Welcome to Big Blue Instructor Training!

ITC Instructor Candidate 'Crazy' Daisy Whicheloe comes to us from the Bristol Massive that gave us so many former greats such as Charlie Todd, Jodie Jodes and Banksy. Daisy 'Dukes' will have her students eating out of her hands as the only

known living woman to have ever tamed the great Richard Todd who now has thumb sized hole on the top of his head and is virtually no fun at all. When not 'cat' whipping poor old Dickie, Daisy, being a bit of a bumpkin, enjoys, hay threshing, milking and saying 'Cheers Drive' to bus conductors.

At home after an amazing summer? Did you learn to dive or go diving over the summer? Looking forward to freezing cool winter? Want to dive again but cant wait until next summer? Its easy... you can fill up your bath, put the equipment on you invested in over the summer and just jump in.

Or you can move to Thailand and become an awesome diving instructor and never need to wait for a summer again.

We get asked lot when is the best time to become a dive instructor or what do i need to do.

Here at Big Blue Instructor Training we can offer you ever thing you need to get you started and even help you get a job after your training.

You need to have 75-100 logged dives. If you dont have them you can do them here for free.

Be a Dive Master for SSI or PADI, Dive Master course start from 30,000Baht and take no more than a month.

Be a SSI Dive Con or a PADI Assisted instructor, Which you can do here for free.

Then a two week Instructor Training Course, We start a "ITC" every month. email us for more info.

So when the best time???????? NOW. If you do the Oct or Nov ITC and Internship you will be ready to work just as high season kicks in just before Christmas.

Check out our facebook page to see who is on there way to become the next Scuba Diving Instructor

With sighting after sighting of Bull Sharks at Chumphon Pinnacle and Sail Rock. There has been a lot of bull going around about them.

We were lucky enough to dive with these wonderful sharks for many years back in the early 2000s, it was only after a few years for seeing them everyday that someone said they where not Reef Sharks but Bull Sharks.

Are they back or does the gulf of Thailand have what it take to attract not just Whale Sharks but the Bulls too?

Koh Tao is famous for great Instructor Training and the perfect conditions that make it one of the best place in the world to learn to dive. But now with regular sighting of Whale Sharks and the Bulls back will it become the new Stuart Cove??

No Bull just facts.

Bull sharks live in shallow, warm ocean waters. They're even known to swim up into freshwater rivers.

Humans are not part of a bull shark's normal diet. Scientists think that when a bull shark goes after a person it's because the big fish is curious or because it simply mistakes a person for prey.

Bull sharks will eat almost anything, but their diet consists mainly of fish. They also sometimes eat dolphins and sea turtles. Bull sharks even eat other sharks. They hunt during the day and at night.

Before it attacks its prey, a bull shark head-butts the animal. This head-butting habit, along with its short, blunt snout and grumpy personality, led to its name of "bull" shark.

The scientific name of the bull shark is Carcharhinus leucas.

In the wild, a bull shark generally lives to be about 16 years old.

Bull sharks can grow from 2.1 to 3.4 meters in length.

Bull sharks can weigh between 200 and 500 pounds (90 and 230 kilograms).

There are about 375 species of sharks. The three kinds of sharks that are most likely to attack humans are the bull shark, the great white shark, and the tiger shark.

They all passed so a massive congratulations. Months of hard work coming to an end, Open Water Diver, Advanced Adventure, Respond Right, Stress and Rescue, Dive Guide, Dive Master, Dive Control Specialist, Instructor Training Course, Instructor Exams and Specialty Instructor.

So is that it? Off they go? Well yes they have the qualification to go and make lots of little divers but it's like passing your diving test. You will want to stay local and get experience first. So all are going on to the BBIT internship. This involves 5 specialities and 25 certs with one of our senior instructors. This is were they will get all the 'hands on' experience they need to go on and be successful, employable diving instructors.

