Junk Yard Survey 2010

January 18 2010 – Abundance Survey for Junkyard Reef

One of our main projects for 2009 was the development of our own in-house artificial reef currently known as Junkyard Reef adjacent to the dive school at Crystal Dive Resort in Mae Haad.

Abundance survey template for Junkyard Reef.

As the year progressed it developed into an excellent location with numerous organisms moving in to take advantage of new real estate and other symbiotic ecological opportunities. Recently on a night dive I even noticed cleaner shrimps had developed cleaning stations in two locations. New coral have recruited to complement those grown in our nursery and fish continue to move in creating greater diversity of species. For a previously barren area it is teeming with life.

 Some of our indicator species for Junkyard Reef.

This year we want to expand our efforts to track and monitor the changes to Junkyard Reef. We have recently began monitoring the growth of the coral nurseries to track their development.

Thanks to Kyle Friesen for all his hard work. 

More recently Kyle Friesen put his divemaster training to good use to help us develop an a fish and invertebrate diversity and abundance survey for Junkyard Reef. The coral monitoring is excellent but sometime requires individuals with more detailed reef knowledge. The fish and invertebrate survey is a great way for beginners and budding ecologists to get involved in our environmental and monitoring activities.

We also hope to expand the structural diversity at Junkyard to turn it into a really exciting location and an even better training ground for new divers. 

Intrested In ECO?????

Rescue Me 2010

So,

With the 1st month of the new decade down, PADI Master Scuba Instructor Ozzy, shows what he knows and takes 5 PADI Advanced Open Water Divers, spends 4 days in the classroom,  Confined water, and Open water in the shape of a PADI Rescue course.

Terry and Jimi counting and breathing and swimming and removing equipment.. (Multi-tasking)

The course has undergone some PADI improvements, a few new standard changes like 2 final scenarios instead of 4. (a little more like the older course).

Surfacing an Unconscious diver, Terry bring Jimi back from "Davy Jones's Locker"

Team "Ozzy"was made up with Samoa, Jimi & Alec who deserved awards for their panicked diver acting skills and  Peter form the USA, Adam, Nick for the UK, Mikael from Sweden and from Scotland, Terry who all did a superb job of.... Rescue.

DMT, Jimi vomiting a mushy cookie mix... just for fun!.

Some good old Thai cookies to make the un-responsive diver on the surface skill a little more "life-like"

Team "Ozzy" celebrate and congratulate.. well done guys.

All of the newly certified PADI Rescue Divers are continuing with Crystal Dive Resort, Deep & Nitrox Specialities followed by Navigation Spec and then the PADI Divemaster Course.. Good luck!!

For more life changing experiences...

http://www.crystaldive.com/course_fullmonty.html

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crystal-Dive-Resort/130239136394?ref=ts

Eco Koh Tao Kicks off 2010

Today marks the first Eco event of the 2010 calendar for Crystal Dive. The Crystal team, once again showed up in great numbers to participate in the the first Dive Site Clean Up of the year. The event is held in conjunction with the Save Koh Tao Group, with a number of dive schools joining forces to clean the ocean of the garbage that has accumulated over the monsoon period.

The Dive Crew Readying For The Task Ahead

The clean ups are done on a monthly basis from January through to October. The main aim is to remove anything that shouldn't be in the ocean or anything that has a detrimental effect on the underwater environment. The most common rubbish brought up by our divers is usually discarded debris from fishing boats. This can include, clothes, batteries, polystyrene containers, fishing nets, plastic bags, metallic items, pieces of fibre glass, the list continues.

Janne From Finland In Mid Flow

The clean ups also serve an important educational purpose for all divers, to highlight the plight of the worlds oceans and the impact it has on its reefs. Over the past decade there has been a major decline in the health of the world's reefs for a number of reasons; increased tourism, ill-educated snorkellers/divers and coastline construction to name a few. With the marine conservation projects undertaken here on Koh Tao, we hope to change some of these impacts for the greater good.

The Whole Eco Dive Crew With The Rubbish They Collected On The Clean Up 

Today's divers ranged from senior instructors to newly certified Open Water Divers. Members of the Dive Master Programme here at Crystal also showed great support, with a number of DMT's (Divemasters in Training) participating.

For more information on what you can do to help preserve the underwater world for future generations please visit the following sites.

www.projectaware.org
www.ecokohtao.com

100% for 2010

So, the first Platinum PADI IDC of 2010 is over and the guys and girls where all 100% successful.

