As we take a look back at 2012 we can see its been crazy.

Some of the highlights are due to the fact that we have pushed SSI pro level over PADI.

This is due to the demand of SSI Instructor in South East Asia. Over the last year SSI have changed there Diver Master programe which makes it more dynamic with focus put on dive  safety, customer servies and includes sales training. BUT has still kept it high standards and requires the highest pass mark of any dive agency..

This has clearly helped push the Instructor Training programs with the highest every X overs, Instructor Training Course and instructor upgrade programs ever run at BBIT.

The ITC has also changed this year and is focusing more on the dive business and the dive industry as a whole. Once again SSI has kept itself part from other agency by keeping it high passing grade of 90% or more.

With all the above kept in mind we have had such a high demand for instructors coming though the ITCs. Dive centre all around the world are asking for SSI instructor due to the fact they are more aware of the dive business and what it take to make a profit.

Since the changes made too SSI pro levels we have 100% success rate of finding our new instructors work straight after they finish there internship.

Just to mention a few: Jo, Billie, Rick, Donny, Big Ant, Little Ant, Ami, Ben, Daisy, Bobby, James, Tim, All found work at Big Blue,

Billie, Nat, Mai, Ne Tun, Serge, Cindy, Felix, Mark, Sara, Fin, Aj and many many more have found work outside of Big Blue, all the way around the world from NZ-Caymans.

Would like to add a congratulation to Donny, Rick, Ludo, Big Ant, Rick who all upgraded to Dive Control Speciality Instructor this year.

Also and massive big up to Ne Tun for being the frist Burmes SSI instructor and has now open the frist SSI dive school in Burma.

This year we have more of the same Planned. We have Dive Master courses starting everyday and we have Instructor Training Course starting every month on the 15th.

If you want to join in e mail us today.       

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.

Manta ray being driven to extinction by Chinese medicine demand

Demand for the gills of manta and mobula rays has risen dramatically in the past 10 years for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Practitioners say the rays can boost the immune system by reducing toxins and enhancing blood circulation. Other supposed medical benefits include curing cancer, chickenpox, throat and skin ailments, kidney issues and fertility issues

Large manta rays are lined up at a fish market in Indonesia. Growing demand for products from the manta ray and its close cousins, the mobula or devil ray, (collectively mobulid rays) along with decreased fishery income due to the wide scale depletion of regional shark populations, has transformed small-scale subsistence mobulid ray fisheries into global commercial export businesses

Hi everyone! So preparations for Swim for Sharks are well on the way, we have around 30 people from Big Blue, AC marine and Moov confirmed already! We have already raised around 15,000 baht promised from sponsors of the swimmers, but I need

to know how many more to expect! If you could each ask around your dive schools, how many people swimming, if you have enough sponsor forms, and who is coming in the evening (BIG party, live music, prize giving, head shaving, film crew, jaeger bombs and burgers) I would much appreciate it as I need to prepare! It's August 11th, the swim is at 12.30, (talk on shark conservation from 10 and evening events start at 7.30pm), I know it's busy season but we all need a little challenge and a good party to let our hair down (or shave it off...). If you could let me know at the Save Koh Tao Meeting (6th August, 7pm, Moov Bar) or drop me a facebook, and I'll add you to the boat. This is all in support of raising funds and awareness of our sharks in Koh Tao - we have teamed with DiveTribe to purchase radio tags to attach to sharks to be released on Koh Tao in December, and help protect our existing populations with research and support. Lets see more Bull Sharks at Sailrock, Whalesharks at Chumphon and Bamboo sharks at Shark Island like we have been!! Thanks everyone, and if you're not here and still want to support this, let me know and we can come up with something!!

How can I become a Divemaster, Dive Control specialist, Open Water Instructor,

It's easy you just need the right attitude  the rest we can teach you. To go from beginner to instructor can take only three months with the right attitude.

Up date on this month's Crossovers and ITCs.

Rick, Anke and Donny who crossed over with internship have made their money back for their internship within the first month. All have been snapped up for freelance work at Big Blue Diving. After finishing their internships at BBIT they ALL got work straight away. Anke's long-running ear infection has made her the EFR queen at BB. The boy wonders of Rick and Donny have been teaching Resort Dives, Advance Adventurer, Stress and Rescue and selling Deep, Wreck and Nitrox to whoever will listen to them. Well done. 
Team Spain not only won the Euros this month but also became SSI instructors. They are now free lancing at an Spanish speak diving school "down da souf" end of the island and are very busy.
Don't be one of many walking around trying to find work, do your ITC and internship with BBIT and we will help (guarantee) you get the opportunities to prove you're a great instructor.

Congratulations and welcome to our 4 newest SSI Instructors! Mark Brooker, Kevin McLoughlin, Marty Pinkstone and Tangui Le Clech. All 4 have upgraded to SSI from PADI and we look forward to working with them!

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Congratulations and welcome to our 4 newest SSI Instructors! Mark Brooker, Kevin McLoughlin, Marty Pinkstone and Tangui Le Clech. All 4 have upgraded to SSI from PADI and we look forward to working with them!

On the 12th of Aug,

Big Blue team are getting together to help save our sharks and support a anti shark finning campaign.

This will take place at Big Blue Diving in a couple of weeks time. The goal is to get sponsored for a 3.4km swim around Koh Nang Yuan. What actually happens is our Divemasters in training, DM team, Instructors, Instructors in training, BB Tech and the Big Blue beach bums (which there are many this time of year) talk themselves up for weeks then try their best not to be last or need rescuing. As normal instructor certifier SSimo and Divemaster mentor Nick will be putting pride on the line as they go head-to-head. Who will win? They were both shown up last year by a girl..... To be fair she did swim for Canada in the world championships and is this year's favourite. SSimo swam for his life once when he fell in between shopping trolleys in the River Mersey and Nick must have come first at least once to be with us today.

Once all have been rescued and pats on the backs are complete we all had down to the Big Blue bar to have a sponsored shave. The team shave funny shapes into their hair to raise their profile on the island and to get a new facebook pic. Oh, and as it's sponsored, they have to keep the crazy cut for a month. So if you are coming next month to take one of our scuba diving courses please dont be shocked.

Last year, Koh Tao's dive community raise over 17,000 baht and over 400 signatures for anti-shark finning campaign support - lets see if we can beat that this year!!

Come join us on August 12th for the big swim!

10 - 11 Meet at Big Blue Dive Resort for registration and welcome drinks

11 - 12 Shark conservation talk and petition signing

1 - 4 Swim time!! Swim 3.4 km around Koh Nang Yuan

7 - late Evening festivities including sponsored Shave for Sharks, live music, and drink deals (Big Blue 2 - Pranee resort)

Save our sharks, save our seas!

Jara Corbi and Manuel Pelaez from Spain came into Big Blue Diving and handed in their CVs in the hope of finding work.

After a chat about the best way to find scuba diving jobs on Koh Tao, Jara and Manuel came back the next day to double there chances of finding instructor work, and both enrolled in a Scuba Schools International cross-over to the dark side.

Big Blue Instructor Training is the only SSI professional training center in South East Asia to have two Instructor Trainers on staff.  Come to think of it, it’s also the only one to have an Instructor Certifier and Instructor Trainer, and the only one to have a Platinum Pro 5000 Instructor Trainer and Instructor Certifier.

Because we have these two IT’s on full time staff, we can start crossovers, divemaster upgrades and instructor upgrades everyday.

This really helped out Jara and Manual as they were in a rush to get their SSI instructor rating so they could start work during high season on Koh Tao.

Ricky and Anke, who did their crossovers at the beginning of the month, have now finished their internships and work at Big Blue, the world’s largest SSI dealer.  Anke just finished a Stress and Rescue Course and started an open water course today.  Rick, who finished his internship with a massive 24 specialty certifications, started his first solo course today with three Advanced Adventure divers.

Well done guys, you are all becoming great instructors.

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Big Blue Instructor Training has the best reputation on Koh Tao for producing the best Dive Masters. We give them the choice of both SSI and PADI. To help them make the most of their course, we have SIX full time mentors (from all over the world), with over 50 years experience in the diving industry. Being the "Goldilocks of dive schools" (thanks Lonely Planet), and having four dive boats (that aren't stuck to the same two dive sites everyday), our internship Dive Masters get to dive every site Koh Tao has to offer, time and time again. If you want to know more about doing your Dive Master, email us at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Book in the next two months and get a free upgrade to assistant instructor! 

More and more people are choosing to have the best of both worlds.

We will cross over a total of 8 amazing dive instructors by the end of the month.

If you want to join in email us.

As the weekend comes to an end and you are  thinking of work tomorrow, spare a thought for our new Instructor Training candidate Jo Prickett,

She had to give up her weekends in the UK for a few months to save up the money to start her new life as a dive instructor. Jo will be starting her ITC tomorrow which will take 9 days to complete plus two days Respond Right First Aid and O2 instructor training. The she will have to pass a Instructor Exam which is a two day evaluation bt an SSI Instructor Certifier on her teaching skills and diving knowledge. We boast a 100% pass rate and Jo has done all her training with us so this should be a swim in the sea for her.

If this sounds better than your Monday morning email us This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

We can help you whatever your level. We start courses from Open Water to Dive Master everyday, with instructor courses starting once a month.

“If you’re a man and ate this fish, you would have a busy night with your woman. Guaranteed!” said a fish seller at Paotere fish market in Makassar during a recent visit. He was in the middle of cutting open a female black tip reef shark pregnant with three pups.

I was so tempted to reply, “Whatever happened to STMJ ("susu-telur-madu-jahe," a traditional concoction of milk, egg yolk, honey and ginger for stamina)? Do people still drink it for aphrodisiac?”

“Especially the young, their meat tastes very tender! They’re best for grilling!” he continued, holding an unborn pup in his hands. He smiled with pride. The blood of the poor female predator puddled around his feet.

As he continued mutilating the female shark, he kept on coaxing me to either buy the baby sharks or their mother’s meat. He said I should make a quick decision because shark meat was very popular and could be sold out within minutes.

He wasn’t talking nonsense, of course. When I looked around, a crowd had already gathered, waiting for their shark meat. Some even pre-ordered their share.

I asked the seller if he was aware that shark meat is poisonous. “Poisonous? Really? No way! Where did you hear that? All I know is, it tastes great and makes me a lot of money!”

China Says No More Shark Fin Soup at State Banquets China will prohibit official banquets from serving shark fin soup, an expensive and popular delicacy blamed for a sharp decline in global shark populations. The ban, reported by Xinhua, the state-run news agency, could take as many as three years to take effect, and it remains unclear how widely it will be adhered to across a sprawling nation where orders issued by Beijing are often shrugged off by officials in faraway regions and provinces.

Paul TOSH Tanner finished his first Instructor Crossover today with ex-hospital clown Anke Moors. She is fluent in Dutch, English, German, Spanish and French. A PADI DM, PADI Instrutor, BSAC dive leader and now a SSI Open Water Scuba Instructor who will be a AOWI in a couple of weeks once she has finished her internship.  ANY dive school would be lucky to have her on staff. She is looking for work. e-mail me if you need a 5 language PADI/SSI instructor for the high season in SE Asia.

As for the twins DONNY and RICKY. Don is very small with a boyish charm and a little scruffy, Ricky is smaller. These two have chosen an interesting path to enlightenment which involves having a free spirt and following their hearts to live a life they enjoy and not the 9-5 office crap.

Once again these two have been trained to the highest standard by PADI/BSAC/TDI/SDI and now the pinnacle for diver education SSI.  If you're looking for hard working charming men (or man I think they can be spilt up) who knows what it is like to do a day's real work, these are two of the best. They are not 18 years old looking to put off going home, these guys are in it for the long haul. e-mail me if you need hard workers.

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Young people with disabilities experience their "ASTRONAUT MOMENT" as Diveheart volunteers help release them from the bonds of gravity and introduce them to the wonder of the water column that exists in INNER SPACE

This summer Diveheart will bring four groups of young people with disabilities on a life changing scuba experience to the Florida Keys.  Each participant & trip must be self funded

if you would like to sponsor a child, adult or veteran with disability on a dive heart life changing scuba adventure trip PLEASE DONATE

Everyday we at Big Blue Instructor Training do our bit to help keep this amazing island clean and healthy.

We teach all our Dive Masters, Interns, Dive Cons, Assist Instructors, Dive Instructors and staff to be aware of the effect we are having on Koh Tao and the world.

Check out big blue conservation to see see all the latest projects coming up

See below why BBIT thinks it so important we save our planet.

