Similan Islands, Thailand - Big Blue Tech continues their technical diving expedition with the boarding ontheir liveaboard vessel the Mv Pawara bound for the Similan Islands over the course of a 4 day / 4 night trip.

The Mv Pawara is a luxury class liveaboard owned by Big Blue Diving and chartered through Big Blue Khao Lak and offers diving trips to the best of the Similan Islands off the west coast of Thailand.

Big Blue Tech uses this trip to conduct a TDI Extended Range Yvonne Fries, Helen Artal, Thomas Hallstrom and Duncan Tyler conducted by TDI Instructor James Thornton-Allan and assisted by Andrew Cavel.

Technical diving in the Similans is perfect for divers who want to see the best diving conditions in Thailand with a diversity of marine life and clearity unseen anywhere else.

At the moment the Mv Pawara is the only boat setup for technical diving with on board nitrox and oxygen fills along with Big Blue Khao Lak being the only centre in Khao Lak offering technical diving. This will be the second trip this season with many more scheduled in the coming months.

Technical divers leave Koh Tao heading for Khao Lak on the west coast of Thailand

Koh Tao, Thailand - Big Blue Tech departs Koh Tao island heading through Chumphon City to Khao Lak to start the expedition phase of the tech course for Yvonne Fries, Helen Artal, Thomas Hallstrom and Duncan Tyler conducted by TDI Instructor James Thornton-Allan and assisted by Andrew Cavel.

The team departed from Seatran Ferry peir on Koh Tao and headed to Lang Suan Peir in Chumphon. Arriving in Chumphon we were met but a mini bus who would take us on the 4 hour drive to Khao Lak and our hotel which would accomodate us for the night.

While in Khao Lak the tech team will be diving on a technical liveaboard called the Mv Pawara which is owned by Big Blue Diving, the parent company of Big Blue Tech. After the 4 day, 4 night liveaboard in the Similan Islands we’ll be staying in Khao Lak to dive on the Sea Chart 1 shipwreck and a few speed boat trips before heading off to Khao Sok for some cave exploration diving over a few days with a planned return to Koh Tao on the 17th.

Divers advance to the level of conducting decompression dives

Koh Tao, Thailand - Big Blue Tech celebrates the graduation of Yvonne Fries, Helen Artal, Thomas Hallstrom and Duncan Tyler from a TDI Decompression Procedures course conducted by TDI Instructor James Thornton-Allan and assisted by Andrew Cavell and Ash Dunn over various dive sites on Koh Tao Island in Thailand.

The TDI Decompression Procedures course is designed to train a diver who has training in technical diving in the methods and skills involved with decompression diving. Recreational diving is considered no stop which means you can leave your depth and ascend to the surface at anytime (optional safety stop recommended), with decompression diving the diver has absorbed into their tissues (muscles and blood) a lot of gas which is forced in during deep and long duration diving of compressed air. Because the tissues are saturated with nitrogen it’s mandatory that decompression divers stop at certain depths for certain periods of time to let the nitrogen bubble leave the body safely. Failing to do this safely can cause the bubble to expand to fast causing decompression sickness or “the bends”. To those unfamiliar with diving, our atmosphere is made up of a concentration of 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen, divers use this air in our tanks after a filtration system, it’s the concentration of nitrogen which effects the divers at this level.

The skills the divers had to learn were varied from following a complex schedule itemizing their stops and time, buoyancy skills like oral inflation of their wing at depth to deployment of back-up mask. Other skills continued throughout the 4 dives of this course which lead the divers to receive the coveted certification which is the most recognized internationally as a entry level technical diver.

The students were issued certification after and exam and progress on to their TDI Extended Range course tomorrow with a trip to the similan islands and khao sok national park. You can read more about the Decompession Procedures course here: TDI Decompression Procedures Diver Course

Advanced nitrox divers graduate with bull sharks in Thailand

Koh Tao, Thailand - Big Blue Tech celebrates the graduation of Yvonne Fries, Helen Artal, Thomas Hallstrom and Duncan Tyler from a TDI Advanced Nitrox course conducted by TDI Instructor James Thornton-Allan and assisted by Andrew Cavell and Ash Dunn over various dive sites on Koh Tao Island in Thailand.

