PADI, diving and Instructor Development (IDC)

Imad's Gas Blender course

2009-11-14T21:50:00.003+07:00

Imad's Gas Blender course

Whilst he was in Samui, Imad took the opportunity, besides taking his IDCS course earlier this month, he took full advantage of the time that he was going to spend on Samui and decided to take another course whilst here to further his own PADI Career even a bit more. The course he decided on is the DSAT Gas Blender and Gas Blender Instructor courses.

This picture shows him sweating it out on the exam, one of the tougher PADI exams with an 80% passing grade.

Well done Imad and hope to see you next again, staffing some of my IDC's!

Camille

Dive Medical Technician; Training and assessment

2009-11-13T18:21:00.003+07:00

Dive Medical Technician, Training and assessment

Today was an interesting break in my day to day live as a PADI Course Director because I was asked to assist in a DMT or Dive Medical Technician training course and assess the participants.

The local recompression chamber located in Bang Rak and part of SSS networks organised for the first time a DMT or Dive Medical Technician course, a course where the focus is on diving and gas physics review, medical review and treatment of diving related injuries along with hyperbaric chamber operations. It is an 80-hour or ten day course of intensive study to prepare students for the position of Diver Medical Technician. It is also an excellent introduction to hyperbaric medicine and chamber operation. After 3 years you will need to complete a Diver Medic Refresher course which consists of 5 days with 35 to 40 contact hours.

For off shore diving (think oil plat forms) this is a position to be filled on each plat form but this course was catering to be used in recreational diving.

Today was the the final day and all 8 students were to be assessed on their advanced medical / first aid skills, which included resuscitation and choking amongst others.

6 of the students, their trainer and me, the assessor for the day in front of the local 'pot', from left to right in the back row; Bom, Gui, Ricardo and Tim (the trainer). In the front row from left to right; me, Denes, Patrick and Paul.

Well done guys, it was interesting day and I'm looking forward to the next course, scheduled to be held in April. For more information, contact the local Bang Rak SSS chamber at 077 427 427.

Camille

The November 2009 IDC has been completed

2009-11-12T21:28:00.003+07:00

The November 2009 IDC has been completed

After Imad started his IDCS course almost 2 weeks ago and we finished the November prep course, it's now about time for this current IDC to be completed. Tomorrow is a day off and this Saturday we will officially finish the IDC.
Nigel will go on and participate in the EFR Instructor course on Monday before we go on to Koh Tao on Tuesday for the PADI IE.

During this IDC we worked a lot in confined water, this is a picture of today's last confined water presentation at World Resort, from left to right, James, who's already an IDCS instructor and is staffing this IDC, Imad who's almost an IDCS instructor now and Gregory and Nigel, soon to be brand new PADI Instructors after the up and coming PADI IE?

There was plenty of time spent in the classroom, listening to IDC Curriculum presentations by me and some were also presented by James. There was also some work to be done by them though and they had to practice their Knowledge Development presentations. Nigel is demonstrating a BCD during one of his presentations.

Two days at Chaweng Beach at Centara Grand Beach resort were part of this IDC and here they are ready to hit the beach water, Imad, Nigel, Gregory and James.

If you're a regular reader, this picture must look familiar by now, the usual praise about the food in World Resort's restaurant during the actual IDC lunch breaks.

Thanks for a great IDC guys and good luck in Koh Tao for the PADI IE!

Camille

PADI Specialty of the month for November 2009; Underwater Navigation

2009-11-07T21:06:00.003+07:00

PADI Specialty of the month for November 2009; Underwater Navigation

Underwater Navigation is one of the more popular dive specialties that I teach here on Koh Samui. It's popular amongst both divers and also Instructors who just passed their IDC's.

One of the main assets to have is an underwater compass. These come in various designs and from various brands. Interestingly enough they also come for various zones, like this Suunto SK 7 pictured above.

The horizontal and vertical components of earth’s magnetic field vary considerably in different
locations. For this reason (Suunto) compasses are balanced for (5) different zones. If the compass is used in an adjacent balancing zone the compass needle will tilt only slightly. However, the farther the compass is used from it’s intended zone, the more the needle will tilt. In extreme
situations the needle might stick. For this reason it is very important to know in which country
the compass will be used.

Underwater navigation can be challenging, but in the Underwater Navigator Specialty course, you master the challenge.You learn the tools of the trade, including navigation via natural clues and by compass. You learn to estimate distance underwater, follow navigation patterns and know where you are while following an arbitrary, irregular course using the Nav-Finder.

Part of the course also includes practicing patterns whilst land based, like Olivier and Craig are doing in the picture above, after they completed the October 2009 IDC.

