Technical divers return to shore after 4 days at sea

Khao Lak, Thailand - The Valentines Tech Expedition contingent of Big Blue Tech return to Khao Lak today after coming ashore from the Mv Pawara after the completion of a 4 night technical diving liveaboard on the Similan and Surin islands.

The liveaboard was the base of our diving while completing a TDI Extended Range course which trained the divers to conduct accelerated decompression dives to depths of 55 meters / 180 ft using 3 mixes of gas with air, nitrox and oxygen over 4 cylinders worn simultaneously.

This course was delivered by James Thornton-Allan and Andy Cavell for students Yvonne Fries, Helen Artal, Duncan Tyler and Thomas Hallstrom.

This would be the second technical diving trip in the similan islands for Big Blue Tech this season and again it proved to be a holiday setting with challenging and interesting dives. While the diving conditions are described below it was the extra touches of relaxing watching movies, sun tanning on the roof and trips in the dinghy to the beaches, which really made this trip relaxing and enjoying as a holiday.

Technical diving is saturated with bravado and peer pressure which have lead to serious diving accidents around the globe, we’re more about having fun on the surface and focusing as a team underwater which allows each diver to relax and progress at their own pace. In addition to our relaxed atmosphere we also encourage a alcohol free environment and no smoking during the diving day which has contributed to our perfect record of no diving related injuries.

The Similan Islands is located off the west coast of the west side of Thailand just north of Phuket from a town called Khao Lak. There are several ways to reach the similans by speed boat, long tail or liveaboard and is listed as one of the best diving destinations in the world.  The Similan and Surin Islands are protected marine parks managed by the Thai government to prevent fishing and destruction to help the marine environment sustain for generations to come.  Divers must pay a park fee to enter the marine park which is enforced by roaming park police boats. It seems the greatest enforcement in the area is getting the money from the dive tour operators rather than protecting the environment from fishing or negative effects like litter or pollution but it’s a better system than nothing at all.

The dive sites we visited on our trip was East Of Eden, Boulder City, West of Eden, Elephant Head Pinnacle, Christmas Tree Point, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, Richelieu Rock, Richelieu Rock(sunset), Koh Bon Pinnacle, Boonson Wreck.

Over these sites we found ourselves at the mercy of very strong currents pushing us in all directions with changing temperature. On a dive a Elephant Head Pinnacle at 55m a freezing cold wall of cloudy water washed over us making the visibility very limited and giving all of us instant brain freeze that took your breath away. While we were struggling to adjust to the temperature we were being pushed all over the place at a very fast rate, so strong that you couldn’t kick against it to keep in place, our only option was to hide behind rocks and do strategic zig zag movements through the dive site back up to recreational diving depths where is was warm and clear again but it was an experience that taught everyone how to handle vicious currents and how to stay together as a team.

On a dive to Koh Bon we finally saw Manta Rays, thankfully our instructor dropped his mask off the back of the boat, as he went do to get it just below the surface we noticed two large manta rays circling us about 10m below us. This would be a first for some of the divers who have had plenty of chances but never actually seen one. The Giant Manta Ray or “Manta Birostris” is mostly black with a white underbelly, long triangular wings and a tail without stinger. It also has a pair of movable flaps just in front of its mouth. They can grow up to 3-4 meters wide and are recorded as up to 22ft or 670 cm in diameter or “disc” size making these very exciting animals to be witness to. These gentle giants are also one of the few rays that don’t sting so you can get quite close without worry of harm. We spent in total about half an hour with these majestic animals, while other divers were restricted by their single cylinder and no decompression limits we spent over an hour at depth without any concern for air or decompression since the dive was planned well in advance.

As the final night rolled around many started falling asleep after dinner showing clear signs of fatigue from the days diving. It was decided as a group that we would skip the last 2 dives and sleep in, we would come back with the speed boat to visit Koh Bon Pinnacle at a later date. It was also the 11th of February which is Andy Cavell’s 27th birthday. We all knew that coming back from the trip and it being Andy’s birthday that we would be well into a few drinks so it’s good to rest up for such vigorous Olympic style consumption.

Returning to shore we unloaded the boat into our taxi and headed off to our hotel for a nap, shower and relaxed for the next few days until the 13th when we would head off to the big shipwreck off the coast called the Sea Chart 1 which is 85m long in 40m of water.

Special thanks to the staff of Big Blue Khao Lak and Mv Pawara for taking such good care of us and bending over backwards to accommodate our trip.

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

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

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 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.

