A few days ago Anne and Zoe (from Canada) arrived on Koh Tao to do their open water course here at Simple Life Divers. We started in the classroom learning some scuba diving theory before heading off into shallow water for the confined skills section of their course. After teaching them the correct way to set up their dive equipment, I covered the scuba skills they needed to master before going out in the open water. Both Zoe and Anne mastered these techniques and procedures with ease so I knew we were going to be in for a fun few dives!
Zoe during the PADI open water course on Koh Tao
For the 4 open water dives of the PADI Course, we visited Mango Bay, Twin pinnacles near Koh Nangyuan, Chumporn pinnacles and Hin Pee Wee to the west of Koh Tao. We got to enjoy seeing a wide variety of ocean life, including shoals of barracuda, batfish, parrotfish, angelfish, butterfly fish, banner-fish, also saw a lots of hard and soft corals. And the buoyancy skills we fine tuned in the confined session served the girls well, keeping them away from the spiky urchins and anemones.
Anne prepares for an open water dive
After qualifying as PADI Open Water Divers, Zoe and Anne took a 2 day break to relax and enjoy some of Koh Tao‘s on-land attractions before starting their PADI advanced open water course with me. We went back to Chumporn pinnacles for their deep dive, where this time I could take them right down to the ocean floor at the base of the giant granite pinnacle where we reached 30m. Then we visited the HTMS Sattakut wreck for a wreck dive exploring the decks and superstructure of the Thai military vessel.
Anne and Zoe aboard the Simple Life dive boat off Koh Tao
For their Peak Performance Buoyancy dive we made use of the artificial reef ‘buoyancy world’ off Koh Nangyuan. This is a series of underwater structures deliberately sunk for divers to fine tune breathing and buoyancy control as well as acting as providing an artificial reef habitat for corals and marine life. For the girl’s underwater navigation dive we dive Hin Pee Wee named after one of the island’s early diving pioneers. They both successfully navigated using compass and natural navigation techniques, finding their way around the giant boulders and corals. Finally to complete their advanced course, Zoe and Anne both chose a night dive which we made at White Rock. The night dive was thrilling, getting to see giant barracuda hunting as well as a baby porcupine puffer-fish asleep.
The girls following the night dive at White Rock
So congratulations to Anne and Zoe – new PADI advanced open water divers.
