Technical diver celebrates his 27th birthday in Thailand.

Khao Lak, Thailand - Big Blue Tech celebrated the 27th birthday of Andy “Cav” Cavell who has been on the expedition as assistant technical instructor for the final phase of his 3 month technical diving internship.

As the team left the liveaboard boat we sorted out our gear and got some sleep before heading out to the Happy Snapper. In the Happy Snapper we were met by several other friends and colleagues who joined us in the festivities which included drinking and dancing while the band played late into the night.

The night was also a celebration of a safe return from a great trip on the sea.

The following day was spent moving quite slowly and hanging around the pool resting up for some more technical diving to come.

Technical Divers arrive on shore in Khao Lak after 4 days diving in the Similan National Park

Khao Lak, Thailand - Big Blue Tech arrived this afternoon in Khao Lak peir after a 4 day technical diving liveaboard in the similan and surin islands aboard their luxury liveaboard the Mv Pawara.

Over the 4 days expedition leader and senior technical instructor James Thornton-Allan delivered a TDI Compressor Operator, TDI Gas Blender and TDI Extended Range course to students Emily Billingham, Andy Cavell, Mark Slinn and Matt Payne. These course we taught using the on board continuos flow nitrox system installed by Big Blue Tech in November and during dives on the different sites.

The course went smoothly and everyone passed with the exception of Matt Payne who was unable to complete his training dives due to an allergic reaction but he will complete them later on Koh Tao along with his TDI Divemaster Course next month.

During the dives in the similans it was easy to see why it’s so attrractive to dives with clear blue water and white sand, large rocks to swim around and diverse marine life. With dives around 50m the diversity was even greater and the technical divers saw different life then the recreational divers showing a clear option for deeper diving.

While the majority of the diving was around boulders and coral there was a trip to a shipwreck and some deep drift hangs to spice things up a bit.

In general the liveaboard is perfectly suited for technical divers with amble space for technical diving gear. The dive deck is low and easy to get in and out of the water. Additionally the continuous flow and oxygen fills were easily accesible and accurate with operation.

Returning tpo khao Lak for one night and some well deserved rest and then on to Krabi for some Cave Diving.

Big Blue Tech completed a TDI Intro to Tech course today for Andy Cavell and Mark Slinn who began the first level in water skill development for their technical diver internship.

The TDI Intro to Tech course is the perfect course for divers who have heard about technical diving and want to find out more about this exciting branch of advanced recreational diving. This course walks students through the special techniques, planning procedures and skills that set technical diving apart from traditional sport diving. It will show them how to improve their dive planning methods, in-water skills and streamline their existing gear configuration, in a non-threatening and fun learning environment. The specific skills this course will highlight are: Advanced Buoyancy Control, Gas Management, Situational Awareness, Trim, Gear Configuration and Selection and Many More!

TDI’s Intro to Tech course is a useful stand-alone course for the diver who wants to become a more skilled, more proficient diver regardless of if he intends to move on to technical diving. The course may also be used as an introduction to the TDI Advanced Nitrox course and the TDI Decompression Procedures course. And finally, it is also a good refresher for certified technical divers who may want to refresh their skills or have them re-evaluated by a TDI technical instructor.

Although the students did not need this course to start their official technical diving series it was offered to them to have 4 additional training dives to enhance their overall skills and start with a solid foundation of buoyancy and trim before moving deeper through different challenges in the future.

The course was also completed with the assistance of Ash Dunn who is working towards his technical divemaster certification which requires assisting a variety of technical diving courses.

The students progress on to the TDI Advanced Nitros and TDI Decompression procedures this week along with TDI Gas Blender and TDI Advanced Gas Blender with the use of helium for trimix.

Today Big Blue Tech completed a TDI Advanced Nitrox Course for Martijn and Emily which took 2 days with 4 dives.

This course is designed to train divers how to use the basic technical diving equipment, dive to 40m and handle advanced mixes of nitrox up to pure oxygen.

This course is a non-decompression diving course giving the students the option of diving on nitrox, in twin tanks at depth.

The dives began with simple buoyancy, beginner skills and air consumption moving slowly to more advanced and complex skills challenging the divers and creating confident and comfortable tekkies.

Although moments of being attacked by fish, Emily getting caught waving at bat fish and Martijn forgetting his computer it was all relatively smooth.

This course was assisted by Christos Kardana and Andy Holdaway who are working to progress their professional skills for their upcoming examinations for further technical instructor ratings.

The Big Blue Tech family became a little bit bigger with the arrival of Andy Holdaway to start his technical dive master internship which will take him from a rescue diver to a member of staff as an instructor in a few months time.

Andy joins us from England where he has spent the past few years as a Royal Marines Commando and served with our director James Thornton-Allan over 4 years ago. Andy has been to Koh Tao before but this time he’s staying.

Being as Andy already has a relationship with the staff means there’s been quite a few late nights and shakey mornings. However the celebration of his arrival is over and now it’s time to get to work. Andy will be enrolling in the following courses.

PADI Divemaster Internship
TDI Technical Divemaster
TDI Advanced Gas Blender
TDI Service Technician
TDI Advanced Nitrox
TDI Decompression Procedures
TDI Extended Range
PADI Open Water Instructor
PADI Specialty Instructor - Deep and Nitrox
BSAC Compressor Operator

Once that’s done Andy will be joining us to take over the responsibility for all our specialty course training and freelancing for recreational diving while he builds up experience to take on the ominous role of TDI technical instructor.