The TDI Advanced Nitrox course is designed to orientate the student about rich or high mixes of oxygen and their advantages while wearing technical diving gear. The use of low mixes to advance deep diving and the use of high mixes to add extra conservatism to optional stops during the dive.

The students learned about carrying a decompression cylinder, oxygen handling and analysis and vairous other skills. The final dives were conducted using nitrox to allow the diver to flow through a no-decompression schedule switching to different mixes of nitrox the shallower the dive went. This course certifies the diver to delve to 40m using up to 100% oxygen depending on the depth and if the situation is warranted.

The final dive was also held at Chmphon Pinnacle where we were met by Bull Sharks that live at that dive site creating an exciting atmosphere for learning and diving.

The students were issued certification after and exam and progress on to their TDI Decompression Procedures course tomorrow with a return to Chumphon Pinnacle for some more dive time with the sharks. You can read more about the Advanced Nitrox course here: TDI Advanced Nitrox Diver Course

Experienced dives graduate from the TDI Intro to Tech course in Thailand

Koh Tao, Thailand - Big Blue Tech celebrates the graduation of Yvonne Fries, Helen Artal, Thomas Hallstrom and Duncan Tyler from a TDI Intro to Tech course conducted by TDI Instructor James Thornton-Allan and assisted by Andrew Cavell and Ash Dunn over various dive sites on Koh Tao Island in Thailand.

The TDI Intro to Tech course is designed to introduce the foundation control skills of buoyancy and trim which will be built on during the rest of their training on the way up to TDI Extended Range which is the fourth level in the technical diver curriculum. The skills train a dive to maintain perfect control in a set of technical diving gear while keeping a constant horizontal body position in the water without the use of hands. The skills learned include unique skills like fining backwards and neutral buoyancy skills like no mask swim, regulator exchange, air sharing, long hose use etc.

While this course is not a prerequisite to become a technical diver we feel the skills learned are essential. One of the early goals in our training is to avoid contact with anything other then the equipment you carry once you enter the water. In Koh Tao there are a lot of buoy lines or permanent lines which may be tempting to hold on to during simulated stops but prevents the diver from focusing on controlling themselves in the water. In instances where the down line may not be available it’s essential a future technical diver be intimate with their diving equipment and how to use that equipment effectively.

The students were also exposed to air consumption calculations, basic dive planning without the use of a computer that tracks no decompression limits which is based on the philosophy of “Plan the dive, Dive the plan” which has fallen by the side recently with the advent of gas switching computers. Although the students will be provided with a gas switching computer later on it’s this course which teaches them how to rely and trust a dive plan which might be their back-up decompression information in the future.

In the end the students conducted 4 dives and received their certification after a final exam. The divers will progress on to their Advanced Nitrox course tomorrow. More information regarding the intro to tech course can be found here: TDI Intro to Tech Diver Course

Divers train for a expedition for the month of February over valentines day.

Koh Tao, Thailand - Big Blue Tech started the orientation and introduction for 4 new students who will be working over the next few weeks to be trained as technical divers to depart koh tao on a technical diving liveaboard and cave diving in the Similan Islands and Khao Sok National Park.

The students consist of Duncan Tyler, Yvonne Fries, Helen Artal and Thomas Hallstrom who are all diving professionals. The course is being conducted by technical diving instructor James Thornton-Allan and assisted by future technical diving instructor Andy Cavell and Ash Dunn.

The goal of the next week is to certify the students for TDI Intro to Tech, TDI Advanced Nitrox, TDI Decompression Procedures and TDI Extended Range followed by TDI Cavern Diver and TDI Trimix.

While the majority of the training dives will be conducted in Koh Tao the team departs early in february to the west coast of thailand to board our liveaboard the Mv Pawara for 4 days and nights on the luxury vessel diving in Similan Islands we a few days in the end for some wreck diving and cave diving which builds from last months successful “Golden Horseshoe Expedition”

Today covered equipment organizing for all 7 technical divers and a refresher of theory with the introduction of technical diving specific information, the students were also tested on their water stamina with swim tests designed to ensure they have the basic fitness for the stress of this style of diving.