Usually I am not writing on platforms like tripadvisor, but this place has deserved an exception: after a warm welcome of the diving team at Big Blues restaurant (which is also very good and fairly priced) an unstructure screened my diving skills. As I was only a Padi Open Water Diver yet, I decided to go for the Advanced course. Starting next morning was pretty relaxed: only 5 people per course is quite relaxing! Together we decided on the AOW specialities and everybody got what he wanted to do. By the way, you can do both there: Padi and SSI, just what you prefer. My class wa led by Ludo - really a cool and funny instructor - try to get in a class with him once you are there. Although I was not out diving for 9 month, Big Blue team took care for me do I always felt save and secure. And after the first dive everything is OK anyway. So doing the AOW was done in 2 days - really great fun! And even if I joined the course alone, people over there are all nice and funny so I ended up with 4 new friends from all over the world!
Coming to fun dives: special thanks to Reggie for making 4 dives with you an unforgettable experience! Reggie is really trying to provide you great dives and shows everything to you as she knows the spots by heart. I really have got the feeling that she is simply passions about showing Koh Tao dive spots to the people diving there! 
So coming close to the end: the waleshark! Yes, we spotted one during a dive while doing a full day trip with Big Blue! An unforgettable moment for me and the other divers on the boat! 
Finally Big Blue offers simple but clean and cheap accommodation - starting with dorms with fan only up to AC sea view bungalows.
Anyway great place to spend time for diving and relaxing in Thailand - I will go there again, for sure! Keep on breathing Big Blue Diving Koh Tao and thanks again for the outstanding time we could stay with you!

It's the last Saturday of the month, for most this means being skint, staying in and watching crap TV with the family.

Here at Big Blue its means ECO day!!!! Yes it is close to payday and we too have end of month blues as we try to pay off our bar tabs. So to help out we give away a FREE dive to anyone who wants to help keep our environment pristine. So alongside our ECO interns and all Big Blue Instructor Trainings DMTs we head out to clean up a dive site.

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Golden sandy beaches, secluded bays, and a Scuba Diving paradise, Koh Tao is one of Southern Thailand's true tropical island escapes.

So why not join in

With low season here, and high season less than a month away, some of our Dive Cons/Dive Masters have taken the plunge and become Dive Instructors.

Over the next month will be the best time to begin your career as a Dive Instructor or Dive master/Dive con. As the great  un-washed start to arrive from the Full moon party, Koh Tao gets busier by the day.  Very soon all the dive shops on the island will be on the lookout for Dive Instructors and Dive Cons/Dive Masters that have been trained to the highest standard. if you do your Instructor Training Course (SSI) with Big Blue Instructor Training we can guarantee you work as a Dive Instructor.

With more and more dive schools opting to be dual cert centres (PADI & SSI), the best thing you can do is double your chances by becoming dual cert Instructor. No matter whether you're an PADI instructor looking to be a SSI instructor, or vice versa, we can help.

We are running our crossover to the dark side at the end of this month (PADI to SSI).

The cost is only 17,000 Baht.

The next dark to light crossover is the middle of next month (SSI to PADI).

The price starts from 39,000 Baht.

Contact us on www.facebook.com/bigblueinstructortraining or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Big Blue Instructor Training's next ITC is in July.

So why not change your office for ours. Become a dive pro, "Choose life"

We can help you find a diving job once you finish your

instructor internship

We offer SSI Instructor Training Courses here at our resort on the island of Koh Tao in Thailand. The course lasts for 9-11 days and maximum group size is six candidates.

SSI evaluates to a higher standard than other agencies requiring 90% in the 100 question multiple choice final exam, a 30 minute academic presentation, a swim test, then 'on the spot' open water and confined presentations over two full days. Despite this, we boast a 100% success rate for all our previous candidates and offer a guaranteed pass or we cover the costs if you need to be re-evaluated at a later date. After the course, we offer an internship program here at Big Blue where you have the opportunity to teach alongside our senior instructors to gain experience and your first student certifications, this also includes an upgrade to Advanced Open Water Instructor and at least 8 Specialty Instructor ratings. We then guarantee you at least one course of your own, for which you will be paid, and the opportunity to work for us as a freelancer. A great start in the industry, basically.

Should you get itchy feet, we can offer you positions at SSI dive shops around South East Asia. There are currently more positions open than we have

instructors to fill them.

We schedule our SSI ITC's for the last 2 weeks of every month, although we

are usually able to offer flexibility with these dates should candidates

require.

If you need any additional information, please don't hesitate to contact us - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sun Screen for divers and beach bums

Four common sunscreen components can activate dormant viruses in coral’s symbiotic algae, known as zooxanthellae, that live within the reef’s tissues. The UV filters implicated are butylparaben, ethylhexylmethoxycinnamate, benzophenone-3 and 4-methylbenzylidene camphor. These ingredients, commonly found in many chemical sunscreens, are touted to cause complete coral bleaching at very low concentrations

These sunblock chemicals stimulate viral replication until coral’s zooxanthallae explore, releasing viruses into the surrounding seawater, where they can infect neighboring coral reef systems. Claims have been made that about 4,000 to 6,000 metric tons of sunblock from swimmers wash-off into the world’s oceans annually, and that up to 10% of coral reefs are threatened by sunscreen-induced bleaching.

Here are a couple of safe sun screens to use.

So it’s Friday, the weekend has landed,  you have 48 hours off from the world that is 9-5.  What are your plans??

Here on Koh Tao, every day is a Friday!  We have our whole lives off from the world, but we like to try and make it special.  So today I left the gas-guzzler at home, and walked to my diving job.  Not a bad way to get to work.

Today will be spent teaching PADI Dive Masters, SSI dive guides/Dive Masters.  We will be doing swim tests and search & recovery.  The conditions look great….. as usual on Koh Tao.

If you want your 48 hours to be longer, contact us to find out how you can “choose life” and dive every day on a tropical island.

Director of Sharkwater and environmental activist Rob Stewart has been hard at work finishing his second documentary, Revolution - The Evolution of Life on Earth and the Revolution to Save it.

Revolution is Rob Stewart's eagerly anticipated second documentary film about the exploration of the dangers threatening our planet and the revolution required to save it. Stewart journeys through 15 different countries to explore these dangers, exposing more than just the endangerment of sharks but...

Show your support

Copy and paste this link or visit our Facebook page.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/493/507/821/stop-the-trade-of-sharks-in-thailand/

If the best thing about tomorrow is the fact it's Hump Day.

Sign up for one of our Instructor Training Courses.

And change your life for ever we did!!!!!!

Contact us to find out how.

We have a 100% pass rate and can offer you work as an instructor.

So Happy Hump Day people

Become an SSI Dive Instructor

Change your lifestyle, live in paradise, get paid to do something you love, become an SSI Scuba Diving Instructor and never look back! Already a DiveCon or DiveMaster? Become an SSI Instructor in 11 days for just 60500 baht, includes ALL materials, processing fees, dues and IE. Currently, demand for SSI Instructors outstrips supply - there are jobs waiting for you! Training conducted at Big Blue Diving Resort on sunny Koh Tao, unlimited FREE fun diving once you sign up, the chance to assist our instructors on REAL courses, DISCOUNT in the resort bar and restaurant, FREE T-Shirt!! Freelance work available at Big Blue for graduates of our Instructor Training Program, unlimited opportunities to team teach with our full-time Instructors to gain experience and certs. Next SSI Instructor Training Course starts 14th July. Get enrolled & become an SSI Instructor just in time for high season & start living the dream!

A Rebreather for Recreational Divers

The Poseidon MKVI is the world’s first rebreather for recreational divers, the first true technological breakthrough in diving decades, it’s a game changer. “Imagine being a part of the underwater world. Where the marine life sees you as a guest and not a strange and noisy intruder. Without bubbles and with the ability to stay as long as it’s worthwhile. That is what modern rebreather diving is all about. Say goodbye to long and tedious procedures. Say goodbye to hour long, complex preparations. Let the modern marvels do all that for you. Now you can have all benefits of rebreather diving without the old hassles that come with it. Participate, enjoy and observe, don´t disturb.  We're doing some Try Dives here on Koh Tao on the 10th/11th June at the Regal Hotel Pool Mae Haad – prior bookings required so get in touch immediatement!

Aung Sang Suu Kyi in Thailand

So the big news in Thailand at the moment which effects sooooo many of our behind the scenes staff here at Big Blue is that legendary Democracy Leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi the hope for so many millions of freedom loving Burmese people has arrived in Thailand. The Burmese people are an amazing bunch. They're so friendly, so accommodating, hard workers, reliable & live on virtually nothing & those who work here literally work over 12 hours a day 7 days a week & then send their money home to their famillies in Burma who have nothing. Soon we all hope that Burma will become a real democracy again & these boys can all be reunited with their famillies. All the best boys. In the immortal words of Hollywood superstar Mel Gibson- "Freedom!"

SSI Instructor Trainer Simon Garrity

"I did my course with the professional, highly focused, humorous, thoughtful, strong, muscular, virile, incredibly good-looking Simon Garrity! I teach almost exactly as he taught me. It works brilliant! and by the way it has been really fun! I recommend this man and Big Blue Diving anyway! THANK YOU! Tobi O. "  Good on you Tobi. Thanks so much for writing in to our Facebook Group & expressing these comments. We don't know how much Simon paid you to write this but we appreciate it anyway!

Hilarious Big Blue Diving Instructor Tosh Tanner

“Best thing I've ever done!” 5 of 5 stars Reviewed on Trip Advisor- I finished my dive at big blue just over a week ago and I am still reminiscing! I can honestly say it is one of the best experiences of my life. Me and my friends were instantly made to feel welcome and our accomodation was much better than we had ever hoped. The staff are all really efficient and professional and went out of their way to ensure that our needs were met. However, a special mention needs to be given to our instructor, Tosh. There is no question that he made the experience for us. Not only was he hilarious, but he was patient, attentive and calming. Definitely a character I will remember! Despite not having any previous diving experience, we all learnt really quickly due to the excellent quality of teaching. I would recommend this dive school to anyone and am already planning my return trip. Thanks Big Blue!

Updated Thursday 31st May 2012-

Another beautiful day on Koh Tao

Well its another one of those days I'm afraid. The sun is out. The sea is calm. Water Temperature is a barmy 30 degrees, air temperature is a pleasant 29 degrees. There's a very slight fresh onshore breeze. Water clarity just off shore is approximately 8-10 meters deep, visibility is 20+ meters all over Koh Tao. There are daily reports of Whalesharks, pilot whales, heaps of turtles at almost every site. And then if that aint enough we have a bevvy of the worlds most beautiful women all laid flat out in their skimpies right here on the beach at Big Blue! Oh what a day!

Couldn't have had a better teacher

“Best time, best instructor” 5 of 5 stars Reviewed on Trip Advisor- We couldn't have had a better time learning diving, and we couldn't have had a better teacher. Above all, we absolutely recommend asking for Skui as your instructor. She's a great teacher. She makes you feel very safe - patient if you have a worry, serious when she needs to be but also a lot of fun the rest of the time. Our group shared a lot of laughter together and she was often at the centre of it. You can tell Skui's passionate about her work by the way she teaches and by her huge knowledge of the sea life at the dive sites and beyond. That passion definitely rubbed off on everyone in our group. Her helping us see a whale shark, an octopus and a sleeping sea turtle on our dives was just the icing on the cake. Thank you to Skui for everything.

Jawsome!

So it appears that it aint just Koh Tao experiencing an increase in Whale shark sightings this year. Apparently Whalesharks have been seen in their hundreds in the sea of Cortez off Cozumel, & today I'm hearing reports that htere has been over 40 Whalesharks have been sighted off Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia aswell, making this their biggest Whaleshark season on record! So thats Mexico, Australia & Thailand all reporting the most amount of Whalesharks they've ever seen. This aint just awesome news! Its Jawsome!

