End of 2009, Random photos & mumble jumble

One year on, after we finally registered Rumblefish Adventure with PADI, we surpassed our goal in bringing more focuses to our unique diving markets. With the end of the year, it was my first year without spending much time in the Similans (just 3 short days), teaching less beginner courses, and increased my time in diving and training younger divers (under 12 & over 50 :-).

With December came to a close, we were grateful to host Khatty's first organized dive group. Nine new divers and a few more certified advance, it was a great fun weekend of diving, cruising, and BBQ.

And of course to our friends at Gillmanoids KL, they were our inspiration for making the most fun out of dive planning, eating, and laughing. Can't wait to see where we go next!!!

Jr Advance Course: with My God Daughter

My oldest friends, Tin & Huong, dropped in for a visit again after a few years. Alison came back to finally gotten the chance to dive with me, or is it vice versa? I completed her Jr Advance Course, and marveled at how grown up she was now, and also one spectacular swimmer. Her Butterfly Strokes were 'symphony of graceful motions.' Her brother Ethan was then nine years old, so we took him for his first scuba experience, as a Bubblemaker. Needless to say, he refused to breath without a reg after the dive :-)

More photos of the kids are at my FB page and Picassa Album.

1st - 10th December IDC

Celebrating the end of 2009 with 8 new Instructors, GoPro Thailand & Pro Tech biggest and most successful class. With various backgrounds and unique personalities, the team achieved 100% success at the IE.

Congrats to Myk, Sarah, Nils, Matt B, Andy, Alan, Jessie and Ann-Katrin. Best of wishes and successes in your endeavored into the Dive Industry.

Our success was contributed greatly by our team: IDC Staff instructor Kevin Black, RFA Ops Manager Miz, Pro Tech Ops Manager Max.

View photos of the team in action at my FB page.

Barefoot Scuba IDC 2009, Andaman Islands India

25th November
Confined water at Elephant Beach, Havelock

Dive 117: the Wall
Max Depth: 21.6m ; Bottom time: 40 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 15-20m

26th November
Dive 118: Johnny's Gorge
Max Depth: 25.9m ; Bottom time: 47 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 20-30m

Dive 119: Jackson's Bar
Max Depth: 10.9m ; Bottom time: 73 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 20-30m

Comment: Supporting Barefoot Scuba in launching India's first ever PADI IDC in the Andaman Islands. Huge Congrats to the team at Barefoot for their 100% successful first PADI IDC and IE Program. More photos of the candidates (Manish, Romissa, Damien and Olivier) in action are at My Facebook Photos Album. Check them out.

King Cruiser & Shark Point, Training dives with Gavin

Dive 114: King Cruiser Wreck
Max Depth: 30.7m ; Bottom time: 44 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 115: Shark Point
Max Depth: 17.0m ; Bottom time: 55 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 116: Koh Doc Mai
Max Depth: 19.5m ; Bottom time: 47 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Open Water Course with Nuj, Thanin & Daryl

14th November
Dive 110: Kata Reef
Max Depth: 9.1m ; Bottom time: 31 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 111: Kata Reef
Max Depth: 5.1m ; Bottom time: 17 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 10-15m

15th November
Dive 112: Raya Yai, Lucy's Reef
Max Depth: 17.9m ; Bottom time: 39 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 20m+


Dive 113: Raya Yai, Bay 2
Max Depth: 15.8m ; Bottom time: 47 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 20m+

Comment: My first PADI eLearning OW course with Nuj, her son Thanin and Daryl, all from Singapore. Keeping with my passion of teaching and molding kids to be future Padiwans, both kids were awesome in the water. Now, I'm looking forward to some fun dive trips with them in the future.

8th & 12th November IDC training dives

8th November
Dive 108: Kata Reef
Max Depth: 5.1m ; Bottom time: 70 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

12th November
Dive 109: Kata Reef
Max Depth: 5.1m ; Bottom time: 47 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 10-15m

Comment: A big congrats shout out to Kylea, Sergi, Mario and Gavin for successfully completed the IDC and Instructor Examination. A truly international program was assisted by Bibi (IDCS Grad of GoPro Cambodia 08) with his superb Spanish speaking skills. Also, coming through in the mix was Daryl, completing his IDC Staff Course. See some photos of the gang in action at my Facebook Photos Album.