As part of the specialty, you will also need to swim a pattern underwater and navigate from one point to another, a course that is set out with help of markers, as in this picture. Because of the variety of activities in this specialty course and the importance of being able to navigate well underwater and understanding your compass, this specialty is so popular amongst the various specialties on offer.

Hope to see you soon on our PADI Underwater Navigation Specialty of the Month 2009 and enjoy your 10% discount off the course price.

Camille

The prep course for the November IDC has been completed

2009-11-05T21:53:00.003+07:00

The IDC Prep course for November has been completed

Loyal followers of the this blog know pretty much what is involved on an IDC prep course but here we go one more time, lots of red tape needs to get out of the way for starters, get those liability releases signed!

Than there are 5 theory exams that are covered over two days in an IDC prep, Physics, Physiology, RDP, General skills & Environment and last but not least; Equipment. Here are the guys in action, Nigel in the front row, Gregory who completed the IDC last month but decided to wait with the PADI IE for another month and will be refreshing some skills and presentations during this IDC, Imad who's completing his IDCS course and James who did complete his IDCS course last month and is back to staff this IDC.

James staffing away and contemplating what score he's going to give.

Nigel and Imad during the buddy breathing swim of the skill circuit. Said skill circuit, consisting of 20 skills is also parts of the Prep course.

And last but not least, rescue exercise # 7, practice again and again and again.

See you later for more AI course updates.

Camille

Imad's IDCS course is underway

2009-11-03T18:45:00.002+07:00

Imad's IDCS course is underway

Picked Imad up from the airport on Samui at 11am and brought him to his hotel to check in and immediately we went off to start his IDCS course. Pretty much straight from the airport into the classroom. Imad completed his IDC earlier this year in February.

Imad during his evaluation training during which he has to watch video's of training scenarios and needs to evaluate within a certain range of the score that PADI has set.

Towards the end of the day I almost had to tie Imad down to his chair, fatigue was setting in and he managed just to finish in time to get some well deserved food and catch up on sleep after he left Dubai last night. More tomorrow when the IDC kicks off.

Camille

DUP Specialty @ Sail Rock

2009-11-01T21:32:00.003+07:00

DUP Specialty @ Sail Rock

As already mentioned in yesterday's post, today we would complete the Instructor Specialty training with a DUP dive. We started the day however with a Multilevel dive and there was some great visibility and it was a great reminder why Sail Rock is my favorite dive site in the Gulf of Thailand.

The pictures turned out so well that I had to post them, so here are some of today's selection.

During the Multilevel dive, it was almost as we were diving in fish soup in clear water and when you looked up, there was layer upon layer of different school of fish all the way up to the surface.

This picture is taken at around 28 meters depth and I hope it shows a little bit what I experienced.

During the second dive of the day, the actual DUP dive, Bruno spotted this jellyfish off the wall and I swam over and got some great pictures. As usual, there was small fish swimming around and inside the jelly, feeding off it. The interesting part however is that a bigger fish is trapped inside the jellyfish and is being consumed by said jelly. If you look closely you can see the tail of the fish sticking out a bit to the left in the middle of the picture, with the big shiny thing under the jelly's skin being the body of the trapped fish.

It was underwater animal galore today and we saw plenty of white eyed murray eels, this being one of them. Some of the divers on today's trip also spotted a giant murray eel. It turned out that we were deeper than the giant's murray location on the rock, hence we missed it.

There were also various sightings of small scale scorpion fishes, like this one, a real beauty, sitting on an outcropping rock, showing off it's pectoral fins.

Here's a family member of the previous small scale scorpion fish and I just like the way the lighting comes out in this picture and gives it a little bit more of a 'threatening' look. As if a scorpion fish needs it to start with.

It was absolute nudi branch galore today though! Identifying nudi branches is almost an art in itself.

Here's another unusual nudi branch to me, but today the rock seemed to be plastered with them! According to my research this is a Phyllidia ocellata (Phyllidiidae), a mouth full indeed!

Besides these two specialties, Gregory also did his Fish ID dive, instead of the DUP dive.

All in all a good days diving and now it's back to reality with an IDC and IDCS course coming up in just a few more days. Stay tuned for more info and updates.

Camille

Instructor Specialty training for October 2009

2009-10-31T18:25:00.003+07:00

Instructor Specialty training for October 2009

It's almost completed and it was a busy month on top of that, for Specialty training. We started out with the Emergency Oxygen provider and instructor courses, pretty much directly followed by the Gas Blender and Gas Blender Instructor courses. The latter two are very challenging but also a lot of fun to participate in and to teach. We also completed the Equipment specialty, so lots of land based activities.
The reason is that there are plenty of participants in the Go Pro CDC and Platinum packages and these very comprehensive packages have a lot of specialties in them.
Craig is now also starting his MSDT internship soon, during which he gets to certify 25 PADI students at various levels.