Updated Wednesday 30th May 2012

Eco Internship Programme

"Dear Eco Jen, Thank you for having me as your Eco Intern for the past three weeks. I'm incredibly grateful to everyone at Big Blue Diving for making my stay that much more interesting. I loved feeling part of the family and considered 'just one of us' even if it meant lugging a crate - or a box of biscuits - every now and then. I think the atmosphere and the people working there had a big influence and set the tone for some of the most amazing experiences (WHALE SHARK!!) of my Gap Year. I really appreciate all the time everyone took to get to know and integrate me despite only passing through for an all too short 3 weeks. Without the wonderful DM's etc.. I'm sure I wouldn't have had half as much fun! I'll see whoever is still left there in exactly one year! Big Blue Conservation's enthusiasm and passion for conservation coming through all the science was inspiring. What struck me the most about the team was seeing how driven and focused you were and yet how accessible and friendly you remained. More importantly I really enjoyed meeting people with similar strong interests in conservation and science (genetics just seems so captivating, doesn't it?). My time spent with Big Blue Conservation made me realize how easy it is with some dedication and commitment to (and I hate to be cheesy, but it fits) make a difference. I can only hope that I'll carve a niche for myself that so nicely complements my two passions; archeology and the ocean. To wind it all down, I wanted to let you know how much meeting you all gave me such a clearer picture of where I want to head and what I want to achieve. - Cami

Great Location

"Super nice all the dives I myself felt very comfortable" At first I just wanted to take a diving course and then we'll see ... in the end I stayed a whole month and had the Open Water and Advance Course and twenty-three dives. The instructors are very nice and the dive master with whom they dipped when one makes the fundives had my concept for the right amount of fun and proffesionelles know. The location is great. If you ordered a pizza at the restaurant and eat it on the stand while the sun goes down then comes on holiday feeling for sure. 5 out of 5 stars- Reviewed on Trip Advisor May 17, 2012

Cave Diving in Khao Sok

So tonight our Techie team are off to Dive some caves in Khao Sok. We are heading off on the night boat over to the mainland and into the stunning limestone mountains of the Khao Sok national park. Here we will be diving in a fresh water lake and sleeping in floating villages, we have 2 days of diving here and are planning to hit the dark zone in the underwater forrest. The 2 days diving will be followed by a day of above water exploration as we are in one of the most naturally stunning areas of Thailand it would be rude not to explore a little. Then it is off to Khao Lak to dive an 85 meter wreck of a cargo ship that is sitting fully starboard in 42 meters of water an hour off shore. Andy Cavell, who is overseeing this trip was one of the members of a diving team who surveyed this wreck roughly a month after it's sinking. He is quoted as saying "this wreck is stunning, a great size, and it is a nice dive when the currents aren't ripping. I can't wait to get back to it!!" All the team are Extended range or higher certification and Advanced wreck, so we should have an amazing exploring week ahead of us!!!

Updated Monday 28th May 2012

Give Sharks a Fighting Chance

In some form, sharks have been around for about 400 million years. Even before dinosaurs roamed the earth, sharks hunted through the oceans! They're such good survivors that they've had little need to evolve in the last 150 million years. These ancient predators fascinate divers and non divers alike. Many shark species are in danger of becoming extinct but you can give sharks a fighting chance by taking the AWARE Shark Conservation Distinctive Speciality course. Now available to complete at Big blue, you will learn all about the sharks 7 senses, about amour plated skin, and about the largest fish in the ocean! Whether you dive or not, you can partake in this one day course, and if you're thinking of doing your advanced it can also count as one of your adventure dives. You also get to keep a shark conservation manual that you can learn even more from. For a limited time too, we will give you a "free give sharks a fighting chance" mask strap. To book this course, drop us an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Pilot Whales & Whale Sharks

So I've been away for a few days & just got back to all sorts of reports of underwater occurences. First off was a report of a floating Pilot whale carcass around the north of Koh Tao & there was some serious concern the carcass might wash up on one of our beaches, which would have been a trifle whiffy. Luckily it didn't happen & the carcass ended up being caught & is being checked for cause of death. We'll get back to you when Koh Tao CSI give us a press release! It also seems this dead whale may be part of a pod of Pilot whales last seen hanging out to the north of Mango Bay where they've been seen for the last couple of days. And meanwhile its still raining Whalesharks here with sightings at Hin Wong, South West Pinnacle & Sail Rock! With all these shannigans occurring I should go away more often!

SSI Crossover Course

So SSImon South East Asia's leading SSI Instructor Trainer, who by the way seems to be enjoying the wearing ladies clothing to snorkel tests a little too much, is starting an 8 person Instructor Crossover tomorrow! Thats 8 more PADI Instructors defecting! & why? Cos there's soooooooo much competition for PADI Instructors while at the same time SSI are crying out for more Instructors cos there is now so much demand for SSI Courses! The tide has turned my PADI-wan friends! The future is SSI... & men in ladies clothing!

Updated Sunday May 27th 2012-

Technical Diving Internship

In June our current technical divemaster interns will both be finishing their internship and moving on to working in the technical diving industry. Todd is heading back to Canada to dive in the great lakes and get some cold water experience. We don't know (and I don't think he does either) where Jason is heading to next. One thing is for sure, both of these guys will have no problem getting work in the industry with the training they now have!!! What this means to us, is that we now have 2 spaces for our next technical interns. If you want or know someone that wants to get into technical diving, wants to get into wreck diving, cave diving, trimix diving or become a technical diving instructor/divemaster. Please email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and one of our technical training team will reply promptly. These places fill fast and we can only take limited numbers due to the internship program. Get your name down ASAP, don't miss out!!!!

Coral Bleaching

In light of the increasing occurrence of global coral bleaching events, scientists from Thailand came together to produce a compilation of papers (listed here) covering the major bleaching event in Thai waters in 2010. The papers include those considering the physical factors leading to bleaching; the ecological impacts of the bleaching event and previous bleaching events dating back to 1991; the incidence of disease following bleaching; survival of coral recruits post-bleaching and management strategies employed by the Thai government to mitigate damage to the reefs during the bleaching period. Big Blue Conservation's Jen, along with Dr Thamasak Yeemin (Ramkhamhaeng University, Bangkok) and Dr Bert Hoeksema (NCB Naturalis, Netherlands) contributed to this compilation with an article describing the 2010 coral bleaching event and its impact on the mushroom coral fauna of Koh Tao. This kind of science research is something we pride ourselves in at Big Blue, as it will help us learn more about our environment and why bleaching occurs to help prevent or protect our reefs from future episodes, as well as increasing public awareness. Great job guys! If you fancy a read during your surface interval, you can download a copy of the article here or see our publications page for more details.

Updated Wednesday 23rd May 2012

Best job in the World

Thanks to all our Dive Team all our Instructors & Divemasters here at Big Blue for all doing their hair nicely, shaving, brushing their teeth & putting on their make up for our once a year Team Photo! Unfortunately there were a few members of staff still away when we took the photos so I'm sorry Roz, Curtis, Serena, Greg, Skui & Laura that you weren't all here for the picci but am sure that cruising the streets of Kuta or Komodo more than makes up for it! So for everyone else - Smile! You lucky bastards have one of the best jobs in the world!

Shout out for Sharks

A round of applause to Big Blue for your support for sharks! We submitted 486 signatures to Project AWARE's Shout out for Sharks petition to persuade international organsations that control the shark fishing trade that we want these beautiful apex predators protected from destructive fishing practices driving them to extinction. Project AWARE have now hit the 100k mark which is a incredible achievement and a clear message to policy makers. AWARE has been very successful in unifying our diving voice and representing the dive community at this high level. We’re so pleased to have you with us. They recently just returned from a meeting with the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore to discuss shark protection through CITES. The meeting was very constructive and paves the way for future discussions. And we’re gearing up for more of these meetings over the coming months. It’s a critical time for shark conservation and we’re really making waves at this level. If you would like to sign the petition, please email or post your signatures to us asap so we can record them. And if you love sharks as much as us, don't forget you can do an Shark Conservation speciality with us and join our annual Swim4Sharks event in August.

Highly recommended

“Awesome experience!!” 5 of 5 stars Reviewed on Trip Advisor- In March I arrived at Koh Tao with my sister to go diving. We didn't know much about Koh Tao nor diving and initially ended up at Chrystal Divers at the beach near the pier. Although people were nice there and seemed very qualified, it looked a bit dull. So we decided to check out Big Blue at Sairee Beach first, just a guess after reading the lonely planet really. But when we got there we immediately knew that this was the better place for us, very nice vibe! After Nick (instructor) did a little pitch about BB we decided to sign up for our Open Water. And what a good decision!! We had the best time! Our diving group was devided into two with instructors Nick and Petra. Although I didn't really dive with her directly, Petra seemed like a very good diver and was very organised while teaching. Also just a really nice girl. My instructor Nick was a little bit more of the chaotic type haha but you could tell he is quite an experienced instructor. Very patient and clear and puts you at ease while diving. He is the nicest guy too. So recommended! Up front I thought I might find diving scary but didn't for a sec, probably because of the relaxed vibe and good instructor skills too! Oh yeah, Daisy the DMT dove with us during our whole course too, such a nice girl, be sure to ask for her if ur fundiving! We ended up liking the diving so much that we signed up for the Advanced Course too, so did most of our group. It was the best experience! Loved every second of it. I was so sad to leave after that because I'm totally hooked on diving now. Will definitely come back for my divemaster course some day when I find the time and money, can't wait! So big thumbs up for BB! Restaurant at the beach is also a great place to hang out.

Updated Monday May 21st 2012-

Diving Angthong Marine Park

Our big brave boys at Big Blue Tech are off on another jolly this morning with their BSAC trip to Ang Thong with BSAC Dive Leaders Dan and Nat beavering around the resort preparing for the 06:00 departure time. The wind is blowing slightly so we are waiting for a final assessment of the conditions from the captain. Fingers crossed that the conditions will allow us to make the 3 hour journey to the Marine Park & do some exciting unexplored diving & hey who knows might even find that Beach place that plonker Leonardo Di Capprio kept harping on about all those years ago! Have a great trip!

Big Blue Team Photo

Its our yearly staff photo today! A time when we can all compare how much we've aged since this time last year. How much fatter, thinner, older younger, more haggard, more frumpy, hairier, balder, bigger, smaller, saggier, baggier, less teeth, more scars, rounder bellies, we've all got now! So the gals are doing their best to cover their blemishes, wash their hair, shave their legs & firm up their busts the men among us are shooting each other our best Zoolander faces. Blue Steel, Wet Neoprene, & Compressed Air! Strike a pose. 12 o'clock Big Blue 1! See you there!

Save the Sharks

Quick shout out for some help for Ex Big Blue Instructor Jodie who is working today at the BBC on a 'sharks in crisis' proposal and needs to find some specific examples of what the loss of sharks would/will mean for the planet, we all know the ecosystem will be buggered but she needs something that will make the audience go holy crap thats really bad! and start to care about the fate of our finny friends. so obviously she thought of us and Eco jen in particular, the font of fishy knowledge that she is. Unfortunatley Jen is joining the Dark side & is taking her IDC right now but maybe there is someone else out there who can help Jodie & her friends the sharks? contact info@bigbluediving if you can help! Remember Save the sharks & they'll save you!

Updated 15th May 2012

Sharks on Mothers Day

A thought on Mothers' Day! Sharks aren't known for their parenting skills. Their young are born or hatch fully formed and perfectly able to fend for themselves, so don't need "mothering." So what do you make of this pair of Silvertips? Is the 'human' within us seeing parent & child, or is this just a photo of 2 sharks, of quite different sizes, who just happen to be swimming together....as they do?? Not!

Scared of Fish

Its not everyones cup of tea! Look at Kate Moss. She pulled out of a scuba diving course - because she's too scared of fish. The supermodel was holidaying in the South of France last year with her husband and a group of pals and was keen to get her formal qualification in diving while she was there but her fear of sea-dwelling creatures put an end to that. A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Kate has been snorkelling before and dived a bit. She was keen to get a formal qualification, did some of the classroom-based stuff and was really getting in to it. But then she got convinced she was going to bump into a giant, scary fish - possibly a shark - and began to get nervous. "When a school of tropical fish swam past, Kate got a bit terrified by one of the bigger, grey ones. So instead of going under water, Kate spent the rest of her holiday concentrating on how to spell her name!

Modelling Auditions for new Big Blue Brochure

We're in the throes of compiling artwork & modelling for photos which will be put into our new brochures & agent propaganda that our new shopgirl, professional Graphic Designer, Caz, is busy producing. So we've got auditions lined up all week for suitable models. Divemaster Steven will be cleanly shaven with his middle parting nicely defined. Shopgirl Jess is putting on her sliced Salmon Lady Gaga suit. If you're looking for your big break in the modelling industry then better come visit Big Blue. We'll make you famous!

Updated Monday 13th May 2012-

SSI Scuba Instructors Needed

Big shout of awareness out there to all you thinking of becomming Scuba Diving Instructors. There are many different Diving organisations out there & I can really only talk for Koh Tao but.... if you are hoping to get work in Koh Tao then for heavens sake become an SSI Instructor. Absolutely nothing wrong with PADI of course but the thing is the PADI Instructors on Koh Tao grow on trees. They're everywhere. But the SSI Instructors are really hard to find. Make yoursleves employable! Become an SSI Instructor. & if you want my advice then you best drop me a line. I might know just the guy who can help you!

Low Season on Koh Tao

Well we timed that badly! Usually May & June is what we call low season so most of our Instructors bugger off for a month or so to rest relax see family & friends & then pop back to Koh Tao just in time for high season which kicks off early July. So this May we got Roz & Curtis getting jiggy with it in Komodo! We got Laura & Skui rocking round the clock in Bali. kNickers just got back from a romantic month long back packing jaunt with his Missus round the Killing fields of Cambodia (hmm romantic), Hangover James has disappeared! Bet he's in Vegas! & Olaf flew back to the lowlands! Then Chloe is off this afternoon to Baguette it up in France & Andreas & Jen are doing their PADI Crossovers. Leaving the skeleton crew diving twice in the morning & twice in the afternoon & some of them have even had to go diving at night aswell... with 20 meter viz...in flat seas..., in warm water... with whalesharks... and getting paid for it!? Lucky Bastards!

