Sunday 30th May 2010-

I just couldn't let this slide!

"Located on the west facing side of the island of Koh Tao Big Blue Diving is the ideal spot to base yourself for one of the most enjoyable & relaxing dive holidays you can have anywhere in the world and at an extremely affordable price. With 3 dive boats at their disposal & operating a choice of up to 13 divesites daily this is one of the best run operations in Thailand & in 2009 deservedly won the prestigious SSI Award for Most Successful Dive Center in Asia. Pretty easy to see why as well. They have a beach side bar & Restaurant advertising the greatest sunsets on the island while eating the greatest pizza on the island! They have over 40 rooms offering Free air conditioned dormitory style accommodation to students doing their Open Water Courses, or private fan rooms with ensuite for just 200 bt per night. Or they can offer you bungalows on the beach starting at just 400 Bt per night increasing to prices over 4000 Bt per night!
Environmentally aware, Big Blue organise frequent beach & divesite clean ups as well Whale shark & Turtle data collaboration & local land conservation projects & in 2008 & 2009 won PADI’s Project Aware Award for Environmental Achievement as well as the SSI Award in 2009 for Most Environmentally Active Dive Center in Asia.
Big Blue Diving is one of Thailand’s largest & well respected Diver Education center’s & in 2009 was awarded with 2 of the most sought after awards issued by SSI Thailand with Instuctor Trainer Simon Garrity being awarded with the Highest Instructor Certifications in 2009 & Yvonne Fries was awarded the Highest Student Certifications in Thailand.
Recently Big Blue has also become a well recognised Technical Diving Center & was awarded the Highest Technical Diving certifications in Thailand by TDI. They offer all forms of Technical Diving, Rebreather diving & also organise monthly Cave Diving trips to Khao Sok National Park & in the past year found a wreck lying in 40 meters depth just off Koh Tao, making it the most accessible wreck dive from Koh Tao.
Offerring all PADI, SSI , BSAC, SDI & TDI courses from beginner to Instructor it is easy to see why Big Blue Diving Koh Tao has become one of the most recognised & well respected Dive centers in the Asia Pacific Region.
For more information please feel free to contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or see for yourself on www.bigbluediving.com"

Well said Rough Guide! 

Saturday 27th March 2010-

A 6 meter long Whale shark has been mutilated in the Philippines by having its fins cut off. The shark had been de-finned and was fighting for its life, and was found floating belly-up amidst the rough waters of Bahay Kambing. Its twin pairs of dorsal and pectoral fins had been sliced off. Knife-marks were evident all over its tail but, perhaps mercifully, it proved too thick to cut through.The shark was towed to nearby Caban cove, whose waters were more placid. Together with a fisheries patrol unit, volunteers splinted the shark by flanking it with bamboo poles and installing a net underneath to minimize further injuries. Sadly but unsurprisingly, the great sharks wounds proved too great and the shark, died the next day. & why was this creature butchered so? All because the Chinese like to drink soup!??? Its completely insane! Do everything you can to stop the sale of Shark Fin Soup! Due to the failure at CITES we can't rely on the politicians to do anything these days. We're on our own folks!

Not that I'm moaning about it or anything but what the hell happened with the weather. This morning we awoke to the heaviest downpour since the last heavy downpour which was about December 2008! It wasn't predicted on the weather forecast & it took most of us ages to find our monsoon ponchos. It absolutely bucketed down. Great for the island, the plants, the dried up wells... but catastrophic for the motorbikes, those who just hung their laundry out to dry, & those who left their bags outside on the boats over. Welcome to the tropics!

Our Dive site of the Week this week is... Southwest Pinnacle! A deep divesite reaching 30 meters at its deepest & comes up to about 6 meters below the surface. This collection of awe inspiring rock patterns is home to an abundance of scorpionfish, Koh Tao's biggest & ugliest Mallabar Grouper, a mammoth school of fusilliers, blue spotted sting rays, cleaner shrimp, white eyed moray eels, trevelly, angel fish, bannerfish & is also a popular hangout with our visiting Whale sharks. & guess where we are going tomorrow? Southwest & Koh Tao's second best Dive site of the week... Shark Island!