The Jan IDC Crew about to start their Confined Open Water Presentations all hoping to gain a 5.0. This last water sessions marks the end of a full on 2 weeks, 3 if we include the Crystal Dive Pre-idc Prep.

PADI Course Directors, Matt Bolton and Justin Mayers work as a team to ensure each candidate has a personal PADI Instructor Development Course.

PADI IDC Staff Instructor Ivan Karadzic from Denmark, Staffed this IDC as to work towards his PADI Master Instructor Rating..

Here we have Zach from the USA conducting his C/W Presentation

The final shot, Zach (U.S), Sarah Parker from Australia, PADI CD Justin Mayers, Eric again from the States and Katri from Finland all stand proud... Congratulations!!!

With some dodgy I.E celebrations in Koh Tao's Choppers Bar n Grill, Koh Tao's newest PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors had a well deserved 2 days off before starting the MSDT internship.

Once again, Crystal Dive Resort Congratulates all of you and good luck in the future.....

A New Decade, A New Eco Update

January 22nd, 2010 – Biorock Research Continues...

It has been a while since we ventured to Koh Tao’s Biorock. With the monsoon season (that wasn’t much of a monsoon if the truth be known) between October and December our eco-activities slow down and give us all time to rest and consolidate ourselves for a big year ahead.

Eco Koh Tao and Crystal Dive conducted an introductory dive to Koh Tao’s Biorock for many people who have yet to experience the magic of this ground breaking technology and Koh Tao’s biggest artificial dive site.

 Some examples of transplanted corals performing very well on the Biorock structor

Led by IDCS Nathan Cook we used the second dive of our afternoon fun dive trip to explore the Biorock. There was quite a current but thankfully it was running south (where the dive site is) to north (where the boat was parked). We got the boat to drop us off so we could all drift back after the dive was done.

Nathan Cook with divemaster trainees Kyle Friesen and Nicola Hornby used the dive to collect important growth data on the coral and other organisms on the structure. Data like this is providing information about the value and benefits of Biorock and how it can contribute to future reef restoration projects.

PADI Divemasters Nicola and Kyle conducting a 

quadrant survey on the Biorock.

The Undersea Journal

The Undersea Journal has been keeping PADI Professional informed, inspired and involved since 1967, when you pass your PADI Instructor Exams and renew your yearly status, you are sent, 4 times a year the Underseas Journal.

With in this exclusive diving magazine, includes articles promoting Project Aware and the Eco world, news about new diving technology and gadgets.

Picture above was scanned in form the "Undersea Journal 4th Qt 2009

Click the link to read the "Award Winning" post

PADI also keep us updated with new "standard" changes with the PADI Courses and also recognises the dive school that have outstanding achievements within the year.

In the 4th quarter issue of the Undersea Journal 2009, under the title "Editor's Desk", Crystal Dive Resort makes an entry with Mr Drew Richardson congratulating PADI Platinum Course Director Matt Bolton and Crystal Dive's owner, Mr Watcharin Fasiriporn on their achievements within the diving industry during 2008/09.

Not a bad end to that decade... What will 2010 hold??

Men in bikinis - Crystal's latest Snorkel Test!

Last night saw 5 newly qualified Divemasters embark on the final task of the Divemaster training programme. Having completed the official requirements of the programme, all that was left to accomplish was one final test of their strength and stamina, in a public display known only as 'The Snorkel Test!'

The crowds gathered at Crystal's bar, to congratulate the five who have achieved the first level of PADI professional training and wish them well for the future. The new Divemasters did not disappoint and made a grand entrance wearing a colourful display of ladies bikinis and fluorescent body paint.

The boys dressed to impress!

The snorkel test itself has been a Crystal tradition for many years and requires each participant to consume a bucket of the bar's finest cocktail (non-alcoholic if necessary), through a snorkel with a funnel attached, whilst also wearing a mask. Their mentor's are assigned the task of pouring their bucket and coaching them through the ordeal. On completion of this, each Divemaster must then run around their stool three times and then head to the beach. After a quick splash, the first one back is declared the winner.

Poised, ready to commence the challenge.

