Phuket Airport Grows

The AOT (Owners of the Airport) finally approved a budget of almost $200 Million to expand the airport, increase capacity and hopefully hire another Immigration officer or two (or 50). The airport capacity is expected to reach 12 million passengers by 2012. It currently handles about 6 million passengers per year.

The expansion in Phuket will address crowding at Thailand’s second busiest airport and meet the expected rise in air traffic demand over the next decade.

AoT now expects the expansion, including constructing a new terminal for international passengers, improving the existing terminal, upgrading the jet fuelling system and building new taxiways, to commence by the end of next year.

Meanwhile, AoT has embarked on an in-house study on building a terminal dedicated to private jets at the Phuket airport, part of a bid to further enhance the southern resort island’s growing reputation as a destination for the internationally rich and famous and for jet-setting businesspeople. Conceptually, the terminal, the first of its kind in Thailand, would be built separately from the expanding main terminal under a build-transfer-operate contract.

That means private companies would invest in and run the facility but AoT would own it.

However, hidden in this news is that the construction is expected to begin by the end of this year. We fear this may lead to major delays and confusion as “the end of this year” is in fact peak season. However it means that development in this area will continue and that capacity will grow.

It also bodes well for Khao Lak and the area. As Phuket Island has already reached capacity and suffers from horrible decay in both infrastructure and culture – Khao Lak is the natural choice. In additionto the long beaches and lack of sex tourism – the great diving is so close at hand! More details can be found here…. http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/aviation/19230/aot-okays-b5-8bn-for-phuket

-Similan Diving

When is the best time to visit the Similan Islands?

November to May is the Best time to visit the Similan Islands

The great weather lasts from October until May and is high season on the Similan Islands and in Khao Lak.  The weather is generally calm, the diving is great and getting here and awya is very easy.  During this time, since the wind is blowing from the northeast, behind our protective mountains – the West Coast of Thailand is in their monsoon season!

All dive sites are accesible and the seas are calm. And it gets better! The months of February, March, and April bring the very best weather of the eyar! The seas are  flat, the visibility gets phenomenal. It gives you the impression you are on a lake rather than an ocean or sea. This is the “hot” time and it gets warm,  36 is not unusual.

The Similan Islands are not accessible during June – September

The southwest monsoon weather takes over and this means lots of waves & wind. These come from the southwest and since the Similans face the west, the weather has nothing to stop it! The waves, storms and wind are hitting the Islands directly and make the whole Andaman Sea unsafe.

The region records it’s rain in Meters, and during this time of year – you will know why! On the other hand – that’s why it’s a jungle!

Advanced Diver – Training In Thailand

If you would like to continue with your training, this is the perfect opportunity to learn about some of the special and exciting types of dives available. The  Advanced Diver Course builds experience and understanding of diving, and is designed to be taken directly after the Open Water course.

The term “Advanced” is often mis-interpreted, as this course is simply advanced training for Open Water divers. What will I learn? You may want to look for lost items, take pictures under water, or visit your favourite reef at night. Your Advanced Course with Reef 2000 will give you the experience of some of the most popular diving activities, as well as developing skills that will allow your dives to be safer and more enjoyable.

This course improves your under water skills, providing you with a sample of specialty diving activities, however the extent and term of each differs to accommodate your interests. Prerequisites You must hold the Open Water certification and be at least 15 years of age.

What’s involved? Three “core” dives – a navigation dive, a deep dive and a night dive – and two “elective” dives which you will select with the help of your PADI instructor. These elective dives are based on specialities as diverse as Wreck Diving, Underwater Photography, and Drift Diving. You can complete this course in as few as 3 days. This is ideal for open water divers who want to continue their training during their holiday break. With Dahab’s world famous Canyon and Blue Hole dive sites, this is the perfect place for the PADI Advanced adventure.

Learn to Dive – Start online today!