Gillmanoids Invasion on Halloween

Friday, 30th
Dive 103: Lucy's Reef, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 22.8m ; Bottom time: 52 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 20-30m

Dive 104: Bay 2, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 23.4m ; Bottom time: 53 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 20-30m

Saturday, Halloween's Day
Dive 105: Koh Doc Mai
Max Depth: 20.7m ; Bottom time: 40 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 106: Shark Point
Max Depth: 17.6m ; Bottom time: 38 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 107: Anemone Reef
Max Depth: 15.2m ; Bottom time: 58 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 10-15m

Comment:
the gang from KL came to dive :-) Sophi, Mogan, Sabrya, Remar, Ian, Maggie, Marc. Ivy, Andrew, Alicia & Ashima invaded Phuket dive sites. somuch fun and really good dive conditions for the 2 days... Photos of the dive trips are posted on our Picassa website. Click here to view.

Specialty Instructor Course dives

Monday, 19th October
Dive 098: King Cruiser Wreck
Max Depth: 30.7m ; Bottom time: 33 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 10m

Dive 099: Shark Point
Max Depth: 18.2m ; Bottom time: 36 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 100: Koh Doc Mai
Max Depth: 18.9m ; Bottom time: 48 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 10m

Wednesday, 21st October
Dive 101: Raya Yai, Bay 3
Max Depth: 35m ; Bottom time: 37 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 20-30m

Dive 102: Raya Yai, Bay 2
Max Depth: 25m ; Bottom time: 53 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 20-30m

Comments: Good dives with Dave, Yeang, Richard & Freeze. Simon & Natalie came along for their excursion dives, from Sihanoukville, Cambodia. There were loads to see at the Phuket Triangle, swimming leopard sharks over pinnacle 2 at shark point were our highlight of the day.

13th-14th: October IDC Training Dives

Dive 096: Kata Beach Reef
Max Depth: 5.1m ; Bottom time: 59 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 5-10m

Dive 097: Kata Beach Reef
Max Depth: 5.1m ; Bottom time: 51 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 5-10m

Comment: IDC Presentation OW Training dives with the guys, Davy, Yeang and Nash. John (IDC Staff from Seatrek Penang) & Freeze (DMT) assisted both days. Kevin 'Kiwi Diver' came along to sharpening up his evaluation skills. Nice condition at Kata for both days, ideal for our training sessions.

September OWSI Program

Dive 094: Bay 1, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 23.1m ; Bottom time: 41 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 30m

Dive 095: Bay 2, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 6m ; Bottom time: 16 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 20m

Comment: OWSI Program open water training dives with Peter Wong, Assistant Instructor from our friendly dive center partner, Sunny Cove Singapore. Our DMT, Freeze, and TDI tech instructor, Arndt came along to Raya Yai Island to assist in the course.

Celebrating number 100th with Andrew

Comment: Deep, DUP and Wreck dives with Alex & Alla. Andrew came along to play the difficult student, and also logged his 100th Dive. Lucy's Reef was spectacular, especially out in the artificial reef at 22m. A beautiful Yellowtail Seahorse hung out in the sand for over 2 months now, bent stick pipefish, seamoth, Indian Walkman, school of baracudas, batfish etc. are all in just a small area. Condition for the 2 days were incredible, flat seas, 30-40m viz, and no one come to dive... Great Summer Dive Season! See Alla's photos here, and Alex's photos of the Andaman Eagle Wreck here.

Tuesday, 25th August
Dive 090: Bay 1, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 21m ; Bottom time: 45 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 30m; EANx32

Dive 091: Lucy's Reef, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 22.8m ; Bottom time: 44 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 30m;

Wednesday, 26th August
Dive 092: Andaman Eagle Wreck, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 25.6m ; Bottom time: 38 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 30m, EANx32

Dive 093: Bay 4, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 21.9m ; Bottom time: 52 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 20m

Kids & Family Day aboard MV Aquart III

Comment: A great day with the kids at Raya Yai Island, taking Laura, Jack & Elliott for a couple of DSD dives. They were natural, finning and buoyancy control like an Open Water Certified diver. I'm looking forward to see them getting back into the water on their next holidays. Should be a blast for me to introduce three more super cool Aquakids into the wonderful world of Scuba. Thanks Johnathan for the photos, since I got my hands full :-)

Dive 088: Bay 1, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 3.9m ; Bottom time: 33 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 20-30m

Dive 089: Bay 2, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 5.4m ; Bottom time: 39 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 20m

August IDC Open Water Sessions

Comment:Alex, alla and Rico fine-tuning their teaching and control skills for 2 days in Raya Yai Island. Dive conditions for the 11-12 August were fantastic, flat seas, little wind, and great viz. Click here to see more pictures on Rico's facebook album.