By now it was to get wet and we went to Chaweng Beach to take some Underwater Navigation, Search & Recovery and Night diving courses under attack. Yesterday evening we id the night dive!

Working with a lift bag and learning the proper procedures on how to correctly fill and use a lift bag were being practiced during the Search & Recovery course.

Here's an interesting shot of squid eggs, that get deposited all over the region and loads of them can be found on Chaweng beach. Mmm, makes for some yummy 'plaa meuk' dishes! Specialty training has it's advantages.

For two deep dives we went to Sail Rock and the visibility was great and two great dives were had by all of us. With a bit of luck, the weather will hold on tomorrow, since we'll be back there to complete a DUP-, Multilevel- and Aware Fish ID dive.

On top of all this action we (Craig, Bruno, Olivier and me) also went to Pattaya to do some Wreck diving and they also completed Underwater Naturalist dives. All month long we had lovely weather which made the diving so much more enjoyable. Dives here were made on Nitrox and by now they're all Nitrox instructors.

At the end of a days diving, almost back home, the Big Buddha can be seen from it's back, near the pier.

Jut a few more days and the new IDC is about to start already. See you and stay tuned.

Camille

Diving with sharks in Bangkok

2009-10-28T08:45:00.006+07:00

Diving with sharks in Bangkok

How is that possible, diving with sharks in Bangkok? It's not that difficult actually, Planet Scuba, the dive company I work with, their office in Bangkok runs the aquarium dives at Siam Ocean World and it's a great experience.

First I met with Toby, one of my former and also one of my very first IDC candidates at the Planet Scuba Bangkok shop on Sukhumvit, near BTS station Phrom Phong and we made our way over to Siam Paragon, where Siam Ocean World is located.

A view outside of the tank with some ragged tooth sharks swimming by, in a moment I'll be in the midst among them!

The entrance fee for Siam Ocean World is included in the fee for the shark dive and it's well worth checking out the various tanks and fish that are on display. There's a also a section where a lot of yet to be identified species are displayed and amongst those species is this rather rare longnosed stargazer.

The actual dive, a ragged tooth shark or grey nurse shark swims within inches from me, on various occasions. Currently there are 11 of them in the tank! The tank itself is really big and you can easily dive around for a good bit, sit down for a while and enjoy the view of these great predators cruising by and take the environment in. There are also leopard sharks, tawny nurse sharks and a couple of blacktips.

An Eagle ray, cruising by in a section of the aquarium. The animals kind of split up the areas in the aquarium so each has it's own territories, more or less. These eagle rays can change color and turn completely black which is an amazing sight. There are also blotched marble ray's and various other ray species. It's also great to interact with the spectators outside of the tank, who seem to be waving non stop and are seemingly almost more excited about seeing divers than I was seeing the sharks and rays! Besides the sharks and rays there are also plenty of trevallys and snappers.

After the dive, Toby and me with big smiles on our faces. Thanks Toby, it was a great 40 minute dive and I enjoyed it very much! The instructors that take you on the shark dives are all very experienced and will make sure that you have a good time.

Here's my logbook, with some shark tooth that Toby picked up.

It's official, I dived with the sharks in Bangkok!

To top it off, here's my first uploaded video on my blogs, with footage of a ragged tooth shark.

It's a real great experience and I enjoyed every moment of it and time flew by when you're in the aquarium. If you're interested, you can book online or just sign up at the spur of the moment whilst visiting Siam Ocean World at Siam Paragon, an instructor will be there all day long and you can pretty much jump in at any time, except during feeding times although Toby recommended the morning as the best time of the day to dive with the sharks in Bangkok and Discover Scuba Diving is also on offer, what better way of taking your breaths underwater can you think of, than doing it with some real life sharks!

Camille

One more wreck diving trip in Pattaya completed

2009-10-26T17:16:00.002+07:00

One more wreck diving trip in Pattaya completed

Yesterday it was in the bag after two days of wreck diving the HTMS Khraam in Pattaya, pictured below. It was the second trip this year and the fourth time in total that I was able to organize this trip.

We dived three times on the HTMS Khraam, which gave my three students, Bruno, Craig and Olivier plenty of opportunity to familiarize themselves with the wreck and hence, the third dive of the series was the most relaxed and enjoyable dive which generated most pictures.

How colorful it can be inside shows this picture of some bright purple fan, however, without the flash on the camera it looks rather drab at the depth we went to, around 25 to 20 meters in average. Visibility in Pattaya is not always that great but it adds to the experience and gives an additional challenge on these otherwise rather easy diveable wrecks in the area.

