Technical diving expedition in Thailand comes to an successful conclusion.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Big Blue Tech concluded the 3 week technical diving expedition road trip arriving at our final destination in Pattaya which is located just outside Bangkok in Thailand.

Leaving Krabi James Thornton-Allan and James Foleher drove 12 hours north to Pattaya after stopping in at Big Blue Chumphon to transfer the majority of the diving equipment back to Koh Tao. Arriving in Pattaya the divers met up with Mark Slinn who is a resident of Pattaya and former Big Blue Tech intern who was gracious enough to house the weary divers for the next few days.

The past three weeks on the road from May 11th till May 31st saw the divers visit some of the best diving destinations and divers diving conditions in Thailand and south east Asia.

The divers experienced caves, caverns, world war 2 wrecks, new virgin wrecks, sunken forests, coral reefs, deep walls, strong currents, big waves, deep penetrations, salt water, fresh water, night diving, cold water diving using all mixes of oxygen and helium. They dived from the shore, longtail boat, large dive boat, muddy banks, cave entrances and a liveaboard.

The expedition covered over 2000km including a flight to Singapore and a finally flight from Bangkok down to Koh Samui which is the neighboring island to Koh Tao.

The purpose behind the expedition was to train and prepare Mr. Foleher as a technical diver with a large variety of environments, experiences and challenges to give the confidence and ability to begin his technical diving instructor courses and assists in June.

This expedition couldn’t of been made possible without the support of the following: Halcyon Dive Equipment, Pro-Tec Dive College, Dive Supply, One Stop, IQ Divers, Kamala Dive Centre, Friendly Waters Seasports, the crew of the Mv Samudera, Oms Dive Equipment, Khao Sok National Park, TDI / SDI South East Asia, Royal Thai Navy and Air Asia.

You can follow Mr. Foleher’s progress as he moves on to his BSAC Instructor Cross-over course on the 4th of June.

Modified semi-closed rebreather diver course completed in Thailand

Koh Tao, Thailand - Big Blue Tech celebrates the graduation of Andrew Cavell from his TDI Semi Closed Rebreather Diver Course conducted over 4 dives around various dive sites on Koh Tao Island. The TDI Semi-Closed Rebreather Diver Course is designed to teach the student the safe diving and operation of a Semi-Closed Rebreather.

The semi-closed circuit rebreather (SCR) can be manufactured without the use of batteries or electronic components in a very reliable system. It’s only moving parts are the check valves in the mouthpiece and the demand valve override for deep inhalations. It can be simple, useful, and provide many of the benefits divers seek in rebreathers. With the use of Nitrox mixtures, the benefits of EAN use are retained with the added benefits of a properly designed SCR which includes:

• Quiet, reduced bubble operation
• Extended bottom time (due to efficient use of gas)
• Lighter, more comfortable diving systems
• All the physiological benefits of EAN (Nitrox)

Other advantages of the semi-closed circuit rebreather become obvious with use in each dives chosen environment. For example, the inspired air is moist, not-dry, helping to eliminate “cotton-mouth.” Also, the gas is warmer, reducing heat loss in cold-water diving. Buoyancy needs only be set once at depth. As the diver breathes, the system acts opposite to the lungs producing no change in buoyancy from inhalation to exhalation. This takes some getting used to for experienced divers.

Diving on the rebreather is a remarkable difference to normal open circuit scuba. Andrew’s first experience in the shallow training depths was commented as “that’s weird” when referring to the control of the buoyancy using your lungs. Because the unit uses a bag of air that you exhale and inhale from the exchange of gas from lungs to unit is different than experienced in normal scuba. In scuba diving when you exhale you descend and when you inhale you ascend. In a Semi-closed rebreather the movement is opposite.

During the open water dives do depths up to 30m Andrew found the marine life came much closer then ever before and that the air was not as dry as in normal scuba.

The rebreather which was used is a modified Drager Dolphin Semi-closed rebreather which has been adapted from it’s 4 litre tank which provided 69 hours of dive time to twin 6 litre tanks to get the increase gas and dive time while utilizing a full canister of soda lime. This rebreather also features the ability to bolt on a backplate and wing so technical divers can find it more comfortable and streamlined.