The technical diving team is finally assembled as another dive arrives

Khao Lak, Thailand - The technical diving team came together today with the arrival of Matt Payne who would be joining us for the similan islands portion of diving. Matt joins Andy, Emily and Mark for his TDI Extended Range, Gas Blender and Compressor Operator course which will be combined with wreck diving and a liveaboard on the Similan Islands.

Matt arrived this morning from Phuket Airport after a flight from his home in Pattaya. Matt joined us last year for a Khao Sok Expedition where he completed his Cavern and Decompression Procedures course.

Also today Andy and Emily were on a trip to Ranong to get their visas extended, this left James, Mark and Matt the afternoon free to be tourists. One of the more remarkable things in this area is the tsunami memorial which pays homage to the people who lost their lives and were effected during this event during christmas in 2005. This is illustrated by a large police boat which was swept over a kilometer in land and is now displayed as a reminder to the force and destruction of the water which took over 4000 lives in Khao Lak alone.

The remainder of the day would be spent adjusting gear, charging flashlights/torches, checking our dive profile through our decompression dive planner and getting to bed early for tomorrow would start at 7am to get on the wreck at slack tide.

Technical divers descend on the port of Similan Islands

Khao Lak, Thailand - Big Blue Tech arrived in the small town of Khao Lak on Januray 7 2010 to begin the next phase in the expedition which featured wreck diving and a liveaboard trip.

Arriving at the Big Blue Khao Lak office we quickly arranged  accomodation, logistics, oxygen, tank filling facilities, gps coordinates and a boat to get us to the wreck.The wreck in question is the recently submerged Sea Chart 1 sitting at 40m in unlimited visibililty, we’re planning on 40-50 minute bottom times to take full advantage of the dives on the 85m long wreck. It won’t be until the 9th when we actually get the chance to go diving which will last for several days until we board our liveaboard the Mv Pawara for a 4 day/4 night liveaboard in the similan islands.

With the afternoon of dive planning finished we headed out on the town to the only bar in miles called Happy Snapper. This bar is quite different from typical Thai drinking places with features like a world globe painted on the ceiling, air conditioning and a live band. In the happy snapper we ran into lots of old friends who left Koh Tao to work on the west coast for the season and it was a great chance for us to catch up with them. This was also a great chance to unwind to celebrate the end of the Cavern Course and the start of something new.

A special thanks to Marcel of Wicked Diving and Keith of Liquid Diving for their support.

Thailand is described  as being “the new technical frontier“, Thailand has numerous world class sites for divers of all standards, making it an underwater adventure paradise. Some wrecks still remain unidentified and all sit just as they sank.

Huge freighters, POW ships, drill ships, tankers, munitions carriers and even a US WWII submarine can be counted amongst the historical wrecks littering Thailand.

The Andaman and South China Sea’s, all the wrecks listed have been located over the last five years and are truly untouched. Along with Caves and Caverns that are being discovered every day with untouched decorations and long rewarding penetrations.

The recent discovery of a sunken village in Khao Sok National park and the on going wreck discoveries in the Similan Islands open up Thailand to the technical diving community with more variation of challenges and adventures than any other technical diving destination.

To the right is a list of diving locations we use frequently for trips, training and planned expeditions for certified technical divers. The list is a summary of destinations, for more information about where we’re going and where we’ve been look at our news section and upcoming events.

Chumphon Pinnacle

Location: Koh Tao, Gulf of Thailand

Description: Underwater pinnacle used for training, warm up dives and experience dives. This is also the only place to see sharks large predatory sharks in the region.

Depth: 45 meters

Visibility: 20 - 25 meters (65 - 80 feet)

Rating: ****

Availability: Daily from December to October

Sharks, Sharks and more Sharks. This busy dive destination is used by everyone on Koh Tao. Although not suitable for open water dives since the site starts at 16m this dive site is one of our more accessible deep sites where 50m is found easily.

The main attraction is Bull Sharks, Gray Reef Sharks and Whale Sharks which can be found daily. We use this site for training purposes and for fun technical diving when you just want to watch the sharks go by for hours.

Gulf Of Thailand Wreck Liveaboard

Introduction:

This 3 day technical wreck expedition joins the MV Trident to the HTMS Pangan

These dives are in complete in tropical conditions at 50-60m

Pre Day: Travel from your destination anywhere in Thailand to Koh Tao where the Boat Departs in the evening.

Day 1: 2 Deep Accelerated Decompression Dives

Day 2: 2 Deep Accelerated Decompression Dives

Day 3: 2 Deep Accelerated Decompression Dives - Return Home.

