Willy the Whale Shark

Yesterday the dive site Chumpon Pinnacle was again on the board at Buddha View Dive Resort. Ed was convinced though - as he had seen the Whale Shark last week at the same place - that his big friend won't be there again this time.

Not even fifteen minutes after the descent at Chumpon and at 18 meters, Shu suddenly saw a dark shadow approaching above her.

By looking up, she knew it: Willy the Whale Shark!

At that same time, one of Shu's customers chased the whale Shark with his camera while two other customers suddenly began to ascent rapidly. All this despite Shu's briefing to stay together and not chase the Whale Shark.

So Shu, who was too busy to get everybody back together and continue the dive safely, couldn't really enjoy the encounter with the Whale Shark.

Anyway, “every disadvantage has its advantage", a famous Dutch football player would say. Now Ed and Shu at least have a few nice pictures of Willy.

PADI OW day 3

After day 1 and day 2 of the Open Water course, team 'Mermaid' had still one day left to finish the course. The alarm clocks went off very early and the girls signed up perfectly at 07:15 am at Buddha View Dive Resort to dive into the last day.

Despite the terribly early hour there was no trace of bad morning mood to be seen with the girls, even when they had to put on the clammy wet and sticky wetsuits.

With a fresh and fruity splash we dived into the blue. What seems to be the middle of nowhere, is actually the beautiful dive site Southwest Pinnacle.

We descended to dark and mysterious depths without any problems. Bas went ahead and led the group along Boxer Shrimps, Moray Eels en Giant Groupers.

Just a small compliment for Inge. Several years ago she got spots on her neck at the thought of swimming in water which has fish in. Now she swims easily through a school of Damsel Fish.

The safety stop at five meters was an excellent opportunity for Ed to immortalize the chicks in their tight suits and with their strange waving hairstyles.

The 2nd and last dive of the day was the 4th and last dive of the course - are you still with me? We went to White Rock where we had brilliant conditions with visibility to 30 meters.

Team mermaid had to handle a small number of skills, such as mask removal underwater, which obviously went without problems.

It was a wonderful PADI Open Water course. For both instructor Bas, and his assistant dive master Ed, it was a pleasure to introduce the ladies to the amazing underwater world. Luckily saying good bye to the gorgeous girls could be postponed a bit, because they all signed up for the next PADI course: Advanced Open Water. 

PADI OW day 2

After a morning of 'captivity' in the classroom for the last theoretical part of the Open Water course, our enthusiastic ladies could finally hop on the boat for their first open water dive. 

They eagerly looked out for the site where they will jump into the blue for their first time.

Once arrived on the deck of Buddha View's big boat for the briefing, instructor Bas first had to call the concierge to have a strange kind of monkey removed from the classroom.

It seems here that the ladies had to help pulling the boat to a safe parking space.

Upon closer inspection it proved the ladies got ready for their first descent.

Is Inge searching for her favorite Green Turtle or is she trying to find her neutral buoyancy under water? 

Kim soon knew how to seduce the camera with her cheerful smile.

Anne, who could not sleep for two nights of pure excitement, finally made her first dive in the ocean.

And Manon, who joined this enthusiastic girls club at last, also thinks it's “okay”.

Tine from Norway is both at the surface and under water as calm as can be.

Bas - and all dive instructors - would wish all Open Water students were just as fun and enthusiastic as these five mermaids.

PADI OW day 1

A few days ago a couple of enthusiastic dive students signed up at Buddha View Dive Resort for an Open Water Course in Dutch. The eager students were happy to be scheduled in a course starting the next day.

The Dutch instructor Bas was glad to take care of the students. At the sight of these four lovely ladies, he couldn't wait to take them into the sea.
More and more diving students prepare themselves by e-learning before arriving at Koh Tao. That makes the theoretical part of the Open Water Course just a piece of cake, like it is for Inge.The swim test of 200 meter swim and 10 minutes float was certainly not a punishment for the ladies; in the sun it is currently 35˙+C. Nor it was a punishment for the dads along the edge of the pool watching the girls treading water.As Bas wanted to keep the ladies' attention all for himself, he sent Divemaster Ed away to solve self made up problems.  A critical reader has probably seen that a fifth lady has been added to the group. The Scandinavian Tine makes this Open Water Course a lot more complete and international. In the restaurant of Buddha View all the pool skills were explained one by one to the ladies.During the "buddy check" Bas and Ed were real buddies. The five steps of BCD, Weight Belt, Releases, Air and Final OK went smoothly and without any problem.Here it seems that Ed pushes the girls into the water, but actually he helps them with their 'giant stride'. A technique that is used while entering water from a big boat.