All wrecks cater as home to plenty of undersea live, including lots of scorpion fish, as this profile shot of one of them shows.

The one non wreck dive we did was also very enjoyable and during the Aware Fish ID dive we encountered this lovely cuttle fish. We completed more specialties besides the wreck diving specialty, also Underwater Naturalist was completed and we used Nitrox on a few dives.

During the ascent, hanging out during the safety stop. At 12, 9 and 5 meters we had safety stops to off gas nitrogen in our bodies.

A great way to spend the weekend and I'm looking forward to the next trip. Thanks guys for embarking on this adventure.

Camille

Mares Lab equipment seminar

2009-10-20T21:06:00.002+07:00

Mares Lab equipment seminar

The last two days I participated in a Mares Lab equipment seminar. Yes right, this time around I was the student and had to watch someone else do all the talking and explaining and on top of that, today I had to sit an exam!
I've done two or three Mares seminars before but this was the first time that any exams were involved.

If you're looking for exciting fish pictures and the like, this isn't the right post for it, this is mainly about looking at dive equipment, taking it apart, spotting problems along the way and than putting it all back together again, ideally in such a way that it works under pressure.

The Mares Lab equipment seminar is unique for that right now, Mares is the only dive equipment manufacturer who make sit compulsory to sit through actual exams with set pass rates before you're authorized to maintain Mares equipment. This seminar was held over two days, day one being an introduction to various Mares equipment, like the MR 2 regulator, the MR 22/Abyss regulator first and second stages and the Ergo inflator.

This picture shows some of the very specialized pieces of equipment that are used during the seminar.

During day one we took amongst others, this fantastic Mares Abyss first stage apart. The Abyss was my first regulator ever and I still am very fond of this regulator, despite it's heavy weight.
Nowadays I do use a an updated version of the Abyss, the Proton 42 Metal a very good regulator and a lot lighter than the good ol' Abyss!

This is how the Abyss first stage looks like when it's completely stripped down. The challenge is to put it all back together again after you strip it down.

This shows how the Abyss 2nd stage looks like when stripped down. This was just a repetition for the second day, when we had to strip the regulator down again but this time there were problems put inside our regulator.

These problems we had to find and we also had to fill out trouble shooting reports, learn the various order codes of all the various parts and practice with a service pack and change all items that will be changed during a service, which Mares recommends at least to be done once a year or every 100 hours that you use your gear.

It got pretty serious with exploded drawings and service packs et all!

The highlight was a hands on practical test where we had to strip down a MR12 first and second stage to all it's components and list all parts that would be changed during a service and on top of that, at the end of two very long and interesting but also tiring days, we had to complete a theoretical exam. This picture shows my fellow seminar participants, Kai, Becci and Geoff with our presenter and host David.

The third day would involve stripping a regulators first and second stage down and find all inserted problems and list them correctly! A real challenge which I hope to be able to take one day but for now, two days was although very interesting, it was also enough!!

Now I'm ready again and fully charged to start teaching my own equipment repair courses like I've just done earlier this week. Scuba equipment and tools are an interesting topic and I'm glad I had the opportunity to learn some news bits and pieces over the last two days.

Camille

DSAT Gas blending and Equipment repair courses

2009-10-16T16:59:00.003+07:00

DSAT Gas blending and Equipment repair courses

Were on the menu today. We started off with the static part of the Gas Blending course, academics; some slides to reinforce the information followed by reviewing the knowledge reviews and to top it off, an exam. For non native English speakers, this always seems to be a tough one. It's also the only exam in the PADI system at 'beginner' level that I know of, which has a 80% passing rate.

The new Mares retail shop in Bang Rak has a beautiful and brand new filling station attached to it and the picture above gives you an idea how the good old partial pressure mixing desk and the brand new Oxygen stik fit in, with on the right hand the air bank.

Craig, Olivier and Bruno working out what mixes we need to get with a great view of the also brand new Coltri Sub compressor. David is just out of the picture, but he's also taking this course, although he will have to wait for completing his Gas Blender Instructor course until he completes his IDC later in December, in contrast to Bruno, Craig and Olivier who will complete this course this coming Sunday.

A prerequisite for the Gas Blender course is that you need to be a Nitrox diver.

This is the Gas Mix calculator they were looking at, it tells you how much Oxygen needs to go in a tank in order to get the required mix. The Gas Blender course makes you either use the electronic mixer or you can use the good old tables and calculate everything the good old way.

As part of the Gas Blender course we also did some Oxygen cleaning and Bruno has his own idea of how that can be achieved. Good thinking Bruno!