* a optional warm up and check out dive is available if required prior to the trip.

Costs: 40,000 Thai Baht - When Booked Online (course or training not included)

Included:Food, Drink, Accomodation, Boat Fees, Nitrox, Oxygen, Equipment (Regulators, Wing, Backplate)

Not Included: Personal Diving Equipment, Diving Insurance

Water:Salt

Location: Gulf of Thailand

Availability: Montly February to October

Cave and Cavern Expedition

Introduction:

Our 4 day Cave and Cavern Expedition is designed not only for training but also for certified cave and cavern divers.

Pre Day: Travel from your destination anywhere in Thailand to Khao Sok National Park

Day 1: Reel and Line Practice, Jungle Trekking, Relaxing, Swimming

Day 2: 3 Fresh Water Cave or Cavern Dives - Water Fall Tour After

Day 3: 3 Fresh Water Cave or Cavern Dives - Trek to hidden lagoon.

Day 4: 3 Fresh Water Cave or Cavern Dives - Head Home

Costs: 20,000 for certfied divers, to combine with a course see specfic course.

Included:Food, Drink, Accomodation, Transfers, Equipment, Torches, Reels, Park Entrance Fee, Boat Fees

Not Included: Nitrox, Oxygen, Technical Equipment (If Certified)

Water: Fresh

Location: Khao Sok National Park

Availability: Monthly year round.

Sunken Village Expedition

Introduction:

Our 4 day Sunken Village Expedition is designed for Technical Divers who want to try something completely different.

These dives are in complete darkness in water about 25 degrees at 50-60m

Day 1: Travel from your destination anywhere in Thailand to the National Park

Day 2: 2 No-Decompression Warm Up Dives with one night dive.

Day 3: 2 Accelerated Decompression Dives

Day 4: 2 Accelerated Decompression Dives

Day 5: 2 Accelerated Decompression Dives

Costs: 30,000 Thai Baht - When Booked Online

Included:Food, Drink, Accomodation, Transfers, Equipment, Torches, Reels, Park Entrance Fee, Boat Fees, Nitrox, Oxygen, Technical Equipment (regs, wings, plates), Diving Insurance

Water: Fresh

Location: Mainland Thailand

Availability: Montly year round

Similan Islands Technical Liveaboard

Introduction:

Our 4 day Similans Technical Liveaboard is designed for Technical Divers who want to explore the Similan islands in the comfort and style of technical diving with staff and crew who know how to accomodate you on our vessel the Mv Pawara.

Day 1: Travel from your destination anywhere in Thailand to the Khao Lak (free pickup from Phuket Airport is available. Depart in the Evening.

Day 2 :Up to 4 Technical Dives including night dive.

Day 3: Up to 4 Technical Dives including night dive.

Day 4: Up to 4 Technical Dives including night dive.

Day 5: Up to 3 Technical Dives arrive back in Khao Lak with transfer to airport or town.

Costs: 35,000 Thai Baht - When Booked Online

Included:Food, Drink, Accomodation, Transfers, Equipment, Torches, Reels, Park Entrance Fee, Boat Fees, Nitrox, Oxygen, Technical Equipment (regs, wings, plates)

Water: Salt

Location: Similan Islands

Availability: Bi-Monthly November to April

Our technical training team is comprised of skilled and experienced individuals who excel in their own field of expertise across the technical scuba diving industry in Thailand. No one can train divers to do everything, with that we have specialists who focus on their own personal interest in the area they’re responsible for.

Our team work and live in a very small community of technical scuba diving explorers who’s main goal is to train and expose divers to this ever growing style of technical deep water exploration and advanced scuba diving education in Thailand.

We provide technical diving leadership and education in English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish, Thai and Japanese.

James Thornton-Allan

Director Technical Diving Operations

James is responsible for the day to day operations of Big Blue Tech and the on going quality assurance of technical diving operations including the expanding selection of dive sites and training courses for Big Blue Diving branches across Thailand.

James provides contact and liaison through all facets of technical diving at big blue and provides on going consultation for other technical diving companies and agencies. For all course and diving bookings please contact him directly.

Contact: James@bigbluetech.net

Yvonne Fries

Manager Technical Diving Operations

Yvonne is responsible for supporting the Director of Technical Diving Operations by managing the finances, scheduling and accounts along with all other related activities for Big Blue Tech in Thailand.

Yvonne has been working for Big Blue Tech for several years and is one of the more senior and respected members of the team.