Start your diving career right now!!!
Expensive? FREE!!! In general an Open Water Diver course consists of 3 parts: Academics, Pool Training and Open Water Sessions Academics - You can complete them online FREE when you sign up for SSI’s Online Training program, or you can attend classroom sessions at your favorite SSI Dive Center. Whatever best fits your needs. Pool Training – you will learn all the skills you will be using in the open water in the safety of a pool. Open Water Sessions – You will complete at least 4 open water dives and have the chance to experience everything you learned in the pool hands-on. (Open water can be defined as an open body of water such as a lake or the ocean). After successfully completing the Academics, the Pool and Open Water Sessions you will be certified as SSI Open Water Diver – It’s your global license to dive!
How much does it cost?
SSI’s Online Training – the scuba diving academics – online are free!! If you decide to continue your education and want to become a certified diver, you will need to sign up for an SSI Open Water class The SSI Dive Center you choose will have additional training material (such as a DVD, Total DiveLog, etc.) that you will need to purchase inorder to complete your academics. They will have a variety of class times and course fees available for you to choose from. You can pick what best fits your schedule and pocket book.
How to Have the Best Online Training Experience:
Have an up to date Internet Browser (Mozilla Firefox 3.0 or Internet Explorer 7.0) with Flash and Javascript enabled Internet Connection (the faster, the better). If you use Internet Security Software, add diveSSI.com to your trusted sites or adapt the sites as per the users manual.
Let’s Get the Adventure Started!

Helpful info on the Similan Islands

Explore the Koh Similan – A Group of Nine islands in the Andaman Sea
One of the best-known island groups , largely because of the wonders that wait beneath the clear blue waters that surround it.

“Similan” is derived from the Malay sembilan, and means “nine”. Each of the Similan Islands has a number as well as a name. These are, running from north to south: Koh Ba Ngu (No. 9), Similan (No. 8), Payu (No. 7), Miang (No. 4, No. 5 and, in some opinion, No. 6), Payan (No. 3), Payang (No. 2), and Hu Yong (No. 1). Hin Pusar, or “Elephant Head Rock“, is alternatively designated No. 6 by some. Koh Bon, lying 17 nautical miles north of Ba Ngu, is part of the Similan National Park and may be granted honorary status as No. 10.

Ironwood and gum trees are among the larger trees, while jackfruit, rattan and bamboo form part of the denser undergrowth. The islands are home to crab-eating monkeys, dusky langurs, squirrels, bats, lizards and a good variety of birds (though the monkeys are shy and rarely seen by the casual observer). But the most striking feature of these islands, at first glance, are the huge boulders that litter the western and southern shores on several of the islands.

Another highlight, as the visitor soon discovers, are the white coral-sand beaches, splendidly picturesque and often deserted. The most interesting sights, however, are to be found beneath the waves. Some of the most spectacular coral growths in the world can be found here – and the same boulders that scatter the shores have turned the waters around the Similans into an adventure playground for divers.A variety of forces have given shape to these islands. To begin with, the Similans were intrusions, upwellings of hot magma that found their way through weak spots in the Earth’s crust 100-150 million years ago, working their way through thick layers of sedimentary rock already laid down at least 100 million years earlier still. Then, unimaginably powerful movements in the crust cracked the granite substratum into blocks, preparing the way for experiments in sculptural form by wind and wave.

Today, piles of curious stones, some of them as big as houses, lie as though collected and later abandoned in careless heaps by some ancient race of beachcombing giants. Even Donald Duck Rock, the distinctive formation teetering high above the cove on Koh Similan (Island No.8), has been shaped in this way. And boulders just like these spill in jumbled piles down beneath the surface of the sea to 35m and beyond, where submarine peaks, canyons, caves and passageways provide scuba divers with some of the most interesting submarine prospects in the world. (On the west side of the islands, currents have kept the formations clear of sand; on the coral-covered sandy slopes of the east side, the boulders have been largely buried.)Underwater, meanwhile, all sorts of marine creatures have helped establish the reefs and the sandy beaches. When you climb up to Donald Duck Rock, consider the brilliant white sand below. This beach is in large part a product of diligent scraping and nibbling away by organisms such as the parrotfish – an average individual of which species may excrete more than 16 kilos of sand in the course of a year’s lunching on hard corals. And there’s plenty here to eat.