Sunday 28th February 2010-

"F.A.O Inst Paul.
I know i said i would never dive again but after you got me through my open water my fear of the sea is now officially cured. After we left Koh Toa I became a prolific snorkeler and yesterday managed to do 3 dives in Borneo without any tears and I actually relaxed and managed to enjoy it. You'll never belie...ve it but I was actually wanting to go deeper and stay down longer! So cheers Paul I couldn't of done it without you and maybe I'll be back at big blue to conquer my nemesis, Chumpon pinnacle. Until then be lucky and thanks a million your a legend!
Suzanne Parker"

"Hi BB,
Just an e-mail to show my appriciation to you guys. I had a great time doing my open water and advanced open water course with you guys. Also I want to give a big compliment to our instructor, which was Andrew Evans.. it was a great experience learning diving from him and seeing how enthausiastic he becomes during the teaching of other and how much patience he has with everyone. Thank you big blue and hope to see you again :-) ! Regards,
BartVan Den Boomen"

" Hey there,
I have been meaning to get in touch for awhile to say cheers for the paradise that was our holiday to Thailand last November, koh Tao was defiantly the most amazing laid back place I have ever been too. Big thanks to Kim and Nick who some how got us through our open water, few close calls underwater. Again cheers for the great times and the everlasting memories (that tattoo of a shark isn’t fading fast) any hope to get back out there as diving in the freezing North sea off Aberdeen isn’t too inviting – plus we have to show you all how to drink!!!!!!!!!!! Missing the changovers. Cheers,
Iain McAllister"

Thanks Guys! Means alot to get your emails & glad you all enjoyed your time so much with us in Koh Tao.

Saturday 1st May 2010-

So some of our DMT's & past Divemasters, even some of our present DM's & a couple of our Instructors all went off for a jolly last week to Khao Lak for another trip to the Similan Islands onboard old Big Blue DMT's DM's & Instructors new Wicked Liveaboard. Poor guys had to spend so much of their time underwater with Manta Rays tho that they hardly got to see anything else. My sympathy knows no bounds you lucky lucky lucky lucky DMT's DM's & Instructors! I saw an ickle jellyfish!

Looks like it's all go for the boys at Big Blue Tech this week. Cav and Helen are taking the DMT's through their SDI Deep, Wreck and Nitrox courses, Canada is taking James and Chris through their TDI Extended Range Course, Ash having just taught the BSAC Compressor Operator Course and TDI Gas Blender course is now teaching TDI Nitrox and Ben is on his way for TDI Advanced Wreck in 2 days! No rest for the wicked!

How exciting! Over the next few days eensy weensy teeny weeny tiny little Jenny, Big Blue's very own Marine Biologist will be launching our brand new website aimed at conserving & preserving everything we can here in Koh Tao with www.bigblueconservation.com She will be offering anything & everything to do with eco studies, Marine management issues, bio waste, marine life, artificial reefs, waste management, recycling, water retention & ecological awareness. She's going to be huge! Well lets face it she couldn't be much smaller! Go eco! www.bigblueconservation.com

 
Saturday 28th November 2009-

The Maserati of Instructors, the Bazzarati aka Barry 'The Shed' Coville is off to Khao Lak tomorrow to join Rick & his team over in the Similans & Surin Islands operating the gorgeous Pawara Liveaboard & the 2 daytrip speedboats! So everyone is off to Vibe tonight to toast the high flying 'Shed' & his daring do's a bon voyage & a see you in 6 months! Cheers Bazza & have a great season.

Here's something new I learnt today! Why do hammerhead sharks have such a famously strange-shaped head? One hypothesis is that having eyes on either side of such a wide 'hammer' allows the sharks to see better. But even this idea divides scientific opinion, as researchers argue over whether the hammerhead design makes it more or less difficult to see. The mystery may now be solved by a study showing that a hammerhead gives sharks outstanding binocular vision and an ability to see through 360 degrees. Binocular vision occurs when the fields of two eyes overlap, allowing the accurate perception of depth and distance. It is especially important for predators which need to judge the distance to their prey. Which explains why you'll see so many drunk boys ogling the ladies at Lotus bar with what appears to be eyes at the side of their heads!