As part of the equipment repair course and the Gas Blender course we used the sonic bath to clean parts of a 1st stage of a regulator. Usually I conduct the equipment repair course simultaneously with the blender course, since it takes time in between Nitrox tanks to fill up, time we use for having a closer look at some pieces of equipment.

After a long day of academics, exams, hands on cleaning and tank fills we were glad to get the group picture out of the way and finish the day, from left to right, Olivier, Bruno, me, David and Craig.

Camille

PADI Emergency Oxygen providers and Instructors

2009-10-14T12:16:00.004+07:00

PADI Emergency Oxygen providers and Instructors

Were tumbling over each other so to speak today. The day started out with 4 students taking the PADI Emergency Provider course.

Craig and Grainne are setting up and testing a non rebreather mask. The Emergency Oxygen provider course is part of Grainne's Divemaster package. Besides being certified for the Oxygen course, she will be completing her Divemaster course today as well. Congrats Grainne and see you soon for your IDC again, early next year.

Four brand new certified PADI Oxygen Providers, from left to right; Craig, Grainne, me, David and Olivier.

After the Provider course we continued with the Instructor course, David and Grainne left us to be replaced by Rob, Bruno and Geoff.

A busy but fun and interesting day!

Camille

PADI IE for October; over and done with!

2009-10-11T13:53:00.003+07:00

PADI IE for October; over and done with!

Today the PADI IE was completed at Centara Resort on Chaweng Beach and all did very well. After three action filled and nerve wrecking days for the candidates, they now know what they achieved! Congratulations to all!
Just for the record, Gregory decided to wait for the next IDC to jump in again and is planning to attend the next IE.

Here's the official picture, plenty of new OWSI's and IDCS floating around, from left to right in the back row; Aiko Kamiya (MI), Paul Meredith (IDCS), Bruno de Cocker, Olivier Nelis, Rob Scammell (PADI Examiner), myself, James Donald (IDCS) and Nobuhiko Abe (MI).
Front row; Craig Balmer, Mio Yoshii, Naoko Komaki, Manami Tatsumi and Naoki Arakawa.

This the unofficial picture but a lot more fun! Jump up and down!

Camille

Been there, done that, the October IDC has been bagged

2009-10-08T20:37:00.003+07:00

Been there, done that, the October IDC has been bagged

Today was our last day of the current IDC, at Centara in Chaweng on the beach for the OWSI course's Open Water dive. Tomorrow morning is review and remedial training time and sees the closing of this IDC and in the afternoon at 2pm, PADI Examiner Rob will kick off the PADI IE.

This IDC had some luxury for me in it, Paul, already being an IDCS instructor was staffing this IDC and took some workload off my shoulders, and here he's in full swing during one of the presentations. With James completing his IDCS course, it was also interesting for me to have people participate at various levels.

As usual we enjoyed some great lunches during our lunch breaks at World Resort. From left to right; Paul, Craig, Olivier, Bruno, Myself, Gregory and James.

Today during their Open Water debriefing, all ears for our feedback. Besides Open Water and class room presentations, they also had more Confined Water presentations to attend and to prepare!

The Japanese candidates, Tatsumi, Naoko, Yoshii, Naoki, Nobu and Iko.

Thanks for the good time and see you all tomorrow!

Camille

EFRI October 2009; mission completed

2009-10-03T17:58:00.002+07:00

EFRI October 2009; mission completed

Before we can enjoy our day off during the current IDC tomorrow, we completed the EFRI course today at the usual location of the local recompression chamber in Bang Rak.

This is what part of the course is about, protocols for delivering CPR and how to teach it.

One of the things less highlighted is that there's an exam during the EFRI course besides the hands on skill practice. Here the participants are sweating it out over said exam.

At the end they all passed successfully with a theoretical part during the morning and a lot more action and fun during the afternoon with the skill practice. Here we all are in front of the pot, from left to right; Olivier, Bruno, Craig, Gregory and myself.

Monday we continue again with the IDC, business as usual. Now first let's kick back for a day.

Camille

PADI Specialty of the month for October 2009; Night Diving

2009-10-01T19:49:00.003+07:00

PADI Specialty of the month for October 2009; Night Diving

When the sun is about to set and you change into your dive gear and you descent on the same site that you dived regularly during the day time, this time around it's going to be a very different site because you're night diving and everything will look different and you will see different sea creatures and critters.

Chaweng Beach, where I do most of my night dives during the Instructor Specialty training, does become a different site since the amount of crabs on this reef is something I don't see anywhere else.

Giant Murray Eel at the Similan islands during a night dive

With a main torch, a back up torch and ideally also a small blinking light or chemical glow stick attached to your BCD or tank valve you're ready to hit the water.

