the sound of chunder has faded from the arriving ferries & we are able to venture out to Chumphon again. Which by the way was lovely today, thanks.

So for reasons peculiar, I find myself in need of a female Scandanavian!( Don't tell Andrea!) Unfortunatley Saga has to return unexpectedly to Sweden & will consequently be leaving us with a void! So good chums & buddies. I need a Swedish speaking Female Instructor! C'mon who's out there! Danish & Norwegian & Finnish speaking might be pretty useful too! Anyone? anyone? Bueller!

So I've decided I have had enough of everyone galavanting off around the world while I'm stuck on this tropical island paradise. I'm gonna go away for a few days now myself. Thought I'd start with a nice trip to Burma, pop in on our buddies at Big Blue in Khao Lak, then whizz up to Bangers for a round of golf with my surgeon! Got to leave someone in charge here tho! Hmmm. I got no Panos, Scobby, Rick, G, Simon, Darren, Ally, Sonia or Saga. That leaves me Canada, Deano, Alex, Celine, Anna & Ricky. Right Boys! Chicks in charge please!

Thursday 3rd Jan 2008
Its a whirling mess of wind & waves today I'm afraid. Time to issue my warning to anyone about to travel out to Koh Tao... take the Seatran! It won't hurt as much as the Lomprayah & the bags they give you to throw up in aren't see thru!

Calling out for my Vacationing Instructors... 'Help! Its getting busy down here!' It doesn't help of course when our main Big Blue Batch of Inst's start going down with funny lergies! Got Scobby with some sort of Aussie fever, Panos with a case of Grecogothic bronchitis, Rick with an acute bout of the Hawaii's & as you know Sonia's arm, which is about to fall off. G's meanwhile teaching Divemasters, Darren & Ally are on the Piste & Saga has to leave for Sweden, extremely suddenly, while Simon's sunning his self in the Similans! I hardly got anyone left! Might have to get my Instructor Speedos out of retirement!

Time to put away the Christmas decorations this afternoon. Its been fun, but its over, & neither myself nor my liver could be any happier! So we'll wrap our festive twig away with all the tinsel, put santa back in his box & stuff it all back in their Maehaad grotto for another year. Thank god for that! Not quite sure how to pack away the Sandman yet tho!

Wednesday 2nd Jan 2008
Well the weather forecast was a little out. They're right about the storm tho. Pretty miserable today. & heaps of fishing boats in at Sairee which as you are probably aware is not a good thing! No rain yet... (I instantly regret saying that!) but big seas & strong winds. Better get the Lomprayah Puke pot out again. Might be useful for the next few days!

Got some very sad news I'm afraid. Our Sonia has gone & got herself a shoulder injury! Its an old problem made worse in recent weeks & now she has to go to the hospital & get checked out. There is a very high possibility of her needing a shoulder operation. So guys show your support & send her your messages. Good luck Sonia! All our love thoughts & best wishes, you Ponce!

G started his IDC Staff today. For those of you who waste time reading my banterings you might recall Darren & Deano doing their Instructor Development Courses a couple of months or so ago. Becomming a PADI IDC Staff Instructor is a couple of rankings above being an Instructor. Ah-ha! So that's why you bought the most expensive mask on Koh Tao. To look like a distinguished G!They might smell of onions & garlic but they do have panache, the french! Salut.

Tuesday 1st Jan 2008
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Congratulations everyone for making it to another 365 days. Hope your night out wherever you were was a memorable occasion! If you're a little like me or Yvonne! & can't remember, just ask your mates, whoever you were out with, if you can look at some of the embarrasing photos! There's always a classic of someone dancing or lieing down asleep right next to a large blaring speaker! Haven't seen the photos yet but bloody hope there's not one of me!

Bringing in the New Year in Koh Tao really has got to be one of the very best places in the world to do it. There is an atmosphere like nowhere else I know. It's a pleasant evening teperature wise (untill you start dancing!).You are surrounded by friends & colleagues & absolutely everyone is in a jolly mood. You got to be extra happy if you are a red blooded male & a gaggle of gals arrive in their biikinis at your party! I love Koh Tao!

Like to give a special mention to all those who had to get up extra early & come to work. Didi, Deano, Ricky & G! Not that G needed to get up. He had a motorbikespill & has grazed himself. Poor chap. He's hurt his little pinky & got himself a nice gaelic graze on his cheek! Glad you are alright though mon ami! How's the bike?