Weather report is absolutely glorious. The sea is flat, there's no wind, no rain, but there is some fantastic visibility & there's mountains of fish... nope sorry oceans of fish... buckets of fish... nope schools of fish. Fish everywhere. So many fish you can shake a stick at them. Not that you'd want to. That'd kind of defeat the purpose of what you're trying to see! Anyway. Flat seas as far as the eye can see. & heaps of fish as far as the visibility will allow!

Saturday October 31st 2009-

"Dear Jim, I hope that you are the right person to write to. I recently returned from a week's diving trip to Koh Tao, during which we stayed at Big Blue and we took the Open Water and Advanced Open Water courses. We are all teachers at an international school in Bangkok and I can safely say it was one of the best holidays that we have ever had! I am mainly writing to compliment you on your excellent staff - Simon and Jodie who looked after us so well during the trip and taught us with ease, confidence and pragmatism. They really went way beyond the call of duty and we all became good divers in a short period of time. It is definitely due to their confidence and ability that we all felt sure we wanted to embark on the Advanced course the day after we finished OW. During my life I have been in receipt of many, many services and courses and workshops and teaching and whatever, and I can safely say that this is one of the best experiences I have had in a long time and certiainly in Thailand. I will recommend them highly to anyone who wants to learn to dive! Thanks again. Craig L."
You are welcome Craig- glad you had such a great time! Same again next holidays?

Officially its Open Season in Khao Lak tomorrow which means Rick & his team are going to be having their hair & make up put on tonight in readiness for the next 6 months ahead. Early mornings, late nights, busy days, no holiday, world class diving, highclass liveaboard, 2 posh speedboats, & very important Japanese customers! If anyone can handle it, Rick can! Happy Open Season Khao Lak!

Well the Whaleshark is still at Chumphon Pinnacle today. Only one of them which is only half as exciting as it was yesterday but way more exciting than 2 days ago. Having said that 2 days ago Chumphon was also pretty exciting because of all the Bullsharks swimming around. Though not as exciting as this morning because this morning we had a whaleshark & lots of Bullsharks swimming around, which makes this morning officially better than 2 days ago which was only half as good as yesterday!

Wednesday 30th September 2009-

Back from his European tour with his lovely wife, the big boss man (Jim) has returned, and we are all blaming you for bringing the weather back with you. We woke up this morning to a windsurfer’s wet dream. We are picking up the dying tail end of the Typhoon Ketsana, resulting in a bit of wind and 2 metre waves breaking on the beach. Canada couldn’t have timed the arrival of his new tech hoodies any better, as we are all wearing our cosy new sweatshirts today.

Having said that don’t let a bit of wind put you off, we had 2 beautiful dives this morning around the sheltered east side of Koh Tao with nice flat seas.

In the news today, the Bohol Standard which is based in the Philippines reported that a Whaleshark was freed after being accidently caught in a net:

“Children swim near a 22-foot young male butanding (whale shark) accidentally netted in Ubay shore before local authorities freed the marine mammal after documentation.

Witnesses said some children jumped in and swam with the whaleshark which showed apparent playfulness and gentle friendly behavior towards the children.

Specifically trained to respond to incidents involving distressed marine mammals, the responding team immediately went to work and proceeded to gather information regarding the trapped whale shark before it could be released back to sea. “

Tuesday July 28th

Big Blue has been saying hello and goodbye to some familiar faces, Sonia is back with Jims crumpets and angel delight, Barry and Paul’s wine gums, apparently the Cadburys Wispas got lost in transit, funny that!!

