Big Blue Tech opens it’s doors today to start the new season after closing during the annual monsoon that hit’s the east side of Koh Tao, however the monsoon never happened. Despite diving destinations on the east coast of Thailand like Pattaya being effected by consistent rain and flash flooding; koh tao was sunny and dry.

The many wise locals of koh tao who have been on the island before beer swear that monsoon is coming and that we shouldn’t be opening just yet. So against better judgment we opened the doors of Big Blue Tech and welcomed all the new activity.

One of the more regretful events is the departure of Christos Kardana who’s leaving Thailand to go to England to delve into the plentiful job market there. Regardless we hope he’ll find nothing but misery and come back in the new year.

Today isn’t without celebration as it’s also the first day for Ash Dunn who has been training to become the new Facilities Manager for this past month and walked right into work this morning ready to get to go.

Today is also the first day for our new technical diving interns who have a very long list of courses and goals to complete over the next 3 months on their way up to becoming a technical diving instructor. You can read more about them tomorrow.

Big Blue Tech will be closing it’s doors for training for the entire month of November based on annual flooding during monsoon season. This picture is from last year.

For those that can’t remember what it was like November 2008, here’s a reminder

Technical diving trips will still be conducted to Khao Sok and the Similan Islands but this will only be open for already certified technical divers.

During this month Big Blue Tech will undergo many changes to it’s facilities, staff and diving destinations.

Big Blue Tech will say goodbye to many veteran staff members but welcomes two new employees.

Panos Iosifoglou

Panos is a long term employee of Big Blue Diving, his humor and friendliness got him the job in the first place but his spoken language of Greek and German let him keep it. Panos has moved to Big Blue Khao Lak where he will be the regional representative for Big Blue Tech while working for the recreational diving industry. Panos is an experienced instructor and has been on all our expeditions. If you want to know about technical diving in the similan islands he’s the man to ask. he can be reached at panos@bigbluetech.net

Ash Dunn

Ash is scheduled to replace Christos Kardana as facilities manager on December 1st. Ash who is a “water and heating molecular engineer” or “plumber” is from England and has goals of staying in Thailand for the next 5 years. He speaks with thick “Jordie” accent which means he won’t be answering phones but he was hand picked for the job because he is a hard working and trust worthy man. His love for Hip-Hop from his time playing basketball for England’s national team will quickly be replaced with forced fed heavy metal on 24 hours a day in the tech room. he can be reached at ash@bigbluetech.net

Changes
Big Blue Tech will also be expanding both in physical shop size and equipment to accommodate the diving schedule in the new year. With focus on Koh Tao for training and expeditions for diving.

Big Blue Tech would like to thank everyone who helped us for this season and we look forward to diving and working with everyone again in December.