Tuesday
Dive 085: Bay 1, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 7.6m ; Bottom time: 50 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 086: Bay 2, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 10.3m ; Bottom time: 43 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Wednesday
Dive 087: Bay 2, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 7.9m ; Bottom time: 44 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

king Cruiser - Shark Point Area

Comment: An almost perfect day in Phuket, sunny skies, calm seas, and super nice cool breeze for our boat ride to the Shark Point Area. The king Cruiser has sunken a little bit deeper. On Nittrox 32%, Matt J and I spent the majority of our dives between 30m-19m, with the only shallow area at about 15m, where the wheel house used to be. Soon, this dive site is going to be an advance level,with Nitrox require to get any decent dive time on it, CooL! Shark Point and koh Doc Mai were nice as usual. I saw 3 swimming leopard sharks at shark Point, first time in a long time that happened. The beautiful red Frogfish is still at the same coral, at 13.3m, 3om from the second cave :-) See some photos during an Advance Course here.

Dive 082: King Cruiser Wreck
Max Depth: 30.7m ; Bottom time: 38 min; EANx: 32%
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 5-10m

Dive 083: Shark Point
Max Depth: 18.5m ; Bottom time: 60 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 084: koh Doc Mai
Max Depth: 19.2m ; Bottom time: 55 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Raya Yai Island

Tuesday, 21st July
Comment: A windy day stirred up the sea that rocked the boat during the our crossing from Chalong Bay to Raya Yai East Coast. We were alone on the Andaman Eagle Wreck for the entire dive. We also had Lucy's reef all to ourselves for the second dive. Bent Stick pipefish were all over in the sand near the artificial reef.

Dive 080: Andaman Eagle Wreck, Bay 2
Max Depth: 27.7m ; Bottom time: 51 min; EANx: 32%
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 081: Lucy's Reef, Bay 3
Max Depth: 23.7m ; Bottom time: 52 min; EANx: 32%
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 15-20m

Phi Phi Islands Overnight Trip

Comment: Great idea to go to Phi Phi with Alex & Matt, doing some dives, hanging with the cool people in Tonsai Village, meeting some new friends. Well, Seasick was the norm for our 2 days, huge waves, and Greta was rocking all the wrong way! However, Leopard sharks, turtle, seahorses & frogfish at KDM made up for the rough boat ride. Click on the photo to see Alex pictures, posted at his FB page.

Wednesday, 15th July
Dive 074: Shark Point
Max Depth: 18.9m ; Bottom time: 50 min; EANx: 34%
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 075: Koh Bida Nok
Max Depth: 20.7m ; Bottom time: 43 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 076: Phi Le Point
Max Depth: 16.7m ; Bottom time: 52 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Thursday, 16th July
Dive 077: Koh Bida Nai
Max Depth: 20.4m ; Bottom time: 49 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 078: Koh Doc Mai
Max Depth: 22.5m ; Bottom time: 52 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 079: Koh Doc Mai
Max Depth: 20.1m ; Bottom time: 53 min; EANx: 33%
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 15-20m

Cu Lao cham Island, Viet Nam

Thursday, 9th July
Dive 072: Signal Point
Max Depth: 23.4m ; Bottom time: 65 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 073: Undersea Island
Max Depth: 17.6m ; Bottom time: 60 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 15-20m

Comment: Hoi An is located about 45 minutes south of central Viet Nam's largest city, Da Nang. It is my favorite place to visit when I come home for holidays each year. With dive gears already with us, Miz and I finally plunged in and do a dive trip in between our feasts and shopping excursions in the Old Town. If you have been following with my log of our latest dive excursion, you would have known that my camera photo mode was fried in Sipadan. So, for the rest of the diving, it was video mode only. Dive condition for our day was practically perfect, flat sea, sunny skies, and pretty good visibility. Topography of the 2 dive sites we visit is similar to what we have in the Raya Islands in Phuket. There were fish life, though not as densely as you might see in the Andaman Sea. Some videos from the dives can be viewed at my YouTube page.