We’ve all known for a while just how lovely Koh Tao is, but everyone else is starting to realize! The UK Sunday Times travel section has described Koh Tao as a “diving mecca…a rocky isle of chalky-white beaches, surrounded by a rainbow of coral gardens in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand, where divers flock to see the whale sharks that often pass through the local waters.”  The Times is also singing the praises of Koh Tao’s freediving community –  Lucky we got in early and snapped up Apnea Total-taught Jeroen as our very own Big Blue Free Diving instructor!  “The vast majority do it weighed down with scuba gear, but a pioneering few are choosing to freedive instead of using the clunky and awkward scuba clobber.”

Also last nights wedding celebration for Dave and Terresa's marriage at Vibe was a great party, the effects of the nights events can be seen clearly on the faces of the poor staff who are suffering through their day off. The drinking proved too much for one person who we'll call "Lannah Husby" who had a bit of a identity crisis during the party. A year ago "Lannah" had met a man called Andy who was travelling through Koh Tao and shared an evening of magic only alcohol and tropical conditions could produce. Last night "Lannah" tried to get a hold of Andy who was back on the Island for his Technical Divemaster Internship . After harassing the entire party for Andy's number, she got what she was looking for and started to send a variety of texts in an attempt to "share a drink". After a few more texts, a phone call, a debate over location and ice cream "Lannah" was on her bike up to Andy's house. With a deep breathe and a firm knock on the door, Andy answered. However, to "Lannah's" horror and complete embarrassment there stood the wrong Andy, what luck man!

In other news Hannah left today after a 3 day visit from a sabbatical in Bali, she's off to Cambodia for a diving job. Good luck man!  

Also today, Big Blue Diving conducted a Full Day Trip to Sail Rock that took over 40 eager divers to the best dive site in Koh Tao. With 2 dives at sail rock with 30 meter visibility and one more at a South West Pinnacle everyone came back with smiles and memories to last a lifetime.

Tuesday 30th June 2009-

Canada, Christos & Bryan are all off for the next few days on the Trident Liveaboard cruising in search of new & undiscovered wrecks with Thailands best Deep Sea Detectives Inspector Jamie Mcleod & Sergeant Stu! These guys have been locating wrecks around the Gulf for the last 10 years & can now run liveaboard trips which only dive the wrecks they have discovered. Its awesome stuff diving 2nd World War wrecks, submarines, cargo ships, & planes & its pretty deep & dark diving so this trip is not for the weak of heart but is really only for the techies amongst us. The rest of us can only sit on the sidelines admiring the technical divers enormous equipment, huge wetsuit pockets, big biceps & unkempt hair! Have a great trip guys! & bring us back a 2nd World War souvenir!

Apparently to be a dive Instructor you need to be relatively fit & strong. There's lots of working out to be done, lugging around of tanks & weights, occasional surface tows & the odd strong current to swim into! And most of us do try & keep in shape with various exercise regimes & what nots but I can't help feeling that Rick might have taken things to an extreme last week with his swim from the very north end of Sairee all the way round to Mango Bay! It took him 1 hour 40 there & an hour 50 back! Crazy Hawaiian! If you'd waited 5 minutes you could have got yourself a longtail taxi!

Its a 40meter deep dive with Emily for some of our DMT's & a couple of our regular divers tomorrow. & best part is that it's going to be at Sail Rock! Now to give you an idea of exactly how deep 40 meters actually is then consider standing at the top of a 15 storey building & then falling over the edge untill you reach the bottom. That's about a 40 meter drop! It just hurts less when you do it in water!
Happy diving everyone.

Thursday 30th April 2009-

Sail Rock. A large granite rock that rises 15 meters above the surface & descends some 40 meters plus below! Its full of fish and various hard and soft corals.There is a "chimney" which you enter at 18m and can exit through a window at about 10m or go to the top and come out at 5m. Two divers at a time can come up the chimney,but take care when entering so that you don't cause any damage and look out for small shrimps & white eyed moray eels & if you were lucky enough to be diving there yesterday in 30 meter visibility we hope you managed to avoid the large Whaleshark there too! No wonder our Sail Rock trips are always a sell out, everyone has a whaleshark of a time!

