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: 5-15mDive 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.
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 :-)
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!
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: 15-20mDive 011: Anita's Reef, Island #5
Max Depth: 19.5m ; Bottom time: 49 min
Water Temp: 28c; Visibility: 30mSunday, 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.
Wednesday, 25th February