25th - 28th: Borneo Bound

Thursday, 25th June (Boheyan)
Dive 060: Green Marker
Max Depth: 29.8m ; Bottom time: 51 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 061: Coral Wall *
Max Depth: 22.5m ; Bottom time: 67 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 062: Timba Timba, Sting Ray City
Max Depth: 15.2m ; Bottom time: 47 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 15-20m

Friday, 26th June (Mabul)
Dive 063: Seaventures **
Max Depth: 18.5m ; Bottom time: 67 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 064: Froggies **
Max Depth: 12.8m ; Bottom time: 77 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 5-15m

Dive 065: Artificial Reef *
Max Depth: 16.4m ; Bottom time: 47 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 10-15m

Saturday, 27th June (Sipadan)
Dive 066: South Point *
Max Depth: 36.2m ; Bottom time: 66 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 067: Barracudas Point **
Max Depth: 31.4m ; Bottom time: 63 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 068: Barracudas Point **
Max Depth: 16.1m ; Bottom time: 66 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 15-20m

Sunday, 28th June (Mantabuan)
Dive 069: Black Corals Garden *
Max Depth: 25.3m ; Bottom time: 63 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 070: Sham Sham
Max Depth: 20.1m ; Bottom time: 60 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 071: Corner *
Max Depth: 14.3m ; Bottom time: 49 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 15-20m

Comment: 4 days of diving from Semporna, Borneo with Scuba Junkie. We covered 4 different islands, starting with Boheyan, Mabul, the famous Sipadan, and Mantabuan. Except for the windy condition on the first day and dive, the entire trip was spectacular. Mabul was great for macro, saw Mandarin fish at noon, around 4m depth at Froggies. The marine life underneath Seaventures' ugly Platform were quite exquisite. Sipadan delivered more than I have expected with one of my absolute best dives, whale shark, turtles, white tip reef sharks, and school of 1000s barracudas and jacks "rocked my senses" for 66 minutes. Mantabuan is on my highly recommended dive sites for this area. Macro life are awaiting with great variants of nudibranches, leaf scorpionfish, juvenile batfish, plus the usual colorful angels and butterfly fishes that are not seen in the Andaman Sea. Some of the dives photos are uploaded to my Facebook Album.

21st - 23rd: Open Water Course with Marcel

Monday, 22nd June
Dive 056:Lucy's Reef, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 11.8m ; Bottom time: 39 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 057: Staghorn Reef, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 12m ; Bottom time: 45 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 15-20m

Tuesday, 23rd June
Dive 058:Lucy's Reef, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 18.2m ; Bottom time: 40 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 059: Home Run, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 17.9m ; Bottom time: 40 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 15-20m

Comment: A wonderful 3 days OW course with Marcel and his son, Eric whose completed his Advance Course at the same time as his father. The guys hung around to dive with my good buddy and former Calypso IDC candidate, Dave "the Legend" Ryan, for a couple of days. Base on their feedback, Phi Phi rewarded the guys with sharks and more. Great start to a new hobby for Marcel. I look forward to catching up with them later this year :;-) Eric's photos from his Digital Photo Adventure dives are posted at my Picassa Album.

I Got Gold From PADI :-)

Well, actually it's a Gold Status Award for 2008 Course Director Frequent Trainer Program, the same one I received in 2007.

I know, it sounds like a membership for one of the airlines, and it's nice to get higher recognition because there are some perks to be had. In the airline world, that means racking up lots of miles by flying lots of time to get a free flight. In "our diving education" world, it means notching loads of new instructor certifications, and get some "nice break" in fees.

Regardless of the perks, I like being Gold! However, to my former and future candidates, I will have a very difficult time reaching Platinum anytime soon, as I am still aiming for 6 IDC programs per year, with each program no more than 4 candidates.
It has been my philosophy since Pro Tech Divers and I joined force, "when it comes to high Quality Education, less is more." So, to my Pro Tech and Cambodia's first ever IDC 18 successful candidates in 2008 (that's 2.57 of you in the 7 programs :-), thank you for the opportunity to dive together. And I 've learn much from you, as much as hopefully you have learned from us.

So here to 2009, as we are looking to increase our average to 3.33 per program. We're at 2.75 per program for the first half of the year already. So, who's up to help me reach this goal?