The conditions for coral growth are ideal, with a minimum prevailing sea temperature of about 28oC and exceptionally clear waters. More than 200 species of hard coral alone have so far been identified in this area, while these islands have the greatest profusion of reef fish in Thai waters. In fact, in terms of both marine life and bottom topography, there’s more variety than you’ll find in most other dive destinations around the world. Similan Diving has almost everything – coral walls (if you count Koh Bon, to the north, as one of the Similans), big rocks, huge sea fans and barrel sponges, caves, swim-throughs, and plenty of shallows for snorkelling as well. For, although the fringing waters around the islands average from 30-45m dropping down to 70-80m between islands, you’ll find coral gardens in as little as six to seven meters.

EFR – Emergency First Response in Thailand

This is a must for divers and non-divers alike.

Why Emergency First Response (EFR)?
Accidents and illnesses happen every day. Some people need only a helping hand while others may suffer

serious permanent injuries without help. By mastering Emergency First Response Primary Care (CPR) and Secondary Care (first aid) course skills you can render important care to those in need. The EFR training hopefully never comes in handy – but great to know in case it does

You’ll also know that you’re learning state of the art skills, based on the consensus view of the Basic Life Support (BLS) Working Group of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR). In addition, the program is based on established instructional design and educational protocols to render an educationally valid and credible product. Emergency

First Response courses also meet CPR requirements for participants seeking certification through the American Council on Exercise.

Emergency First Response is also flexible – you can learn background knowledge on your own time then conduct a practical, hands-on training sessions with a qualified Emergency First Response instructor.

This course can be taken by divers and non-divers and is an excellent opportunity for hands-on experience in dealing with an emergency situation. It is run over 1 day and is a prerequisite to the PADI Rescue Course. Could you save a life if an emergency occurred today? If you answer no, this course is for you.

Learn to dive – Adventure of a lifetime!

Learning to dive is an adventure that will probably be extremely rewarding and for many people it can be a life changing experience. That said – there are a couple of things to look out for when choosing your dive school and there are many opinions regarding this subject. Whether you choose to learn in your home country, do your open water course partly online and partly in the tropics or choose to do your entire Open Water course here in Thailand is up to you.

PADI, SSI, NAUI, CMAS, BSAC

These are all acronyms for different organizations who set standards for dive training. There are numerous small ones but the biggest ones, by far are PADI and SSI . There is a great variance between countries though – NAUI are somewhat common in parts of the US and in Germany an organization called Barracuda is popular – but it is really just a derivative of CMAS.

Usually the difference between the organizations is very much in the details and doesn’t matter too much for the beginner. There is one thing, however that the beginner should think about. Many PADI or NAUI schools are commercial companies and their main goal is to make a profit out of the courses which is not necessarily a bad thing. That can also mean that you get a very professional instructor but you will have to be prepared for some rather indiscreet selling during the course. CMAS courses on the other hand are often run by clubs etc which can also be a great thing but here you have a high chance of getting a relatively amateurish instructor. So – there are really pros and cons with both options.

The instructor matters

The organization is relatively irrelevant for dive training – what really matters is the instructor. A good instructor means all the difference and here it pays to watch out a bit. There are plenty of people working as dive instructors who do this for the lifestyle – not the passion. You’ll be able to notice this immediately.

Dive centers and many instructors have been expelled by SSI for the lax safety standards. SSI makes the entire dive center live up to standards – even if only one instructor is at fault.  PADI only punishes the individual instructor – not the dive center.

Quality management is also one of the weak points of these organizations so trust your instinct when meeting your instructor. Just because they are active within a large organization doesn’t necessarily mean that the are reliable individuals.

Tropical or cold water training

It is a common belief among divers in the north that training in cold waters makes you a much better diver but…well..it’s cold. Learning to dive in Sweden will certainly teach you to endure diving in bad conditions which is good but you will spend so much time simply surviving so you wont have much focus on skills such as buoyancy. People who learn in tropical waters will in general be more comfortable divers which is the big advantage here. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you are trained to dive in conditions which are similar to those you experience during the training. If you learn to dive in water which has a temperature of 28 degrees you are simply not qualified for diving in 2 degrees.