The Liquivision X1 Dive Computer

The Liquivision X1 is an expedition grade open circuit and closed circuit trimix computer. With a CE rating to 180m and tested way beyond that, this computer is more than capable of going with you on any dives you will plan. It has an ultra bright OLED (organic LED) screen that is visible even at an angle of up to 180' and in complete darkness due to the high resolution yellow digits on black background. The display is large and with the resolution it makes following the info very easy even for people who have bad eyesight. You choose your own software package to use with the computer, there are a few different ones and this is a matter of personal choice, we decided on Multi-deco as it covers all bases. You can program 10 different gases and also adjust gases whilst on the dive. There is also a lost gas option in the deco software which allows you to re-adjust your decompression to utilise the gasses you have available, there are so many little things that make this small dive computer the top of the dive computer food chain. We have units in stock here at Big Blue Tech that can be purchased and taken away the same day. Yours for only 55,000thb, with this price tag this is certainly not the cheapest computer on the market, it is however the best. Call in to the Big Blue Tech Shack to have a look, hold, play and lust over this amazing shiny piece of essential diving equipment or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions.

Updated 11th May 2012-

Best Whaleshark Season

Another Whaleshark! This is officially the best Whaleshark season we have had here this century! At least 1 per day for about 6 weeks now. It hink it was 2008 when we had a bumper crop of Whaleshark sightings numbering 52, or 1 per week. but the rate we're going this year looks like we might make it another 20 or so more! I wonder if the increase in Whaleshark sightings has anything to do with the decrease in the sales of Sharkfin soup in Asia? Hmmm. Thats food for thought!

Addicted to Diving

“Koh Tao - Big Blue Diving” Reviewed on Trip Advisor May 9, 2012 - Great Instructors, Awesome location! We completed our Open Water Course with 'Mama G', our instructor, and could not resist the temptation to get into the water for the SSI Advanced Adventurer Course completing 5 further dives, including a wreck, deep sea and night dive. We leave Koh Tao very satisfied and addicted to diving!

Exploration Diving

Todd and Jason are doing further exploration of Chumphon secret pinnacle this morning with a nice long 45 minute at 40m dive plan. The last time the boys explored and mapped some of this dive site they found 2 diving masks and a SCUBA regulator that must have been dropped from the boats that moor up on the buoy lines off the main site. This Afternoon it is final assessment on skills for our BSAC dive leader interns following their great efforts at the review dive yesterday, few minor issues but easy to iron out and we are expecting all 5's today. All this & the sun is out, & its free topless sunbathing day on the beach outside Big Blue! Happy Days!

Updated 10th May 2012-

Dive with Basking Sharks in the UK

Unfortunately not everyone was lucky enough to be in Koh Tao last month or this month & therefore haven't experienced diving with Whalesharks & for that I do sympathise, but don't fret cos if you live in England I have some absolutely amazing news for you! At this time of year you can get to dive with the second biggest fish in the sea & the biggest fish to roam British waters. The Basking Shark. Looks like something that just stepped out of the prehistoric age but then again I guess you would look a bit weather beaten, old & depressed if you lived in British waters all year long too! Anyway if you're interested in checking it out then head down to Penzance Cornwall & book yourselves a Basking Shark Adventure Course with any good BSAC Dive center! Tell them Big Blue Diving sent you & that the boss at Big Blue would really like a nice big discount when he comes over next year!

More Whalesharks

And another Whaleshark! This time it was Shark Island. Yesterday afternoon. About 4 meters long! Seems to have just hung around in one spot & unfortunatley the viz wasn't great which makes an encounter with a Whalesahrk that much more special cos you have to get up close to see it! So that's thirty something Whalesharks we've seen in April & twelvety so far in May. To be honest I've actually lost count we've seen so many! But twelvety sounds about right so far for May!

My favourite diving place in Thailand

Scuba Trip to Angthong Marine Park

Big Blue Tech would like to congratulate PADI Divemaster in Training Ben Prentice on winning the free place on the next Ang Thong trip which departs from Koh Tao on the 14th of May........... LESS THAN A WEEK AWAY!!!!! This is an absolutely stunning place and here on Koh Tao we are blessed to have it right on our doorstep. The whole area, both above and below the water is beautiful. One of those once in a lifetime experiences!!!! There are 3 places remaining for this 2 day 1 night trip. The cost is an extremely cheap 3000 Thai Baht, this includes all your diving and the actual trip with an evening BBQ and breakfast plus fresh fruit, tea & coffee and water for refreshments. Big Blue professional interns get special rates for this trip, this means all BSAC dive leaders, PADI dive masters and SSI dive control specialists can get all this with the added bonus of the great word DISCOUNT!!!! Just another benefit of becoming a PADI DIVE PRO here with Big Blue.

PADI IDC & SSI IT Courses running at the same time

Well we appear to be running 2 seperate Instructor Training Courses all at the same time! SSImon is training ACE Marine cameraman Billy his SSI Instructor Course & on this months PADI Instructor Development Course we have 5 candidates all representing Big Blue.  We got Tessa from Down Under. Big Blue SSI Instructor Intern Andreas from Sveden, ex Big Blue Divemasters Jade from Blightey & Ant from Wales as well as Big Blue Green Queen Eco Jen representing Hobiton who has decided to add being a PADI Instructor to her existing ratings of SSI & BSAC Instructor. & they're all being trained by ex Big Blue Instructors Deano & Nacho & Course Director Guillaume Fargues from Gay Paris! Good luck everyone. I'm sure you are all gonna make awesome Instructors!

The Best operator I have dived with

“A great balance of fun and professional.” Reviewed on Trip Advisor May 5, 2012 - I've been diving all over the world for a number of years and i have to say that Big Blue are possibly the best operator i have dived with. Their staff are excellent in terms of maturity, professionalism and a sense of fun. Too many dive centers have a lot of very young instuctors and DMs running around enjoying themselves that you worry about taking care of customers. Big Blue's team is by no means old but they do give off an air of professionalism and maturity that is very important for inexperienced divers. They do smile and laugh, but in a reassuringly honest way at the right moments.I went to see their new resort which has excellent facilities and is right on the beach. Their new swimming pool is brilliantly designed for the purpose of diving instruction having a shallow side and a deep side as opposed to end to end. The boats are nice and well organised and their equipment looks well maintained. I live on the mainland and visit the island regularly. There are 50 ish dive shops on the island, many of which i am sure are also grea,t but Big Blue is where i choose to go every time i want to get in the water"

Updated Tuesday 8th May 2012-

More Whalesharks

So we are now 5 months into 2012  or approximately 150 days. In those 150 days we've sent out approximately 450 Dive trips on vaious boats. Of those 450 trips 48 of them have been with a Whaleshark!  Not including today where we've seen another 2 whalesharks 1 at Chumphon & the other at Sail Rock which brings the Whaleshark count this year to 50! Or 1 every 3 days! Not a bad statistic! I don't reckon there's going to be too many businesses around the world who can say they see a Whaleshark on average once every 3 days! Stick that in your pipe & smoke it Rupert Murdoch!

Second to none

“By far the highlight of my travels so far!”- Reviewed on Trip Advisor. We arrived at Big Blue in March 2012 and after several days travelling we didn't want to start diving immediatly. Big Blue were more than accomodating and gave us 2 nights to relax and enjoy the island for a very resonable price. The rooms were basic but clean and well maintained. The social vibe around Big Blue was second to non. It's a friendly laid back place and we both felt at home after our first day at the diving resort. Instructors were friendly, helpful and informative and there was no pressure when it came to settling our bill. All they asked is that we pay the course before we set foot in the water. After 2 days of relaxation and thoroughly enjoying the nightlife that Koh Toa has to offer, we were excited to start our diving. Our instructor was Medwin Culmer. From the get go, he was friendly, patient, knowledgable and most of all professional in his delivery of the open water course. He was always on hand for questions, and a plaesure to dive with. The course was incredible, we both enjoyed it so much that we decided to take our advanced course. If it hadn't have been for a lack of time and money we would have definately enrolled on our dive masters course. The entire experience was parallel to non and we can not recommend this resort and it's staff enough. If you want fun, friendly, sociable, reasonably priced diving look no further, Big Blue is for you. Ivan and Tyson.

BSAC Extended Range Course

Final day of BSAC Extended Range diver course for out techie interns at Big Blue Tech today. Donny, Rik, Jason and Todd have hit their 50m dive and have just 1 more dive this afternoon to graduate as Extended Range divers. These guys will be then certified to make extended bottom time dives to 50m using any mix of breathing gas from 21% to 100% for accelerating their decompression schedule. The guys have worked extremely hard to get to this level, doing up to 80 technical dives throughout their internships to gain the elite skill level required to make dives this deep. This is what technical diving is all about - depth time & enormous testicles!

Updated 4th May 2012-

Night Diving on Koh Tao

It's different down there at night. The first time you descend into the darkness you'll realize that it's almost a completely different world at night. Sound a little scary? The reef comes alive with a whole different cast of characters at night. Most of the fish you see during the day hide away to sleep at night and many that can't be found during the day can be seen all over the reef. Night-time is the best time to see the creepy crawlies, the crabs, lobsters, and shrimp all going about their business. Octopi come out and swim freely alongside hunting sharks and barracuda create an amazing show. "The Night Dive" See it soon at a Divecenter near you. Preferably this one!

"to say that Big Blue is fantastic is an understatement!"

“Fanfreakintastic!”- Reviewed on Trip Advisor April 30, 2012 - I originally went to Koh Tao towards the end of January to start off my Southeast Asia trip, and spent a week on the island not diving(shocking!) In that short week I met tons of fantastic people at various dive shops, but none made impressions on me like the people I met from Big Blue. Further along, somewhere in Laos, met a fantastic group of Americans who had just finished doing their Divemaster training at Big Blue. Still unsure of if I wanted to go back and dive, they showed me their diving pictures and told me ridiculous stories of amazing fish, people and life. I decided to end my trip by going back to Koh Tao and Big Blue to dive. My original intention was to stay just to do my Open Water and perhaps my Advanced course.... fast forward 3 weeks and 25 dives later, my friends had to drag me kicking and screaming to the ferry so I could make it to my flight to New Zealand. To say that Big Blue is fantastic is an understatement. For my two courses I had several instructors (result of getting a head cold halfway through a course), and Chloe, Med, Tosh and Thor were all amazing. Doing almost 20 fun dives allowed me to experience a wide range of Divemasters from Big Blue. I finally got over my fear of trigger fish after my last dive with Steven, saw my first octopus night diving with DMT Neil (although now DM), and was able to go all around Shark Island diving with Thor. I'm in New Zealand at the moment, and trying to find as much work as possible so I can return as soon as possible to Big Blue to do my DMT. Big Blue has my heart and I cannot wait to return :)

Whaleshark

Crikey. Feeling a little disorientated! Its like splitting up with your Missus. You grow to depend on them. Every day you wake up looking forward to seeing them, spending time with them, enjoying each others company. Hanging out together. Taking photos. & then suddenly nothing. Gone! Left. Departed. Vanished. Not a word. Not a letter. Not even a reason. In your world one day. Out of it the next. Where are you Whaleshark. We missed you today!

Updated- Thursday 3rd May 2012-

Cave Diving in Khao Sok

New Koh Tao Seafood Restaurant on Sairee Beach

Introducing Koh Tao's newest Seafood Restaurant on the Beach! Big Blue Seafood at our new Resort. Serving fresh fish barbecued to your liking right infront of you. Tables set up on the sand at low tide everynight from sunset on so come check out the amazing sunsets or the star filled sky above you & the cracking thunderbolts of lightening spread over the mainland many miles away from Koh Tao. Free glass of wine with every Seafood BarBQ order!

It's still Whaleshark Season

Its most definitely Whaleshark Season! We've seen more Whalesharks in the month of April than we did all of 2011! In fact we saw more whalesharks last month than there were days! In fact if you count the amount of Whalsharks that we saw all month & divide them by the amount of Open Water Divers  we had, subtracted by certified Divers you'll see that we actually supplied each Advanced Diver with 1 whaleshark each! Now if that aint customer service or at least a bloody good reason to do your Advanced Course then I don't know what is!

Another Happy Customer

SSI Instructor Trainer Simon Garrity

"I did my course with the professional, highly focused, humorous, thoughtful, strong, muscular, virile, incredibly good-looking Simon Garrity! I teach almost exactly as he taught me. It works brilliant! and by the way it has been really fun! I recommend this man and Big Blue Diving anyway! THANK YOU! Tobi O. "  Good on you Tobi. Thanks so much for writing in to our Facebook Group & expressing these comments. We don't know how much Simon paid you to write this but we appreciate it anyway!

