Female Divers are taking over the male dominated technical diving community.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Big Blue Tech recently completed a TDI Intro to Tech course for Sarah and Sally Winters which was conducted over 2 days in the sunny tropics of Koh Tao Island on the east coast of Thailand. Sarah and Sally had just completed their TDI Nitrox Course then did a discover tech dive and were hooked!

The TDI Intro to Tech course is designed to give the student the certification to dive in technical gear while following their own personal limits. Although the course gives no enhancement in depth or time at depth it does teach the student advanced buoyancy and control in complicated equipment.

The advantages of technical diving equipment is the safety of redundancy and having twice the air which allows you to go into overhead environments and conduct longer dives.

Sally and Sarah leave Koh Tao for Bali but will return next month to progress through the next modules of the TDI diving education system.

Recreational sport divers try technical diving in Thailand.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Over the weekend, Technical Diving Instructor Andy Cavell took out two eager recreational sport divers for a try tech dive. This dive takes a diver with no technical diving experience into the ocean and shows them the thrill and excitement of diving in technical diving equipment, the skills involved and the challenges of different buoyancy and trim.

After 2 dives in technical diving gear the students progressed onto a deep diver specialty which taught them how to dive to a depth of 40m. During this course Andy took the students on our wreck the “Big Blue Wreck” for a full day trip of 3 deep, wreck dives over the period of the entire day.

Congrats Todd and Joakim, we’ll see Todd again for his TDI Intro to Tech course in a few days.

Recreational divers take a try dive in technical gear.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Big Blue Tech hosted a technical “try dive” this afternoon for some of our eager divemaster interns. BSAC Extended Range Instructor Andy Cavell conducted the afternoon which included ocean dives in the gear.

While many might of seen this already in a swimming pool at your local dive shows we thought it would be better to invest the time and energy to take the divers into the environment they would be diving in. Some skills include buoyancy and trim which would only be really experienced in their familiar surroundings of salt water.

Typically a try tech dive includes basic safety skills of equipment setup, self rescue, out of air and isolating problems. After the first skills the interns had the longest (albeit shallowest) dive every with some diving over 1 hour in some of our secluded bays.

Assisting Andy was BSAC Instructor and Technical Divemaster Ash Dunn and Technical Divemaster Thomas Halstrom who were all out for the afternoon with the 4 interns who were Johan, Tom, Martin and Jennifer.

Solo Diving once considered technical diving and discouraged by certification agencies is now seen as an acceptable practice for those divers suitably trained and experienced. Rather than relying on the traditional buddy diving safety system solo divers are skilled in self sufficiency and are able to take responsibility for their own safety while diving. The first Training Agency to offer a Solo Diving certification was SDI (Scuba Diving International) in 1999. To date they remain the only agency to formalise this level of diver training. Additionally Big Blue Tech is the only school on the west coast to offer this course (including Bangkok, Koh Samui, Patatya and Koh Pang-Nga)

Other certifications have this style of course called either independent diver or self sufficient diver but nothing beats the label “Solo Diver”

Big Blue Tech completed this course for Mark (dive master intern from Pattaya) Matt (Oil Industry worker from Pattaya) and Andy (Big Blue Tech Dive Master Intern). The course took 2 days with a morning of theory and 4 dives.

The skills learned on the course including aspects of dive planning, gas monitoring, redundant breathing sources, navigation and physical stamina. The students were pushed close to the edge of their comfort level with the introduction of new methods of diving.

The course is designed to train a diver to a level where he can dive on his own without supervision providing he/she has a backup breathing supply. Additionally their SAC rates were calculated so they could effectively determine their gas consumption prior to the dive.

One of their last two dives let them explore Chumphon Pinnacle (Koh Tao’s premier dive site) with the support of surface cover who had their dive plan logged.

Matt and Mark return to Pattaya today after a night on the town. Andy went straight back to working towards his technical divemaster course by assisting on an Advanced Nitrox Course.

Below are some pictures of their course.