After having spent a period of weeks developing their knowledge of dive theory, assisting on numerous dive courses and developing competence in underwater navigation, skill demonstration and leading dives, all five were successful in their final test. For some, the Crystal Divemaster internship will follow, giving invaluable experience as a DM. Perhaps some will also embark on the IDC in the future, taking their professional training to the next level. Whatever the future may hold, Crystal wishes Simon, Joe, Matt, Kyle and Dave all the best and once again congratulates their success.

http://www.crystaldive.com/course_pro.html

Turtle sighting at White Rock!

This morning, six lucky Open Water students were excited to see their first turtle at White Rock on the final dive of their course. MSDT Sam Mack had briefed the students, who were eager to see one of the creatures which Koh Tao is named after, that they would be very lucky to see one. However, halfway through the dive after the students had successfully completed their final skills, they spotted one gracefully flying along beside them. The hawksbill turtle appeared to have some damage to its shell, perhaps from a boat or shark attack. The sighting was recorded on one of Crystal’s Eco record forms, used to keep track of turtles and whalesharks in the area. Like many sea turtles, hawksbills are a critically endangered species, primarily due to human impact. The turtle's eggs are still eaten around the world despite the turtle’s international protected status, and they are often killed for their flesh and their beautiful shells. These graceful sea turtles are also threatened by accidental capture in fishing nets.

\The hawksbill turtle takes its name from its tapered head,

ending in a sharp point resembling a bird’s beak

Deep Down Videographer Dan Harding caught the magnificent creature on film, and will be including the footage in tonight’s Open Water movie playing at Crystal Bar. Everyone is looking forward to re-living the experience and taking home the memory to show friends and family. Crystal would like to congratulate Chris Baylis, Terry Stewart, Tuulikki Sutinen, Seb Aloph, Anneka Richmond and Dave Roberts on completing their PADI Open Water course and wish them all the best as they continue with their diver training.

Crystal's newly certified divers show us their 'turtle' sign

Guess What Shaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrkks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sharks. Sharks. Sharks.  Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks.Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks. Sharks.

Big ones, little ones, fat ones, thin ones, hungry ones, not so hungry ones, long ones, short ones, curious ones, scared ones, baby ones, mommy ones, teethy ones, BULL SHARK ONES!!

One of the current residents patrolling its territory

Chumphon Pinnacle is a Shark playground at the moment

Sail Rock & Chumphon

Today saw Crystal 3 making its first intrepid voyage to Sail Rock of the year. With bags, diver's and the traditional Sail Rock lunch on board, the latest acquisition of Crystal set off to the dive site beyond. Sail Rock is located in between Koh Tao and Koh Phangan, and has a great diversity of marine life. The site contains a chimney that starts just below the surface at 4 metres and descends to 18. Its a great experience to descend down into the chimney to check out all the smaller aquatic life taking refuge on the inside.

With the recent weather conditions, there was a little anxiety on the boat as to whether the conditions would be as stunning as usual. As the diver's dropped down, the visibility soon became apparent, it was around 10 metres. Despite the reduced vis, there was still a lot to see from yellow boxfish to shoals of barracuda.

After the first dive there was much deliberation, and the generally consensus on the boat was to head back to Chumphon Pinnacle in search of more favourable conditions. What a decision!!!!

As the dive groups prepared to jump in there was word from other divers already coming up that the vis was spectacular and there were also some very interesting predators at the depths. With excitement growing, all the groups were soon in the water and descending over the site with 20 metre vis. As they neared the 30 metre mark, they were soon surrounded by a number of Bull Sharks, circling the bottom in search of a late morning snack.

One of the resident Bull Sharks of Chumphon cruising effortlessly through the blue

Crystal's very own MSDT Andrew 'Mullet' Westrope had this to say - "The vis was amazing, about 20-25 metres. There wasn't one shark but a S*** load, I saw about 5 at one time".

With an excellent morning's diving under their belts the huge vessel set off for home with a lot of content people on board.

1st IDC of 2010

Today marks the start of the first Instructor Development Course (IDC) of the year for Crystal Dive. Over the last few days the six candidates have been put through their pace's by Crystal Dive's second in command, Course Director Justin Mayers. The first IDC of the year consisits of five nationalities: Stelios (UK), Sarah (Down Under), Katri (Finland), Alberto (Italy), Zach (USA) & Eric (USA). Stelios and Sarah have been with Crystal throughout their pro level training having completed their Divemaster Training and have been welcomed back to progress their dive career. The remaining four are new comers to Crystal and have settled into the island life very comfortably.