Hilarious Big Blue Diving Instructor Tosh Tanner

“Best thing I've ever done!” 5 of 5 stars Reviewed on Trip Advisor- I finished my dive at big blue just over a week ago and I am still reminiscing! I can honestly say it is one of the best experiences of my life. Me and my friends were instantly made to feel welcome and our accomodation was much better than we had ever hoped. The staff are all really efficient and professional and went out of their way to ensure that our needs were met. However, a special mention needs to be given to our instructor, Tosh. There is no question that he made the experience for us. Not only was he hilarious, but he was patient, attentive and calming. Definitely a character I will remember! Despite not having any previous diving experience, we all learnt really quickly due to the excellent quality of teaching. I would recommend this dive school to anyone and am already planning my return trip. Thanks Big Blue!

Updated Thursday 31st May 2012-

SSI Crossover Course

So SSImon South East Asia's leading SSI Instructor Trainer, who by the way seems to be enjoying the wearing ladies clothing to snorkel tests a little too much, is starting an 8 person Instructor Crossover tomorrow! Thats 8 more PADI Instructors defecting! & why? Cos there's soooooooo much competition for PADI Instructors while at the same time SSI are crying out for more Instructors cos there is now so much demand for SSI Courses! The tide has turned my PADI-wan friends! The future is SSI... & men in ladies clothing!

Updated Sunday May 27th 2012-

Wednesday 8th December 2010-

As you read this, there is a whaling fleet steaming towards the Southern Ocean to begin their annual whale slaughter. Their planned death "quota" this season: nearly 1,000 minke whales, 50 humpback whales, and 50 endangered fin whales. We must stop this massacre now. During the 2008 campaign, then-Senator Obama said, "As president, I will ensure that the U.S. provides leadership in enforcing international wildlife protection agreements, including the international moratorium on commercial whaling." Three more whaling seasons have come and gone since Obama spoke those words, and no change has been made. Please rush your most generous contribution as we put pressure on President Obama to fulfill his campaign promise! "Allowing Japan to continue commercial whaling is unacceptable," as President Obama himself has stated, and Greenpeace is rallying support to put a stop to the slaughter, once and for all. Commercial whaling is not only unacceptable—it's a violation of international law.

Picture a Japanese harpoon ship speeding through the Southern Ocean. Suddenly, the harpooner spots a mother whale and her calf. The sounds of the ocean are drowned out by the blasts of exploding-tip harpoons being fired at the whales. The pair struggles to free themselves from the harpoon lines for nearly an hour, desperately thrashing their tails in the water, before a gunman finally steps onto the deck and shoots them dead. The mother whale and her baby are dragged up the ship’s slipway, leaving a long trail of blood behind them.

Much to our frustration, in a few days time this tragic scene will play out in the Southern Ocean over and over again. Greenpeace needs your help, and the help of President Obama, to put an end to the slaughter of our oceans’ most unique, intelligent, and emotional creatures. Please help us stop this terrible massacre and save the lives of these whales with your most generous donation NOW. Together, we can let Japan know that commercial whaling has no place in the 21st Century.

Monday 6th December 2010-

"Hi Simon! I'm sure you get this all the time and as I didn't see you this morning before taking off to Samui, I just wanted to drop you a line and thank you for all your help, encouragement, good laughs and professionalism during my OW course at Koh Tao. It was fun, laid back and overall, just a great couple of days. I shall continue my world tour to Koh Lanta/Phuket where I will complete my AOW as my colleagues had bought me a gift voucher with Raya Divers. Still four months of traveling before heading home, bliss. Again, thank you and all the best for you and for everyone at Big Blue. Mia"- Don't you mean Dominatrix Simone, Mia?

Woke up this morning to the wettest day on record! It has, (pardon my french), absolutely pissoir-ed down all night & all morning & apparently its only going to get worse this afternoon! Fark a duck, (whoops, my Australian)... which of course absolutely sucks, (Kiwi slang)! But zee (German), good news is that zees should be the end of it & then its a return to normalcy with flat seas, sunny skies, clear water, & bronzed bikini babes sprawled up & down the beaches. Firkin well better be, (forgive my Scottish), or I'll be writing to my Union representative expressing my disdain to these shitey, (sorry... my Irish), tropical rainstorms! Pip pip... (English).

Happy 84th to the King Of Thailand. The world's longest reigning monarch, left the hospital yesterday where he has been staying for over a year to join celebrations for his birthday. Thousands of well-wishers lined the streets of Bangkok to wish King Bhumibol Adulyadej a happy birthday. Many Happy Returns of the day your majesty & for the sake of your country & your people may you have many more!

Thursday 3rd December 2010-

Better hurry up the closer we get to Christmas the busier the trips are getting & I do believe I am the only one left with Liveaboard availability in the Similans with 2 spaces left over Christmas & 5 spaces still available over New Year! The Christmas trip is 5 days & nights departing on the 23rd December for the Similans & Surin Islands & the New Year Trip departs for another 5 days & nights from the 29th & returning on the 3rd Jan. Roll up roll up! Prices start from under 30000 Bt per person including equipment & Marine Park Fee. First come first served!

Christmas came early for a lot of our divers completing their first 2 dives in the open water yesterday while diving at White Rock when they quite literally bumped into a Whaleshark! Jacques Cousteau dived for 20 years before he saw his first Whaleshark. Students diving with Instructors Dan, Becca, Ian & Charles had only been diving 20 minutes! How's that for a nice Christmas present from your Instructor!

And as if one shark wasn't enough this morning while diving at Chumpon Pinnacle we saw our first Bull Shark of the season! Don't worry. Despite the rumours Bull Sharks here in Koh Tao are actually very friendly & not aggressive at all. Apparently its to do with the water temperature. Bull sharks in warm water are docile & friendly. Bull sharks in cold water are angry & aggressive. Bit like the Russians!

Wednesday 1st December 2010-

In the infamous words of the great Steve Irwin... "Crikey!" 1st of December & we are practically fully booked for the whole of the 12 days of Christmas & some! I've just had to update our accommodation page on our website with the rooms we still have available & I was shocked to see how little we have left! Well it won't take too long to sell all them! So then I thought I'd send our disappointed customers who can't get rooms in Koh Tao to our other Dive center in Khao Lak but they are full too! Even the Liveaboard is choc a block! Better start getting the tents & hammocks out! Tis going to be a very busy end to 2010!

Congratulations & welcome to the Big Blue Crew Mr.Ant Silwood, the successful applicant for the Divemaster job we advertised last week. Ant has a background in sales & IT & has for the last 3 months proved hiself a worthy candidate for the DM job during his Divemaster Training that he undertook with us. Ant joins Geordie Steven, Souf Afrikaan Greg, & Posh Jade in our DM pool. What a team! Bit like the Untouchables, only without Kevin Costner, Sean Connery & Andy Garcia! Congratulations again Ant & welcome to the party!

Big Blue Conservation is now and official member of the Shark Alliance! As a result of the fantastic work Koh Tao did to raise money and awareness through the Swim for Sharks 2010 event, the Shark Alliance has awarded us with member status. The Shark Alliance is a global, not-for-profit coalition of non-governmental organizations dedicated to restoring and conserving shark populations by improving shark conservation policies. We, as members, are now part of a high caliber group of NGOs, professionals and volunteers who are working together to achieve a common objective. We have access to specialists of a number of functions (science, policy, communications, public relations, campaign strategy and coordination) dedicated to shark conservation and management, and access to additional capacity to strengthen our own organisation’s profile and influence. Go team Eco!!!

Saturday 28th November 2010-

Word is out that its nigh on impossible at the moment to go diving in the Similans right now without seeing a Manta Ray! Apparently every Liveaboard trip & every speedboat and at every divesite there are Mantas to be seen! Its a Manta Ray frenzy! Thats awesome news & you have the opportunity right now to go diving with these guys too! Next trip to the Similans on board our very own luxury cruiser the MV Pawara is off on Monday night the 29th November for 4 days & 4 nights of Manta action. & we're practically giving cabins away. 10% discount if you go alone! 20% discount if you are 2 or more people! & FREE equipment rental! Sign up! Sign up! Not too many spaces still available!

In the past few decades alone, 20% of the oceans' coral reefs have been destroyed, with a further 20% badly degraded or under serious threat of collapse, while tropical forests equivalent in size to the UK are cut down every two years. These statistics, and the many more just like them, impact on everyone, for the very simple reason that we will all end up footing the bill. Just ask a Chinese fruit farmer who now has to pay people to pollinate apple trees because there are no longer enough bees to do the job for free. What has the world come to. Doesn't it make you fear for your childrens future.

So as the weather in Europe sinks into a cold depression the Gap Year students come hiking over to Asia to get themselves a qualification that will enable them to gain employment & life experience over their contemporary's upon their return. & what a bloody good idea too! Wouldn't you like to gain a qualification that enables you to get employment while travelling the world. Here at Big Blue we are offerring the whole Open Water to Divemaster package including Underwater videography training & Marine & coastal Resources management recognised by Universities in the UK as the first rung in the ladder on your Marine Biology degree. How's that for kick starting the rest of your life! Beats the heck out of protesting on the streets of London wouldn't you say!

Tuesday 23rd November 2010-

Running out of Christmas present ideas for your better half? This year there are heaps of innovative though rather useless scuba toys out there. The pick of the bunch being this all in one high heel stiletto fin! Never in my entire life have I seen anything quite so pointless! Available at all good Scuba retail fashion dealers! At least you know what to buy your Missus for Christmas now eh boys!

So Manta Ray season has kicked off early this year over on the West Coast with everyone on recent Liveaboard trips having spent at least one of their 14 dives  over their 4 day 4 night stint with these underwater gliders! A dream come true for any diver & an experience very few people can ever say they've had. Memories to last a lifetime & all for the very special price of just over 20000 Bt! Have you Manta Rayed?

Need to get fit? Just think of the amount of calories you lose while scuba diving. Swimming with fins is like water-based weight-training – firming the front of the thighs as you kick down and the back of the thighs as you kick up. Surprisingly good for burning energy. Someone weighing approximately 70kg (11st) burns 13 calories a minute while scuba diving, so a 45-minute dive would use 585 calories. What about your cardiorespiratory fitness: According to the British Thoracic Society, scuba divers tend to have larger-than-average lungs and an increased vital capacity (the maximum volume of air exhaled after inhalation). How's your upper-body strength: The back, shoulders and arms all get a certain amount of work lugging around equipment, and clambering in & out of boats. Want to look sexy? Go diving!

Monday 22nd November 2010-

Very dismayed to hear from our friends on the West coast of Thailand servicing the Liveaboard & daytrip market to the Similans & Surin Islands that having returned from their 4 day trip in search of Mantas & sharks returned to the main pier only to find a fishing boat offloading their boat consisting of 2 Guitar sharks, 3 Leopard sharks a Manta ray and a beautiful Eagle ray. How unbelievably sad that is. But as another colleague pointed out there isn't much point in dwelling on it if you are only going to go out & eat a seafood dinner. The rays and sharks are by -catch from more expensive better eating spieces. That's it from me. No more meat & no more Fish! From here on in I'm going to be a Vaginatarian!

Situation vacant! Now that low season is over, now that the rains have stopped the winds have died the viz has cleared & the customers are coming back its high time we brought our 4 person Divemaster team back to 4 persons! Since Tom Foxy left us at the beginning of the month we've been operating our not very busy Dive center with just Steven, Jade & Greg and now its time to put the feelers out & employ Number 4! Think you've got what it takes? Fancy living in Paradise & getting paid for it? Like hanging out all day with scantily clad bikini babes or muscle toned boardie boys, (whatever grabs your fancy)? Then send us your CV's. No jokers please! We got heaps of them already!

Congratulations Becca who has just passed her PADI Instructor Development Course with Course Directors G, & Tim the PADI Man. By all acoounts Becca went through with flying colours & breezed every part of the training programme & the 3 day exam at the end of it. Of course she should have done too having done her Divemaster Course with us here at Big Blue. & this week Becca will be signing on with our very own SSI Instructor Trainer Simon to do her SSI Crossover course so she'll then be a very qualified, highly employable dual certifying Instructor who speaks fluent German! Sounds like a bit of a catch! I think we could do with one of them around here this season! Fingers crossed Becca!

Sunday 21st November 2010-

Good old Eco Green Queen Jenny is hard at it again organising yet another beach clean up today. & she is also organising a Reef assessment dive in a few days time to check out the state of our house reef here at Sairee Beach after all the fishing boats came in to shelter from all the crap weather we had a few weeks ago. Unfortunately 70% of the fishing boats docked in Sairee Bay didn't use a mooring line so just flung their anchors overboard & drifted till they hit something solid & tied on. Very disappointing practise but its ok cos Jenny is coming with her plasters & band aids & is going to make the whole place better again! Nothing a bit of savlon & a bit of tlc can't fix eh Jenny!

