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Sail Rock Divers – Sunshine Divers DMT Exchange
Gemma and Emma were our lucky DMTs chosen to go to Sunshine Divers in Koh Tao from the 18th – 20th April.
Sail Rock representatives
Day 1
They arrived on the pier to a personalised collection sign and a scenic drive to Sunshine Divers. Here they received a very warm welcome from Natalie and Kim and were shown to their room. After settling in, Kim went through the schedule for the afternoon and the next couple of days.
The first afternoon the girls got to dive at Southwest Pinnacle with Olly, Kieran and Michael. Visibility was beautiful and plenty to see! In the surface interval they were briefed on the next dive by the IDC candidates Bnooz and Michael as they were going to be playing ‘bad students’ for their IDC workshop.
Learning to use the lift bag
Learning about the dive sites around Koh Tao
Gemma and Emma had a lot of fun taking part in the workshop on a dive at Hin Gnam Bay whilst also having time to practice knots and learn to use a lift bag. Natalie, Kim and Robert were also taking part in observing the skills. After the workshop had been completed they carried on with a fun dive for 30 minutes with DMTs Kieran and Olly as guides.
‘Bad students’ attempting knots
DMTs at SouthWest Pinnacle
At the end of the dive, they surfaced to a wonderful sunset.
Sunset on Day 1
Day 2
Emma and Gemma shadowed the boat masters for the morning dives of the day and got to experience how a different centre is run. Sunshine Divers were very organised regardless of how many people were on courses or fun diving! First dive was to Sattakut Wreck and White Rock but unfortunately visibility was bad. This resulted in the boat relocating to Red Rock for dive two of the morning. A lovely dive site they had the chance to visit whilst DMTs Olly and Robert were taking notes on slates for their mapping projects. They both also got to experience the horizontal swim through at Red Rock and see new marine life such as the Slingjaw Wrasse.
After returning to the centre, the girls got a chance to grab some good grub at the restaurant and then they were straight off to the pool to act as ‘bad students’ for the confined IDC candidates workshop. They helped out with performing skills such as free flow regulator, alternate air source, CESA and equipment removal and replacement at the surface. They had a really good time and a lot of laughs taking part, especially when Robert started trying to put his BCD on backwards!
Bnooz briefing the students
Performing the free flow regulator skill
After the pool session the evening was finished with Gemma’s first night dive experience at Twin Peaks and Buoyancy World. A great dive with sightings of hermit crabs, a titan triggerfish, moray eel and a scorpionfish. The boat arrived back at the centre and after a quick shower the BBQ started for the Assistant Instructor Party. A fun night with good food and company. Also a special mention to whoever made the sauce/dressing that was served! Very tasty.
Day 3
Good morning from Sunshine Divers centre
The girls were lucky enough to see not only Southwest Pinnacle but also Chumphon Pinnacle. The first dive of the morning and absolutely brilliant. During the surface interval the boat then moved so the second dive was at Mango Bay. A much shallower site but very relaxing and lots of coral to explore. Emma and Gemma were able to have a fun 60 minute dive with the Sunshine DMTs. To finish off the morning, they participated in a fun dive at the Lighthouse. Similar to Mango Bay but the girls found that every dive site was as good as the last! Back to the centre and quick goodbyes and thanks before they caught the ferry back to Koh Phangan and returned to Sail Rock Divers thrilled with their experience.
Group shot with some of the Sunshine Divers team
Emma and Gemma had a wonderful experience and were well looked after by everyone at Sunshine so would like to thank them for that and hope to see them again soon!
Preparations have begun for the April Instructor Development Course (IDC)
The guys are doing a bit of pre prep training in the pool, making them more than ready to start the 2 day prep on the 8th. Then the IDC orientation with Connor and Tony will begin on the 10th.
We are planning our usual 14 day program which will take us up to the IE on the 23rd.
Its not too late to sign up for this IDC, and don’t forget this Easter season special includes a free MSDT prep ( 5 Instructor Specialties ). Also this is the last month for Koh Phangan residents to sign up for their Staff Instructor at the unbeatable half price offer of 9000 bht.
Contact us at info@sailrockdiversresort.com
pool training
Two new instructors for Koh Phangan
Sail rock divers are very proud to present the latest addition to the Sail Rock team, Maz and Quintin have recently completed there PADI IDC training and are now open water scuba instructors, they have made such an impact at Sail Rock Divers that we hired them immediately. The instructor examinations were held on Koh Phangan, alongside the instructor development course, Blue one of our senior instructors also completed her training to be a Padi staff instructor, so a big congratulations to you all.
2 new instructors
Emergency First Response Instructor Training
EFR IDC
Training for the EFR Instructor course began today.
Our candidates Maz and Quinten are very enthusiastic about the contents of this course and are having fun refreshing their skills. Only final exam left to go before certification.
Two day Mock Instructor Examinations start tomorrow then its the real deal.
If you are interested in an EFR Instructor Course or refreshing your current certification contact us for more information.
read more…
The dance of the Morays
Another beautiful dive at sail rock, the visibility wasn’t the best due to some heavy rainfall, however the fish were out in force, the white eyed morays and the giant morays are definitely not camera shy, Koh Phangans local dive sites are proving to be hidden gems as well with more sea horse sightings, exotic nudibranchs and lots of persian carpet flatworms. Check out the video of sail rock filmed by Evgeny, if you want to see more videos from your sail rock divers video team then go to http://www.youtube.com/SailRockDailyNews
Is it time for a change
Waking up every morning, looking out of the window and the first thing you notice is the cleanliness of the air followed by the aromatic smell of palm trees with a hint of the sea just to top it off, and thats before you have even opened your eyes and gazed at the natural beauty that surounds us, finish that off with the sound of waves breaking and you will experience a koh phangan sense overload, pretty much a daily occurrence.
If you have ever dreamed of living and working on a paradise island then wake yourself up and make it so. The unique offer that we are having this year is the life changing GOPRO 7 month internship, This is a real opportunity to make the break and embark on an epic journey into the world of diving. We will take you from a non diver to a Master scuba diver trainer and give you at least 1 months payed work experience. Contact our GOPRO team on Info@sailrockdiversresort and we can arrange a personal Skype video call so we can answer all of your questions.
THIS COULD BE YOU
PARADISE
diving the east pinnacle koh phangan
what a fabulous year of diving we have had at sail rock, the gulf of Thailands premier dive site, Whalesharks, bull sharks and crystal clear waters have made sail rock a true contender for a position as one of the top ten dive sites in the world, we have never seen so many fish and such diversity as we have in the last few years which is mainly due to the tighter restrictions on fishing and the constant effort being made by all dive centres on koh Phangan to protect our local dive sites. This is another short video taken at the east pinnacle and it shows the amount of fish we see on every dive.
More shark action and the latest news from koh phangan
The diving around Koh Phangan is still amazing, whale sharks yesterday and an unbelievable amount of fish life everywhere, Dave and Alex have just been on tour to the west coast of Thailand for a Padi sponsored event which took place on a live aboard with Khao lak scuba adventures, In the near future we are hoping to be <working along side KSA offering live aboard trips to the similan islands. Evgeny is still busy filming everyday and Greg and Nick are back from England to help us for the next 5 months.
This is just another short clip from sail rock
Bull sharks and more Bull sharks
Another great short video taken at sail rock by Evgeny, Bull sharks seem to be everywhere at the moment, Whaleshark sightings nearly every other day and schools of fish covering the entire rock. Diving Koh Phangan is amazing and deserves the recognition of being a world class dive site, another great addition to the dive site are the Giant Morays which we are seeing nearly every dive.
