Surin, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock

21.3.-24.3.2010

The ABC of the last trip:

A-ll of us were very excited to go on the boat.
B-ut not everybody was a certified diver by this time.
C-handon and
D-ario,
E-ven his
F-riend, ok his
G-irlfriend...
H-er name is Magalie...
I-nvested some time the day before to start their open water course.
J-acket, Regulator, Wetsuit, Mask and Fins were ready and so where the divers to jump in the water at the first dive site named
K-oh Chi.
L-aying in the water and enyoing the aquatic life is the best way to start in a
M-onday.
N-ew place, differnet things to see:
O-n the second dive we spotted a slender ghost
P-ipefish and tried
Q-uickly to clean the rock from a net....unfortunately without success, it was one more time too big.
R-egarding our 3 students:
S-ome of them had some
T-rouble whit their ears or masks...nothing to worry about, it takes some time to get
U-sed to all those new feelings and skills.
V-ery important to say is: they managed at the end everything and we ha 3 new certified open
W-ater students on this planet.
X-OXO (hugs and kisses) to all of
Y-ou!
Z-ero defect, someone else would say "perfect" describes this trip in my opinion best. Relaxed diving, fun on/with the Kajak, delicious food, beautiful beaches, simply a good time!

Burma Adventure 5.3.-10.3.2010

About the diving:

Unfortunately during the entire trip we had pretty bad visibility and the water temperature was quite cold. Therefore we had to wear more wetsuits than normal and take a closer look to see, what was swimming around us --> MantaS, Leopard Sharks, Blotched Stingrays, Jenkins Whiprays, Seahorses, Frogfishes, Nurse Sharks, Pipefishes, Black - and Whitetip Sharks, Eagle Rays, Barracudas (it was in fact getting dark when they circled above us), different kind of nudi branches, Ghost Pipefishes, Seasnakes, many Moray Eels, Lion- and Scorpionfishes and much more. This trip wasn't only about enjoying; on the second day during the first dive, everybody was "NETWORKING". We discovered a huge fishing net the evening before and decided to bring it up. It took us a lot of effort and left some cuts and bruises, but after 30 minutes we were able to pull it away from the divesite; some of it we had to drop in the open sea, and the rest is still hanging on one side of MV Thai Sea. It was covering more than 50% of the divespot and destroyed a lot of marine and coral life...a very sad scene!! But I think everybody can be proud for saving at least a little part of our beloved ocean. Thanks again buddies!

About the customers:

Stefan(ie) and Manuel(a) made their way back from Koh Tao to join us again, Pauliina and her 4 finish divers almost missed the morning ferry from Koh Tao, but lucky for everybody they made it in time; Alex and Tatiana from Russia were already in Ranong and the last to walkings, Jackie from France and Arnold - well known from last year -from the Netherlands jumped on the boat on the last moment. It was a good mixture, so there were serious/interesting conversations beside a lot of jokes and funny moments - especially with the dolphin :-)

Some breakdowns:

- Arnold looking for his torch before entering the cave, which was still attached to his tank and stucked in the BCD..... - Stefan(ie) ending up with markings after nearly every dive (maybe on the next trip we have to protect his/her body with a long wetsuit and some pillows...) - funny Arnold trying to inflate the safety sausage with a very special technique... - without naming the person, of course someone forgot to open his tank properly.... - some of us were searching for their dive group on almost every dive...no names of course..... BUT at the end of the trip, everybody recieved their passport back and startet to new adventures somewhere on this continent.
Take care, travel safe and always have fun!