Last week we saw 4 new instructors successfully complete Pete’s IDC programme. Congratulations to Ghassan, Andre, James and Yaniwe on their achievement! We wish them well in the new careers as PADI Openwater Scuba instructors!!
Also to be congratulated are Robbie, Emilio and Sam, for surviving their snorkel test, oh and completing their Divemaster courses. We look forward to seeing what comes next for each of them!
One of the most fascinating marine creatures for me is the Indian Walkman, also known as the spiny devilfish or bearded ghoul fish (scientific name: inimicus didactylus). Considering the fact that this fish rather walks than swims it probably got its name “walkman”.
Belonging to the species of the stonefishes, the Indian Walkman is highly dangerous and poisonous with venomous spines along its back if trodden on etc. They can be found on or even buried in sandy areas near coral whereas the colour varies from sandy brown to dark red. Although if disturbed they raise the spines along their backs, spread out their colourful wings and will usually move off out of harm way, however, if cornered they are able to charge at considerable speed.
Indian Walkmen are masters of camouflage, enabling them to lie in wait for their victims to come close, before lunging forward and inhaling their prey with their large mouths. They usually feed nocturnally on fish and invertebrates. With a length of up to 25 cm Indian Walkman are widespread in the western Indo-Pacific region at a depth of 1-40 metres.
Sonja
This week I was fortunate enough to take an advanced course to Sail Rock which is widely recognised as one of the best dive sites in South East Asia. It was a fantastic day all round, not only did we experience great conditions but I was with an excellent group of students which enabled us to have a couple of long, relaxed and spectacular dives. Sail Rock, as it sounds, is a great big rock which rises from the ocean floor and breaks the surface about two hours away from Koh Tao.
One of the main features of this dive site is that it has a coral ‘chimney’ which starts at around 6 meters and you dive through it to an opening at about 18 meters deep. It is an ideal site for an advanced course because apart from offering depths of up to 30 meters, it also has an amazing amount and diversity of aquatic life. On our dives this week we saw huge shoals of barracuda, trevally, big eye jacks, queen fish and giant groupers as well as thousands of other smaller species.
Everybody enjoyed the day trip, not least myself and my awesome divemaster Lucy, with cracking weather, great visibility and no waves at all. All my students, Simon, Nanna, Chris and Adam had an amazing course and all are still diving here at DJL and we are all now looking forward to the next trip to Sail Rock!
In my opinion, being a diving instructor is one of the best jobs in the world! I get to live on a beautiful tropical island, get to meet hundreds of great people and get to introduce them to the amazing underwater world. This is particularly true here in Koh Tao where we are lucky enough to see some truly amazing sights. Recently there have been several whale shark sightings, there are always plenty of turtles around and thousands of other species of aquatic life. There are, however, many other roles a dive instructor has to fill in order for a dive shop to run as smoothly as DJL. People may not know this but instructors at times, are required to fill tanks, repair equipment, drive the taxi, sort out accommodation, organize rentals, work in the shop along with many other duties that go hand in hand with the tourist industry. This means that at any one time, any of the instructors here can fulfill any required role so that our divers have an enjoyable experience during their time at DJL and any concerns they may have can be addressed by any members of the team.
Being a diving instructor is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding jobs in the world, especially if you work at a school like Davy Jones Locker where you have a great team around you. If you feel like becoming an instructor or would like some more information, check out our instructor development courses at http://www.davyjoneslocker.asia/en/padi-courses.html I can tell you from my own experience that this is a fantastic course and our course director Pete offers 100% pass guarantee.
In about a month’s time Koh Tao will be heading into our yearly monsoon. During the month or two it lasts we always get heaps of enquiries about diving in the rain, mainly the question “Is it worth it?” or “Is it even possible?” To answer this briefly, YES! Definitely.
I did my divemaster training during monsoon 2009 and I know for a fact that it made me a much better diver. The main concern is normally if the weather affects the visibility a lot and no, you won’t get 30-40 metres viz, however what you will get is thorough training! I personally love diving in low visibility primarily because of my attention span under water. Both with regards to my capabilities and skills as a diver but also regarding the aquatic life – you pay so much more attention to what’s down there than you normally would if you can see a whole dive site from whatever spot you find yourself and your group in. Think of it this way: If you have a million of little black dots on a massive piece of paper and only a couple with a greyer shade, how likely is it that you would spot them? If you put a hand over one eye though and you lower your peripheral vision you learn to focus and, section by section, search for those little grey ones in between all the blacks. For me, during monsoon, I spot all the small things that you normally miss out on a lot easier.
This will truly make you a better diver. If you do your Open Water course in lower viz you will be so much more experienced and if you after your training go to another place to dive where the water is amazingly clear, well … You will find it as easy and calming as walking down the street!
At DJL Diving we still take our dive boat out even when it’s rainy and choppy, only cancelling a veeery few days for boat safety reasons. So please don’t let the rain or the wind scare you, I promise you, speaking from my own experience being here through 2 previous monsoons, you will still have an amazing time here and the diving is still just as, if not more, interesting as it is the rest of the year.
It is only a bit of rain and after all – you will get wet anyways!! And please keep in mind as well, monsoon is not 2 months of constant rain every day! Most of the time we still get quite a few lovely, warm, sunny and dry days . 
Sabrina