In memoriam. A Tsunami Day story- 26th December 2004

At 10:30am on Dec26th, the electricity in the shop went out- again! Not an uncommon occurrence so no real surprise so far. Andrea had quite literally just walked into the shop. Then we started to realise that something wasn't quite normal. The Thais were running up & down the road in panic shouting to each other. I was able to translate it as "water coming", though couldn't understand what they meant. Then my Thai manager P'Aod, appeared racing up the hill in the jeep having dropped his girlfriend home to get changed for work-(it was the day after Christmas & they had been at an all night party). He screeched the car to a halt & told us that water had flooded the main rd & everything had gone! We still had no idea what he was talking about. He kept looking down the road as if he was being chased. After 5 minutes tourists started walking along the road soaking wet & covered in cuts & grazes- they looked completely dazed!

So we all got in the car & went down the rd to see what was happening. Less than 100 mt down the rd at the next town of Bang Niang we saw a lake covering what was the main rd from Bangkok to Phuket. It was unbelievable. There was bits of buildings, trees & cars &motorbikes everywhere. Aod , my Thai guy, said he had to go home & see if his girlfriend was OK, to which I said fine, you walk through the lake & I'll take the jeep back to the shop & ring someone for help.
As we drove back, the lost souls walking up the road were now double what was there 2 minutes earlier & some of them were bleeding really bad- massive cuts!

We came into the shop & got the 1st Aid box out. A pathetic 1st aid kit more used for small cuts & burns. We started treating the injuries as they came & within half an hour we were treating about 50 people. Their injuries ranged from massive grazes to deep cuts. Then the pick-ups started arriving full of people in the back with unbelievable injuries. One guy had snapped his forearm. The bones stuck out of his arm at right angles & it looked like the only thing holding his arm together was the skin. Another girl had quite literally smashed her knee to smithereens. One old lady came up to me & told me her ear hurt. I said let me have a look and as she took her hand away from the side of her head, her ear fell off- well it stayed attached to her ear lobe! Meanwhile some of these people were going where’s my Mum, where’s my little girl, I've lost my family, I saw my Mother swept away etc etc.
Through out this everyone kept saying there was another wave coming so we had to move all these people up behind the buildings & into the trees, High land! Way B4 this we'd also run out of 1st aid stuff. The local shop keepers had closed the shops so we couldn't get any more 1st aid stuff, and everyone was covered from head to toe in mud. The cuts as deep as they were , were also completely full of mud & the amount of sand & mud- it was unbelievable.
Meanwhile the pickups kept dropping off more & more people. The people we moved into the trees stayed there while the new arrivals were then put into the nearby restaurant. Same sort of injuries & some- broken legs, severe head injuries, and now some of these arriving were also now being unloaded off the pick ups and quite literally dying in our arms as we tried to get them off the trucks. I couldn't understand where all the help was. Where were the ambulances! I got into the jeep & tried to drive out of town as the phones weren't working. Then I realised why we weren't getting any help. We were completely blocked off! Although the lake had now receded the roads were cluttered in debris- electricity poles, parts of buildings, trees, cars, & now bodies as well- on both ends of the road was the same devastation. We could do nothing.
By the time I got back to our two 1st Aid posts the only doctor in town had arrived & was able to open his surgery. I couldn't move any of the people we had been taking care of in the trees or in the restaurant because now the surgery was full aswell. Within a 50 mt radius there must have been 300-400 injuries, people of all ages & nationalities, moaning, screaming, crying. We were completely helpless & the pick ups kept coming with more & more injuries & more & more dead bodies. The worst thing I saw that day was this mother who had a tree through the left side of her body, she was wondering around looking for her children & then she found them. Her injuries were so bad I don't even know how she could stand. When she had her kids in her arms at last the kids were hugging her & then she just fell over dead.
At this point I looked around me & realised how many dead people we were surrounded by. Someone started collecting plastic bags and then just putting them on the faces of the dead so the 1st Aiders weren't wasting time on them.
This went on till about 3pm, till we started getting movement from those we thought were dead & had plastic bags over their heads!
When I started thinking about all my staff & work colleagues, I thought the worst. P’Aod, came back with his girlfriend who had severely damaged her spine- it was bent! But she was walking- and she had also broken every finger on her hand. Then people started arriving from Bang Niang, including my friend Klaus. He told me of the people we knew who were still alive & those of whom we had no idea. We got on a bike & a jeep &drove to Bang Niang to look for our friends.
Bang Niang- where I lived, where Andrea had left 5 minutes before the wave came, where all our friends lived, was gone. There was nothing other than mud, trees, foundations, & bodies! My house was still standing though the front & back wall had gone & the water level had risen to the 2nd floor balcony. I carefully stepped inside to salvage anything I could. I picked up some clothes & some photos & my camera- undamaged & went outside again to find Klaus. He had gone into a hotel. Here he said were about 50 people. No one in charge. Only the dead & dying! He brought 6 people out of the hotel & left everyone else there. There was nothing he could do for them. If they weren't dead already they had less than 30 minutes of life left in them. Some people came to help Klaus & then he continued to look for our missing friends.
The beach, what we saw, resembled that of the beginning of Saving Private Ryan. There must have been over 100 bodies there. Some old, some young- all dead.
We were convinced we had lost everyone. There was nothing we could do. We went back to the shop & thank god in the time we had been away some of our friends had been able to make their way to the shop. By this time we were now only missing 2 staff & 1 of Klaus Friends from Germany who had come over for the Christmas holiday. I stayed & Klaus took the jeep & went out looking for his friend. Paul, one of the guys we had just met up with told us how he had been washed up on land almost 1000 mt from the beach- you may have seen the police boat washed up in the jungle- that was Bang Niang- that was where the waves full force had hit.
By now it was only about 5pm. We were still alone with no outside help, no power , no emergency medicine & people still dying all over the place.
Gradually we started hearing of this meeting point that people were collecting at in the hills. We decided to take everyone up there as people were still talking about this second wave, and it seemed our best option. We took people up there.
It was what we had been dealing with earlier but on a far larger scale- there were now 1000's of terrible injuries- but no corpses.