So its has come to an end. This month's finest have finally finished their Instructor Training Course, Respond Right Instructor and are waiting for tomorrow's IE. Ne Tun 47 from Myanmar has jumped the gun and will be the first Burmese SSI instructor. He hopes to start running day and Liveaboard trips this year from Myanmar's first SSI dive centre.  Ne Tun started diving in 1991 and has recently worked as a commercial diver in Singapore. Good luck tomorrow Ne and watch this space for info on Myanmar dive trips

Ami, Just 21 only started diving this year but soon got addicted to Koh Tao and knew from her first giant stride into the pool she wanted to work in diving. Ami is hard working and was put out to work by her family aged just 14. She soon escaped and swum away. Luckily, she was picked up by a pod of dolphins. Ami soon picked up their language and you can still hear the accent piercing through occasionally.

Jay/Rae might actually be the same person. We have never seen them in the same place at the same time. JayRae are from Canada, the female one used to be a social worker dealing with spotty annoying little brats that think they know everything. the male one did a very similar job at Microsoft.

Ant, or Anthony as we like to call him is from the home of the British army, no not Africa but Aldershot, Ant started life as a architect but after his houses collapsed or the housing market collapsed he gave it all up to become a dive bum and live on a tropical island for the rest of his life.

Bobby, Bob, Rob, Robby, Robert Used to work on a 75m super yacht as part of a 19 person crew traveling around the world. But he soon got bored of polishing brace knobs and opted for a life under the sea rather one on top with a bunch of seamen.

Good luck tomorrow guys. Hope it all goes well.

Weekday Dad says dont forget your intern starts at the weekend.

Disney Dad says he can't wait for the party on the 31st.

Great news from Save Koh Tao's Marine Conservation branch - the new Director for the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) is so impressed with the work that members of the Koh Tao community have been doing the last 4 years that he has promised us tons of new artificial reef structures and other assistance. Next year he plans to add artificial reefs in every Adopt-A-Reef site, including ours in Sairee to be used in conjunction with the coral nursery tables, which we will also be getting more of. Another bonus, the 6 dive schools involved in the Adopt-A-Reef program will be getting certifications and recognition from the DMCR and Thai Government for their work, get the DMCR logo on their schools, get special certification cards with the DMCR logo, and get promoted in DMCR and related (TOT, etc) publications and signage! Congratulations and thank you to Ban's, Big Blue, Crystal, Koh Exist, New Heaven, and Sunshine for all your hard work and dedication over the years! See what a small dive community can do?!

The ITC kicked of on the 17th of this month with Tosh Tanner hosting his frist ITC under the watchful eye of SSImo

Big Blue Instructor Training is the only SSI dive facility in the world with a Instructor Certifier and an Instructor Trainer on staff.   So Bobby, Jay, Rae, Ami, Ant and Ne Tung couldn't of picked a better place to do their ITC on Koh Tao, Thailand or the world!

Everyone is working hard and doing well. We would like to give a special mention to Ne Tun from Myanmar, He is just 8 days away from being the FIRST Burmese SSI Instructor!

Check back next week to see if Ne makes history. Oh, and he's opening up a SSI dive shop next year. Do your ITC with us and we might pass on your info to him. He's looking for staff....

Its been one of the best turn outs for a Charity event I think I have ever seen here on Koh Tao with almost 80 people all joining in for the 3.4 km Swim around Nang Yuan Island last Saturday. It was also an awesome show from Big Blue with the the top 5 swimmers all going to Big Blue staff. Nick broke the existing record by a full 5 minutes with a time of just 54 minutes! Instructors Serena & Ben came in 3rd! It was s truly phenomenal showing which raised over 120000 Bt to go towards satellite tracking tags which will be attached to a number of baby sharks the Thai Navy found alive in the floating carcass of their mother. Its an awesome project. It was an awesome day & I think an enormous congratulations to the organizer our very own Master of Marine Biology Jennifer Matthews.