Choose training for the type of diving you think you will do. You can always add training later if you change environment.

You get what you pay for

This is probably the most important point in this article. Don’t buy the cheapest of the cheap. Diving is serious stuff and you should not take shortcuts. If the course is cheap it may mean that the equipment is not serviced. If the staff does not earn a living wage – how can you trust them?  Buy quality.

In an industry where your life depends on quality staff and equipment – why try to save money?

Would you buy the cheaper parachute?

Equipment

Buy carefully. You will be targeted to buy all sorts of things and while it is true that it is easier to dive a lot if you have your own equipment it is not necessary for everyone. I suggest buying things in this order

1. Mask
2. Dive computer – don’t rely on dive centres depth gauges. A computer is not expensive and will give you full control of your diving
3. Fins
4. Regulator
5. Buoyancy system – think about if you want a BCD or a backplate and a harness
6. Other

Buy basic, good quality equipment and make sure that you don’t buy things you may need to replace later on. Buy right the first time – it is much cheaper.

Dive straight after the course

Make sure that you do 6-10 dives shortly after the course or incorporate a Similan Liveaboard into your education. That is how you will really learn. Include this in you initial plan. Time in the water is very important for new divers and if you don’t dive after completing your course you will not become a good diver.

Similan Marine Life

Marine life on the Similan Islands

The Similan Islands’ present an endless diversity in dive sites – but also in Marine Life! These uninhabited tropical islands are home to some of the most dynamic and vibrant underwater ecosystems in the world.

With such of Marine Life – there is finally a resource for more details on the various species. With things like Manta Rays and Whale Sharks garnering all the attention – many of the smaller and far more exotic species are overlooked.

There are articles about Cuttlefish, Wenteltraps and even Frogfish. As a resource – this will help any diver on their plans to visit and for those who have been fortunate enough to visit already – this is the place to help identify those strange things you saw on underwater

The site will be updated frequently so we will be revisiting frequently and looking at all the new and amazing creatures.

Similan Marine Life

Similan Island Dive Sites – Beacon Reef

Beacon Reef

A reef that extends the whole eastern side of Island 8 (Koh Similan). Typical of most of the Similans – this a sloping reef running from 8 meters (25 feet) to 30 meters (100 Feet). Fields of staghorn, brain and bushy corals mark this site. You’ll certainly find moray eels, batfish, Snappers and more. The main attraction at this site is the wreck in the middle! This was a liveaboard that sank in 2002 after a bilge malfunction. All the crew and customers escaped without injury. They tried to save the Liveaboard from sinking, by ramming the reef! Aside from pure stupidity, it also damaged the reef in the shallows and then as it sank toward the deep, it ripped the coral apart. Happily the very same company, after this shining example of brilliance, sank another Liveaboard by hitting Richelieu rock a few years later.

Diving depths range from 8-30 meters (25-100 feet) with the main diving done at 15 Meters (50 feet).

Currents are light, generally helping rather than hindering.

Visibility is pretty good (unless we get thermoclines) – 20 meters (75 feet).

Dive site is accessible to all levels of divers.

Similan Island Dive Sites – Beacon Beach

Beacon Point/Beacon Beach South – Ko Similan (#8)
This is a good multilevel dive with interesting features at every depth. This south easterly reef is actually an extension of the lengthy sloping drop off running parallel to the eastern coast (Beacon Beach), and very comparable to the latter except that the coral at Beacon Point is superior.

There is abundant healthy hard coral along the shallow reeftop and the steeply dipping dropoff, and clumps of gorgonian sea fans and wire corals on the sandy floor.

Fish life is prolific with an abundance of the usual reef fish. Stingrays, leopard sharks and small reef sharks are also encountered. With favorable currents, it is possible to make a drift dive from Beacon Beach (some three hundred meters to the north).


Depths 6 – 36m. Visibility 18 – 24m.