You learn about night dive planning, equipment, communication and navigation and you practice these on three different night dives.

Blue spotted stingray at Chaweng Beach during a night dive

It's a very popular specialty the Night dive specialty and I've logged a lot of night dives already, closing in on a hundred but once you committed yourself to a night dive, you will understand why.

Shrimp at Chaweng Reef during a night dive

On Chaweng Reef and during night dives in general I've seen plenty of interesting things, like a dark shadow somewhere next to me moving around and as soon as I catch a small fish in my spotlight of the torch, a barracuda jumps out of the dark and catches the small fish in my light or a crab dining on a gills of a barely alive scorpion fish. Very interesting and unusual sights indeed and they can keep you glued to a spot.

Another interesting thing to try is to plan a dusk dive, where you start the dive at dusk and you not necessarily need a torch and during the dive the sun sets, it becomes dark and you see the scenery at the reef change. A very nice experience.

If you haven't done a night dive yet, it's time to get started and if you've done some already, you know you'll be back in the dark water surroundings of a night dive. Enjoy!

Camille

Old school equipment

2009-09-30T19:14:00.002+07:00

Old school equipment

An interesting sight during the current IDC is some of the equipment used by some candidates. It's truly old style and there's nothing wrong with that! It is however, in my book, rather interesting to see old style regulators and BCD's and see the development in the brands and/or a specific models.

Working with the company that is the sole and exclusive importer for Mares in Thailand, it's nice to see a common model, the Vector in an old style version, actually a 16 year old version, as pictured above.
It proofs that if you take care of your equipment, it will last a while! Interesting to see is the colour coding on the BCD, a kind of checkered blue that would not be considered to be fashionable nowadays!

Another interesting sight is these two alternate air sources, both Mares models and both around 15 to 16 years old! Again proof that if you take care of your equipment, it will last. The equipment repair course comes to mind to make sure you can deal with minor problems.

Nice to see this equipment and good luck with it guys! Keep looking after it and it will serve you just fine, well after this IDC.

Camille

The October IDC has kicked off

2009-09-29T21:25:00.003+07:00

The October IDC has kicked off

Today was the first day of the new and current IDC, after we completed the prep course yesterday and starting the AI or Assistant Instructor course part of the IDC. Craig, Olivier, Bruno and Gregory had their first taste of IDC PowerPoint presentations today and we talked about preparing Knowledge Development- and Confined Water presentations.

They also completed their skill circuit today and Gregory and Olivier can be seen during their air depletion skill.

Craig and Bruno give it a go together at the Alternate Air Source skill during their skill circuit.

If you follow this blog on a regular base, than you should know by now that part of the IDC training involves practicing rescue exercise # 7 of the Rescue diver course and Gregory tries to rescue Bruno in this picture, with Paul waving in the background.

Craig, Olivier and James, who's completing his IDCS course, seem to be having quite a bit of fun at this rescue attempt.

Last but not least, Gregory in action during his performance of a Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent, which is slightly more challenging for him than the other 3 candidates, since he doesn't have a PADI background, but is crossing over from another recreational dive organisation. He's standing his ground though and if you like to keep updated about their progress, stay tuned to this channel!

Camille

IDC Prep is underway

2009-09-28T06:59:00.002+07:00

IDC Prep is underway

Yesterday the October IDC prep course started at World Resort, as usual. It's going to be a busy classroom with candidates, James doing his IDCS course, Paul who already is an IDCS instructor is staffing and there are also 4 Japanese IDC candidates with their IDCS instructors.

Olivier, Gregory, James, Bruno, Paul and Craig just after they completed the physics exam. During the afternoon they practiced the skill circuit and rescue exercise # 7 of the Rescue diver course.

Today we will finish the prep course and tomorrow the actual IDC will kick off. Stay tuned for more information on this course.

Camille

IDCS course started today

2009-09-26T20:30:00.003+07:00

IDCS course started today

It’s been a couple of months ago when Mike started and completed his IDCS course and today it’s James’ turn, to start his IDCS course. James completed his IDC and PADI IE in February 2008 so it’s a very good time for him to look into this IDC to complete his IDCS course.

As usual on this extra day before the start of the IDC, we had loads of classroom time, exams straight after breakfast, followed by some presentations by me and than the evaluation video’s which James needs to score and get within a certain grade of the official PADI score.

Here’s James in front of his tank filling station that he has at his own dive shop.

Tomorrow the IDC will kick off and we will get wet again. Keep your eyes posted to this blog for more updates.