Over the last few days the candidates have been honing their skill demonstrations in the pool, and studying their dive theory. As an instructor, the candidates are expected to have a very good understanding of several areas which include dive physics, dive physiology, decompression theory & equipment. Although a lot of prep needed to be done, it was all in good humour to relax the candiates before the start of the 14 day IDC and 3 day Instructor Exam (IE).

The IDC candidates preparing their first classroom presentation under the watchful eye of CD Justin Mayers

Over the next two weeks all six candiates will be given classroom presentations by Crystal's Platinum Course Director Big Matt Bolton and CD Justin Mayers. They will also have to perform confined water presentations, where they will be evaluated on their demonstration of skills from the Open Water Course through to the Rescue Diver Course. The candiates will not only be evaluated in a confined environement, but also in open water. Here they will have to show excellent control over the group, and be able to evaluate and correct students simulating particular problems.

After the IE, the candidates then have the opportunity to progress onto a Master Scuba Diver Trainer Internship. This is where the the new instructors can put their new found skills and abilities into practice under the supervision of some of Crystals more seasoned staff. It gives them plenty of opportunity to work alongside some of the islands most experienced instructors which in this day and age, is invaluable.

Everyone at Crystal wishes the candidates the best luck over the next 2 1/2 weeks

For more information on training to become an instructor with Koh Tao's award winning Dive School then please visit http://www.idckohtao.com/

From Full Mooner to PADI Open Water Diver!

The full moon party on Koh Phagnan draws the crowds every month, but no more so than in December when the famous beach party coincided with New Year's Eve. Tens of thousands of backpackers and holiday-makers flocked to the island to celebrate the full moon and welcome 2010. As with every month, many party-goers continued their journey onwards to Koh Tao in the days following the party, to embark on a diving course and experience the underwater delights which Koh Tao has to offer.

As the crowds descended on Koh Tao en masse, Crystal was ready to welcome them and start them off on their underwater adventure. The Instructor Team at Crystal were well equipped to cater for the varied needs of the new arrivals, while maintaining the small teaching groups and high standards for which Crystal are renowned. Courses undertaken ranged from Discover Scuba Diving to Rescue, although the most popular choice by far was the PADI Open Water Course, which has led to the success of so many newly certified divers today. Many of these keen new divers have already signed up to take the next step in their diver training by completing the Advanced Open Water Course, which with introduce them to new experiences like deep diving and night diving, and also improve their diving skills such as buoyancy and navigation.

Crystal's MSDT Sean Webb with his newly certified Open Water Divers

The last few days has also seen the arrival of several candidates for the upcoming Instructor Development Course, which kicks off on the 8th of January with Crystal’s very own Platinum Course Director Matt Bolton and CD Justin Mayers. The external candidates join a number of home-grown candidates who have been with Crystal from Open Water right through to Divemaster.

Crystal would like to congratulate all the newly certified Open Water Divers and wish them all the best with their continued diver training. Crystal would also like to wish January’s IDC candidates luck with their preparation for the course.

Congratulations AOW Students

This morning saw four more students complete their AOW course after participating in the Deep Dive and their final elective dives.

The deep dive was at Chumphon Pinnacle, and with anticipation growing in the hope of spotting the resident sharks, the students were not disappointed. As the group, led by MSDT Iain Johnston, descended over the west side of the pinnacle, out in the blue the shady shape of a 2 metre shark appeared. As the group delved deeper onto the site, there was another of natures great predators lurking in the distance.

With big shoals of Chevron Barracuda, Fusiliers, and the odd Triggerfish, it all made for a great dive.

Left - Right. Donna, Megan, Gregor, Simon & Jon from Deepdown-Productions

The second dive was at Green Rock, with two of the students selecting Fish ID, one student Underwater Photography and the forth electing for the Underwater Videography. Jon form Deepdown Productions joined in for the final dive to take Simon for his Underwater Videography dive

The dive was a good choice for all the students as it has a great diversity of fish, some very interesting swim throughs and plenty of underwater subjects for the students to film.

Congratulations to all four for becoming Crystal's latest Advanced Divers and good luck to Simon who is continuing his diving adventure with Crystal. The next stop for Simon is the PADI Rescue Course before he starts his Divemaster Training.

For more information on PADI Course's please visit the Crystal website at
www.crystaldive.com

For more information on Professional Videography Courses please take at a look at,
 www.deepdown-productions.com 

Deep Speciality - Eggs and Coke at 20m!