27th - 29th Wreck, Deep & Navigation

Wednesday, 27th May
Dive 052:Andaman Eagle Wreck, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 26.8m ; Bottom time: 50 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 20-25m

Dive 053: Lucy's Reef, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 23.7m ; Bottom time: 54 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 15-20m

Friday, 29th May
Dive 054:Andaman Eagle Wreck, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 26.8m ; Bottom time: 49 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 20-25m

Dive 055: Home Run, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 22.8m ; Bottom time: 48 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 15-20m

Comment: A couple of really good diving days with Will & Liam for their Specialty Instructor training. We got to dive the Andaman Eagle Wreck in Bay 2 of Raya Yai, practically by ourselves each time. Some photos from the dives are posted at my Facebook album. Friday was a sad day, as I begged farewell to my Suunto Vyper. It decided to "stop diving" on my second dive, ending my 8 years relationship, 4 battery changed and thousands of dives logged... Guess she was broken hearted because of the arrival of my new partner, the Stinger!

16th - 18th: May IDC 2009

Saturday, 16th May
Dive 048:Raya Noi Bay
Max Depth: 5.7m ; Bottom time: 29 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 20-30m

Dive 049:Banana Bay, Raya Noi
Max Depth: 8.2m ; Bottom time: 46 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 20-30m

Monday, 18th May
Dive 050:Lucy's Reef, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 22.8m ; Bottom time: 52 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 051: Bay 1, Raya Yai
Max Depth: 8.2m ; Bottom time: 49 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 15-20m

a Day with Andrew Johnstone

Dive 045: King Cruiser Wreck
Max Depth: 31m ; Bottom time: 39 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 046: Shark Point
Max Depth: 18.9m ; Bottom time: 46 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 047: Koh Doc Mai
Max Depth: 22.2m ; Bottom time: 46 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Comment: A fantastic day diving in May, the weather was cloudy and the sea was flat. We arrived on the King Cruiser just in time for almost slack tide, which meant no current. Andrew is retired, and recently fell in love with diving. He held his air usage very well as my dive buddy, thus allowing us to extend our bottom time on all 3 dives. Amazing fish life at the wreck, leopard sharks are back at Shark Point (we saw three), and the red frogfish and white seashorse are still on the wall at Ko Doc Mai. Few photos of the day are on my Picassa album.

19th: Reef Monitor Project

Dive 044: Kata Beach Reef - North Side
Max Depth: 9.4m ; Bottom time: 71 min
Water Temp: 31c; Visibility: 1-4m

Comment: Big thanks go out to Nico, Tomo, Chris, and the 2 ladies dive instructors from Kata Diving Service for joining us this morning. Appreciation also to Liam (our surface support) and Taku for driving. Data were gathered, tallied and submitted to coralwatch.org. We'll return in October to see what has changed after the surfing season complete.

15th - 16th: Phi Phi & Shark Point Area

Wednesday, 15th April
Dive 039: Koh Bida Nok
Max Depth: 20.1m ; Bottom time: 59 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 040: Pilong Wall, Koh Phi Phi Le
Max Depth: 17.6m ; Bottom time: 58 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Thurday, 16th April
Dive 041: koh Doc Mai
Max Depth: 23.4m ; Bottom time: 57 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 042: King Cruiser Wreck
Max Depth: 23.4m ; Bottom time: 44 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 5-15m

Dive 043: Shark Point
Max Depth: 21.0m ; Bottom time: 45 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 5-15m

comment: Hanni & Joey from singapore, Nuala & Andy (my open water students from 2002) dropped in for a visit and a few dives. Bida Nok was great as a first dive, easy condition, nice viz and great show of fish. We spotted a green turtle feeding on corals at Pilong Wall. Nuala & Andy went to the Similans on the second day, leaving me diving with the 2 beautiful but goofy :-) gals from Sing. We found a couple of Leopard sharks at Shark Point (Joey's main objective of diving in Phuket was met), low Viz didn't allow us any good photo opportunity. See some of the photos at our Picassa Album. And, enjoy a video clip of the girls clowning around on the King Cruiser Wreck.