Camille

Samui Mala Festival, the GIDOA part

2009-09-24T18:08:00.006+07:00

Samui Mala Festival, the GIDOA part

Today it's time for some educational aspects of diving, divers and dive centers.

First of all, from 19 - 27 September, the Mala festival is held on Samui and today was Blue Day, when GIDOA came into action. You can visit GIDOA's Facebook page and find out more about them, the Green Island Dive Operators Association, of which I'm part of and today our platform was at the Kandaburi Hotel where we highlighted water and reef issues including try-dives at the pool and gave some presentations, mainly to children of the Blue Water school on Samui. Previous activities of GIDOA amongst other included a beach clean up at Bang Rak.
Representatives of Bio Rock were also on site and participated in the activities.

The Project AWARE corner at the Kandaburi with plenty of information by and from this organisation. Thanks to Joanne at Project Aware in Australia we had plenty of materials available to help us set up this stand.

A nice flowchart by Green Fins Thailand, available in Thai and English informing us on how long it takes down to break materials down. Ranging from plastic bags to aluminium cans to flip flops.

A captive audience during one of the presentations, this one was about what GIDOA is and what they do and the effects of garbage on the underwater environment.

Geoff, one of our instructors at work with 5 young ladies who are participating in a try dive or Discover Scuba Diving in the pool. The pool was filled with garbage by us, like fish nets with small plastic fish caught up in it, empty plastic bottles, a car tire etc so they can experience how that looks like underwater.

The Bangkok Samui Hospital supported today's event by sending an ambulance plus staff to stand by in case of a medical emergency, good for us that we didn't need them but thanks for coming over.

Thanks to all who helped out today, Marion, Paul, Sarah, Becci and Geoff, Mel and all staff of the various shops that came along.

Camille

Project AWARE International Clean Up Day 2009 @ Chaweng Beach

2009-09-19T14:32:00.004+07:00

Project AWARE International Clean Up Day 2009 @ Chaweng Beach

Today, 19th September 2009 was announced as Project Aware's International Clean Up Day and just like last year, we went with staff and interns to Chaweng Beach to pick up a few kilo's of rubbish and garbage. Unfortunately we were successful!

My estimation is that with the 10 bags of garbage that we collected we picked up around 35 to 40 kilo's of garbage. One of the stranger things we picked up was this hood of a jet ski.

Commonly found garbage included lots of empty glass and plastic bottles and various kind of clothes, varying from hats, to sunglasses and even shoes. Above is a plastic canister pictured that we found.

A few of the bags and other times that we found today, including a plastic beach chair and various pvc pipes.

The group picture, taken back at headquarters, where later today we will have a nice BBQ or barbie as the Aussies say. Thanks for the big turnout guys! It was a pleasure, with thanks to Becci, Bruno, Gregory, Olivier, Craig, Gav, Steve W, Uncle Steve, David F, Eric, Kwan, Jonesi, Xavier, Rob, Massi and myself!

See you next year!

Camille

The new PADI Open Water diver course from an Instructors perspective

2009-09-17T17:01:00.005+07:00

The new PADI Open Water diver course from an Instructors perspective

As some of you may know, PADI has announced the introduction of a new or rather extended version of the Open Water diver course, now it can be taught using dive computers and the RDP Table or eRDPML becomes optional if you opt teaching the Open Water diver course with a dive computer although you can teach both the computer and either or both versions of the RDP tables.

There's a brand new computer book that you need for teaching the course this way;
Open Water Computer option with manual (PADI AP catalogue #'s to be announced later)
- OR -
Open Water Computer option with Multimedia Disc (PADI AP catalogue #'s to be announced later)

Table with instructions a la carte (PADI AP catalogue #'s to be announced later)

Currently there are no plans to integrate the computer option into eLearning.

PADI will print a new exam in late 2009 or early 2010. For now there is an errata (free download from the homepage of padimembers.com). The most current PADI Open Water exam has a revision date of 2008.

Exciting for an instructor is that there will be a new revised version of the Prescriptive Lesson Guides, this product has undergone drastic changes and will be released towards the end of this year.

There will no new Open Water diver course Instructor Guide, however, PADI will release a completely new (streamlined) instructor manual in 2010. Instructors who renew before the end of 2009 will receive a CD version of the new instructor manual for free with their first quarter 2010 Undersea Journal in the USA.

You can find more information on teaching the computer option if you reference the third quarter 2009 training bulletin.

Good to know is that the Open Water diver manual and DVD have not changed.

PADI Standards require all Open Water students to own a copy of the Open Water Manual. Computer students must complete knowledge reviews 1-3 from the OW manual, but are not required to complete 4 and 5. In lieu of knowledge reviews 4-5 from the Open Water manual, the computer student completes two knowledge reviews from the How to Use and Choose Dive Computers manual. Answers to these knowledge reviews can be downloaded from the PADI Pros site.

