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Open Water Dive Course for Brigid, Alastair, Mitch & Andy

Posted Jan 16th, 2013 by Jac

When Brigid (AUS), Alastair (AUS), Mitch (AUS) and Andy (UK) arrived for their Open Water diving course at Simple Life Divers – Koh Tao, they had no idea what was in store for them.  Not only would they become competent and confident divers over the following days, but they would also get to experience swimming with a mammoth of the underwater world. They began learning about pressure changes, equipment and communicating with their hands on their first evening and returned the following day to complete their knowledge checks.  After they all aced their exam while looking out over the dive boats from the beach, we agreed to meet the next morning to get in the water.

On day 3, we started with skill development in confined, shallow water off the beach.  Fortunately, we found water deep enough even for Alastair to get his head under the surface before the sand turned to coral!  After they all aced their basic skills, we practiced swimming in our scuba gear and headed slightly deeper. They all learned how to be a hero if their buddy runs out of air and stayed calm, cool and collected even while removing their scuba unit and weights underwater.

After a quick lunch break, the team won out over the currents and completed their swim tests.  During their first open water dive at Twins, everyone got used to controlling their bodies in the water and enjoying some of the lively aquatic life.  As we ascended from the dive, we were told there was a whale shark just south of the boats.  We all swam along the surface with a 3 meter long whale shark for a few minutes, taking in its size and magnificence.  As we returned to our boat, we saw a large swarm of divers also headed our way, following the whale shark.  Mitch and Alastair jumped back in with snorkels to spend more time with the amazing animal as it swam alongside the Simple Life boat.

Our second dive at Sairee Reef focused more on improving skills. After skill practice, we saw a school of bat fish near the artificial reef. Andy was perfecting his weighting and showed a great ability to hover during this dive, and everyone managed great buddy communication in the lowered visibility.

The last day of the course led us to greater depths.  The third dive was at White Rock, where the team encountered various groupers and scribbled filefish.  Everyone showed fantastic control during our descent while not holding onto the line. Each person performed a Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent wonderfully, and we began our fourth and final dive at Hin Pee Wee.  We practiced flips in the water during the dive and Brigid removed and replaced her mask like a professional!

Congratulations to Brigid, Mitch, Alastair and Andy for becoming certified PADI Open Water Divers at Simple Life!

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