Here we found all our friends, except Klaus mate- Harry.
As night came on we then had a no light problem and nowhere to lie down either.
I decided to take some of us back down to my shop and we made base upstairs- we were still waiting for Klaus. Eventually about- 11pm he came back. He hadn't found his friend still. I was convinced he was dead.
One restaurant charged up his generator & we were able to watch CNN- all they said was how bad Phuket had been hit. No mention of Khao Lak- in retrospect how would they know - we were cut off! They also mentioned Sri Lanka & an earthquake in Indonesia. I thought wow- this is globally big- the tsunami is on its way thru Europe now. How ghastly. Knowing what has just killed thousands is now on its way thru Europe! Its going to be ages till we get help!
No one slept that night. The Mosquitoes were pretty bad that night as well!
At first light we started another search. This time we went through areas where the Thais had started to collect the bodies. And we looked at the faces of the dead to see if Klaus friend was among them. Still nothing.
That day was a very long day. The road had now been partially opened at least and Khao Lak was now getting noticeably emptier, but we all decided to stay together untill we knew about Harry.
I don't really know what happened that day. I remember thinking how blase I had become about looking at dead people. I remember this overwhelming smell, & I remember looking in puddles and seeing prawns! & fish in them. I remember thinking how I must contact my family to tell them I am OK, and I remember thinking we need to get petrol. Somehow I got a message home, and we started syphoning petrol from smashed bikes & cars. I don't think we ate anything that day- I can't remember.
Then unbelievably- about 10pm, Klaus came back with his friend- he had been taken to a Thai hospital with severe injuries to his shin! We organised a car & then Klaus drove his mate to Phuket hospital. That was the last I saw of them. But I heard Klaus saved his mate’s leg from being amputated!
Now we were able to think about leaving and by 10am the next day we were on our way out of the Khao Lak disaster zone.

Post note-
Khao Lak was the worst hit area in Thailand where over 5000 people from over 70 countries lost their lives.

Rich & Ian's DM Challenge Rap sheet!

Open Water's are rollin'
Customer's are rollin'
Everything I own is mine it aint stolen!
A girl runs up with something to prove,
So don't just stand there- Bust a move girls!

The Big Boss Jim is trying to look slim,
In 5 days from now he'll be trim,
He's hoping you will register as fast as you can
I'm here to tell you all, its a dam dope plan!

Who said g has an active libido,
Frenchie's pimpin' & stylin' with a tight speedo
Celine walks in & we all start the betting,
there's one more girl that Dan thinks he will be getting!
First G is thinkin & then he starts blinkin',
Celine looks back & think that he's winkin',
She thinks he's kind of cute so she winks back,
& now he's feeling really firm cause this girl is stacked!

This bar is jumpin. The base is pumpin.
Look at a girl & your heart starts thumping.
I said I want to dance to a different groove.
I just made it as a DM I got nothing to prove!

Words & Music- Rick
Dreadful performances- Rich & Ian