This morning saw Crystal's MSDT Guy Bannister and his student Max Natali, begin the PADI Deep Diver Speciality course at Chumphon Pinnacle and White Rock. The course consists of 4 dives over 2 days and focuses on the specific effects, techniques, equipment considerations and safety aspects relating to deep diving.

Check out the attached link to see two videos of skills conducted during Dive 2 of the course. Guy demonstrates the effect of pressure change at depth by cracking a raw egg and playing ping-pong with the yoke, which remains intact due to the increased pressure. A second video shows that it is possible to drink a can of coke through a straw at 20m!

PIctured above is Kim Woodbury, one of Crystal's newest Divemasters who is about to begin the DM internship programme before embarking on the IDC with Koh Tao's only Platinum Course Director, Matt Bolton.

These brilliant clips were captured by Arthur Arquier, who was lucky enough to observe the skills during the Fish-ID dive of his Advanced Open Water course, for which he had hired an underwater camera. Arthur dived alongside Guy and Max, and went on to take some great shots while identifying a wide range of fish, from the tiny Juvenile Harlequin Sweetlips to the large Titan Triggerfish. He also got a great picture of a passing jelly-fish shown below.

Everyone onboard Crystal's newest dive boat had a great morning, with many people sighting their first Bull Shark at Chumphon Pinnacle. With conditions still fantastic for this time of year, many have signed up again for a trip to Southwest Pinnacle tomorrow, cameras at the ready for what lies beneath! For Guy and Max, tomorrow holds the promise of a 40m dive and a simple narcosis test. Max will be timed doing a basic mental task on the surface, and then again at 40m to see if his responses are slowed due to the intoxicating effect of Nitrogen at depth. The result can be quite entertaining!

Enjoy the rest of the course Max, and congratulations to Arthur for completing his PADI Advanced Open Water course today and for taking some great photos too! For anyone who is interested in digital underwater photography, PADI offer a DUP Speciality which teaches the techniques needed to get great underwater shots quickly, so you can revisit your diving experiences time and time again.

Reef Check Ecodivers - Let's Do Some More Good!

Doing some more good for the reefs of Koh Tao Crystal Dive was once again out there during   monsoon season where our eco activities continue unabated.

Two of the newly certified Ecodiver, Ai Ling Lee and Hsien Han Soh had only recently been certified as divers undertaking an intensive program of training for their two week vacation on Koh Tao.

Han & Ling first had to learn to dive taking their PADI Open Water and Advanced Open Water courses before beginning their Ecodiver training. Instruction included some specific buoyancy training as the reef survey courses require students to be highly proficient with their buoyancy to be able to conduct the surveys.

Stephen Jones, a divemaster who had trained on Koh Tao a couple of years earlier also joined the course. Having returned from the UK where he studied horticulture he thought it important to learn about how aquatic ecosystems worked.

On our final day we all headed to Twins to survey that reef as one of our regular survey sites. Survey data is submitted online to Reef Check International (www.reefcheck.org) and data is also provided to Marine Conservation Koh Tao’s Ecological Monitoring Program . The team was lead by IDCS Nathan Cook and special thanks to MSDT & experienced Reef Check Ecodiver Tina Major for her assistance with the survey.

A messy night for Crystal's newest PADI Professionals

We can give a huge congratulations to our latest certified group of PADI pros. 8 Brand new PADI Divemasters are now unleashed into the world after all completing their diver training at Crystal Dive Resort and the Crystal Bar provided a fitting location for the initiation tests involving a Bucket, Alcohol and a snorkel... say no more!

Crystal Dive Bar filled with onlookers

Many of the DMT's have been here since completing their Open Water Course, Spending the best part of 4-6 months finishing more courses, gaining huge experience and making many new friends. Some of the group have escaped the pressures of the western world whilst some are mid way through their "Gap Year" finishing up before returning to study.

Colm and Barry taking care of the Irish contingency

The new "DM's" have more options available to them now that they have completed the first run of the Professional PADI ladder.

3,2,1 and we are off... A puddle of spillage is already forming under Sarah's stool

Crystal Dive Resort offers the new graduates a free 2 week internship into the busy and very active Divemaster world, allowing the interns a chance to lead customers, perform Scuba reviews, enrol onto the PADI Discover Scuba Diving internship and of course, fun dive with us for free

A massive congratulations to Dave Haros, Viv Gautschi, Sarah Parker, Barry the madman and Colm O'Reilly

Are You Interested In FREE diving for LIFE??