Its that time of the year again when our Mother ship takes her leave for her yearly physical & hops it off to the mainland to be given a good once over! Banzai shouldn't be away more than 3 weeks as she really only needs a short back & sides, a little off the top & a colour rinse & she'll be looking as right as rain in no time. Well 3 weeks to be exact! Meanwhile, Navakid & Big Blue will be working their wellies off to cope with the crowds from this weekends Full Moon Party. Then it won't be too long & we'll have ourselves another boat to go with our existing fleet since we've donated Big Blue to Canada & his posse of Mary men who've renamed it Big Black! So it'll be Banzai, Navakid, Big Blue & ... well I've always wanted to call my boat Steve! Scuba Steve!

Getting a serious amount of bookings coming in already over the Christmas & New Year period. We've filled up our luxury private villas. We got no more beachside bungalows left. All our 200 Bt & 400 Bt rooms are gone as are our 800 Bt & 1200 Bt rooms. Its getting harder to book bungalows at other resorts as well as it seems everyone is getting bookings. Its going to be a very busy Chrimbo! Have you booked your Diving & Accommodation package yet?

Friday 19th November 2010-

Fishermen in the southern province of Kien Giang, Vietnam, on November 12 caught a big fish in a net. As the fish was much bigger than usual, fishermen were very confused. They pulled it to a wharf in Ha Tien town. The case was reported to relevant agencies. Experts examined the fish and confirmed that it was a whale shark, which is 4.7m long, 2m belly diameter and nearly two tons in weight. The fish died before it was brought to the shore. Kien Giang’s fishermen caught a whale shark in 2006 but it was only a ton in weight. Kien Giang authorities met to seek solutions to deal with the fish in the way that doesn’t harm the environment. In August 2010, a fishing boat in the central province of Binh Dinh caught a whale shark weighing over a ton. In September 2010, a fishing boat in Bac Lieu province caught a 4-ton whale shark in a net. The whale shark is a slow-moving filter feeding shark, the largest living fish species. The Vietnamese Fishermen are a bunch of morons!

Answering to the call of the man who pays their salaries its nice to see the eventual return from the Similans of the majority of our Big Blue Instructors. Erik, Beccy, Simon, Jody & Jenny & about half a dozen of our Divemasters in Training have all returned just in time for the onslaught of our festive high season! Its the Full Moon Party next week in Koh Phangan this weekend & its going to be a big one so its good to get all our staff back just in time from their strenuous diving holiday to do some serious scuba teaching.

Big Blue Conservation is now and official member of the Shark Alliance! As a result of the fantastic work Big Blue did to raise money and awareness through the Swim for Sharks 2010 event, the Shark Alliance has awarded us with member status. The Shark Alliance is a global, not-for-profit coalition of non-governmental organizations dedicated to restoring and conserving shark populations by improving shark conservation policies. We, as members, are now part of a high caliber group of NGOs, professionals and volunteers who are working together to achieve a common objective. We have access to specialists of a number of functions (science, policy, communications, public relations, campaign strategy and coordination) dedicated to shark conservation and management, and access to additional capacity to strengthen our own organisation’s profile and influence. Go the BBC at www.bigblueconservation.com

Thursday 18th November 2010-

The Shark Fin Crisis. Sharks kill fewer than 5 humans on average each year while humans kill 100 million sharks annually. You are more likely to be killed by a lightening strike, Bee sting or falling coconut. Over 100 Million sharks will be killed primarily for Shark Fin soup. That's over 11400 an hour. Shark finning is the practice of catching a shark, slicing off its fins & dumping the still living shark back into the ocean. Shark Fins are tasteless & contain high levels of toxic Methyl-Mercury. The Oceans are the most important eco system on the planet containing life that absorbs most of the carbon dioxide converting it to 70% of the oxygen we breathe. Destroying shark populations is destroying our oceans & our life support system. So make your decision. Save our sharks!

We're just getting news in from our Dive center over in the Similans that they've just spotted their first Manta Ray of the season! French SSI & PADI Dive Instructor Pierre Peepee formerly an Instructor from Big Blue Diving Koh Tao & Dobby from the Harry Potter movies, Pierre has been able to relay the message live from North Point dive site that he was able to spend at least 5 minutes at the end of his dive on the safety stop diving with this 3 meter long angel of the oceans. Nice! Christmas has come early for you Pierre, n'est pas?

Still getting lots of concerned punters ringing, writing & texting to check the weather here after all the crap we had last week. Well folks I can assure you that the weather right now rocks Big Time! Sunny, windless, flat seas & no rain! Not even a cloud in the sky. Absolutely perfect. So nice in fact we even made it out to Koh Tao's number 1 divesite this morning at Chumphon Pinnacle. Didn't see an awful lot but we made it, & there wasn't even a drop of rain.Not even a speckle!

Tuesday 16th November 2010-

Whatever you hear don't believe what you are being told by the booking agents in Bangkok! Don't believe them if they tell you there are no more boats to Koh Tao. Don't believe them if they tell you the weather is awful & the waves are too big that boats aren't crossing from the mainland to Koh Tao. & most of all don't believe them when they tell you that Koh Tao is closed for monsoon! Its absolute balderdash! We are very much open, enjoying fabulous sunshine flat seas clearing visibility! Book your bus & boat with Lomprayah www.lomprayah.com . And Bangkok, stop spreading your bollocks about!

Meanwhile it seems at least half the staff are still on their Monsoon holidays over in Khao Lak cruising the 9 Similan Islands & the Top 3 dive sites in Thailand over at the Surin Islands. They are Richelieu Rock, for the Whalesharks & Guitar Sharks, Koh Tachai for the Leopard Sharks & Koh Bon for the Manta Rays. 4 days, 4 nights, 4 daily meals, & 4 dives a day. With prices atarting at less than 20000 Bt per person that aint a bad deal, even on a Dive Instructor's salary. No wonder I've got no bloody staff left!

Canada practically wet his pants yesterday at the sight of Big Black Boat , formally known as Big Blue Boat, returning to Koh Tao having just had its new overhaul for Canada & his team at Big Blue Tech. With the overwhelming success of the Tech Diving Industry here at Big Blue we have decided to give the boys their own boat so they can go out & do their Advanced Tech Diving expeditions with a lot more freedom now. Her ongoing mission: To go out & explore new wrecks. to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before! Altogether now... da da dana-na-na na...

Sunday 14th November 2010-

The Grounds team here at Big Blue have been busy over the last couple of days repairing all the water damage we incurred throughout the Resort. All the rain pouring down in the hills through the Poonama Canal, sorry, Big Blue Wetlands quickly became a raging River & consequently over flowing into the carpark up the entrance of our Resort upto the top of the path flowing over & down through the path towards the dive shop & eventually out to sea. The end result are these unsightly gulley's revealing all the buried electrictiy cables & water pipes all the way through the resort. Looks like a bombs gone off here! So the boys are filling the World War 1 trenches with sand today, just in case you were wondering what the hell happened here!

Big Blue Tech celebrates the successful graduation of Ash Dunn from his PADI "I got stabbed by my instructor" specialty conducted by instructor James Thornton-Allan on Koh Tao Island off the coast of Thailand. Ash excelled at this course by completing with 12 stitches which is 11 more than the PADI standard. According to standards Ash ...only needs a stabbing and a stubbed toe before he can apply for his instructor Rating! Well done Ash, This course is conducted every monsoon when we're bored, to sign up for the next one get your tetanus shot and email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

And its been a busy week for everyone's favourite personal fitness Trainer Kymmie. This week Kymmie opened her much talked about new business called Impact Fitness, an Air conditioned mirrored studio. 'Circuit style training' to allow chaps & "The Ladies" of different abilitites to train together. Challenge yourself & increase your fitness at a pace you are comfortable with. Circuit training is the most time effective way to improve fitness & weight loss. & Kymmie is the most effective qualified Instructor to be trained by. See you at 11.30am tomorrow Kymmie for half an hour of 'Lunchtime abs!'

Saturday 13th November 2010-

Well thank God that's over! We've just been splattered! It quite literally has not stopped raining here for the best part of the whole of last week but now its nothing but blue seas & sunny skies. Shame there isn't anyone here to witness it! After all the fuss about how much rain there's been down the southern past of Thailand the holidaymakers, backpackers & travellers have all cancelled or postponed their trip to 'The Rock", wise choice, & now we're all sitting on our hands playing 'Stranger'!

Jims come back from Samui to see he's had a bit of a staffing exodus! It seems Beccy, Eric, Tom, Lara, Jenny, Simo & Jodie are all off diving on various Liveaboards cruising the Similans & Surin Islands looking for leopard Sharks & Manta Rays. Emily is staffing a PADI IDC with the world renowned Frenchman PADI Course Director Guillaume Fargues & Sonia's hopped it to Bali for a spot of diving & yoga. Aint nothing like a busman's holiday!

Forecast for the following week. Its going to be an Asian chilly/ European sweaty week with an all time high of 29 degrees & a low of 28 degrees. There'a a mild wind reaching a max speed of 14 knots on Monday & barely a whisper throughout the rest of the week tho wave height doesn't even break a meter in height. We are expecting rain again but the good news is its only forecast for night time & its not even a quarter of what we've just had this last week reaching an all time high tomorrow night of just 8 mm of rain. But during the days its all clear for the earlier part of the week & then by Wednesday we have 50% cloud cover & it goes upto 90% but with no rain. windguru.com Awesome. Monsoons over. Lets go diving!

Sunday 7th November 2010-

Now being a Dad (still feels great to say that!), I'm used to getting up at all sorts of crazy times of the night to answer to the wailing needs of my little one, & as Manager of Big Blue Diving ( feels nice to say that too) I'm used to answering the phone at all sorts of strange hours from all the far corners of the world, so this morning at 8am when my phone rose me from my slumber I really shouldn't have been too surprised! What did surprise me however was to have the PADI Area Manager of Australia ringing me to congratulate me on the amazing job Big Blue Conservation has been doing to raise money for Charities like the Save the Shark Foundation & Project Aware, & also raising volunteers to help Save Koh Tao with the implementation of the Sairee Wetland, formerly known as the Poonama Canal. Completely stumped speechless & still wiping drool from my mouth & sleep from my eyes I thanked PADI for their recognition rolled over & went back to sleep with a big smile across my face & warm feeling in my belly! Cheers Eco Jen. You really are doing an awesome job! www.bigblueconservation.com

Its Christmas Time & there's no need to be afraid... well there might be if you haven't booked your accommodation already! I can feel it in my bones its going to be a crazy busy Christmas & as per usual there aint going to be any more rooms available on Sairee Beach. So if you plan n being here this Christmas & New Year then I highly recommend pulling your finger out & booking something real soon. Here's a nice place www.baansawainam.com

As you may have heard we've had some pretty crappy weather recently with all the wind & rain but fear not it looks like it's all turning for the better. Weather forecast is for flat seas & a dramatic drop in winds & though there is rain forecast it aint the mental movie monsoon madness we had last week. Phew! Monsoons over folks! Everyone back to work!

Saturday 6th November 2010-

Big Blue's very own Green Queen has been doing an awesome job raising money to Save the World & last year won an award from SSI for Big Blue for being the most environmentally active Dive Center in South East Asia & this week we are getting a plug with PADI on their website. " Swim and Shave for Sharks, October 2010 - Fins attached to tanks and shark swimming caps were seen around the island of Koh Tao, Thailand when Big Blue Diving hosted a shark swim to raise awareness for sharks. Staff from five dive schools swam the 3 km distance around the island. After the swim the fun and games began as divers shaved their heads into 'fins" to raise over 5000 Baht for Project AWARE. They also collected 200 more signatures for Project AWARE's Help Give Sharks A Fighting Chance Petition. Jennifer Matthews, event organiser and conservation manager at Big Blue said,”We hope that this event will encourage others to support shark campaigns and  to show how big an impact a small diving community  can have for worldwide conservation.” Great team effort guys and we love the hairdo's!" Nice one Jen! Cheers PADI! Save our sharks... save the world!

So while the weather here hasn't really been anything to write home about, our Big Blue Dive Center in Khao Lak is going great guns. Our 4 day 4 night Liveaboard to the Similan & Surin Islands is practically full for the next trip. Our Christmas trips have very few places left as well so if you were thinking of coming on board then book ahead as these are very busy & popular boats! Of course why wouldn't they be? It's basically a floating hotel cruising Thailands most beautiful islands. Starting from just 19300 Bt per person for all 4 nights including equipment & Marine Park fees & 14 dives this has got to be the best value for money diving holiday there is! No wonder the boats are full! Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for your holiday of a lifetime!