Our next expedition is planned for the end of February, to join or to receive more information you can contact us at info@bigbluetech.net

Diver Air Quality Compressor Operator Handling Course Completed in Thailand

Koh Tao, Thailand - Big Blue Tech completed a BSAC Compressor Operator course today for Divemaster Intern Dylan Thornton by BSAC Instructor Ash Dunn.

The BSAC Compressor Operator course is about teaching the proper handling, procedures and functions of divers air quality compressors and banked air systems.

Divers air quality compressors are not the same as compressors you use for filling tires or using a nail gun. The quality of the air has to be high to prevent any respiratory problems for the divers breathing it under pressure. With the quality of the air so important Dylan was also taught how to change the filters which have special chemicals inside to help remove toxins and moisture before being put into the scuba divers cylinder.

The course consists with a  morning of academic theory lessons and afternoon of practical hands on filling and then concludes with a written exam. Dylan progresses tomorrow on to his Gas Blender course where he will use his skills again to fill nitrox cylinders.

In addition to this the rest of the team have been busy servicing regulators and equipment in preperation for the start of the next tech course which starts bright and early tomorrow for 4 eager future technical divers.

Halcyon new adjustable harness system now available for shipping in Asia.

Koh Tao, Thailand - Big Blue Tech are happy to announce the availability of Halcon’s new Infinity harness system. The new technical diving harness and backplate system is designed to give the diver more options with an adjustable webbing system so it can be enlarged and reduced in size on the fly. The system also features comfort padding.

You can find more information HERE

For price and shipping details please email us at info@bigbluetech.net

Technical Divers return home from the 3 week expedition in Thailand

Koh Tao, Thailand - Big Blue Tech concluded their 3 week expedition on January 25th after ariving at the sea port of Koh Tao Island in Thailand.

Over the past 3 weeks students and instructors from Big Blue Tech have been travelling around Thailand tech diving in the best destinations throughout the country.

The expedition took us through Khao Sok National Park, Khao Lak, Similan Islands, Krabi, Phi Phi, Ao Nang, Sra Keow and Surin Islands.

During the 3 weeks the team conducted technical dives in caverns, caves, fresh water, salt water, hot water, cold water, night time, bad visibility, perfectly clear visibility, strong current and no current. We did this all from shore, longtail boats, dinghies, speedboats, luxury liveaboards, back of a truck, tug boat and a peir.

Over the 3 weeks we found a clear divide between technical divers and recreational divers as many places we went had never seen a twin set let alone knew how to operate one which gave Big Blue Tech a great chance to expose areas to this style of diving. Along with that clear divide we also got ourselves into plenty of mischief which comes with any road trip.

Returning to Koh Tao the extension is almost finished which is designed to house more divers and their equipment, Ash was more then happy to see us as he’s been looking after the Koh Tao office all alone for 3 weeks.

The next few days we be consumed with servicing all our equipment and regulators to be ready for the next course start on January 30th where we’ll return to our liveaboard for another Similans Expedition in February.

Technical diving and cave diving in Thailand featured in french magazine.

Koh Tao, Thailand - Big Blue Tech along with photographs from Christos Kardana have been featured in a 5 page spread in the french magazine Atacamag which can be read online through their website at Atacamag. Atacamag is an outdoor magazine which focuses on sports outdoors and interviewed Christos last year when they were travelling conducting research for their Thailand feature.

The magazine explores technical diving in thailand along with a focus on Koh Tao and cave diving in Khao Sok.

Follow this link to read a copy of the issue - ‘Atacamag - Numero 7‘

Technical divers race to Koh Bon divesite for Manta Rays by Speedboat.

Khao Lak, Thailand - Big Blue Tech members Andy Cavell, Mark Slinn and James Thornton-Allan raced to Koh Bon dive site this morning to go looking for Manta Rays. Travelling at over 30 knots it took just under an hour to reach the dive site in the Similan Islands on one of our speed boats. Koh Bon dive site is best known for the abundance of manta rays found there and is the only place in Thailand where these animals can be seen.