For more information on the courses available at Crystal Dive Resort contact

http://www.crystaldive.com/course_fullmonty.html

Or come and See us along Mae Haad Beach, Koh Tao, Thailand!!

EFRI Platinum Style

As the Instructor Development Course moves closer to the PADI Instructor Examinations, the PADI Assistant Instructor portion is now completed and the IDC group have returned from their day off to begin the PADI Emergency First Response Instructor Course.

PADI A.I Vicky Ludlow shows us how to look after the wee ones

The Course takes a Day to complete and teaches the student the teaching side of Emergency First Response. PADI Course Director Justin Mayers educates his 3 candidates, covering the Primary and Secondary Care skills, including Care For Children.

Serious Robert shows us him fatherly skills.

With such a serious course at hand, there can also be a lot of fun and group banter as each candidate has to present different sections of PADI's Emergency First Responder course.

PADI Assistant Instructor Hiroshi is practicing chest compressions on our mannequin little Annie. All the candidates did practice CPR, so they are now able to make a role model demonstration when they are going to teach Emergency First Response courses in their new carrier as PADI Dive Instructors.

The Big Day.. The Platinum Way!!!

IE Day

The culmination of the two week IDC program is the PADI Instructor Exam where PADI Instructor Examiners asses the candidates performance in the classroom and in the water. Crystal’s group was joined by Jamie Anderson who due to injury couldn’t undertake the IE in August.

A hugely successful few days followed with very high scores from each of our guys in the required areas. 100% Crystal success again.

Above left are some of the new Crystal Open Water Scuba Instructors awaiting their completion certificates from PADI Instructor Examiner George Wegmann and above right are the newest Instructors on Koh Tao.

Huge congratulations to all and the very best of success in the future.

Anchors Away

Koh Tao is a relatively pristine wilderness separated from the mainland and from neighbouring islands by miles and miles of blue ocean. We are in a privileged position to be able to influence our natural resources and this can result in both positive & negative outcomes.

Increasing numbers of divers continue to place ever increasing pressure on these natural resources and many activities have a negative effect. Clearing of land for further construction leading to increased pollution and sedimentation; inadequately trained divers with poor buoyancy control…the list of pressures is long. But one such pressure that is easily eradicated is the use of anchors.

Anchoring on reefs or in reef areas adversely effects the reef environment in a number of ways. Direct damage to corals and other fragile organisms harms the aesthetic appeal of the reef. The biodiversity of the reef also suffers through detrimental impacts on particular species.

Even though the actual damage per anchor can be relatively minimal the number of boats plying Koh Tao’s waters means that any impacts are multiplied many times over.

Some anchors do untold damage to fragile corals as they drag their way to a halt. Others have lengths of heavy chain at their base that sink to the bottom and as a boat moves in the wind, the excess chain ‘mows’ many square metres of the surrounding substrate.

Many individuals believe that its ok to drop anchors in ‘sandy areas’ but there are few areas that do not sustain life. Mango bay is a favourite site for anchor use but twice divers have witnessed anchors damaging fragile, unique marine life in these ‘sandy areas’.

Dive schools need to take the lead and refuse to drop anchors on any site. Koh Tao is blessed with many suitable dive locations. If the mooring lines are unavailable simply go elsewhere.

As a visitor to Koh Tao make informed choices using dive schools and centres with an environmental focus. If you are on a dive boat that uses an anchor let them know that you don’t agree with the practise.

Koh Tao is home to wonderful natural resources & we all need to play our part to preserve them. 

Crystal IDC Rolls again..

This months’ IDC at Crystal Dive Resort had a truly International flavour, with candidates hailing from UK, Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden and the USA. PADI Platinum Course Director Matt Bolton and his trusty aide, PADI Course Director Justin Mayers, taught the budding new PADI Instructors all about the PADI System of Diving.

Week 1 was focussed on becoming Assistant Instructors with the candidates showing us proficiency in delivering classroom presentations, conducting Confined Water dives in our luxurious swimming pool  and finally controlling and co-ordinating Open Water sessions.

Week 2, the Open Water Scuba Instructor course (OWSI), was spent honing their teaching skills in the above areas and developing their knowledge of the intricacies of the PADI system at all levels from Open Water to Divemaster.