What is the Dive Simulator?

The Dive Simulator is a generic dive computer used to illustrate some of the topics discussed in the How to Use and Choose Dive Computers manual. The simulator is a free download (access information can be found in the Computers manual). Students are not required to use the Dive Simulator.

How does PADI address variety of dive computers on the market (and differences in dive planning calculations)?

The How to Use and Choose Dive Computers manual discusses general computer use and refers students to their users manual for specific details. Please look in this article which includes sample pages. Quiz and exam questions are worded to address general computer usage rather than specific scenarios.

All in all an exciting new development in the Open Water diver course and a perfect way for you as an instructor to get your Open Water student accustomed to dive computers at the earliest possible stages.

All information from this post comes from this very useful PADI USA North Western blog, thanks for the info!

Camille

Another round of Divemaster training

2009-09-16T20:14:00.004+07:00

Another round of Divemaster training

Today was the first day in the pool for a skill circuit for Grainne and David and a second time around for Craig, who was already here last year in October and November.

Bruno and Olivier are Divemasters already and were invited to refresh their skills for the upcoming IDC, starting towards the end of the month and of which Craig will also be a participant.

It all went good and was rather successful and after a couple of hours in the pool, we called it a day and they got signed off on a couple of skills each. Soon more to follow.

In the picture from left to right; Olivier, David, Grainne, Craig and Bruno.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 9th September, 2009 [del.icio.us]

2009-09-08T17:17:17-07:00

Daily weather update for tropical island destination Koh Samui in Thailand by Camille Lemmens

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 7th September, 2009 [del.icio.us]

2009-09-06T17:09:40-07:00

Daily weather update for tropical island destination Koh Samui in Thailand by Camille Lemmens

The September 2009 PADI IDC has been completed on Koh Samui, Thailand [del.icio.us]

2009-09-06T04:41:57-07:00

The September 2009 PADI IDC has been completed on Koh Samui, Thailand with PADI Course Director Camille Lemmens

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 6th September, 2009 [del.icio.us]

2009-09-05T17:09:19-07:00

Daily weather update for tropical island destination Koh Samui in Thailand by Camille Lemmens

Thaa Yai 2009 in Wat Chaweng, Koh Samui, Thailand [del.icio.us]

2009-09-05T03:01:28-07:00

Thaa Yai 2009 in Wat Chaweng on tropical island destination Koh Samui in Thailand

PADI Specialty of the Month September 2009; Project AWARE [del.icio.us]

2009-09-04T06:13:30-07:00

PADI Specialty of the Month September 2009; Project AWARE with PADI Course Director Camille on tropicl island destination Koh Samui in Thailand

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 4th September, 2009 [del.icio.us]

2009-09-03T17:29:33-07:00

Daily weather update for tropical island destination Koh Samui in Thailand by Camille Lemmens

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 3rd September, 2009 [del.icio.us]

2009-09-02T17:30:22-07:00

Daily weather update for tropical island destination Koh Samui in Thailand by Camille Lemmens

Bandara Suites Hotel, Silom in Bangkok, Thailand [del.icio.us]

2009-09-02T08:10:10-07:00

Review of Bandara Suites Hotel on Silom in Bangkok, Thailand by local expat Camille Lemmens

EFR Instructor Course for September is bagged on Koh Samui, Thailand [del.icio.us]

2009-09-02T06:48:29-07:00

EFR Instructor Course for September is bagged on Koh Samui, Thailand with PADI Course Director and EFR Instructor Trainer Camille Lemmens

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 2nd September, 2009 [del.icio.us]

2009-09-01T17:20:56-07:00

Daily weather update for tropical island destination Koh Samui in Thailand by Camille Lemmens

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 1st September, 2009 [del.icio.us]

2009-08-31T17:31:56-07:00

Daily weather update for tropical island destination Koh Samui in Thailand by Camille Lemmens

Current IDC: the AI part has been completed on Koh Samui [del.icio.us]

2009-08-31T17:08:15-07:00

Current IDC: the PADI AI part has been completed on Koh Samui, Thailand with PADI Course Director Camille Lemmens

Camille's Samui Hotel recommendations: Al's Resort, Chaweng [del.icio.us]

2009-08-31T07:56:52-07:00

Review of Al's Resort in Chaweng on tropical island destination Koh Samui in Thailand by local expat Camille Lemmens.

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 31st August, 2009 [del.icio.us]

2009-08-30T17:38:33-07:00

Daily weather update for tropical island destination Koh Samui in Thailand by Camille Lemmens