Can't emphasize enough how important it is you take good care of your health when you first arrive in Thailand. Dehydration is the biggest thing that hits most new comers especially form chillier climes! The heat, the sweating,the swimming in salt water, the lack of H2O intake & often the latent excess of booze can all lead you straight to the Koh Tao clinic & a drip! You just don't realise how much fluid you lose when you are under the heat of the Thai sun! So sup up people! Stay healthy! Drink water! & have a great holiday in Thailand without having to spend a day in the clinic. Top Doctors recommend it!

Well the weather outside is gorgeous. There's a big sun in the sky, the sky is blue, & there are no clouds! There's not a breath of wind, the sea is nice & flat & a tropical 30 degrees & visibility is an above average 20+ meters at most divesites. & because viz is sooo good lately we've been managing to venture out a little further than normal on our dives & guess what... we saw 4 reef sharks at Twins yesterday! Ooh its a good life here! Sunshine, tropical seas & reef sharks! Top that off with a sunset beer & a bevvy of beauties in their bikinis. Its hard to imagine a better place to be right now. Aren't we the lucky ones!

Tuesday 31st March 31 2009-

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaleshark! At Sail Rock, second trip in a row. Not bad, eh? Helen finally got to see her first big fish, thank god for us, no more moaning and complaining on her part every time we see one. And guess who else was there? Scobby! Our favorite Aussie is here on holiday and started with a whole day of boozing with Spaz at the end of which he called Jim telling him he was lost and couldn’t remember where he was staying. Only thing he could make out was that he was on his back, looking at the stars! The next day, he “rested” and thought it might be a good idea to get wet again. Well, good on ya matey! No diving for a year and the first thing he sees when he jumps in the water is a whaleshark. I got to say, Scobby is still the luckiest man on the planet. And I can already hear people saying as they read this: “wait a minute, hasn’t he always been on holiday, what’s the difference now?”. Well, he hasn’t changed at all, apart from those few extra kilos from eating steaks every day. I’m guessing he’s not missing the Big Blue restaurant’s Scobby Special Steak too much!

From the 24th to the 29th of March Big Blue Tech were in Khao Sok conducting a Cavern Diver course for 4 people. Those who joined the trip came from a variety of destinations. One person in particular came from South West Australia, Ian, who flew all the way up to Thailand just for the course. He left enough room for a couple of nights on Koh Tao and quickly rushed back to far edge of the world. Also joining us was Trevor from Sai Ree Cottage who combined this event with the completion of his technical diver course conducted by Matt Rolph. And last but not least was “Dive Medic Cum Dive Instructor” Sonia Scott who came from Khao Lak (west coast of Thailand) for a completely different type of diving. For those who want to join us on the next cavern course check www.bigbluetech.net. At the moment the 18th trip is full and we’ll be staying on site to accommodate a second course.

Happy Birthday Emily, Happy Birthday Andy! We’re all off to Vibe tonight for another fantastic night of free barbecue, acoustic set by Steve Whelan and DJ Tim behind the decks. We’ll give you a full report tomorrow if we can remember any of it, right Cory!

Saturday 27th December 2008-

Well Happy New Year again guy and Happy Diving for the New Year. Course today. Our Burmese staff think its amazing. They do this thankless job everyday pumping the tanks. & now in the season to be jolly Canada has really gone out in the name of festive spirit & not only given our Burmese boys a bit of a break from it he's also gone & got a couple of Farangs to step up & do the job & he's even got them to pay for the pleasure. How do you say these Farang are crazy in Burmese?

We’re running a Khao Sok Cavern course on January 10th and 14th. This is a first for us to see if it’s a viable business idea. The certification is through ANDI by Bruce Konefe. 3 days, 4 dives course. You must be Advanced with 20 dives. All “cave” gear, certification, cylinders are included. Technical gear also included for those certified. Accommodation and park fee included. Not Included. Transport to and from Khao Sok, Food and Drink, personal dive gear. Max 4 cave virgins per trip.

Well blow me! Not sure any of us were expecting the big waves & wind that have belted us about throughout the night. Apparently there were 6 coach loads full of happy holidaymakers coming to Koh Tao from Bangkok for New Year. Not sure how happy they are going to be to be here now!