Big Blue Khao Lak, the branch for diving in the simian islands has 2 speedboats and a liveaboard so we jumped in one of them for a relaxing days diving.

However, our luck with these animals seems to be consistent and there wasn’t a single manta ray which was annoying since the past few days before divers have been enjoying multiple manta rays. This is a running theme now since we saw none on the liveaboard.

Although there were no Manta Rays there were some white tip sharks and other fish, some yellow and some blue, basically all of Nemo’s mates were there but it wasn’t what we were looking for.

The second dive was a Koh Tachai dive site where, again, there were no Manta’s so the tech crew (now without Emily) did what any lads do on a speed boat with nothing else to do, we jumped in the drivers seat and took the boat for a spin which was absolutely brilliant. Most of us have driven boats before and also have our powerboat license but this boat is built for speed and that’s exactly what it did, it went fast, very very fast.

Unfortunately for Andy who forgot his dive bag in the truck he ended up very sun burnt from the entire day in the sun but hope it teaches him a good lesson about equipment awareness.

Tomorrow is scheduled for more diving where Panos will join us, it’s been ages since Panos moved out here to look after Big Blue Tech in Khao Lak and since he’s been so busy there’s been no chance to get in the water. Hopefully we’ll have both Panos and Rick together at Richeleau Rock for some tech diving and then it’s off home to be back on Koh Tao for the 25th.

Technical divers travel north to dive with Manta Rays

Phi Phi, Thailand – Big Blue Tech departed from Phi Phi Island today to head back up to Khao Lak after it was decided that the island held no more interest for the team of technical divers.

Yesterday we dived in Maya Cave which was reported as a great cave worth a visit which we felt posed very little challenge and did give us a rush of adrenaline like other caves we have dived in during this expeditions.

Last night the team spoke with other divers on Phi Phi about the caves, the recreational divers who have never had any formal training in overhead referred to the other caves as “swim through”. This new information put doubt into our minds about the value of staying any longer in exchange for diving somewhere else. The decision was made to not go diving today and instead packed up and left the island.

Technical diving on this island as part of an expedition is very difficult to the point of frustration. We had major problems simply getting from one point of the island to the other with our gear let alone arranging boats and air fills. However it’s very unusual for a divers to travel through the country like this with their own equipment so it was not a surprise that we would encounter some problems.

While Phi Phi was great for a party and all normal holiday making and relaxing it’s a lot like Koh Tao in many ways but nowhere near as developed and established which could be a result of the Tsunami which wiped out Phi Phi island 5 years ago, an event which is remembered in subtle and respectful ways throughout the island.

Anyone wishing to visit Phi Phi should contact Susan at +66 0892894789 who arranged all the transport, accommodation and bookings really well over the phone and was essential to the modest success we got.

This evening the tech crew arrived back in Khao Lak where we would take out our speedboat for a couple days diving on the Similan Islands to look for Manta Rays. This is also the end of the road for Emily who returns to Koh Tao to get back to work teaching scuba diving at Big Blue.

Technical divers explore sea caves on Phi Phi Island

Phi Phi, Thailand - Big Blue Tech arrived in Phi Phi this morning to begin 2 days of sea cave diving in an attempt to clearly identify the caves in this area as potential for future expeditions.

Phi Phi island is best know for the location of “The Beach” movie starring that guy from Titanic. The story is actually based on Ang Thong Marine Park but they used Maya Bay to create the set for the beach.

Arriving on Phi Phi island we were surprised by how rural the environment is with no motorcycles or trucks to help transport equipment which meant the annoying task of humping all our gear along the pier to the small carts which would take us through the winding streets to Princess Divers who would host us for the next few days.

Once we were finally checked in to our hotels, sweating, irritated and hungry we had a small bite to eat and then set off on a long tail to Maya Cave which was reported as a stunning cave that goes in over 100m.

We found the cave quite easily with little reference and conducted one dive inside and it is not a cave it’s a cavern. It’s very hard to get into an area where you cannot see natural light. The size and design of the cave is also so vast that there’s really very little risk to call it a cave. However, you could get into a point where it’s linear depth is beyond 40m so in that respect it is a cave.