"Hi guys - I guess this goes to Jim? Thanks for the great time Eric Voss and I had last week with you! Please say hello to Angel, I have some photos on my site from our trip and a few good ones of Angel. I added a link to your site and high recommendations - here at : http://www.fink.jp Cheers, see you next year!   Mike" Cheers Mike. Glad you had such a good time with us & look forward to your imminent return.

Friday 5th November 2010-

Its true. Whatever you heard it was absolutely true! The weather was unbelievably horrible! There was wind gusts up to 40 knots! Palm trees were blown over, coconuts were falling left right & center! More than 50 Milliliters of rain fell in less than 24 hours! The waves reached 4 meters in height! For the first time this year most shops cancelled their scheduled dive trips. The boats from the mainland didn't run for 3 days! The island started running out of supplies! Fresh greens weren't quite so fresh. Dairy products were at an all time low & heaven forbid the island almost ran out of cigarettes & alcohol. Its over now though! Everything back to normal. Sunshine, flat seas & no wind! It truely was monsoon madness though! I absolutely loved it! Closed the shop went home & snuggled with my wife & daughter while watching a Tom Cruise movie! Got to lur-ve Monsoon!

Dear Jim,
Thanks once again for the opportunity to dive with Big Blue again, it was a dream come true for me. The shop has diversified and grown a lot since I did DMT in 2008. Well done on the eco project and all the changes and improvements; Tech,SSI, BSAC etc. As always there is a genuine atmosphere and a feeling that Big Blue has a whole lot of heart... Cheers, James Brook, Sea Shepherd Conservationist aboard the Steve Irwin patrolling the Antartic.
Your welcome James, thanks for coming, for saving the whales & for giving us a very intelligent, inspirational & thought provoking lecture into the workings of Sea Shepherd. A very eye opening experience I'm sure. Come again!

I learnt something new today. Something extremely sad. It appears while the sea turtles come in their hundreds to the desolate beaches in Costa Rica to lay their eggs in the sand the local people are collecting these shells in their 1000's & taking them off to sell leaving the beaches completely devoid of any eggs for the future. & if that isn't enough every night the shrimp boats are out in their hundreds. Their nets ensnarl and drown hundreds, thousands?, of turtles every night, they wash up on the beach and in order to eliminate the smell they have people who go out on the beaches every morning and bury the dead turtles. This is the world we live in. :(

Monday 25th October 2010-

Getting at least half a dozen emails a day at the moment asking me how the weather is. So I've taken a photo this morning from our Restaurant at the beachfront of Sairee Beach looking north towards Nang Yuan Island just in case you don't believe me! Its beautiful! The water is many shades of blue, there's no wind, its bright & sunny, & we are completely unaffected by the severe flooding that is apparently affecting the majority of northern Thailand. There that should reduce our email enquiries by about a half tomorrow!

A scuba diver abandoned at sea for hours by a boat crew six years ago was awarded $1.68 million in damages in Los Angeles. The jury heard testimony that Dan Carlock suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and developed skin cancer from exposure after floating in the ocean 12 miles off Long Beach. Carlock said he prayed to God not to let him die & was eventually rescued after being spotted by Boy Scouts passing by on a boat. He filed suit for negligence, infliction of emotional distress and fraud after the crew of the dive boat left him in the water when he got separated from his diving buddy. Despite his absence, a dive master for Ocean Adventures marked him on the dive roster as present on the boat. Then, to escape strong currents, the vessel moved to a second dive site 7 miles away. Once the boat was there, Carlock was again marked on the roster as having taken a second dive, even though he was floating alone several miles away. Tsk Tsk! Naughty naughty! Obviously not a Big Blue trained Divemaster! It'll cost that particular DM an awful lot of night dives to pay $1.68 million dollars back!

Full Moon Party in Koh Phanang a couple of nights ago already & the island feels like rush hour on a Friday night in the real world! People rushing around trying to find themselves the bargain accommodation that all got snatched up yesterday. Still looking like death warmed up. Why do people do it to themselves? Oh yes! I remember. Cos they're young! Lucky young whipper snappers. Oh to be 21 again.

Saturday 23rd October 2010-

Thank you Tosh & Chopper from Choppers for laying on a free Buffet Banquet for Big Blue last night to celebrate Deano's departure to Khao Lak as the new Manager of Big Blue Khao Lak. The end of an era is Deano leaving Big Blue Koh Tao. He's been here almost 5 years as one of our main Instructors teaching all PADI & SSI Courses & certifying the majority of our Divemasters over recent years. & now he's off to Khao Lak to spear head our very lucky team over there managing our 30 meter speedboat doing day trips to the Similan Islands & then Richeleieu Rock every other week as well. And he'll also be managing our beloved Liveaboard boat the MV Pawara. 4 days & 4 nights of diving eating sleeping eating & diving around the 9 islands of the the Similans & the 3 best dive sites in Thailand Richeleieu Rock, Koh Tachai & Koh Bon. Lets hope our Orangutan Taff can handle all that excitement. Good Luck Deano. Hope you have an awesome season. & if anyone is interested in visiting Deano & his 30 meter long vessel then contact us on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for the ride of your life!

And as we say Ciao, Arriverderci, Saionara & Bai! to one member of staff its time to welcome a new face to Big Blue! Welcome to Big Blue, Jess, our very own, very pretty, very new Shop Bitch! Jess will now be the first face you see when you arrive at Big Blue. Stolen from a rival Koh Tao Diveshop as have a number of other members of staff, tee hee, snigger snigger, guffaw guffaw, chortle chortle, Jess will join our existing team of Shop Bitches Kate & Lee. Could you have a prettier shop front? Welcome Jess. Hope you make plenty of friends on your first day at your new job!

I have been getting a lot of emails over recent days asking how the weather is. Apparently its been atrocious weather here in Thailand & the majority of the north of Thailand aswell as a vast area of Bangkok is actually flooded! Well you'll be please to know our dive sites are still underwater & our island is still above water. No floods here. In fact its been beautiful weather here for a few days already. Sunshine, flat seas, great visibility & just the gentlest of sea breezes. Can't think of a better place to be right now... in the whole of Thailand... make that the whole of Asia!

Wednesday 20th October 2010-

The biggest sea turtle in the world has been cruising these waters in recent days. Not exactly sure its the biggest one in the world but the message I'm trying to relay is that it was certainly pretty bloody massive! Last night's night divers were over the moon to encounter this very friendly enormous Sea turtle once they'd got over the initial shock of quite how big it was. Other interesting creatures seen on a typical Koh Tao night dive include great big hunting Barracuda, Jenkins whip rays, a plethora of blue spotted stingrays & moray eels & the dangly bits of a naked scuba Diver marking their 100th dive. Usually not as impressive as the biggest sea turtle in the world but hey it was cold!

Good Luck Eco Jenny who will be starting her BSAC Instructor Exams today. Jenny has been hard at work for the last week learning how to become a true diving professional by becomming a BSAC Instructor. Big Blue Diving offer all Diving Instructor courses. As we all know we are an SSI Platinum Center which means we can teach SSI Instructor Courses which we do with much aplomb with our resident Instructor Trainer SSImon Garrity. Then our BSAC Instructor Training is taught by our resident BSAC Instructor Trainer James Thornton-Allen, aka Canada, & our PADI Instructor Development Courses are taught by our off site ex residential, favourite French man Guillamue Fargues, or more affectionatley know as 'G'. With that kind of training, support & backing how can Jenny possibly go wrong? Good luck Jen. Pressure's on!

Impact Fitness! It's the talk of the town! There is going to be a new Fitness Studio opening up in a couple of weeks & its going to be huge! Can't tell you too much right now other than there's going to be the most successful non diving non restauranteurial business opening up on the island & its going to be huge! Keep your eyes & ears out & mark down in your calender the 5th of November. Guy Fawkes night! There's going to be an explosion!

Thursday 14th October 2010-

Think I've found our new Eco project for next year. An underwater installation has been created in Mexico which uses real people to create 'life casts' made from materials which encourage coral to grow. It is hoped the sculptures will produce a coral reef system and attract a variety of aquatic creatures.The project is aiming to ease pressure on nearby natural reefs which are struggling to deal with the half a million water-going tourists who flock to the area every year. The original plan was to use 200 statues but later it was decided to install a total of 400 on the seabed, of which 350 have so far been anchored. The statues are meant to represent a 'cross-section of society' with the casts made from local Mexican people. The sculptures have been made from a special type of cement which is 10 times harder than the normal kind and has a neutral PH, which is favourable to corals. The statues are reinforced by rigid fibreglass with similar properties to rock so they remain in place. Anchored to the rocky sea bed 10 metres below the surface using a special drill, fused together and weighing over 120 tons in total, it is hoped the new reef can even weather out hurricanes and storms that regularly hit the area. "Eco Jen! Where are you? I've got a job for you!"

Hats off to ex DMT James who stood up in front of a gathering of hundreds at Choppers last night to give a presentation on his time spent working as an Eco warrior onboard the Sea Shephard last season on their trip to Antarctica to stop the Japanese harpooning the worlds beautiful Whales! A fascinating lecture & some really good accompanying photos of his time spent there at the South Pole. Seems like its been another good year for the Whales thanks to James & his flock of Sea Shepherds & another crap year for the Whale butchers!

Monday 11th October 2010-

Saturday 9th October 2010-

While the majority of sensible people around the world wait till Monday to go back to work, Jim has decided to come back on a Saturday! After nearly 6 weeks living it up with wife & new born child in the bright lights & lactating titties of Bangkok its time to stick on the Big Blue uniform again comprising of T-shirt, Boardies & Jandals & do that dive thang! Thank you Dan, Sonia & Ros for holding the fort, thank you Instructors for your continued excellence in diver education. Thank you Divemasters for organising all the fun & adventures. Thank you everyone for all your well wishes & presents. But most of all thanks to my very beautiful wife for delivering my little bundle of joy, my little baby girl! Everyone say 'Hi' to Lulu Belle Donaldson our new addition to the Big Blue family. Lulu say 'Ga Ga goo goo to everyone!'

So what's been cooking in the last month or so? What's the diving like? How's the viz? Have the sharks & whalesharks been back? Who's still here? Who's left? Who's back? Who's injured?Who's off to work in the Similans next season? Who's doing what? Who's doing what with who? And most importantly who's doing who? In a nutshell it seems that the diving is great. There's not been any whale sharks or sharks but there have been Marlin's & Orca's. Most of us are still here but some of us have gone! Some of us haven't done anything with anyone for ages. Some of us can't stop doing it. & some can't wait to start doing it... to anyone. So pretty much the same old story, just a different time of year!

The weather at the moment despite the rumours is that it's absolutely divine! Bright sunshine, cloudless skies, & just a delicate sea breeze. I had heard that it has been terrible here with endless amount of rain, but I'm happy to report that that's just nonsense. Blue skies & suntanned bodies. Sounds like just the sort of place you'd want to come on a holiday doesn't it? I mean Doesn't... it.

4th October 2010 -

BBIT is proud to announce our latest Instructor Candidate! Lara Roberts starts her Instructor Training 7th October and we are looking forward to helping her launch her career as an SSI Open Water Instructor. Lara joins long list of Big Blue trainees who have decided to take the next step in their career and join the instructor team at the resort. Good luck Lara!

Tuesday 28th September 2010-

Big Blue Tech celebrates the successful graduation of Ash Dunn, James Thornton-Allan, Nick Amidy, Tony Alba and Thomas Hallstrom from their TDI Mod 1 CCR course conducted over 5 days on Koh Tao Island in the Gulf of Thailand. This course was also attended by Ben Reymenants, Simone Reymentants and Kris Harrison.

The CCR Mod 1 course is the first certification level for divers wishing to learn the safe assembly, use and diving of a closed circuit rebreather issued through technical diving certification agency TDI (technical diving international). Nice one guys, you have new dive porn to look at!

Military, photographic, and recreational divers use a CCR (closed circuit rebreather) because they allow long dives and produce no bubbles. Closed circuit rebreathers generally supply two breathing gases to the loop: one is pure oxygen and the other is a diluent or diluting gas such as air or trimix.

WHALESHARK!! the lucky divers on the full day trip to Sail Rock yesterday were joined by a 4metre long whaleshark. The toothless filter feeder hung around for them all to see. Lets see if she hangs around for a few days more.

Saturday 18th September 2010-

It’s not every day we are reminded just why we do this for a living. But when Big Blue Tech organized a professional’s only Wreck Exploration trip, it all came back to us. Relaxing on a boat gently swaying in the middle of the gulf of Thailand with mates, playing DJ with a selection of ipod’s and tiny speakers trying to outdo each other’s cheesiest tunes, girls talk and man talk, and then doing 2 dives on a piece of history that only a hand full of people will ever get the chance to see with their own eyes.