11th April: Raya Yai Island

Dive 037: Staghorn reef
Max Depth: 12.8m ; Bottom time: 22 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 038: Siam Bay
Max Depth: 10.6m ; Bottom time: 43 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 5-10m

7th - 8th April: Sharkpoint & Phi Phi

Tuesday, 7th April
Dive 032: King Cruiser Wreck
Max Depth: 31.4m ; Bottom time: 39 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 033: Shark Point
Max Depth: 18.2m ; Bottom time: 50 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 034: koh Doc Mai *
Max Depth: 19.2m ; Bottom time: 55 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Wednesday, 8th April
Dive 035: Koh Bida Nok *
Max Depth: 24.6m ; Bottom time: 56 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 036: Pilong Wall, Koh Phi Phi Le
Max Depth: 16.1m ; Bottom time: 63 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Comments: Two days of diving with Mikael, came back to visit for the umpteen times from Denmark. After so many dives at our local sites, I am still in awe of the amazing life I see each time I go under... We literally swam into a couple of Leopard sharks, swimming around, unfortunately, to current and low Viz didn't allow us any photo opportunity. See the latest dive condition and marine life at My Facebook photo album.

25th March: Nusa Penida, Bali

Dive 030: Manta Point *
Max Depth: 13.7m ; Bottom time: 67 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 031: Ped *
Max Depth: 23.7m ; Bottom time: 69 min
Water Temp: 29c; Visibility: 30m

Comment: A little escape to Bali for me to recharge the system. After much searching for a confirmed dive trip anywhere for 2 days, I was able to joined Atlantis International Bali for a daytrip to Nusa Penida (with the help of Emmanuel & Virginie, our Beuchat Asia Pacific Team). Jerome, of Atlantis, was gracious host. Guy was my dive guide, and did try his best to keep me in check from straying "solo" throughout the dives. Well, Manta Point did not disappoint, as 4 various sized mantas come by often during the 64 minutes dive. They were as friendly to divers as fish can get, hanging in the surge & current for the crowd to take photos. Ped was a nice dive site, with fantastic visibility. The drift dive took us across some of the healthiest reef I've seen in the region. Only sad part of the dives were the amount of plastic bags floating on the surface and caught on corals underwater... the need to educate the evil of plastic bags continue to be a challenge for so many of us dive pro in the region.

17th March: Specialty Training Dives

Dive 027: King Cruiser Wreck
Max Depth: 30.7m ; Bottom time: 40 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 028: Shark Point
Max Depth: 20.7m ; Bottom time: 49 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 029: koh Doc Mai *
Max Depth: 15.8m ; Bottom time: 66 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 10-15m

Comment: few Photos for the day are posted on Our Picassa Album.

14th March: Raya Yai (East coast) on MV excalibur

Dive 025: Staghorn Reef
Max Depth: 21.3m ; Bottom time: 55 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 026: Lucy's Reef
Max Depth: 16.4m ; Bottom time: 58 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 15-20m

Comment: A day trip out fun diving with my buddy Mike D from VN. Carey (from VN) & Rainer (a Phuket Expat) also joined us for the "boys day out" on sea Bees day trip boat. I haven't dive with Mike since our last dive together in Nha Trang back in 2004, so the day was quite special for me. Carey was one of my OW students back in 2002, and it was great to also drop in with him. Sunshine, blue skies, flat sea and clear water made the day as perfect as it can get. And since it was Mike's Birthday, the celebration continued late into the night ;-)

7th - 9th March IDC 2009

Saturday, 7th March
Dive 023:Kata Beach Reef
Max Depth: 5m ; Bottom time: 51 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 5-10m

Monday, 9th March
Dive 024:Kata Beach Reef
Max Depth: 6.0m ; Bottom time: 68 min
Water Temp: 30c; Visibility: 5-10m

Comment: Mattias (Swedish), Valeriy (Ukrain via Kiwi land), Joacim (Swedish) joined me for the March IDC Program. Anders from South Sea Diving came on to assist the Swedish contingent while completing his IDCS training. Mattias & Val came through the IDC and performed very well at the IE. Joacim came down with a bad flu and fever on the last day of the IDC, thus he missed out on the IE. Fortunately, we'll see him again in just a few months to finish up what he had started so well... a few photos of the boys are on My Facebook album. Anders also posted his photos on South Sea diving, click here to view them.