Falls Sie Interesse haben am technischen Tauchen, Hoehlentauchen oder Rebreather Tauchen in oder um thailand herum, bitte kontaktieren Sie mich per Eunter

Wir bieten alle Kurse auch in deutscher Sprache an.

Contact: Yvonne@bigbluetech.net

Ash Dunn

Diving Facilities Manager

Ash is our Advanced Gas Blender, Equipment and Oxygen Service Technician and Technical Divemaster. On top of these skills, Ash is responsible for the logistics and delivery of suppot services for all diving with Big Blue Tech.

Ash provides logistic support and serviced equipment for all our technical diving expeditions across Thailand.

Contact: Ash@bigbluetech.net

Andy Holdaway

Technical Divemaster

Andy is our technical divemaster. He is responsible for leading certified technical divers and conducting skill workshops for divers who have not been current with their diving.

When not diving Andy can be found travelling between Thailand and England or enhancing his education and skills to become a technical diving instructor in the future.

Contact: Andy@bigbluetech.net

Sonia Scott

Hyperbaric Services Manager

Sonia is responsible for the health and safety of all our divers as a dive medic and hyperbaric chamber operator.

Sonia supports technical diving by being an onsite representative for all diving related health concerns while working with other medical facilities and professionals in the region.

Contact: sonia@bigbluetech.net

Panos Iosifoglou

Technical Dive Manager Similans

Panos is our in house technical dive managers who’s responsibility is for the west coast technical diving in the Similan Islands and Khao Lak. He provides logistics, underwater guide, supervision and liaison through our shop in Khao Lak and on our liveaboard the Mv Pawara.

Panos is also responsible for Cave Diving and Gas Blending Facilities for the west coast on Thailand.

Contact: Panos@bigbluetech.net

Simon Garitty

Technical Instructor Trainer

Simon is our SSI (Scuba Schools International) Instructor Trainer providing instructor level course, cross-overs and general course development for the Big Blue Diving franchise. Simon is also heavily involved with the SSI-TXR curriculum of technical courses.

Contact: Simon@bigbluetech.net

Guillaume Fargues

Technical Instructor Development Coordinator

Guillaume is responsible for coordinating instructor development courses and assisting in their application. Regardless of what level you wish to complete be it technical diving instructor or open water instructor Guillaume creates an effortless process and private tutor beyond what is already provided.

Guillaume is also our in house French instructor and is available for translation or entire courses upon request

Contactez-nous pour en savoir plus sur les formations tech, ainsi que la plongee en cavernes et grottes et avec recycleur partout en Thailande. Nous offrons des cours individuels dans de nombreuses langues dont le francais pour tous les niveaux, de debutant a instructeur tech.

Contact:guillaume@bigbluetech.net

Dean Jenkins

Technical Internship Coordinator

Dean is responsible for the ongoing training and development of our Technical Dive Master Program. Those completing their tech dive master program will work closely with dean for all aspects from physics to water skills.

Dean overseas your entire development and insures that all student needs are addressed including accommodation and equipment.

Contact: dean@bigbluetech.net

From November 7th - 11th Big Blue Tech will be conducting technical diving on the similan islands.

This journey will be conducted from our liveaboard the Mv Pawara. For more information click here

Our liveaboard customers will be picked up at their hotel or at the airport in the afternoon, and taken to our pier at 7pm and board the boat. Most days we will depart around 9pm after a full boat briefing and a full hearty dinner. Customers usually spend the time after dinner getting to know their fellow passengers and dive staff whom they’ll be spending the next 4 days with. Some nights we will depart as late as midnight to accomodate some of our customers who fly in late to Phuket. In either case, guests usually go to bed about midnight and sleep through the overnight trip to the Similans.

You’ll wake at 7am by music played over the intercom letting you know that its time for Dive 1. Most people stumble out of bed bleary-eyed and get greeted by staff who help you in to your equipment and get you in to the water. It’s true that most guests finally wake up at that moment. Dive groups are a maximum of 4 people, and the first dive is what we call a check-out dive. Your leader will see how well you dive and how your air consumption is.

At the end of this and every dive, you and your group will surface and indicate to our dingy that you’re ready to be picked up. This dingy will pick you up and take you back to the liveaboard. No surface swims, ever.

As with every dive, once back on board, our staff will help you out of your equipment and place it in the racks for you. You can grab a quick freshwater rinse from the shower on deck and then head up to the outdoor eating areas where a hot breakfast awaits you. Our staff will rinse your gear and fill your tanks while you eat.

