Archive for March, 2008

Workup dives survey small wreck South East of Koh Tao

By , 22 March, 2008, No Comment

After discovering a small wreck south east of Koh Tao Thailand a couple of months ago, this morning, a team of divers from DJL returned to the wreck to make a survey and get a better idea of the wreck.

wreck diving thailand  wreck diving in koh tao thailand

Image 1: Calm sea looking out from Sairee Beach, Koh Tao

Image 2: Tim briefs Manolo, Arne & James on exactly how the diving and survey is to be conducted

She sits at 40 metres, so this provided perfect work-up dives for a bigger wreck diving expedition later this month….

The Gulf of Thailand is completely flat at the moment – prime time for taking the RIB out, so we were able to reach the wreck dive site in less than 30 minutes. During our discovery dives on the wreck at the start of the year, visibility was less than one meter, in the ‘muddy’ channel between Koh Tao and Koh Phangan. We hoped for better today!

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case! Again we were treated to about 2-3 metres vis at depth, but were still able to build up a better image of the dive site.

This isn’t a ‘serious wreck dive‘ - it’s a steel barge around 25 metres in length with a beam of about 3.5 metres. The top is at about 39 metres, and it looks to have been down for some time as there are lots of nets and corals covering the wreck.

wreck diving in the gulf of thailand deep wreck and tech diving koh tao

Images; Underwater photos of the wreck [in poor visibility]

Probably the most eventful moment was a jenkins ray coming out of the murk to scare Tim!

wreck diving of DJLs high speed rib

Image: Tim & Manolo on the DJL RIB

Anyway, all good practice! More to follow later this month . . . . . Thanks to Manny for the images

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James completes his IDC to qualify as a PADI Diving Instructor

By , 21 March, 2008, No Comment

Working as a professional Dive Instructor can be one of the most rewarding and challenging jobs a person can have. In addition to the inherent joys of introducing others to an environment with so many hidden wonders,  today’s dive instructors find themselves in an ever-expanding and diversifying market with new opportunities arising almost daily.

padi scuba diving instructor development course idc

Image: New PADI Dive Instructor James Wynn

Following the completion of his scuba diving internship here on Koh Tao Thailand, we’re happy to announce that James Wynn [UK] has qualified as a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor.

After passing the PADI Instructor examination, James is now able to teach all PADI dive courses up to and including Divemaster level.

James is now going to reward himself with a bit of tech and wreck diving, before returning back to the UK early next month.

If you’re interested in training to become a scuba diving instructor, checkout our instructor developement course [IDC] package.

Congratulations James!

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Images of Whale Shark at the Chumphon Pinnacles Ko Tao

By , 21 March, 2008, No Comment

Following up on the previous whale shark story, BSAC divers Jane & Nigel from sunny Norfolk have kindly sent us images from their whale shark sighting at the Chumphon Pinnacles, Koh Tao.

 whale shark at the chumphon pinnacles koh tao

Image: Whale shark at the Chumphon Pinnacles, photographed by Jane and Nigel

Using their digital underwater camera, they guys also got a good snap of one of the bull/grey reef ? sharks at the dive site.

bull shark at the chumphon pinnacles koh tao

the group of divers

Image: The guys after they returned from their afternoon of shark diving!

If you’re a certified diver and are planning on diving in koh tao, it really is worth checking out our late afternoon RIB diving trips. The benefits of getting out to the dive site by yourselves are massive!

For just a couple of hundred baht extra you’ll dive in a very small group, and get real primo dive experiences.

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Whale Shark encounter diving at the Chumphon Pinnacles

By , 3 March, 2008, No Comment

When we head out for our late afternoon dives on the RIB, being the only boat at the dive site we expect surrounded by sharks, but yesterday afternoon we got a special treat at the Chumphon Pinnacles. Descending down the buoy line, the guys got to see a whale shark hanging around the pinnacle.

whale shark, koh tao thailand

Certified divers Nigel & Jane, Morten, Rolf & Paul, got to enjoy a great dive as we were the only boat on the dive site, surrounded by sharks [which were even breaching the surface].

Whilst the divers were underwater, conditions deteriorated, with wave height increasing. Tim decided that rather than double diving the Chumphon Pinnacles as we usually would, we’d make the second dive at White Rock, which is much more sheltered. Even at White Rock, the guys got to see a hawksbill turtle.

The benefits of making the effort to get to Koh Tao dive sites when there are no other divers are massive. If you are a certified diver visiting Koh Tao, and want to check out our RIB diving, contact us and we’ll draw up a schedule to suit you.

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4 PADI Divemasters graduate from DJL Diving Internship

By , 3 March, 2008, No Comment

After completing their Divemaster Trainee internship here on Koh Tao, Luke, James, Christian & Ceilidh have qualified as PADI Divemasters.

PADI Divemaster James  PADI Divemaster ceilidh PADI Divemaster Luke

Image: From left, the new PADI Divemasters – James Wynn [UK], Christian Leach [Australia], Ceilidh Speir [Canada] & Luke White [UK]

To celebrate their achievement, the guys took part in the Koh Tao ritual snorkel test – drinking a cocktail through a mask and snorkel.

the snorkel test at Lotus Bar Koh Tao

Image: The snorkel test @ Lotus Bar, Koh Tao Thailand

James is now continuing through to PADI Instructor, taking his Instructor Development Course [IDC]. Luke and Ceilidh are staying on Koh Tao, planning to work as PADI Divemasters, and Christian is returning home.

The aftermath

Image: Luke, Christian & James in Choppers Bar

Congratulations to all, and we hope they all continue to have plenty more diving adventures!

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