25th-26th February: PADI Specialty Instructor Course

Wednesday, 25th February
Dive 018: Kata Reef
Max Depth: 5.7m ; Bottom time: 31 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 5-10m

Dive 019: Kata Reef
Max Depth: 5.7m ; Bottom time: 25 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 5-10m

Thursday, 26th February
Dive 020: King Crusier Wreck
Max Depth: 31.7m ; Bottom time: 38 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 10-15m

Dive 021: Shark Point
Max Depth: 17.9m ; Bottom time: 51 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 5-15m

Dive 022: koh Doc Mai
Max Depth: 18.9m ; Bottom time: 50 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 5-10m
Comment: Joecim (DMT) and Kazu (IDCS) joined me as players for the specialty training dives. Unfortunately the candidate who the dives are planned for the boat trip was a no show. But, we did 3 fantastic dives with me witnessing Kazu performing a perfect demo of the "Underwater vomitting through your Reg Distinctive Specialty" Skill :-) on top of the King Cruiser Wreck. I was bummed that I did not switch my camera quick enough to video mode, it would have been a video of the year. See some photos from the dives at my Facebook album.

16th February: Koh Pu & Kata Reef

Monday, 16th February
Dive 016: Koh Pu (North side)
Max Depth: 19.5m ; Bottom time: 46 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 2-5m

Dive 017: Kata Reef *
Max Depth: 9.7m ; Bottom time: 85 min (2009 record)
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 5-10m

comment: North side of Koh Pu was littered with nudibranches (most common was risbecia pulchella), however, the thermocline condition made taking photo a huge disappointment. I couldn't get my Sea & Sea DX860G to perform any miracle. However, the dive at Kata Reef was one of my best dives in years, and also one of my longest on a single tank, with still 70 bar left after 85 minutes. See my video clip of the juvenile shrimpfish, to darn small for photo. At 3m in the sandy bottom, just off the south side of the reef, a couple of small outcrops of hard corals were where we found 4 Ornate ghost pipefish, a cuttlefish and 3 gangly lionfish preventing me for 15 minutes from coming close to the crevices for a shot at the ghost pipefish. I spent 35 minutes here, after planning to head back to the beach. See the photos at my Facebook album. How's that for a beach dive :-)

7th - 9th February IDC 2009

Saturday, 7th February
Dive 014:Kata Beach Reef
Max Depth: 5.7m ; Bottom time: 57 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 5-10m

Monday, 9th February
Dive 015:Kata Beach Reef
Max Depth: 5.4m ; Bottom time: 58 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 5-10m

Comment: Nick (Swedish via Oakley Diver, Thailand), Jeff (England) & Young Gyi (Korean via Eden Divers) joined me for theFebruary IDC program. Jinhoon (Korean via Eden Divers) came to help out as a translator while completing his IDC Staff course concurrently. The boys did well & took all of the stress and challenges in stride. There are quite videos available for your viewing leisure at My Youtube page. Enjoy and Happy Chinese New Year!

31 Jan - 1 Feb: Two days in the similans

Saturday, 31st January
Dive 009: East of Eden, Island #7
Max Depth: 22.2m ; Bottom time: 52 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 15-30m

Dive 010: West of Eden, Island #7
Max Depth: 21.9m ; Bottom time: 45 min
Water Temp: 26c; Visibility: 15-20m

Dive 011: Anita's Reef, Island #5
Max Depth: 19.5m ; Bottom time: 49 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 30m

Sunday, 1st February
Dive 012: Breakfast's Bend, Island #9
Max Depth: 24.3m ; Bottom time: 55 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 20-30m

Dive 013: North Point, Island #9
Max Depth: 25.9m ; Bottom time: 48 min
Water Temp: 27c; Visibility: 20-30m

comments: Dropped into East of Eden for my check-out dive in the similans at 8:13am on the last day of January. Visibility was spectacular as always, and condition was favorable, with a medium current pushing us North. Khao Lak Scuba Adventure was nice enough to let me spend a couple of nights aboard MV Manta Queen II while waiting for my guests to arrive in the Marine Park. Hannah, Boy, Dan and the Captain were superb in helping us sorting out the meeting point in the Similans for the dives.
Gabriel, P. Toon, and Gabriel Sr. from the MY Olympia (aka the Twinpalms One) joined me for the second to fifth dives of the weekend. Gabriel Sr. (Papa) was an amazing diver, at 70+ years old, he was much more comfortable swimming under water than probably walking on land:-) He had much fascination in Groupers, as I was shown on every dive where they were hidden. Few of the photos for the dives are posted on my Facebook album for January random shots.