After breakfast, most people head back down to their cabins for a nap before the next dive. All the cabins are individually air-conditioned so as the day gets hotter, you’re still comfortable to nap.

Dive 2 is at about 11am and most people wake for this one a little more refreshed. Dive groups might be reorganized to put divers of similar skill levels together, based on observations of the check-out dive. Ovbiously we never split up people who want to dive together.

After Dive 2, we serve lunch on deck. After lunch, we usually offer an activity for the day. Usually, this invloves taking the dinghy to the shore of one of the island where you can lay on the beach, snorkel with turtles, go hiking, or just do nothing at all. Some customers prefer to stay out of the heat and spend their time in the air-conditioned lounge watching one of our DVDs in stock. Sun worshipers may decide to skip the ride to the beach and spend all their time on the sundeck. Others may prefer just to stay in the shaded decks reading or relaxing with the other passengers.

Dive 3 is usually about 2pm, followed by the entire afternoon to relax or go to the beach.

For those interested, the night dive is normally about 7:00pm. For anyone who is not an advanced diver, you can do your Adventure Diving Night training, or even take the full advanced course while on the boat.

After the night dive, dinner is served and after that some people head straight to their cabins, others prefer to relax on deck having a beer and talking about the days dives and discussing what adventures they hope to have on tomorrows dives.

This is a typical day on a 4-day cruise. on day 3 there is no beach to go to, as the dives are at rocky pinnacles, so people just relax on the boat. This is where having a nice big boat really comes in beautifully. Theres always plenty of room for everyone.

On the final day of the cruise, we only make dives 1 and 2, and return to our pier about 3pm. Theres usually a lot of photo taking and email exchanging among new found friends, and after some goodbyes to each other and to the boat we drive our customers back to their hotels.

To join this event of future events contact us at info@bigbluetech.net

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.

Big Blue Tech and Big Blue Diving Khao Lak joined forces recently for the installation of a continuous flow nitrox blending system on our new liveaboard the Mv Pawara which will be providing liveaboard trips to the similan islands.

This combined effort was done to create a vessel that could support technical diving for the upcoming season.

Big Blue Khao Lak is the only technical diving facility in Khao Lak offering technical and cave diving course through the instruction of Big Blue Tech. All our training and diving will be done from our new vessel so it had to be installed correctly.

The blending system was organized by Samui Easytek and shipped to the area for installation. The existing ventillation system on the massive liveaboard had to be replaced along with compressor oil replacement from mineral oil to synthetic.

The installation took two days and was tested with 0.1% accuracy. (no leaks)

The install comes just in time as the first trip leaves the shore in just a few days.

In addition to the install, Big Blue Khao Lak is also opening a second shop to support it’s additional 2 speed boats which will be taking people daily to local dive sites.

As a side note, the larger more robust divers of Khao Lak are celebrating the opening of McDonalds directly across the street from the Big Blue Khao Lak office.

Today Big Blue Tech celebrates the graduation of Matt Payne and Emily Billingham from their TDI Decompression Procedures course on Koh Tao, Thailand.

The course began with advanced decompression techniques with running schedule with required stops along with buoyancy, gas switching methods, lift bag deployment, while on the small wreck at Japanese Gardens dive site. Emily had completed her Advanced Nitrox over a month ago and required a minor refresher but Matt had just completed his course the following day and was rolling through the curriculum with ease.

After 2 hours of diving we returned to the dive shop to plan the following days diving at Chumpon Pinncale with a dive profile of 45m for 30 minutes. Because the students excelled in their buoyancy control we allowed them to use pure oxygen for decompression for stops 4.5m and shallower.

This morning Big Blue Tech cruised to Chumphon Pinnacle and jumped in to the water early in the morning. Descending to 45m the visibility was in excess of 30 meters. Cruising down to depth we could see the recreational divers above pointing frantically out into the blue. Looking out in the direction they were point we could see a large bull shark skimming the thermocline. Moving away from the shark area Emily pointed out two lion fish huddled at the base of the pinnacle. The students followed their schedule bringing them safeyly to the surface in just over an hour. The students were also given a Suunto Vytec gas switching computer as a backup to their slates.

Finishing their accelerated decompression the divers were met by a Box Jellyfish which has been reported stalking divers around the pinnacle for a few weeks now.

Matt continues on to Khao Sok for his TDI Cavern Course and Emily returns to teaching recreational diving for Big Blue with plans to continue on to Extended Range in the Similan Islands.