Archive for May, 2012

Diving with my Dad

By , 29 May, 2012, No Comment

Recently I was lucky enough to have my Dad visit for the week and as a keen diver himself, I decided to take the morning off work and take him diving for the day. He had two small requests, the first was to see a shipwreck which was an easy request, and the second was to see a whale shark! Now although whale sharks are fairly common around Koh Tao, it would be highly unlikely to see one on my fathers first dive on Koh Tao in almost a year. However, we geared up at Chumphon Pinnacle and jumped in. As soon as we descended down the line, we looked round to see a 5 meter whale shark swimming towards us. The look on my Dads face was amazing and as the shark coolly swam past us I have never seen him swim so fast to keep up with it! Even more luckily, one of the divers in the group had a camera so we had some amazing photos of the dive.

After the excitement of the whale shark, we moved to the second dive site of the morning, the HTMS Sattakut. This was also exciting as the last time my father was here, we actually watched the ship get sunk. We spent plenty of time swimming around the wreck taking a few photographs and everyone had a cracking dive. It was an amazing day and a cracking way to spend his last day on Koh Tao!

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Our IDC at DJL

By , 27 May, 2012, No Comment

The first time we came to Thailand we fell in love with it and it’s been an on and off affair ever since. With our backpacking days a bit behind us and both working long hours in the catering industry, we decided we wanted to rekindle and re-live life on a little, tropical, Thai island, even if it was only for 2 weeks – and so the the first time I came to Koh Tao it was for a fortnight’s diving holiday to get away from it all and spend some time with the fish.

Well that was enough time to turn our worlds upside down and we couldn’t get this place out of our heads. A new thought surfaced – why couldn’t we dive for a living? Imagine getting paid to go diving instead of paying for it; the prospect of travellng and working in beautiful places, meeting new people, making new friends and diving every day sounds too good to be true. Decision made, we headed back to Koh Tao and to Davy Jones’ Locker Diving for a Divemaster internship. It was so much fun and the instructors and all the staff are great (not to mention the pool parties and the DJL bar).

We had obligations in the UK and so had to leave Koh Tao after our Divemaster course, but we still had the diving dream in our heads. We worked in Europe last Summer as DMs and started thinking about our next move. Naturally the next step for us was to become PADI Instructors. When you search online, the choices of where to do your IDC are seemingly infinite. For us it was an obvious decision; we love Koh Tao and DJL. We’re so happy to be back and to have just qualified as PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors.. Yay! It’s such an amazing feeling. The IDC here prepared us really well for the IE and we’re so grateful to Pete, our course director, for all his help, support and guidance.  Before we arrived for the IDC we were e-mailed with dive theory prep so we could get a head start which was a big help.  The course itself felt very personal and catered to us as individuals; here you are not just another candidate. We’re grateful too to all the DJL instructors who were always willing to help and advise us whenever we asked during the course.

We’re still continuing our education at DJL Diving and can’t wait to teach our first courses and share the underwater world with some new Open Water divers.

Claire and Henry

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Staff Instructor

By , 27 May, 2012, No Comment

A few months ago i decided that i wanted to take the next step in my professional training, having gained plenty of experience as an instructor over the last year teaching a variety of different course, from Open water all the way through to divemasters.

With the staff instructor you retake the theory exams and standards exam, so that your dive knowledge is all upto date. You also give classroom presentations to the IDC candidates, and help out in the pool and open water presentations , learning how to evaluate the IDC candidates.

Throughout the course we had some classroom presentations from Pete our course director, and went over the changes in standards since i had done my IDC. We did all of the exams again so that our diving theory and standards were all upto date. after a few days we had our confined water presentations, where we learnt to evaluate the IDC candidates, and also give them advice throughout the course.

The next step is the Master Instructor, with the master instructor you have to have a certain number of certifications for different courses, you also need to have been an instructor for two years, and need to staff some IDC’s and attend PADI seminars. With all the certifications needed, and a few seminars i’m well on my way to progressing to the next level.

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FREE DIVEMASTER COMPETITION 2012

By , 25 May, 2012, No Comment

Time is running out to register for DJL’s annual ‘Free Thailand Divemaster’ competition. All people who wish to start a Divemaster Internship with DJL Koh Tao between 1st July – 30th August 2012 will have the chance of winning it for free. Also two runners up get a 15% discount!

The warm waters, tropical fish, colorful reefs and white sandy beaches have made Koh Tao one of the best places in the world to learn to dive. Adding to this Thailand offers cheaper diving courses than anywhere else.

So become a professional diver today and work all round the globe in some of the worlds most exotic and unique places. No previous diving experience is needed and most importantly there is no obligation to work for us for free, like with most’ free Divemaster Internships’.

1st PRIZE: Free PADI Courses from Open Water to Divemaster (worth 54,000 baht!)

2nd PRIZE: 15% discount off PADI courses from Open Water to Divemaster (worth 9,000 baht!)

BOOK BY: 30th August 2012

START BETWEEN: July 2012-August 2012

The draw will be held at DJL Pool Bar on the 31st of August 2012.
If you are already a qualified diver when you start your internship you could win the value of the courses you book. You must have paid for your Internship in full by 30th August 2012 to be entered into the prize draw.
For more information on Divemaster Internships at Davy Jones Locker or to book your internship place, please email us at info@davyjoneslocker.asia

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Are there any sharks?

By , 24 May, 2012, 1 Comment

The most popular question I’m asked by customers is “Are there any sharks?”

I wish there were. If you are very,very lucky you will see one. If I see one I’m going to run very fast, very fast & get my camera & jump in water before they swim away. I’ve only seen a handful of sharks in the last few years so when I do see one it’s a magical experience, their movements are graceful, purposeful; their shape beautiful, captivating your eyes. I could watch them swim for hours, & 1 day I did. In Egypt I spent over an hour in the water watching 2 ocean white tips swimming around, doing their own thing, unbothered by the divers. When our air got low, we jumped back on the boat & took our gear off & jumped back in with snorkels & mask.

Was I scared? No, I was mesmerised & I still waiting to experience another moment like it. If you’re very, very lucky you will get to see sharks underwater. And If you do just watch them & appreciate them, you will be spellbound!

Matt Metcalf

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