Divers, never forget just how lucky we are to do and see what we do.

Our Big Blue Conservation Queen is at it again. After a night in the bar thinking what could we do to raise the awareness to the ever falling number of sharks in the world Dan and Lala came up with the idea that we could ‘Swim for Sharks’. Sharks are approximately 500 million years old. They have survived 5 mass extinction events. Yet due to shark finning and other human causes such as habitat destruction, many shark species are now endangered. To help raise awareness and support, dedicated (and some say crazy) Koh Tao residents are going to swim around Koh Nang Yuan on September 23rd 2010!

This has now become a huge hit with many of the other dive shops on the island asking if they can join in to swim for them too. If you thought that was good PADI’s Project AWARE has heard over the ripples and they also want in it as well.

Come sign the Shark petition against shark fin soup and other factors causing the decline of sharks. We will also have limited edition shark t-shirts! So come join the fun, sign the petition and watch us struggle! September 23rd 2010. For more information please visit our conservation page www.bigblueconservation.com

and to sign the petition go to www.projectaware.org/givesharksachance

Tuesday 14th September 2010-

False Killer Whales and Sail Fish come to Koh Tao!! Big Blue Diving was lucky enough to have both Banzai and Navakid stumble across a school of 20 false killer whales yesterday between green rock and twins. and then spend nearly an hour watching them play infront of the bows. The school, which can stretch miles in length, appeared to be hunting a sail fish! False Killer Whales (Psuedorca crassidens) is the largest member of the dolphin family, and like orcas, kill other large marine mammals. They are widespread in the tropics and temperate waters, have 44 teeth and can grow to 6m! However the killer whales also feed on tuna and yellowfin, and so fishermen, such as the Japanese fishermen from Iki Island, actively hunt them, resulting in only 10 groups left worlwide. They are near the brink of extinction, with 900 individuals being slaughtered in 35 years. Also, they only reach sexual maturity at 12 years, with a gestation period of 14-16 months, and then cannot reproduce again for another 7 years. Both of these issues mean that we were very lucky to see such an interesting and rare marine mammal. Lucky us!

News from Bangkok is that Andrea and Jim are allowed to leave the hospital and Lulu Belle is gaining went quickly so she should be out soon. All three are doing amazing and I swear when Jim comes back he will have the most toned face ever. I dont think he has stopped smiling once, you can tell on the phone that his face is about to crack. Good on you Daddy.

Thursday 12 September 2010-

Apologies for the hiatus - Jim and Andrea had a baby! Sonia and Dan have been left in charge while Jim is in Bangkok getting to know the new arrival, that is when he's not being mesmerised by the sight of his beautiful wife expressing breast milk into feeding bottles - one for the bank there mate, eh? Er.... Congrats go out to our very own Big Paul back in Canadia, Paul's missus has just produced a baby of their own with the simply awesome moniker of .... Maverick 'King of the World' Herygers!

Anyhow, while the boss is away, the mentors will play and last night we hosted Big Blue's first (and probably only) S&M Challenge! The challengers were led on their hands and knees, pulled by a variety of leashes attached to a selection of porn collars. Spanking featured heavily, as did role play, teabagging, alaskan pipelining, spidermanning and more spanking. In the end, Adam was declared the most perverted DMT ever after deep throating a footlong 7 eleven hot dog till he could lick the fingers holding it....

NB The DMT/DiveCon Challenge is an OPTIONAL extra for trainees at the end of the course, please don't let this prospect affect your decision to come and join us for Serious Diving and Serious Fun (optional).

Saturday 4^th September 2010-

Big Blue is very proud to announce that our wonderful, best boss in the world (ahem!!) Jim and is even lovelier wife Andrea gave birth to a beautiful baby girl yesterday, and they are all doing very well. At the moment she is still called ‘Girl’ Donaldson as they are both still competing at paper, rock scissors over names!! Quite a few of the staff (most of us) joined in wetting the baby’s head at Choppers yesterday afternoon and now we quietly suffering the after affects today.

Nick, Sonia, Kelli and Ash have now all returned from going home for a month or so of recharging the batteries, picking up new visas and eating British food and drink that you just can’t get over!! Double Deckers, crumpets, Boosts, Wispas, more crumpets, Newcastle Brown Ale, proper fish and chips with curry sauce and mushy peas, and washed down by more crumpets; ah my mouth is watering mmmmm.

Eco Jen has done it again; we have yet another amazing article in a top Dutch diving magazine Onderwater Sport. It is a 4 page article with lots of wonderful pictures of the resort, boats and the affects of climate change on the coral reefs on the island. Unfortunately we have no idea what it says as its in er dutch. Thank you to Dr Bert Hoeksema who dived with Big Blue Conservation earlier this year and is continually supporting us with his written pieces back in the Netherlands.

Friday 27th August 2010-

Beccy & Emily recently stripped down to their drawers to represent Big Blue at the Koh Tao Bikini fashion show. All the boys turned up to check out the local curves & all the girls came to see whats hot & whats not for this coming seasons aqua apparel. Happy to say both of our Big Blue Instructors looked ravishing in their skimpies & we had a bumper pack of new sign ups the next day when the girls were on ' Meet & Greet'. Great for business! I wonder if we'll have the same effect at next weeks Y-Fronts fashion show with Hal & Swapey?

A NEW way to study dolphins and whales without dart guns undercuts Japan's argument for what it calls scientific whaling, scientists say. The "blow-sampling" method, developed by Australian scientists, allows scientists to gather crucial DNA information without potentially harming the animal, discrediting Japanese arguments that a whale needs to be killed. Celine Frere, from the University of Queensland, headed the study. "Maybe this will make them realise they don't have to kill the whale to get the information," Dr Frere said. Marine animal researchers have relied on gathering the animal's DNA by shooting a dart into the skin of the mammal to gather tissue samples. Blow-sampling captures the air and the equivalent of spit expelled from the animal when they come up for air. Hmmm. Now lets see what arguments they can come up with for continuously murdering whales shall we.

After the tremendous succes of yesterdays trip with the Navy boys to our secret wreck this morning we're off to dive the Unicorn wreck. The Unicorn sank around 1989. Local Koh Tao inhabitants said that the ship just pulled up off shore, around a mile North of Koh Tao 'Mango Bay' and over the next couple of hours slowly sank. No-one was hurt in the sinking. An Insurance Fraud was immediately suspected. A commercial Diving company mermaid-maritime.com was hired by the vessels insurance investigators to investigate the cause of the sinking and to confirm the cargo. which was listed as expensive Tuna Fish. Under armed guard, Divers descended to examine the wreck, and discovered that the holds contained nothing but low-grade animal Feed (Dog-Food) un-fit for human consumption, NOT expensive Tuna fish as listed on the manifest! The Unicorn is a large modern 1960-70's, 60meter long steel freighter lying stern down on the bottom at a depth of 50m. The vessel leans slightly on its port side an angle of 60degrees(Not shown correctly on the sketch) with the top of the bow at 38meters, and the keel of the bow area several meters above the seabed, allowing divers to swim under this area of the hull. Lots of penetration available for technical divers highly experienced in diving in conditions where a total silt-out may occur. Good job we're diving with the Navy boys!

Thursday 26th August 2010-

Apologies for the tardiness of updating the Big Blue Blog but its been a very hectic week for me this week as I've now taken the Missus up to Bangers for the imminent arrival of our little one. The good Mrs Donaldson is sitting in a nice hotel in Bangkok ready to drop though hopefully not for at least another week as Jim is back on the Rock bracing himself & the staff for the busiest week of the year! The August Full Moon Party rush! If you haven't booked yourselves a room already then there aint no point in coming to Tao unless you fancy a night under the stars! Having said that because we are that organised we have booked up heaps of rooms already just to make sure we have somewhere for you to stay & do your dive course with us. But book now these rooms might just be the last rooms available on Sairee Beach this week! Look forward to hearing from you soon! & darling... hold it in! I'll be there shortly!

Oh dear! Well & truly rumbled! Roz, Roz, Roz, Roz, Roz! Last seen leaving the island with a neckerchief to hide all the hickies around her neck & on her way to Blightey for a short holiday! What are her parents going to think when Roz unveils the sordid marks of her last night of passion on the Rock. Jason you animal! Roz you tease! What a pair! Aren't we all sooooo glad we got a snap to remind us of what a lovely couple they make. Looks like Jason was a little hungry there Roz! Practically swallowed your face off!

Phenomenal diving right now! Beautiful sunny skies & at least 20 meter viz at most sites. Sail Rock is as good as its ever been. Chumphon had a Whaleshark there a couple of days ago. Our first one in ages. & the Thai Navy are diving with us today to check out our Big Blue wreck of which we are the only shop to know the co ordinates of. Clear water, sunny skies, Whalesharks, Navy boys, hidden wrecks & a Roz romance. Sounds like the perfect back drop for a great holiday!

Wednesday 18th August 2010-

Hats off to Erik & Beccy who today saved the life of an abandoned dog! Stupid 19 year old Swedish bird came took a puppy & left 3 months later leaving this dog without an owner & with no one to look after it, it got very skinny, very tick ridden & extremely scared of people. It wouldn't have survived another week & after the last 4 nights of continuous howling & with neighbours threatening to kill it Erik & Beccy have stepped in & taken the poor thing home with them to love & look after & give a new home & a new life to! Well Done to you Erik & Beccy. Cystitis & frothy sputum to you dumb 19 year old Swedish bird!

The Seabreacher X is the ultimate millionaire's boy-toy: a James Bond-style craft that can dive under water, roll from side to side and jump 12ft into the air. It looks like a great white shark, complete with dorsal fin, gaping jaws and rows of dagger-sharp teeth. At 16.5ft in length, it is even the same size as one. Unlike the real thing, it also has a 260hp engine, which powers it to 50mph above water, and 20mph below it. Toys they may be, but each one costs about £60,000. The seabreacher is really for people with a large disposable income who want to have fun. It's pretty popular in the Middle East, Korea and the Caribbean. The seabreacher is unlike anything I've seen on the water before. The shaft craft is 16ft long and has a dorsal fin and gaping jaws. This isn't a submarine - you're not going to visit the Titanic in it. It's more of a cross between a plane and a boat, I wouldn't recommend it to those with sea sickness, but it is exhilarating. Sounds a little like the Lomprayah!

Just in case you haven't seen it yet Videographer extraordinnaire Marek from one of the better Film Studio companies on Koh Tao has made a great promo video which we will be showing every time you get on the Seatran Ferry now. Take a peek. Very professional. Great video. Great Dive center.Great Resort. Great people. All wrapped up in a 1 minute promo video. We should have more of these made eh Andy wink wink nudge nudge, say no more, say no more!

Monday 16th August 2010-

"Hi folks, I'm back in gloomy, wet, cold Northumberland - and yearning to be back with you on Koh Tao! Wanted to say thank you for the MOST BRILLIANT few days - excellent course, superb instructor (Heather), fabulous diving - a truly memorable experience. Now all I have to do is save up to come back! Thanks to you all. Mary" Many thanks Mary for letting us know how much fun you had with us here in Koh Tao & how appealing Northumberland sounds at this time of year. Can't wait to visit! See you back here again soon!

According to workers, young and old male visitors to the Chessington Sea Life Centre were spending 'a lot' of time staring at the ample charms of an underwater mermaid statue.Bosses at the centre have attempted to prevent any further distraction by dispatching a team of divers to cover underwater temptress with a red and white bikini. Manager Justine Locker said: 'We hadn't noticed quite how buxom Sally was until we clocked young boys, and not so young boys, spending a lot of time ogling her in the walkthrough ocean tunnel. Since then, none of us can avoid what is starring us straight in the face, so it's time for a cover-up. Chestintigton Prudes!

The Koh Tao Community is clubbing together to raise some cash in order to buy & then sink the legendary MV Trident liveaboard to use as Koh Tao's first official wreck dive! In case you didn't know the MV Trident has been cruising the Gulf of Thailand for a few years now discovering many previously undiscovered wrecks & is the boat that discovered the last US Submarine to be sunk at the end of World War 2 the US Lagarto which sank with all crew members aboard. An awesome boat with a legendary history & we're all clubbing in so we can buy it & make it even more legendary. So send us your donations & we'll offer you a free dive on it when next you make it here.

Welcome to Big Blue Instructor Training!

Big Blue IT is the premier Platinum Instructor Training Facility, awarded in 2009 for Excellence in Instructor Training across all SE Asia.

Based in Sairee Beach, Koh Tao and with strong links to SSI HQ Thailand, we are ideally placed to offer you world class diving, instruction and support in developing your career as a diving instructor. We offer the full range of instructor qualifications including specialities and welcome divers from other agencies looking to start their instructing career or crossover to SSI.