The large entrance leads to a huge cavern that is split in the middle by a pillar several metres across. The left side has a low ceiling 2-3m from the floor and has many interesting rock formations and stalactites, passing these the floor is littered with pieces of broken stalactites.

The right side past the split is more spacious with several metres from floor to ceiling but also with impressive stalactites. 100m from the entrance the two sides meet again at the back wall between huge stalactites.

There are more “caves” to check out but with the epic logistics and the utter emotional process to get to the dive site we just wanted to go back to our hotel and have a cold beer. Andy Cavell was more than happy to hear that as he was forming a speech impediment where every third word in his sentences was either “pub” or “pint”

Tomorrow’s plan would be 2 more dives at different dive sites reported to be good caves, hopefully we’ll find something to warrant the effort to get here.

TDI (Technical Diving International), the largest technical certification agency in the world, is now offering training in the sports diver Rebreather, also known as Poseidon Discovery. TDI is seen as an innovator always bringing new, exciting and functional diving techniques and programs to the general diving public.

All of the thousands TDI-certificated dive leaders around the world now have the opportunity to get educated in the Rebreather system. This means that the possibility for scuba divers to be taught by an Rebreather-educated instructor has increased considerably.

“I would call this the crucial step för the Rebreather to reach the great amount of recreational divers all over the world,” says Kurt Sjöblom, CEO of Poseidon Diving Group AB. “My prediction is is that 2010 will really be the year of the Rebreather!”

Poseidon was founded by divers, for divers. When Ingvar Elfström launched the world’s first single hose regulator in 1958 it became an immediate sensation. The company currently has 30 employees and over 2000 agents worldwide. Headquarters and manufacturing is located in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The world’s first closed breathing system for recreational divers
Unlike traditional breathing systems for recreational divers, Poseidon Discovery reuses the exhaled breath. This extends the diving time from 40 minutes to several hours. In November 2008, Poseidon Discovery was awarded the international award “Best of What’s New Award” by Popular Science, one of the largest popular science magazines.

For further information, please contact:
Kurt Sjöblom, CEO, +46706340552, kurt.sjoblom@poseidon.com
Mats Lennartson, Press Contact, +46707902468, mats.lennartson@poseidon.com

Technical Divers Explore Asia’s Deepest Cave

Krabi, Thailand - Today Big Blue Tech conducted 2 dives inside the deepest cave in Asia called Sra Keow cave in the province of Krabi in Thailand. This cave is famous for recent penetrations to depths of 240m and continued expeditions are planned for further exploration.

Our goals were simply to check out the cave and see what they’re like. The surroundings are stunning and this would be a good chance to see some alternative diving and explore a system that has received a lot of attention in the past. Keeping with air depth limits we would only enter to maximum of 60m at which point narcosis and partial pressure of oxygen inspired would be too much of a risk or concern for overhead diving.

On our first dive we were surprised how the entrance to the cave begins almost immediately on descent. Clearly tied permanent lines were helpful but we ran our own initially until we knew the lines could be trusted. The cave itself is very silty and dirty; it’s basically a mud pit with limestone shapes. Every single move had to be calculated as the visibility was easily disturbed. Inside the cave itself it’s quite easy to navigate around as it’s a very large system with enough room for 2 dives to enter and exit easily. Additionally the installation of arrows are placed well except for the nasty line trap on ascent which can’t be avoided.

After the first dive we headed to see Dave at OneStop Dive centre for air and nitrox fills. While waiting we bought too much technical diving gear from him and generally took over his store kicking the tires for a few hours.

Our second dive of the day was was completed to a maximum depth of 60m staggered with surface support and then we went for a walk through one of the surface caves in the area.

In general we thought the cave was perfect for people who like dark, dirty, silty, smelly holes in the ground (like us) but not so great for people who like pretty open caves.It was also very cold which was quite shocking in our 3mm wetsuits.

The cave is also technically difficult with the aspects of narcosis, decompression and a whole host of hazards and it’s not reccomended for novice divers.

The team moves on to Phi Phi tomorrow for some sea caves off the coast before heading back up the west coast for our final leg of our tour.

Special thanks to OneStop and Bruce Konefe for their advice and support.