Then the first skills in the shallow end of the pool started - but let's try breathing through the regulator at the surface first.The girls, Anne and Inge, had the greatest fun under water and it all went 'okay'.Also the skills in the deep end of the pool all went smoothly and without problems.  There was only one small hitch [read: spastic strained muscle]. One student (Inge) had to pull off her right fin due to cramp in her toe. Fortunately, they have learned how they themselves can remove cramps in the water. Ed could only conclude that this concerns a bunch of babes and baptized the treasures 'Team Mermaid'.

We want Whale Shark, we want Whale Shark!

Last week there has been a Whale Shark repeatedly spotted on Koh Toa's Chumpon Pinnacle. Today was our first opportunity, since our come back to Koh Tao, to dive at Chumpon Pinnacle. It would be quite a coincidence if we would encounter the Whale Shark straight away?!

And yes, if you only think out loud: "We want Whale Shark, we want Whale Shark!", he will just come around the corner. He is really so cool!

Uh...BCD?

No dive instructor is fond of carrying their gear bag. Instead of taking the bag back to the dive shop, they rather leave the bag behind on the dive boat to pick it up again the next day. When a dive resort, such as Buddha View, has however three dive boats, it is likely that somewhere in the logistic process sometimes a mistake is made.

This morning Ed was happy to assist during the buddy checks of Open Water students Mike and Joe, when he saw an instructor coming toward him.
He knew exactly what was going on when the instructor with the blush on his cheeks asking him for a minute.
The instructor had left his gear bag on another boat and asked Ed - as his task today was not so important fulfilling the role of a Divemaster - if he could borrow his BCD. Ed agreed and thanks to the happy faces of divers around him, his mood didn't plunged fully into the deep.
But when everyone accepts the morning dive and, whether or not wholly in accordance with the PADI 'Giant Stride' rules, jumps happily in the blue, it's difficult to forget the fact that you got up that morning at 06:15 hours.
However, it gave Ed the opportunity to shoot some spectacular pictures from the boat, like this very own special way of entering the water of instructor Kipp.
The big smile of instructor Bas, with whom Ed would actually dive, always makes one's day.
When everybody is immersed in the briny salt, the deck looks a little lonely and abandoned.
The lower deck looks somewhat spooky with tanks waiting for a dip.
The only advantage of skipping a dive is that you have the coffee, tea, biscuit and fruit corner completely for yourself.
Of course the instructor who wanted to borrow Ed's BCD prefers to remain anonymous in this blog. But, human as Ed is, he made a slight revenge upon him. So: the instructor was James - in the left bottom of the picture - who lent Ed's XL BCD during his Open Water Diver course.

James - at the buoy line - swims in the oversized BCD, but is glad he was able to successfully complete the dive without disappointing his students.

We will be famous worldwide

Two years ago we made our debut on the cover of the Dutch dive magazine 'Diving'. Do you remember still, it was this picture:

From left to right: Shu, valentine and Yvonne [Photo: Ed Regeer]. Now everyone around the world can read a new interview with Shu via this link.

Back on the Rock

For the third time during our journey through Asia we were heading Koh Tao. This time the plan is to stay three months on the island to continue our PADI professional education. And so we left Bangkok with the forwarder Lomprayah - well known by insiders. Happy and excited as we were, we nested ourselves in the spacious seats of the luxury coach that would bring us to the pier in Chumpon.Just before midnight, a "short stop" was made. Impatient Shu has been pacing around nervously for one hour, waiting for the driver to come back.Just before dawn we arrived at the pier in Chumpon. On seeing the two ferries at the end of the wooden pier, our hearts started beating faster.Once on the ferry, one can tell from the color of the stickers that the passengers wear on their t-shirts, which island they are going to. With a pink sticker Ed seems to be "approved" for Koh Tao. Arriving at the pier of Koh Tao, it felt like coming home. Everything was as ever: the 7-eleven, the taxi drivers, the dive boats in the harbor, the pancake man and the fruit shake ladies.And fortunately there is not much changed at Buddha View: it's like we are stepping in a hot tub!