On April 22nd, Big Blue Tech will be offering Free Technical Dives to anyone certified to participate in the Dive For Earth day awareness event. For those not technical trained, we have free recreational dives happening as well, you can register through www.bigbluediving.com

About Dive for Earth Day

Earth Day raises environmental awareness on a global scale. Since the 30th anniversary of Earth Day in 2000, Project AWARE has helped divers put aquatic issues on the Earth Day map. Thousands of diver volunteers in more than 115 countries have helped protect underwater environments and educate local communities for Project AWARE’s Dive for Earth Day.

To register, contact us at info@bigbluetech.net

The weather was nippy and overcast and the water just chest-high, but a new scuba-diving pool in Paris has something Bali, Belize and other diving hotspots don’t: a terrific view of the Eiffel Tower.

To promote the sport, scuba instructors began offering free lessons Friday — with wet-suits, scuba gear and even a biodegradable towel — at the foot of the French capital’s famed landmark.

“Through the water you can see the monument. It’s magnificent,” said New Zealand tourist Adrian Carter, one of the first to try it.

He and a group of friends had planned to go up the 1,063-foot high Eiffel Tower, but opted for a dip instead.

“This is better than the Eiffel Tower,” said Carter, a 28-year-old computer programmer, his hair dripping from the 30-minute dive — his first ever.

The lessons include a safety lecture and a how-to demonstration in which instructors share tips. One first-time diver did a double-take when his guide told him to spit into his goggles to help keep them from fogging up.

The above-ground pool is under the Tower, between its four legs. It’s small, at 50 feet by 50 feet, about half the size of a basketball court. Just 4-feet deep, it’s safe for beginners and children aged 8 and older, said the event’s organizers, an umbrella group of scuba associations. To add a touch of realism, the bottom of the pool is studded with waterproof photos of fluorescent fish.

Though heated, the water temperature hovered Friday around a cool 71 degrees.

That, combined with icy winds that whistled down the Champs de Mars, a grassy promenade leading to the Tower, dissuaded many would-be divers. More people milled around the pool’s perimeter — watching the instructors as they floated on their backs staring up at the tower’s steel girders — than actually queuing up for a lesson.

This was not the first time the Eiffel Tower has become a sporting venue. Three winters ago, an ice-skating rink was installed on the lower of its three observation decks to draw Parisians to the monument that mostly attracts tourists.

Organizers of the 10-day diving event said they were angling for tourists and Parisians alike.

“We want to give as many people as possible a taste of scuba-diving,” said Gerard Puig, the pool’s manager and head of a diving company on France’s Mediterranean coast.

He said organizers also hope the diving experience will focus attention on the environmental dangers threatening the ocean.

“Once you’re underwater and face-to-face with all sorts of creatures, you can’t remain insensitive to the destruction of the sea,” he said.

Organizers expect up to 3,000 people to take the plunge before the lessons end June 10 — so long as the dismal weather improves.

Another first-time diver who took the plunge, English tourist Jonathan Doneley, said the experience was “awesome” despite the cold.

“I’m still shivering,” he said through chattering teeth. “I’m going again tomorrow.”

Big Blue Tech recently took earned a few days off to celebrate Halloween and relax after a solid month of diver training and exploration.

Back to work today to start a PADI Deep Diver and Enriched Air Diver course and it looks like the perfect time to go as reports of seeing 2 whale sharks at chumphon pinnacle have been circling around the dive school.

In fact, since returning from Hannah’s technical diving course and included liveaboard trip we’ve done a lot of Nitrox and Deep courses each one we’ve seen whale sharks. Despite the reports of monsoon weather, rain and bad visibility. We have, in fact, very hot and sunny weather with great visibility and it hasn’t rained a drop in almost a week.

Let’s hope they’re there tomorrow for Verena who starts her Nitrox Theory this afternoon

Written By James Thornton-Allan (Instructor) and Hannah Lusby (Diver)

James:

Opening my eyes I could hear the rain hitting the hull again. Another dark and wavy day awaited me. However Stewart shouted “It’s bright and sunny outside” which lead me leaping out of bed and running upstairs to greet the glorious day. Stewart is a liar, it was as I thought initially, dark, wavy and cold, Stewarts plow to get everyone out of bed worked, next time I won’t be so trusting. After a coffee it didn’t matter because it was time to dive. Hannah was destined to get a sink, not sure why a sink was so important, must be a woman thing, but none the less if she wanted a sink then a sink she will have. Arriving on the bottom we found a sink with a lovely brass tap. It proved a bit heavier then it looked. One of the honours of retrieving things is if you find it then you lift it. This lead to an onslaught of narcosis in Hannah so the item was lifted together. However I must thank Hannah for all the flapping about because it kicked up a 7.62 with a brass tip bullet, unfired and intact. I look back on my life and remarking 2 specific events that I thought were particularly dangerous one was joining the British marines and the other one technical diving, so it’s fitting I find this on one of my most frequented wrecks. Deco all done and back on board Jamie was going “awww that’s lovely, that would look great in my house” Hannah didn’t budge so it stayed hers. Everyone else was back on board and it was time to either head back to land or hit the pottery.

Arriving at the pottery site the waves were minimal and there was no current. We would be using the shot line as our descent line leaving the trident free to hover for pickups and drop offs. This is the quickest way to tech dive. The boat was broken into groups of 4 with 4 in, 4 ready and 4 support. It worked really well and everyone had a decent 15 minutes bottom time at 60 meters. 15 minutes goes by very quickly. I recall diving on local dive sites and think an hour has gone and only 5 minutes has elapsed. I guess time does really fly when you’re having fun. A few giggles here and there could be heard during the mad dash for pottery. Net bags topped to the brim with pottery we began our way to the surface. I was able to find a few really nice items under the surface of the site which still had glazing and very little marine life on it. Remarked as being one of the nicer pieces recovered so far.

Earlier in the year these pieces have been appraised in the UK at some great value as they would surely not survive the hundreds of years on the surface, only diving and retrieving them can they be displayed as art or as monetary value. Mine however will be split between Christmas presents home and a nice flower pot for the girlfriend.

This being the last dive of the trip it was time to drink beer, clean gear, swap loot and head home. Koh Tao could be seen in the distance although it won’t be until dark that we arrive.
I personally think this has been the best trip this season. Perhaps because all the instructors are looking for a bit of a break and wasn’t so intense as the past one. Perhaps it was because Hannah became a perfect technical diver, with a lot still to learn, but far more capable and confident in her conduct then I have seen in others walk off these trips. Or perhaps it was the another flawless trip conducted with support of the Trident and other technical agencies from Koh Tao that made this a remarkable and enjoyable liveaboard.
The way the weather is right now it appears this will be the last trip of the season until mid January. However the weather is lovely on the west coast (about 2 hours away) so we’ll be doing the next liveabaord over there.

Hannah:
We woke up this morning to the sound of more rain and wind, you who have thought it was monsoon! But there were bigger things on the agenda today, a sink! I had spotted a lovely porcelain sink yesterday on our second dive, which had now become our mission. OK, I realise that a sink to some my be a strange thing to want to bring up from the wreck but I had my heart set on it, so off we went.

Once we located it, James stayed outside and I went to pull the thing out, welcome to the world of narcosis! Once your focused on something and working to get something out, breathing heavily all the time the hit comes! But out it came! James then told me to take it to the down line before continuing our dive, but the sink proved a little heavier than I expected and the effects of narcosis where definitely impairing my judgement. So James came in and helped take it to the down line. Mission completed, up the sink went attached to lift bags on the down line, as after waiting for it to be recovered, it was safely on board the Trident, and what a lovely sink it is, with taps and everything. So from now on, when anyone asked if I’ve packed everything but the kitchen sink, I would have to say no, including the sink!

So with some lunch and a break, we steamed towards our second site; pottery, which pretty much say’s what it is, pottery, everywhere. Straight down to the bottom, bags at the ready and grab the pots. Our bottom time was fairly short ,just 15 minutes, but plenty of time to get some last minute souvenir before heading home. There was lots of laughing and flooded masks, and a very good and funny way to end a wonderful trip.

So we head now back home to Koh Tao. For me it has been the most fantastic 3 days. The diving has been amazing. To have such a learning curve in such a short amount of time is incrediable and I certainly couldn’t have done it, if it had not been for fantastic instruction from James. (Oh and thank you James to introducing me to yet another expensive hobby!). There also has to be a huge thank you to everyone at Trident (Jamie and Stewart). And of course all the boat staff who work so hard to make gearing up and getting back on the boat so much easier. This is definitely the start of bigger and better thing to come! When’s the next trip?????

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